Classics & Ancient History

GCSE Classics (Year 10 & 11)

Classics at The Hemel Hempstead School provides students with a unique opportunity to study the societies of ancient Rome and Greece in depth, and is designed to provide students with a broad, coherent and rewarding study of the culture of the classical world. Students will study elements of the literature and visual material, and acquire an understanding of their social, historical and cultural contexts and how their legacy affects today’s society. They will also develop an understanding of the nature of historical evidence from the ancient world, its scarcity, and how to build an understanding of historical periods studied from the analysis and evaluation of the evidence we have available.

The Classics curriculum is primarily knowledge based and is designed to equip students with the knowledge and skills they need to pursue university and careers in law, education, politics, journalism, art, history and many more. Students do not need to have any knowledge of ancient languages to access our courses.

Component 1: Women in the Ancient World

This component involves a comparative study of ancient Greece and Rome. Students will examine the realities of life as a woman in these societies.

Women who are portrayed as living a respectable, ideal life of virtue. The lives of young women, women in the home, women in power, women in religion, such as the Vestal Virgins and the gruesome punishment if they failed. Women of Legend and mythology such as Pandora; why did she open the jar? And Helen of Troy, whose beauty arguably caused a 10 year war. Warrior Women like Camilla, who fought against Aeneas and the Trojans. Penthesilea, alongside the infamous Amazons who were feared and respected by the ancient Greek heroes. Improper Women who created scandal, such as Clodia and her numerous affairs, and Aspasia, who went against tradition to wield political power in Athens. Women to be feared, such as Medea, who murdered her own children - or did she? And Cleopatra, a Pharaoh of Egypt who won the hearts of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.

Component 2: The Homeric World

This component contains two elements;

- One in-depth cultural study of the Mycenaean world; where students get to study archaeological evidence such as burials, weapons, death masks and palaces.

- One study of related literature: the Homeric epic ‘The Odyssey’. An adventure following Odysseus and his crew as they struggle to get home after the Trojan War. This story includes heroes, gods, goddesses and monsters!

Both papers will require students to use literature and visual/material culture in conjunction with one another in order to inform their judgements, including discussion of why or how the sources may present things differently from each other.

A Level Ancient History (Year 12 & 13)

Component 1: Greece

Within this component students will focus on Ancient Greece. Students will study two units across y12 and y13. The first unit is ‘Relations between Greek states and between Greek and non-Greek states’ in which students will explore what it meant to be Greek - or more specifically what it meant to be Athenian or Spartan - and how these different Greek states interacted with each other. Before examining evidence of the Greek relationship with Persia with a strong focus on the Peloponnesian War. During this era some of the greatest writers and thinkers of the ancient world emerged: Herodotus, Thucydides, Aristophanes, Euripides and Socrates. It is also a period of art, sculpture and an emerging Greek culture that students will be able to explore by studying the ancient texts and inscriptions in preparation for their exam. In the second unit students will undertake a depth study into ‘the Rise of Macedon’ where they will study the life and career of Philip of Macedon and his famous son: Alexander the Great, who managed to conquer most of the known world by the time he was only 33 years old. We will study the gossip, the marriages, the deaths of fathers, best friends, horses and ultimately decide whether Alexander was a military genius or a complete madman.

Component 2: Rome

Component 2 focuses on Ancient Rome. Students will begin year 12 studying ‘The Breakdown of the Roman Republic’, where they will analyse the different factors that challenged the Roman constitution and eventually brought about the end of the Republic. Within this topic there is a strong focus on how individual events and people, such as Sulla, Pompey the Great, Julius Caesar, Mark Anthony, Cleopatra and Cicero all contributed to the eventual fall of the Republic and the rise of the Roman Emperor. This unit covers everything from Roman politics, law, religion, bribery, corruption, civil war and murder. The second unit revolves around the study of the nature of power itself. Focusing on the first dynasty of Emperors: ‘the Julio-Claudians’. Students will study the dynamic characters and political demands of some of the most infamous Roman Emperors, including: formidable Emperor Augustus, and the absent Emperor Tiberius, the ‘crazy’ Emperor Caligula, dribbling Emperor Claudius and finally the lyre-playing, wife murdering Emperor Nero. But is everything as it seems? Are all the myths and tales surrounding these men true?

The reigns of these men, and of the strong women that lived alongside them, will make students laugh, shriek in horror and possibly make them feel a little ill. But one thing is for certain - they are not boring and students will all have a favourite Emperor by the end of the course.

Both papers, and all four units, will allow students to examine translations of the ancient texts, and archaeological evidence. Students will also be strongly encouraged to engage with recommended fiction and non-fiction books, podcasts, documentaries, online courses and to attend lectures from leading academics within the Classics field. We hope that this will not only enable students to expand their knowledge, but also enrich their experience of the course. We also plan to offer students the opportunity to attend a week-long trip to visit Rome, Pompeii, Herculaneum and Capri. Allowing students to visit the locations they are studying, see the archaeological excavations and truly immerse themselves in the course. We hope that this will help to cement a lifelong passion for history, the ancient world and learning.