§-Module
What was the Augustan Settlement and how did it establish the principate?
The First Settlement (27 BC) and the Second Settlement (23 BC), the constitutional powers granted to Octavian (now Augustus), the political theory of the principate, and the verdicts of Syme, Goldsworthy, and Eck
A focused answer to the HSC Ancient History dot point on the Augustan Settlement. The First Settlement of 27 BC (the title Augustus, the provincia), the Second Settlement of 23 BC (tribunicia potestas, maius imperium proconsulare), and the political theory of the disguised monarchy, with the verdicts of Syme, Eck, and Goldsworthy.
13 min answer →
How did Augustus organise the principate and the administration of the empire?
Augustus and the principate, including the political reforms, the administration of the provinces, the relationship with the senate and the equestrians, the army reforms, and the consilium principis
A focused answer to the HSC Ancient History dot point on Augustus and the principate. Princeps, auctoritas versus potestas, the Res Gestae, senate and equestrian reforms, the provinces and army, the vigiles and aqueducts, and the Syme versus Galinsky debate.
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What was Augustus's foreign policy and how did he organise the imperial frontiers?
Augustus's foreign policy and the imperial frontiers, including expansion in Spain, the Alps, the Balkans, Germany, the Parthian settlement, the Teutoburg disaster (AD 9), and the recommendation to keep the empire within its frontiers
A focused answer to the HSC Ancient History dot point on Augustus's foreign policy. Spanish pacification (19 BC), Alpine campaigns, Balkan and Danubian wars, German campaigns and the Teutoburg disaster (AD 9), the Parthian settlement (20 BC) recovering Crassus's standards, and the verdicts of Eck and Goldsworthy.
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How did Athens attempt to recover and rebuild its power in the fourth century BC, from the rebuilding of the Long Walls to the collapse of the Second Athenian Confederacy and the debate over Philip II of Macedon?
Athens in the fourth century BC, its recovery after defeat in 404 BC and its attempt to rebuild power, the rebuilding of the Long Walls under Conon after the Battle of Cnidus in 394 BC, the foundation of the Second Athenian Confederacy in 378 BC and its charter renouncing the abuses of the fifth-century empire, the Confederacy's successes and its collapse in the Social War of 357 to 355 BC, the fourth-century democracy and the theoric fund, the professionalisation of politics and generalship, Athenian finances under Eubulus and then Lycurgus, and the great debate over Macedon between Demosthenes and Isocrates, set against Athens' relative decline
Athens rebuilt power after 404 BC - Conon's Long Walls after Cnidus in 394 BC, the Second Athenian Confederacy of 378 BC renouncing cleruchies and tribute, its collapse in the Social War of 357 to 355 BC, the theoric fund and the finances under Eubulus then Lycurgus, and the Demosthenes versus Isocrates debate over Philip II.
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How did Philip II bring the Greek states under Macedonian control at Chaeronea and through the League of Corinth, and how did the period end with his assassination and the accession of Alexander?
What was the nature of power and authority in Greece from 404 BC to the death of Philip II, and how have ancient and modern historians interpreted the fall of the polis and the rise of Macedon?
How did society, culture and economy interact in the Greek world from 404 BC to the death of Philip II, and how far do the orators, Xenophon and Aristotle let us reconstruct an age of political fragmentation?
The thematic cross-section of the fourth-century Greek world - society under the strain of continuous warfare, the rise of mercenary service (the Ten Thousand and the professional soldier) and social and economic dislocation; culture in a golden age of thought and rhetoric (Plato and the Academy, Aristotle and the Lyceum, Isocrates and the schools of rhetoric, the great orators, and the development of prose history); the economy of banking, the Black Sea grain trade, Athenian dependence on imported grain and Laurion silver; and the panhellenic idea that unity and the conquest of Persia could solve Greece's problems
A thematic cross-section of the fourth-century Greek world from 404 BC to the death of Philip II in 336 BC, covering society, culture and economy - continuous warfare and the rise of mercenary service, the golden age of Plato, Aristotle, Isocrates and the orators, and an economy of banking, Black Sea grain and Laurion silver.
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How did Sparta use, and abuse, the supremacy it won in 404 BC, and why did the King's Peace and the seizure of the Cadmea turn its hegemony into overreach?
What was the shape of the Greek world from the fall of Athens in 404 BC to the death of Philip II in 336 BC, and what range of sources survives to reconstruct this age of shifting hegemonies?
Survey and sources for the Greek world from 404 BC to the death of Philip II in 336 BC, the shifting hegemonies of Sparta and then Thebes and the rise of Macedon, and the nature, range and limitations of the evidence, from Xenophon's participant but pro-Spartan Hellenica and the later, derivative narrative of Diodorus Siculus drawn from Ephorus, to the Attic orators Demosthenes, Isocrates and Aeschines, Aristotle, the much later Plutarch, and the inscriptions
A survey of the Greek world from the end of the Peloponnesian War in 404 BC to the death of Philip II in 336 BC, an age of shifting Spartan then Theban hegemony ending in Macedonian supremacy, and the patchy, partisan source tradition of Xenophon, Diodorus, the Attic orators, Aristotle and the far later Plutarch.
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How did Philip II transform Macedon from a weak border kingdom into the master of Greece between 359 and 338 BC?
The rise of Macedon and Philip II, the weakness of the kingdom before 359 BC, Philip's accession and his reform of the army into the sarissa phalanx and Companion cavalry, the seizure of the Thracian mines that funded his rise, and his expansion into Thessaly, the Chalcidice and central Greece down to 338 BC
A focused answer to the HSC Ancient History period on the rise of Macedon and Philip II from 359 to 338 BC, covering the weak kingdom Philip inherited, his sarissa phalanx and Companion cavalry, the Thracian gold of Pangaeum, the fall of Olynthus in 348 BC, and his mastery of central Greece through the Third Sacred War.
