Look inside the OCR A-Level Ancient History guide (H407)

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Look inside the OCR A-Level Ancient History guide

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OCR · A-Level · H407
Ancient History
Active Recall Guide
2,709 questions
Ancient HistoryContents
Contents
8 topics, 176 subtopics
  1. Relations Between Greek States and Non-Greek States, 492-404 BC322
  2. The Society and Politics of Sparta, 478-404 BC218
  3. The Culture and Politics of Athens, C.460-c.399 BC295
  4. The Rise of Macedon, C.359-323 BC383
  5. The Julio-Claudian Emperors, 31 Bc-ad 68414
  6. The Breakdown of the Late Republic, 88-31 BC427
  7. The Flavians, AD 68-96276
  8. Ruling Roman Britain, AD 43-C.128374
ii
The Society and Politics of Sparta, 478-404 BCQuestions
The Society and Politics of Sparta, 478-404 BC
The agoge and the upbringing of Spartan boys and men
  1. At what age was a Spartiate's son taken from his home, and what did he enter?
  2. How were the boys grouped once they entered the agoge?
  3. Which official had overall charge of the boys' upbringing?
  4. What was an eiren?
  5. Describe the clothing and bedding allowed to boys once their training became severe.
  6. Why were the boys deliberately underfed?
  7. A boy caught taking food was flogged. What was he actually being punished for?
  8. What contest at the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia does Xenophon describe?
  9. How much reading and writing did a Spartan boy receive?
12
The Society and Politics of Sparta, 478-404 BCAnswers
Answers
The agoge and the upbringing of Spartan boys and men
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. The paidonomos, a Spartiate magistrate appointed by the state, supervised the whole system and had young men with whips to carry out his punishments.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. Hunger was meant to harden them for campaign and to drive them to forage and steal, which developed cunning, stealth and self-reliance.
  7. He was punished for being caught, that is for doing it badly, since the theft itself was part of the training.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
13
The Rise of Macedon, C.359-323 BCQuestions
The Rise of Macedon, C.359-323 BC
The reform of the Macedonian army and its siege technology
  1. Describe the sarissa and how it differed from a hoplite spear.
  2. Why did carrying a sarissa change the equipment of the Macedonian infantryman?
  3. What tactical advantage did the sarissa give the Macedonian phalanx over a hoplite line?
  4. What does the title pezhetairoi mean, and why did Philip give it to his infantry?
  5. What role did the hypaspists play in a Macedonian battle line?
  6. How were the Companion cavalry used, and in what formation did they charge?
  7. Explain how the Macedonian army combined infantry and cavalry to win a battle.
  8. What changes did Philip make to the army's baggage, and what did they achieve?
  9. Why was a paid, year-round army so great an advantage over the Greek city-state levy?
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The Rise of Macedon, C.359-323 BCAnswers
Answers
The reform of the Macedonian army and its siege technology
  1. It was a pike of cornel wood roughly two to three times the length of a hoplite spear, held in both hands and tipped with an iron head and a butt-spike.
  2. Because both hands were needed on the pike, he carried a small shield slung from the neck and lighter body armour than a hoplite.
  3. The pikes of several ranks projected beyond the front, so an enemy hoplite met four or five points before his own spear could reach a Macedonian.
  4. It means foot companions, and it tied the ordinary infantryman to the king by the same language of companionship that bound the noble cavalry to him.
  5. They were elite, more lightly equipped infantry who held the join between the phalanx and the cavalry and were used for rapid marches, night attacks and broken ground.
  6. They were the shock arm, charging in a wedge so that the point could drive into a gap and widen it.
  7. The phalanx pinned the enemy line and pulled it out of shape, and the Companion cavalry charged the gap that opened, taking the enemy centre in the flank or rear.
  8. He cut out carts and most servants and made the men carry their own flour and equipment, which roughly doubled the speed at which the army could move.
  9. It could drill constantly, campaign in winter and stay in the field for years, while a citizen militia had to go home for the harvest.
35
The Flavians, AD 68-96Questions
The Flavians, AD 68-96
The fall of Nero and the failure of Galba
  1. Why did Nero lose power in AD 68?
  2. State the post Galba held when the legions of Spain hailed him as emperor.
  3. Whose rising in Gaul in AD 68 opened the way for Galba?
  4. Explain what Tacitus meant by writing that the secret of empire had been let out.
  5. Why was Galba's refusal to pay the praetorians a donative so damaging?
  6. Give the justification Galba offered for not buying his soldiers' loyalty.
  7. Name the three advisers blamed for the worst acts of Galba's principate.
  8. How did Galba treat the marines Nero had formed into a legion, and what impression did it create?
  9. Why did executing men such as Cingonius Varro and Petronius Turpilianus harm Galba?
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The Flavians, AD 68-96Answers
Answers
The fall of Nero and the failure of Galba
  1. The provincial armies and the praetorian guard abandoned him, the Senate declared him a public enemy, and he took his own life in June AD 68.
  2. He was governor of Hispania Tarraconensis, and at first accepted power only as the representative of the Senate and Roman people.
  3. Vindex, the governor of Gallia Lugdunensis, revolted against Nero; he was crushed by Verginius Rufus, but the rising exposed how little authority Nero had left.
  4. It had become clear that an emperor could be made somewhere other than Rome, so the armies, not the Senate or the city, would decide who ruled.
  5. 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.
  6. He said that he chose his soldiers rather than purchased them.
  7. Titus Vinius, the praetorian prefect Cornelius Laco, and the freedman Icelus.
  8. He had them ridden down outside Rome and then decimated for demanding that their new status be confirmed, so his rule began with an act of cruelty against Roman soldiers.
  9. They were put to death without trial, which convinced senators that the new ruler was both cruel and lawless.
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    Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

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