What is it?
Ancient history investigates Ancient Rome and Greece. From the campaigns of Alexander the Great to Julius Caesar’s assassination, you will come face-to-face with history’s biggest winners and greatest losers.
Why study this subject at Blackpool Sixth?
The study of classics through ancient history is well respected by universities and employers and combines with a wide range of subjects. Recent educational visits have included Athens and Rome. We also have regular visits from top academics and TV historians.
What skills will I develop?
Ancient history prepares you well for your next steps by developing your written and oral communication skills, as well as your skills of evaluation, analysis and critical thinking. The course will also improve your cultural understanding. This is a broad subject which combines well with many other courses.
How will I be taught?
A wide range of teaching and learning styles are used including discussion and debate, group work, paired work, e-learning and independent research.
How will I be assessed?
100% exam
Teacher expertise
We have a very experienced teaching team for ancient history with both teachers having examined for the exam board. One of our teachers, Peter Wright, was awarded TES ”outstanding teacher of the year’.
Field trips, projects and employability opportunities
In the Lower Sixth we run a visit to Rome and Pompeii, and in the Upper Sixth to Athens and Delphi. Local visits have included Chester, Liverpool University / Egyptology department, and London. We also have links with Oxford North archaeology and organise work experience placements. We also organise for university lecturers to visit and speak on aspects of the course.
Where does it lead?
Ancient history prepares you for a wide range of university courses as it develops your skills of evaluation, analysis and critical thinking. Courses include ancient/modern history, archeology and English literature. Ancient history is also a very strong supporting subject for many university courses due to the high regard it is held in. The skills developed allow students to follow careers in teaching, tourism and heritage, journalism, local government and management. Each year students progress to the top universities including Oxford and Cambridge.
Specific requirements
Grade 5 in GCSE English Language. You do not need to have studied history before.
Equipment
None specific required.
Examination board
OCR
Module One – Collapse of the Roman Republic: Investigate the collapse of the Roman Republic through the eyes of the Romans themselves. Learn about the life and wars of famous Romans such as Pompey the Great and Julius Caesar. Explore the key events leading to the rise of Rome’s first emperor, Augustus Caesar. This is one of the bloodiest periods of Roman history. Investigate how Rome fell into civil war, how Caesar was assassinated, and how a young man named Octavian finally killed the Republic.
Module Two – The Julio-Claudian Emperors: Learn about the man who destroyed the Republic and became Rome’s first ‘emperor’, Octavian – rebranded, Augustus. Investigate how Augustus manipulated the Romans to create the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Use the works of Roman writers to analyse the motives and policies of the first Roman Emperors. Was Augustus the greatest ever Emperor? Was Tiberius a paranoid and cruel ruler? Was Caligula insane? Did Nero live up to his reputation as a blood-soaked tyrant?
Module Three – Greeks and Barbarians: Travel back to a time before Rome to study the world of Classical Greece. Use one of the first historians, Herodotus, to find out how the Greeks resisted a Persian invasion so large that its armies ‘drank rivers dry’. Analyse Athens in the aftermath of the Persian Wars and how she high-jacked an anti-Persian alliance into her own Athenian Empire. Investigate the volatile nature of Athenian politics where political ‘spin’, manipulation and control was part of the world’s first democracy. Finally, assess how tensions and friction with her rival city-state Sparta escalated into a brutal and bloody twenty-seven-year war.
Module Four – Alexander the Great: Liberator or tyrant? Hero or murderer? Investigate a period of ancient history when a young king conquered all before him. Follow Alexander’s conquests and his most famous military victories. Examine his generous and noble but ruthless character. Learn about his ambition to outdo his father’s achievements, his belief in his own divinity and why he murdered his best friend. Battles, executions, conquests and ambition…there is only one ‘Alexandros’.