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How did Athens experience the oligarchy of the Thirty Tyrants after its defeat in 404 BC, how was the democracy restored in 403 BC under the amnesty, and how did that charged post-war climate shape the trial of Socrates in 399 BC?
Athens after its defeat in 404 BC, the Spartan-imposed oligarchy of the Thirty Tyrants under Critias and Theramenes, the reign of terror and the killing of metics and democrats, the resistance of Thrasybulus from Phyle and the Piraeus, the civil war and the restoration of the democracy in 403 BC, the amnesty, the trial and execution of Socrates in 399 BC in this charged climate, and Athens' partial recovery
A study of Athens after its defeat in 404 BC - the Spartan-backed oligarchy of the Thirty Tyrants under Critias and Theramenes, the reign of terror and the killing of metics and democrats, the resistance of Thrasybulus from Phyle and the Piraeus, the restoration of the democracy in 403 BC under the amnesty, and the trial of Socrates in 399 BC.
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How did Thebes rise to break Spartan power at Leuctra, and why did its hegemony collapse at Mantinea in 362 BC?
The liberation of Thebes in 379 BC and the rise of Boeotia, Epaminondas and Pelopidas and the Sacred Band, the tactical revolution and the defeat of Sparta at Leuctra in 371 BC, the liberation of Messenia and the founding of Megalopolis, the brief Theban hegemony, and the Battle of Mantinea in 362 BC
A focused answer to the HSC Ancient History dot point on Greece from the liberation of Thebes in 379 BC to Mantinea in 362 BC. The rise of Boeotia under Epaminondas and Pelopidas, the Sacred Band, the oblique-phalanx victory at Leuctra, the liberation of Messenia, and the brief, exhausting Theban hegemony.
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What were the geographical, social, political and economic features of the Greek mainland and the Persian Empire at the start of the fifth century BC?
Survey of the Greek world and the Persian Empire c. 500 BC, the geographical setting, the polis system, the Spartan and Athenian constitutions, the Cleisthenic reforms, and the rise of Achaemenid Persia under Darius I
A focused answer to the HSC Ancient History dot point on the background to the Greek world 500 to 440 BC. The rise of Achaemenid Persia, Ionia under Persian rule, the polis system, the Cleisthenic reforms, Sparta and the Peloponnesian League, and the source base led by Herodotus.
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How was the Delian League founded in 478 BC, what were its aims and organisation, and what did Athenian leadership of the League mean in practice?
How did Athenian democracy develop between 478 and 440 BC, and what were the reforms of Ephialtes and Pericles?
The internal political development of Athens, the reforms of Ephialtes (462 BC), the leadership of Pericles, the introduction of state pay for jurors and officials, the Periclean building program, and the cultural achievements of the period
A focused answer to the HSC Ancient History dot point on the development of Athenian democracy in the period. The reforms of Ephialtes against the Areopagus in 462 BC, the assassination of Ephialtes, the leadership of Pericles, the introduction of state pay (misthos), the citizenship law of 451 BC, the building program, and the cultural achievements.
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What was the First Peloponnesian War, and how did the Greek world look at the end of the period in 440 BC?
The First Peloponnesian War (460 to 446 BC), the long walls, the Egyptian disaster, the Five Years' Truce (451 BC), the Peace of Callias (around 449 BC), the Thirty Years' Peace (446 BC), and the significance of the period
A focused answer to the HSC Ancient History dot point on the First Peloponnesian War and the significance of the Greek world 500 to 440 BC. Tanagra, Oenophyta, Coronea, the Egyptian disaster, the long walls of Athens, the Five Years' Truce, the Peace of Callias, the Euboean revolt of 446 BC, the Thirty Years' Peace, and the legacy of the period.
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How was the Persian invasion finally defeated in 479 BC, and what were the reasons for the Greek victory?
The campaigns of 479 BC at Plataea and Mycale, the role of Pausanias, the end of the Persian invasion, the reasons for the Greek victory, and the immediate consequences for Greek leadership
A focused answer to the HSC Ancient History dot point on the final defeat of the Persian invasion in 479 BC. The Battle of Plataea under Pausanias, the simultaneous victory at Mycale, the reasons for the Greek victory (hoplite warfare, Greek unity, Persian limitations, Themistocles and Pausanias), and the immediate consequences.
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What were the causes and course of the Ionian Revolt and the first Persian invasion of Greece culminating at Marathon?
What were the careers and significance of Themistocles, Pausanias, and Cimon in the Greek world 500 to 440 BC?
How was the Delian League transformed into the Athenian Empire between 478 and 440 BC?
The transformation of the Delian League into the Athenian Empire, the suppression of revolts (Naxos, Thasos, Samos), the Egyptian disaster, the transfer of the treasury to Athens (454 BC), Athenian imperialism, and the methods of control over the allies
A focused answer to the HSC Ancient History dot point on the transformation of the Delian League into the Athenian Empire. Naxos and Thasos, the Egyptian disaster (454 BC), the transfer of the treasury to Athens, the Coinage Decree, the cleruchies, the Samian revolt (440 BC), and the nature of Athenian imperialism.
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What were the course and significance of Xerxes' invasion of Greece in 480 BC, including Thermopylae, Artemisium, and Salamis?
The preparations and invasion of Xerxes (480 BC), the Hellenic League, the battles of Thermopylae, Artemisium, and Salamis, and the strategic role of Themistocles' naval policy
A focused answer to the HSC Ancient History dot point on Xerxes' invasion of Greece in 480 BC. Persian preparations, the Hellenic League and the congress at the Isthmus, the bridging of the Hellespont, the canal at Athos, the battles of Thermopylae and Artemisium, the evacuation of Attica, and the Greek naval victory at Salamis.
