OCR A-Level Ancient History Active Recall Guide (H407)
OCR · A-Level
OCR A-Level Ancient History Active Recall Guide
Every topic of specification H407 written as exam-style questions with the answers printed after them. 2,709 questions across 8 topics and 176 subtopics, including all six depth studies so the guide fits whichever two you sit.
- OCR
- A-Level
- Specification H407
- 2,709 questions
Guide overview All 8 topics Sample questions Papers and weighting Look inside Questions and answers
What the exam asks of you
OCR A-Level Ancient History is two written papers of 2 hours 30 minutes and 98 marks, each worth half the qualification. Component Group 1 pairs the compulsory Greek period study with one Greek depth study of three. Component Group 2 pairs the compulsory Roman period study with one Roman depth study of three.
Alongside the history itself the specification prescribes the ancient authors whose reliability you are examined on. Herodotus, Thucydides, Plutarch, Tacitus, Suetonius and the rest are assessed as sources, which means knowing what each one says and why it might be wrong.
| Paper | Covers | Length | Marks | Weighting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Component Group 1 Greek period study and Greek depth study |
Relations between Greek States and Non-Greek States, 492–404 BC The Society and Politics of Sparta, 478–404 BC The Culture and Politics of Athens, c.460–c.399 BC The Rise of Macedon, c.359–323 BC |
2 hours 30 minutes | 98 marks | 50% |
|
Component Group 2 Roman period study and Roman depth study |
The Julio-Claudian Emperors, 31 BC–AD 68 The Breakdown of the Late Republic, 88–31 BC The Flavians, AD 68–96 Ruling Roman Britain, AD 43–c.128 |
2 hours 30 minutes | 98 marks | 50% |
What is in the guide
All 8 topics
Every topic has its own page with its subtopics, what it covers and sample questions.
Sample questions
Taken from the guide. Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Mardonius' expedition and the Persian demand for submission, 492–491 BC
What political change does Herodotus say Mardonius made in the Ionian cities in 492 BC?
Show the answer
Herodotus says he removed the Greek tyrants who ruled them and set up democracies in their place. -
The agoge and the upbringing of Spartan boys and men
Why were the boys deliberately underfed?
Show the answer
Hunger was meant to harden them for campaign and to drive them to forage and steal, which developed cunning, stealth and self-reliance. -
Democracy and oligarchy, and the critics of the Athenian system
Which Athenian offices continued to be filled by election rather than by lot, and why?
Show the answer
The generals and the senior financial officials were elected, because those posts needed proven expertise that the Athenians were unwilling to leave to chance. -
Philip's accession and the securing of Macedon, 359–357 BC
Why did Philip release the Athenian volunteers captured with Argaeus without asking a ransom?
Show the answer
He wanted peace with Athens while he turned on the Illyrians, and generosity to Athenian citizens was the cheapest way to buy it. -
Actium and the presentation of Augustus' victory
Which god was credited with the victory at Actium, and how was he honoured?
Show the answer
Apollo was credited with it, and a marble temple to him was dedicated beside Augustus' house on the Palatine in 28 BC. -
The Senate, its membership and the force of senatus consulta
Explain why a senatus consultum carried such weight although it was not technically law.
Show the answer
It expressed the collective judgement of the state's most experienced men, so its auctoritas made it binding in practice even without legal force. -
The fall of Nero and the failure of Galba
Why was Galba's refusal to pay the praetorians a donative so damaging?
Show the answer
The prefect Nymphidius Sabinus had already promised them money in Galba's name, so the refusal looked like a broken bargain and left the guard willing to sell itself to someone else. -
Britain and Rome before the invasion of AD 43
List the British exports named by Strabo.
Show the answer
He lists grain, cattle, gold, silver and iron, together with hides, slaves and hunting dogs.
How the guide is worked
Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
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Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.
Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.
Look inside
Questions for a subtopic print together and the answers for that section print after them.
- Relations Between Greek States and Non-Greek States, 492-404 BC322
- The Society and Politics of Sparta, 478-404 BC218
- The Culture and Politics of Athens, C.460-c.399 BC295
- The Rise of Macedon, C.359-323 BC383
- The Julio-Claudian Emperors, 31 Bc-ad 68414
- The Breakdown of the Late Republic, 88-31 BC427
- The Flavians, AD 68-96276
- Ruling Roman Britain, AD 43-C.128374
- At what age was a Spartiate's son taken from his home, and what did he enter?
- How were the boys grouped once they entered the agoge?
- Which official had overall charge of the boys' upbringing?
- What was an eiren?
- Describe the clothing and bedding allowed to boys once their training became severe.
- Why were the boys deliberately underfed?
- A boy caught taking food was flogged. What was he actually being punished for?
- What contest at the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia does Xenophon describe?
- How much reading and writing did a Spartan boy receive?
- At seven he left his family and was enrolled in the state upbringing known as the agoge, in which he lived and was trained with boys of his own age.
- They were organised into age-classes and into packs or herds, each pack led by the boy judged the best of it, who gave the orders and was obeyed.
- The paidonomos, a Spartiate magistrate appointed by the state, supervised the whole system and had young men with whips to carry out his punishments.
- An eiren was a youth of about twenty placed in charge of a group of younger boys, who drilled them, questioned them and punished them.
- From about the age of twelve a boy was given one cloak to last the whole year and slept on a bed of reeds that he had to gather from the Eurotas with his bare hands.
- Hunger was meant to harden them for campaign and to drive them to forage and steal, which developed cunning, stealth and self-reliance.
- He was punished for being caught, that is for doing it badly, since the theft itself was part of the training.
- He describes boys competing to snatch cheeses from the altar while others defended it with whips, so that endurance of pain was tested and rewarded in public.
- He was taught letters only as far as they were useful; the weight of his education fell on physical training, choral song, and obedience to orders.
questions
Scroll sideways to turn through the pages.
Questions students ask first
I only do two of these. Is the rest wasted?
No. You sit the compulsory Greek period study plus one Greek depth study of three, and the compulsory Roman period study plus one Roman depth study of three.
All six depth studies are in the guide because schools choose differently. Work the two you are taught and skip the other four.
Which parts are compulsory?
Relations between Greek States and non-Greek States, 492 to 404 BC on Component Group 1, and The Julio-Claudian Emperors, 31 BC to AD 68 on Component Group 2. Every student sits both.
How are the ancient sources examined?
The specification prescribes the ancient authors for each study and you are assessed on their reliability as well as their content. The guide asks what each source says, when and why it was written, and the standard reasons to doubt it.
Do I need to know dates precisely?
Yes. Ancient History rewards specific evidence, and a date or a name is the difference between a supported point and an unsupported one.
OCR A-Level Ancient History Active Recall Guide
Every question paired with its answer, grouped by topic and subtopic, ready to work in three passes.