Welcome to GCSE Ancient History at New College, Swindon. This course is designed to give you the opportunity to study some of the most fascinating characters in western history. These are the men and women who have helped to shape the way we see the world, and whose lives have a strong relevance to the modern world. The sources for these characters contain many interesting stories, but the task of the ancient historian is to study these stories and try to separate fact from fiction. The evaluation, analysis and creativity skills you will develop will benefit you in all manner of your education. Below is an outline of what the course entails:

Use the internet to complete research on one or more of these famous figures from the Ancient World.

• Alexander the Great
• Cleopatra
• Hannibal Barca
• Romulus
• Cyrus the Great

When conducting your research look for answers to the following questions:

1. What civilisation did this individual rule over?
2. When were they born and when did they die? How did they die?
3. What were the major achievements of this individual?
4. Create a timeline of key moments from this individual’s life.
5. What is this figure famous for today? What legacy did they leave behind?

Watch some of the following documentaries:

Meet the Romans with Mary Beard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rggk_H3jEgw

History vs Cleopatra: TED-Ed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6EhRwn4zkc

Cleopatra Biography: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nzkozy31Z4w

Alexander the Great Biography: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qtTsfO0VVo&t=1s

Cyrus the Great Biography: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2JMwcxmeTA

Hannibal: the Man who Hated Rome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GH1c50zcYc

Ancient Rome in 20 Minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46ZXl-V4qwY

Ancient Greece in 20 Minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFRxmi4uCGo

Mary Beard’s Ultimate Rome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LL_acQHNs-o

The Rise of Carthage Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCbag4UIvBc&t=249s

Listen to some of the podcasts from In Our Time where Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss a wide range of topics related to the ancient world: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qykl/episodes/player?page=1

Omnibus is a magazine dedicated to the ancient world, and covers a broad range of interesting topics, many of which are quirky and obscure! You’ll find answers to questions you had never even thought of asking! Their catalogue is available for free here: https://archive.org/details/omnibusmagazine

Read some articles on Greek and Roman history and learn something interesting – we discuss lots of different topics in Ancient History so you never know, this knowledge may come in handy!

When studying Ancient History we will be looking at civilisations and cultures from across the ancient world. To help understand where these civilisations were, creating a map would be helpful as a point of reference for when you begin your study in September.

Find a blank map of the Mediterranean. Using the internet find where these civilisations were and annotate your map – you could colour code different civilisations to make it easy to use when you begin your studies in September

Find the following:

• Ancient Persia
• Rome
• Athens
• Sparta
• Babylon
• Ancient Egypt
• Carthage
• Macedonia
• Tyre
• Persepolis
• Sicily
• Troy

Interested in Greek mythology? Though we do not study mythology in Ancient History, understanding how the Greeks viewed the world will give you an insight into their culture and ideas. And mythology is fun! Stephen Fry has written two fantastic books,

Mythos https://amzn.to/2VZrtpF%MCEPASTEBIN%

Heroes https://amzn.to/2KUXbxZ that provide many fascinating stories from Greek mythology.