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How was the Roman Empire administered under the Julio-Claudians, and what changes did the period see?
How did Claudius and Nero rule, and how is their legacy assessed?
The reigns of Claudius (AD 41-54) and Nero (AD 54-68), the dynastic crisis of AD 68-69, the historiographical assessment of each, and the end of the Julio-Claudian dynasty
Claudius (AD 41-54): Praetorian accession, Britain (AD 43), the freedmen secretariat, Messalina's fall and Nero's adoption. Nero (AD 54-68): the quinquennium, matricide, the Fire of Rome, Piso's conspiracy, and the fall of the dynasty in AD 68-69.
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What was the political and constitutional context of Rome at the death of Augustus in AD 14?
How did Gaius (Caligula) rule from AD 37 to 41, and how reliable is the ancient tradition that condemns him?
How did Julio-Claudian society and culture develop, and how did the emperors manage relations with the Senate, the army and the provinces?
How did Tiberius rule from AD 14 to 37, and how is his reign assessed?
Tiberius's accession and reign (AD 14-37), the role of Sejanus, the treason trials, Tiberius's retirement to Capri, and the historiographical assessment of Tiberius
A focused answer to the HSC Ancient History dot point on Tiberius's reign, AD 14-37: the accession debate, Germanicus's career and death, Sejanus's rise and fall, the maiestas trials, fiscal and frontier record, and the historiography of Tacitus, Velleius, Levick and Seager.
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How did the westward expansion of the Neo-Assyrian empire under Tiglath-pileser III destroy the kingdom of Israel, and how far do the biblical and Assyrian sources let us reconstruct the fall of Samaria in 722 BC?
How did the collapse of Assyria, Josiah's Deuteronomic reform and the rise of Babylon reshape the kingdom of Judah in the seventh and early sixth centuries BC?
How did Judah survive as an Assyrian vassal under Hezekiah, and how do historians reconcile the Assyrian and biblical accounts of Sennacherib's campaign of 701 BC?
What was the nature of power and authority in the kingdoms of Israel and Judah from the Omride ascendancy to the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC, and how do historians reconstruct this period from the Hebrew Bible, Assyrian and Babylonian records and archaeology?
The nature of power and authority in the Levantine kingdoms of Israel and Judah - kingship (the Davidic dynastic ideology in Judah and the more unstable, prophetically designated kingship of the northern kingdom), the covenant and the Jerusalem Temple as sources of royal legitimacy, the prophets as a check on royal power, and the constraint of imperial overlordship under Assyria and then Babylon; and the historiography of the period - the problem of using the Hebrew Bible as a historical source (its theological purpose, the Deuteronomistic History, late editing and the history-versus-faith question), the need to test it against Assyrian and Babylonian records and archaeology, and the modern maximalist and minimalist debate over how much of the biblical narrative is historical
A capstone study-guide answer on power, authority and historiography in the Levant from the Omride ascendancy to the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC - Davidic and northern kingship, covenant, Temple and prophets, imperial overlordship under Assyria and Babylon, and the maximalist-minimalist debate over the Hebrew Bible.
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How did religion, society and economy interact across the Levant from the Omride kingdom to the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC, and how far do the prophetic books, archaeology and Assyrian records let us reconstruct that world?
The thematic cross-section of the period - the development of religion from the worship of Yahweh alongside Baal and Asherah toward the centralising, monotheising reforms of Hezekiah and Josiah and the role of the prophets; the social structure of monarchy, elite and peasantry and the tension between rich and poor; the agrarian economy of oil and wine, trade routes, and the impact of tribute and war; and how religion, society and economy interacted across the period
A thematic cross-section of the Levant from the Omride kings to the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC, covering religion, society and economy - Yahweh worshipped alongside Baal and Asherah, the reforms of Hezekiah and Josiah, the prophets on rich and poor, an oil-and-wine farming economy, and the weight of tribute and war.
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What was the geographical and historical shape of the Levant from about 869 to 586 BC, and what is the nature, range and reliability of the sources historians use to reconstruct it?
Survey and sources for the Levant c. 869-586 BC, the geographical setting of the southern Levant and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah among their neighbours (Aram-Damascus, Phoenicia, Philistia, Moab, Ammon and Edom), caught between the great powers of Assyria, then Babylon, and Egypt, and the nature, range and limitations of the evidence, from the Hebrew Bible (the Deuteronomistic History of Kings, Chronicles and the prophets, handled critically as theological literature) to the Assyrian and Babylonian royal annals and chronicles and the archaeological and epigraphic record (the Mesha Stele, the Tel Dan Stele, the Samaria Ostraca, the Siloam inscription, the Lachish reliefs and the Lachish Letters), and the problem of reconciling biblical and extra-biblical evidence
A survey of the Levant from about 869 to 586 BC, with Israel and Judah caught between Assyria, Babylon and Egypt, and the problem of reconstructing the period from a theological Hebrew Bible set against Assyrian and Babylonian annals and the archaeology of the Mesha and Tel Dan stelae, the Samaria Ostraca, the Siloam inscription and Lachish.
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How and why did the kingdom of Judah fall to Neo-Babylonian power between 605 and 586 BC, and what range of written and archaeological evidence allows historians to reconstruct the siege, destruction and exile that ended it?
