Ancient History

Course summary

During your time studying Ancient History, you will focus on the ancient civilisations of Greece and Rome, looking at the key points of both, including the Greek-Persian conflict and the first Emperors of Rome after the fall of the Republic. Ancient History gives students the chance to study a range of significant societies, individuals and events from the classical world, focusing on Greek and Roman history. The course aims to engage students in an exciting period of history that has tremendous relevance in the modern world, by developing a strong sense of enquiry and the skills to pursue this. The primary form of assessment is through essay writing where students use their own knowledge of topics and primary sources, to analyse key issues of Greek and Roman history. The study of contemporary sources also forms an important part of the course as students will investigate a range of literary, political and artistic sources to gain a deeper appreciation of the societies from which they came. In addition to this, students will gain an understanding of how historians have interpreted these Ancient topics and will be able to evaluate these views using their own knowledge. Lessons encourage students to learn in a variety of ways. Research tasks, student presentations, groups work and debate are all used in addition to independent work, to build students’ understanding of topics and discuss this with their peers.