Ancient History

The subject

This subject provides the student with an insight into the Ancient World, through the study of a variety of sources now available in translation. Not only can one read great historians, such as Herodotus, Thucydides, Livy and Tacitus, but also biographies of Plutarch and the works of Aristotle and Xenophon. This is a subject which allows students to make up their own minds about past events. Sources have to be evaluated and scrutinised for plausibility and truth. Often one has to come to the uncomfortable conclusion that not everything on a printed page is true! As an A level, it is almost unique in encouraging pupils to question the truth and "spirit" of public pronouncements. There is no better way to understand contemporary politics than to study the uncomfortable world of ancient Athens and Rome under the Republic and Empire.

 

Preferred Board: OCR