Judah's last decades as a Babylonian vassal under Nebuchadnezzar II, from the establishment of Babylonian supremacy in the Levant after Carchemish in 605 BC, through Jehoiakim's revolt, the first capture of Jerusalem and the first deportation of 597 BC (the removal of Jehoiachin to Babylon, confirmed by the Babylonian Chronicle and the Jehoiachin ration tablets), Zedekiah's fatal revolt in reliance on Egypt and against Jeremiah's warnings, and the siege, destruction of the city and Temple and the second and major deportation of 587 or 586 BC (the Babylonian Exile); the fate of the survivors under Gedaliah and the flight to Egypt; and the significance of the Exile for Judaism, reconstructed from 2 Kings, Jeremiah, the Babylonian Chronicle, the Lachish letters and the archaeology of the destruction
Judah's last decades as a Babylonian vassal under Nebuchadnezzar II - the first capture of Jerusalem and deportation of Jehoiachin in 597 BC, Zedekiah's fatal revolt, the destruction of the city and Temple in 587 or 586 BC and the Babylonian Exile, read through 2 Kings, Jeremiah, the Babylonian Chronicle and the Lachish letters.
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How did the divided monarchy of Israel and Judah develop, and how far does the hostile Biblical portrayal of the Omride dynasty match the extra-biblical evidence for its power?
The Levant c. 869 to 586 BC, the divided monarchy of the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah, the Omride dynasty in Israel under Omri and Ahab (c. 874 to 853 BC), Samaria as capital, the marriage to Jezebel of Tyre and the Baal cult, the conflict with the prophets and the wars with Aram-Damascus, the extra-biblical evidence for Omride power (the Mesha Stele, the Kurkh Monolith and the Tel Dan stele) set against the hostile Biblical account, and the dynasty of Jehu
The divided monarchy of Israel and Judah and the Omride dynasty of Omri and Ahab, their capital Samaria, the Jezebel marriage and Baal cult, the clash with Elijah and the wars with Aram, and the extra-biblical evidence (the Mesha Stele, the Kurkh Monolith, the Tel Dan stele) that reveals a powerful state the hostile Bible condemns, then the dynasty of Jehu.
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Why is the reign of Amenhotep III (c. 1390 to 1352 BC) regarded as the golden age of New Kingdom Egypt, and how far did its wealth, art and religious ideas set the stage for the upheaval that followed?
Amenhotep III, the golden age: the wealth, power and international standing of Egypt at its imperial height; the peaceful empire sustained by Amarna diplomacy and marriage alliances; the commemorative scarabs; the building programme from Malkata to the Colossi of Memnon, Luxor and Soleb; the prominence of Queen Tiye; the rise of solar theology, self-deification and the royal jubilees; and the powerful officials of the reign
A study-guide account of Amenhotep III, c. 1390 to 1352 BC, the golden age of New Kingdom Egypt - imperial peace and wealth sustained by Amarna diplomacy and marriage alliances, the commemorative scarabs, the building programme from Malkata to the Colossi of Memnon and Soleb, Queen Tiye, and the rise of solar kingship that foreshadowed Akhenaten.
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How did the reigns of Ay and Horemheb end the 18th Dynasty, complete the restoration after Amarna and rebuild Egypt's order and military strength, and how did Horemheb's choice of successor found the 19th Dynasty?
The end of the 18th Dynasty and the transition to the 19th - the brief reign of Ay (c. 1327-1323 BC), the reign of the general Horemheb (c. 1323-1295 BC), the completion of the restoration, the erasure of the Amarna kings from the king lists, Horemheb's administrative and legal reforms including the Great Edict, his rebuilding of the army and administration and his building at Karnak, and his childless choice of the vizier Paramessu, the future Ramesses I, as successor
The end of the 18th Dynasty and the transition to the 19th - the brief reign of the elderly Ay (c. 1327-1323 BC), the general Horemheb (c. 1323-1295 BC) who completed the restoration, erased the Amarna kings, issued his Great Edict against corruption and rebuilt the army, and his choice of the vizier Paramessu as Ramesses I.
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How was power and authority constructed and exercised across New Kingdom Egypt from Amenhotep III to Ramesses II, and how do historians reconstruct the period from its propaganda, its deliberate erasures and its rare unofficial sources?
The nature of power and authority across New Kingdom Egypt from Amenhotep III to the death of Ramesses II - the ideology of divine kingship taken to its extremes (the self-deification of Amenhotep III and Ramesses II, and Akhenaten's reformulation of the king as the sole intermediary of the Aten), the practical instruments of rule (the army, the bureaucracy, and the wealthy priesthood of Amun as both a support and a rival to the crown), and how the Amarna episode tested and reshaped royal authority; and the historiography of the period, including the propaganda-versus-reality gap epitomised by Kadesh, the deliberate erasure of the Amarna kings, the Amarna Letters as a rare unofficial window, chronological controversy, and the differing interpretations of modern Egyptologists
A focused answer to the HSC Ancient History dot point on power, authority and historiography across New Kingdom Egypt from Amenhotep III to Ramesses II - divine kingship taken to extremes, the Amun priesthood, the Amarna revolution, and reconstructing the period from propaganda, the Kadesh gap, deliberate erasure and the Amarna Letters.
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How did Ramesses II fight the Hittites at Kadesh, turn a near-disaster into a monument of self-glorification, and then secure the ancient world's first surviving peace treaty, and how far can the evidence he left behind be trusted?
The reign of Ramesses II (c. 1279-1213 BC) as the climax of the period, the Battle of Kadesh against Muwatalli II (c. 1274 BC, Year 5) and its commemoration in the Poem and Bulletin, the Egyptian-Hittite peace treaty with Hattusili III (c. 1259 BC, Year 21) and the diplomatic marriage, and the great building program at Abu Simbel, the Ramesseum, Pi-Ramesses, Karnak and Luxor
The climax of the period - Ramesses II the Great (c. 1279-1213 BC), the near-disaster and propaganda triumph of the Battle of Kadesh (c. 1274 BC) against the Hittites, the world's earliest surviving peace treaty with Hattusili III (c. 1259 BC), the diplomatic marriage, and the vast building program from Abu Simbel to Pi-Ramesses.
