Year 12 Ancient - Exam Advice

Year 12 Ancient students will have their next assessment on Wednesday, in the double lesson. As you know, the format is as follows:

Time Allowed: 70 minutes

Part 1: 25 marks (35 minutes)
Essay question on the Persian Wars, using 'assess' or 'explain'.

Assess = make a judgement of value
Explain = relate cause and effect, make the relationships between things evident, provide why and/or how

So the question will ask you to make some sort of judgement about some aspect of the Persian Wars. Make sure you know:

• the causes and background of the conflict (persian expansion, Ionian Revolt)
  
• the details of the six major battles
• the contribution of Themistocles, Leonidas, Eurybiades, and Pausanias
• why the Greeks won and the Persians lost (you can find a sample essay on this dot point here)
  

Part 2: 25 marks (35 minutes)
10-mark question on Xerxes' rise to prominence (spend about 15 minutes on this)
Make sure you know:

• his family background
• his career before becoming king
• how he became king

15-mark question assessing his reign/career (spend about 20 minutes on this)
Make sure you know:

• his achievements/failures as a builder/engineer, a religious leader, a warrior, an administrator, and as king
• ancient and modern assessments of his reign

We will go through some practice questions on Tuesday. Any questions, send me an email. Good luck!