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How did Ramesses I and Seti I found the nineteenth dynasty and restore Egyptian imperial power, and how did Seti I's reign set up the reign of Ramesses II?
The founding of the nineteenth dynasty under Ramesses I (c. 1295-1294 BC); the reign of Seti I (c. 1294-1279 BC) as restorer of imperial power - the campaigns in the Levant, the first clashes with the Hittites over Syria and the recapture of Kadesh and Amurru, and the campaigns in Nubia and against the Libyans, recorded in the Karnak war reliefs; the building program (the Abydos temple and king list, the Great Hypostyle Hall at Karnak, and tomb KV17); and the training and possible co-regency of the young Ramesses II
The founding of the nineteenth dynasty by Ramesses I (c. 1295-1294 BC) and the reign of Seti I (c. 1294-1279 BC) as restorer of imperial power - the Levant, Hittite, Nubian and Libyan campaigns, the Karnak war reliefs, the Abydos temple and king list, the Great Hypostyle Hall, tomb KV17, and the training of the young Ramesses II.
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How did society, religion and administration develop across New Kingdom Egypt from Amenhotep III to the death of Ramesses II?
The thematic cross-section of the period - the administration of the mature empire (the two viziers, the Viceroy of Kush, the army as a route to the throne, the growth of the Amun priesthood and its temple estates); the religious swing from Amun-centred orthodoxy, through the Aten of Akhenaten, to the Ramesside restoration, the rise of personal piety and the cult of the deified king; and society (the workmen of Deir el-Medina, royal women, scribes and officials, and the shift of the capital north to Pi-Ramesse), c. 1390-1213 BC
A focused answer to the HSC Ancient History Section IV dot point on how society, religion and administration developed from Amenhotep III to the death of Ramesses II - the two viziers and the Viceroy of Kush, the army as a route to the throne, the swing from Amun to the Aten to the Ramesside restoration, personal piety, Deir el-Medina and Pi-Ramesse.
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What was the geographical and historical setting of New Kingdom Egypt from Amenhotep III to the death of Ramesses II, and what range of sources, with what limitations, allows historians to reconstruct the golden age, the Amarna revolution and the Ramesside recovery?
Survey and sources: the geographical and historical setting of the late Eighteenth and Nineteenth Dynasties from Amenhotep III to the death of Ramesses II (c. 1390-1213 BC); the sequence of reigns across the golden age, the Amarna revolution, the restoration and the Ramesside recovery; and the nature, range and limitations of the sources, from temple reliefs and royal stelae to the Amarna Letters, the tomb evidence, the Kadesh accounts, the Egyptian-Hittite treaty and the later king-lists
A study-guide survey of the HSC Ancient History period New Kingdom Egypt from Amenhotep III to the death of Ramesses II (c. 1390-1213 BC), covering the golden age, the Amarna revolution, the restoration and the Ramesside recovery, and the range and limits of its sources from temple reliefs to the Amarna Letters, the Kadesh accounts and the king-lists.
14 min answer →
How far did the Amarna period under Akhenaten disrupt the religious, cultural and imperial order of New Kingdom Egypt?
How did the reign of Tutankhamun reverse the Aten revolution and restore the traditional cults, and how do the Restoration Stela, the near-intact tomb KV62 and the Hittite records let us reconstruct a short reign dominated by powerful officials?
How did Amenhotep I and Thutmose I consolidate the early Eighteenth Dynasty and transform Egypt from a recovering Nile kingdom into an empire reaching from the Euphrates to deep Nubia?
The reigns of Amenhotep I and Thutmose I, the consolidation of the early Eighteenth Dynasty, campaigns in Nubia and Syria, the expansion of the empire to the Euphrates and Kurgus, the founding of the Deir el-Medina workmen's village, the first royal burial in the Valley of the Kings, and building at Karnak
A study-guide answer on New Kingdom Egypt under Amenhotep I and Thutmose I. Amenhotep I's consolidation, Nubian campaigns and later cult at Deir el-Medina, then Thutmose I's expansion to the Euphrates and Kurgus, his Valley of the Kings burial and Karnak building, and how a Nile kingdom became an empire.
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How did Amenhotep II and Thutmose IV consolidate the empire of Thutmose III, and how did the period close with a shift from military conquest to international diplomacy?
How did the early New Kingdom build, run and pay for an empire, and how did that empire reshape Egyptian society and the crown to the death of Thutmose IV?
The nature of the early New Kingdom empire: the professional army (chariotry, the composite bow, the divisions and the decorated elite); the administration of empire (the two viziers, the Viceroy of Kush, the garrisons and vassal princes of Syria-Palestine, tribute and inw); the economic basis (Nubian gold, Levantine tribute, temple estates); and the impact of empire on Egyptian society and the monarchy
A focused answer to the HSC Ancient History Section IV dot point on the machinery of the early New Kingdom empire. The professional chariot army and composite bow, the two viziers, the Viceroy of Kush, the garrisons and vassal princes of Syria-Palestine, tribute and inw, Nubian gold and temple estates, and how empire reshaped Egypt.
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How did the Theban rulers expel the Hyksos and how did Ahmose I found the Eighteenth Dynasty and the New Kingdom?
How did Hatshepsut legitimise her assumption of full kingship, and how did the sole reign of Thutmose III build the Egyptian empire to its height?
The co-regency and Hatshepsut's assumption of kingship (c. 1473-1458 BC), her legitimation through the divine birth, the Deir el-Bahri temple, the Punt expedition, the obelisks and the role of Senenmut; the sole reign of Thutmose III (to c. 1425 BC), his seventeen campaigns in Syria-Palestine, the Battle of Megiddo and the Karnak Annals, the crossing of the Euphrates and the empire at its height; and the later erasure of Hatshepsut's monuments
A focused answer to the HSC Ancient History Historical Periods dot point on Hatshepsut and Thutmose III. The co-regency, Hatshepsut's legitimation through divine birth, Deir el-Bahri, the Punt expedition and obelisks, Senenmut, then Thutmose III's seventeen campaigns, Megiddo, the Euphrates and the Karnak Annals, and the later erasure of Hatshepsut.
14 min answer →
How did the early New Kingdom pharaohs construct and exercise power and authority, and how do historians reconstruct the period from its propagandistic and fragmentary sources?
The nature of power and authority in early New Kingdom Egypt - divine kingship and Ma'at, the smiting-pharaoh image and royal titulary, the practical instruments of rule (the professional army, the bureaucracy and viziers, the priesthood of Amun and the royal women, including the God's Wife of Amun), and the crown's relationship with the emerging Amun establishment; and the historiography of the period, including the problems of propagandistic official sources, monument erasure and usurpation, chronological uncertainty and the tomb-biography perspective, and the interpretations of modern Egyptologists
A focused answer to the HSC Ancient History dot point on power, authority and historiography in New Kingdom Egypt to the death of Thutmose IV. Divine kingship and Ma'at, the army, bureaucracy, Amun priesthood and the God's Wife of Amun, and reconstructing the period from propagandistic official sources.
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How did religion and the cult of Amun shape royal power in New Kingdom Egypt to the death of Thutmose IV?
What was the geographical and historical setting of New Kingdom Egypt from Ahmose I to the death of Thutmose IV, and what range of sources allows historians to reconstruct the period?
How did Octavian emerge as Caesar's heir after the Ides of March?
How did Cambyses II conquer Egypt and add it to the Achaemenid empire, why do the Greek and Egyptian sources give such different portraits of his rule there, and how did his death in 522 BC produce the succession crisis that brought Darius I to power?
How did Cyrus II the Great overthrow the Medes and conquer Lydia and Babylon to found the Achaemenid empire, and how do the surviving sources present his model of imperial rule?
How did Darius I seize and justify the Persian throne in 522 BC, and how did his reorganisation of the empire mark the Achaemenid state at its administrative height?
Darius I, accession and organisation: the seizure of power in 522 BC and the killing of Gaumata/Bardiya, the Behistun Inscription as Darius's own justificatory account, the suppression of the empire-wide revolts of 522-521 BC, the great reorganisation into about 20 satrapies with fixed tribute, the Royal Road and postal relay, the daric coinage, the King's Eye, the Nile to Red Sea canal, the building of Persepolis and Susa, and the campaigns in Scythia and on the north-west frontier
How Darius I seized the throne in 522 BC and justified it on the Behistun Inscription, crushed the empire-wide revolts, then reorganised the empire into about 20 satrapies with fixed tribute, the Royal Road, the daric and the King's Eye, built Persepolis and Susa and campaigned in Scythia - the empire at its administrative height.
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Why did the Achaemenid empire fall to Alexander of Macedon between 334 and 330 BC, and how far can the Persian side of that collapse be recovered from hostile Greek and Roman sources?
Darius III and the conquest by Alexander: the accession of Darius III in 336 BC amid the court murders of Bagoas; the Macedonian invasion of 334 BC; the three defeats at Granicus (334 BC), Issus (333 BC) and Gaugamela (331 BC) assessed from the Persian side; the fall of Babylon, Susa and Persepolis (burned 330 BC); the flight and murder of Darius III by Bessus in 330 BC; the end of the Achaemenid empire and the debate over why it fell; and the Persian legacy under Alexander and the Successors
Darius III from the Persian side - his accession amid Bagoas's court murders, the Macedonian invasion of 334 BC, the three defeats at Granicus, Issus and Gaugamela, the fall of Babylon, Susa and Persepolis, his murder by Bessus in 330 BC, the end of the Achaemenid empire, and the debate over why it fell.
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What was the nature of power and authority in the Achaemenid empire from Cyrus II to Darius III, and how have ancient and modern historians interpreted it?
What was the geographical extent and character of the Achaemenid empire from its foundation to its fall, and what range of sources survives to reconstruct its history?
Survey and sources for Persia from Cyrus II to the death of Darius III, the geographical and historical extent of the Achaemenid empire from its foundation c. 550 BC to its fall in 330 BC, the diversity of its subject peoples, and the nature, range and limitations of the evidence, from the Persian royal inscriptions, Persepolis reliefs and administrative tablets and the Babylonian and Egyptian records to the dominant but hostile Greek literary tradition of Herodotus, Ctesias, Xenophon and Arrian
A geographical and historical survey of the Achaemenid Persian empire from Cyrus II about 550 BC to its fall to Alexander in 330 BC, its vast extent and diversity, and the sources problem of writing Persian history from a dominant hostile Greek tradition set against the Persian royal and archaeological record.
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How did the Achaemenid empire under Darius I manage the Ionian Revolt and the first invasion of Greece, and how far does the largely Greek evidence let us reconstruct the imperial view of Marathon?
The Ionian Revolt (499 to 494 BC), the burning of Sardis and the involvement of Athens and Eretria, the Persian reconquest and the sack of Miletus in 494 BC, Darius I's punitive response, the first invasion of Greece under Mardonius (492 BC) and Datis and Artaphernes (490 BC), the sack of Eretria and the defeat at Marathon, assessed from the imperial perspective
A focused HSC Ancient History answer on Persia from the Ionian Revolt to Marathon, read from the imperial side. Aristagoras and the burning of Sardis, the reconquest at Lade and the sack of Miletus in 494 BC, Darius' punitive policy, Mardonius in 492 BC, Datis and Artaphernes in 490 BC, and Marathon as a frontier reverse.
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How formidable was the Achaemenid empire between the accession of Artaxerxes I and the reign of Artaxerxes III, and is the traditional narrative of decline sustained by the evidence?
How did Xerxes secure and rule the Achaemenid Empire between 486 and 465 BC, and did the failed invasion of Greece mark a turning point in the history of Persia?
How did the long reign of Emperor Wu turn the Han from a consolidating dynasty into an expansionist empire, and at what fiscal and human cost did his wars, monopolies and Confucian settlement come?
Emperor Wu of Han (141-87 BC) as the climax of the period, including the shift from the heqin marriage-alliance policy to offensive war against the Xiongnu under Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, expansion into the Hexi (Gansu) corridor and the Western Regions (Zhang Qian's missions and the War of the Heavenly Horses), the annexation of Nanyue and northern Vietnam and the conquest of Gojoseon (Korea), the fiscal reforms that paid for the wars (the salt and iron monopolies, the equable-transport and price-stabilisation systems, and the wuzhu currency reform), the adoption of Confucianism as state orthodoxy under Dong Zhongshu and the imperial academy (Taixue, 124 BC), the mounting costs of expansion and Emperor Wu's later self-criticism, and his death in 87 BC
A focused answer to the HSC Ancient History dot point on the reign of Emperor Wu of Han from 141 to 87 BC. His offensive Xiongnu wars under Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, expansion into Central Asia, Nanyue and Korea, the salt and iron monopolies and equable transport, Confucian orthodoxy under Dong Zhongshu, and the fiscal costs of empire.
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What was the nature of power and authority across the Qin and Han from 247 to 87 BC, and how have the Han-court sources and the archaeological record shaped the way that power has been interpreted?
How did the Qin imperial system of 221 to 210 BC, built on the commandery-county bureaucracy, Legalist law and the standardisation of the empire, make the First Emperor's state so effective and yet so brittle, and how far can the hostile Han tradition be trusted on its coercion?
Qin Shi Huangdi and the Legalist state, 221 to 210 BC: the abolition of the feudal fiefs and the commandery-county (jun-xian) bureaucracy, Legalism (Li Si and Han Feizi) as state doctrine and rule by reward and punishment, the standardisation of script, weights, measures, coinage and cart axle-widths, the great public works, and the coercion of the reign (the burning of the books in 213 BC and the alleged burying of the scholars in 212 BC), assessed through the Shiji and the Shuihudi legal slips, with a judgement on why the system was both effective and short-lived
A focused answer to the HSC Ancient History period dot point on the Qin imperial state from 221 to 210 BC - the abolition of the fiefs and the commandery-county bureaucracy, Legalism under Li Si and Han Feizi, standardisation, the great public works, and the coercion of 213 and 212 BC - and why the system was both effective and brittle.
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What was the geographical and historical shape of imperial China from the accession of the future First Emperor as King of Qin in 247 BC to the death of Emperor Wu of Han in 87 BC, and what range of sources survives to reconstruct it?
Survey and sources for imperial China from the accession of the future First Emperor as King of Qin in 247 BC to the death of Emperor Wu of Han in 87 BC, the geographical setting and the historical arc from the Warring States through Qin unification in 221 BC and the fall of Qin to the founding and consolidation of the Han empire, and the nature, range and limitations of the evidence, above all Sima Qian's Shiji and Ban Gu's Hanshu, both Han-era grand histories, corrected by the contemporary archaeology of the terracotta army, the Qin legal and administrative slips and the Mawangdui Han tombs
A geographical and historical survey of imperial China from the accession of the future First Emperor as King of Qin in 247 BC to the death of Emperor Wu of Han in 87 BC, the arc from Warring States to Qin unification to Han empire, and the problem of writing it from Sima Qian's Han-era Shiji, corrected by the terracotta army and the Qin and Han slips.
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How did the Han fuse a Legalist administrative machine inherited from Qin with Confucian ethics and cosmology to build a bureaucratic Confucian empire, and why did that synthesis become the template for imperial China?
How and why did the Qin dynasty collapse so rapidly after 210 BC, and how did the Chu-Han contention between Xiang Yu and Liu Bang end in the founding of the Han?
How did Liu Bang found and stabilise the Han dynasty after the collapse of Qin, and how far did the early Han settlement, tempering the Qin system rather than abandoning it, consolidate the empire before the reign of Emperor Wu?
The founding of the Han dynasty in 202 BC by Liu Bang, Emperor Gaozu, and the early Han settlement, the retention of the Qin commandery bureaucracy alongside a tempering of Legalism through lighter laws, lower taxes and Huang-Lao government, the compromise between centralisation and feudalism in the re-granting and later suppression of the kingdoms, the Xiongnu problem and the heqin marriage-alliance policy, and the consolidation under Empress Lu and the Rule of Wen and Jing down to the eve of Emperor Wu
The founding of the Han dynasty in 202 BC by Liu Bang, Emperor Gaozu, and the early Han settlement - keeping the Qin commandery machinery while tempering Legalism with light Huang-Lao government, compromising with re-granted kingdoms, appeasing the Xiongnu by heqin marriage, and consolidating through the Rule of Wen and Jing before Emperor Wu.
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How did the western state of Qin rise to conquer the six rival warring states and unify China by 221 BC, and why did Qin, rather than any of its rivals, achieve it?
The rise of the state of Qin and the unification of China, the Legalist reforms of Shang Yang from about 356 BC that made Qin a militarised meritocratic state, the geographical and material advantages of the western state, the accession of the young King Zheng in 246 BC under the regency of Lu Buwei, the systematic conquest of the six warring states from 230 to 221 BC and the strategy behind it, and the proclamation of the First Emperor Shi Huangdi in 221 BC, reconstructed critically from Sima Qian
How the western state of Qin rose through Shang Yang's Legalist reforms from about 356 BC to conquer the six warring states and unify China by 221 BC, its geographic and institutional advantages, the strategy of the conquest of 230 to 221 BC, and the proclamation of the First Emperor, read critically through Sima Qian.
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How and why did Han foreign relations move from the heqin appeasement of the Xiongnu to Emperor Wu's offensive wars and the opening of the Silk Road, and how significant were the Central Asian contacts that Zhang Qian's missions began?
How did religion and propaganda support the Augustan regime?
Religion, propaganda, and the Pax Romana, including the Ara Pacis, the Res Gestae, the imperial cult, the religious revival, the Augustan poets, and the visual program of the new Rome
A focused answer to the HSC Ancient History dot point on Augustan religion and propaganda. The Ara Pacis Augustae, the Res Gestae Divi Augusti, the imperial cult, the religious revival (Vesta, Pontifex Maximus, pomerium), the Augustan poets (Virgil, Horace, Livy), the Pax Romana, and the verdicts of Galinsky, Zanker, and Syme.
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How did Caesar's Gallic command and the breakdown of the First Triumvirate bring the Roman Republic to civil war in 49 BC?
How did the extraordinary commands of Pompey, the wealth of Crassus and the political crises of the 60s BC raise a new kind of dynast whose ambitions the Republic's constitution could no longer contain?
The rise of the dynasts in the period after Sulla, the extraordinary commands granted to Pompey by the lex Gabinia against the pirates in 67 BC and the lex Manilia against Mithridates in 66 BC and Pompey's settlement of the East, the wealth and ambition of Crassus, the politics of the consular decade at Rome including the Catilinarian Conspiracy of 63 BC and the rise of Caesar, and the Senate's short-sighted refusal to ratify Pompey's eastern settlement, to grant land to his veterans and to relieve Crassus's publicani, the blunder that drove the three men into a coalition
The extraordinary commands that made Pompey the first man of Rome, the lex Gabinia against the pirates in 67 BC and the lex Manilia against Mithridates in 66 BC, the wealth and ambition of Crassus, Cicero and the crushing of Catiline in 63 BC, and the Senate's refusal to ratify Pompey's eastern settlement that drove the dynasts together.
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What was the nature of power and authority in the late Roman Republic, why did a constitution built for a city-state collapse under the demands of a Mediterranean empire, and how have ancient and modern historians disagreed over whether that collapse was inevitable?
The nature of power and authority in the late Roman Republic and the causes of its fall from 78 to 42 BC, the structural tension between a city-state constitution and the demands of a Mediterranean empire, the professionalised client-armies loyal to their generals after the Marian reforms, the breakdown of senatorial collegiality into dynastic competition, extraordinary commands, the optimates and populares struggle, mob violence, provincial wealth and electoral bribery, and the great historiographical debate from the ancient moral-decline reading of Sallust and the biographical great-man tradition to Syme's prosopographical Roman Revolution, Gruen's argument that the Republic was not doomed, and the modern debate over inevitability
A focused answer to the HSC Ancient History dot point on power, authority and historiography in the fall of the Roman Republic 78 to 42 BC - why a city-state constitution buckled under empire and client armies, and the great debate from Sallust's moral decline to Syme's oligarchic revolution and Gruen's contingent collapse.
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What was the political and constitutional shape of Rome from the death of Sulla in 78 BC to the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC, and what range of sources survives to reconstruct the terminal crisis of the Republic?
Survey and sources for the fall of the Roman Republic from the death of Sulla in 78 BC to the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC, the workings of the Republican constitution (Senate, magistrates, assemblies and the optimates-populares divide) as background, the historical arc from the aftermath of Sulla through the rise of the army-backed dynasts, the civil wars of 49 to 45 BC and the assassination of Caesar to the Second Triumvirate and Philippi, and the nature, range and limitations of the evidence, above all the contemporary but partisan testimony of Cicero, Caesar and Sallust and the later narratives of Plutarch, Appian, Cassius Dio, Suetonius and Velleius, and the distorting pull of the inevitable-decline narrative
A survey of the fall of the Roman Republic from the death of Sulla in 78 BC to the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC, the terminal crisis of the constitution and the rise of the dynasts, and the problem of writing it from partisan contemporaries like Cicero, Caesar and Sallust and later narrators such as Plutarch, Appian and Cassius Dio.
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How stable was the Republic that Sulla left behind at his death in 78 BC, and how far had his settlement been undone by the consulship of Pompey and Crassus in 70 BC?
How did the great civil war of 49 to 45 BC destroy the Roman Republic in practice and leave Caesar the master of the Roman world?
The civil war 49 to 45 BC, Caesar's seizure of Italy and Pompey's withdrawal to Greece, the Spanish campaign at Ilerda, the decisive battle of Pharsalus (48 BC) and Pompey's murder in Egypt, the Alexandrian War and Cleopatra, the defeat of the Pompeians and optimates at Zela (47 BC), Thapsus (46 BC) and Munda (45 BC), Caesar's accumulating dictatorships and clementia, and the replacement of the Republic in practice by the rule of one man
How the great civil war of 49 to 45 BC ended the Roman Republic in practice - Caesar's seizure of Italy, Pompey's withdrawal to Greece and defeat at Pharsalus, his murder in Egypt, and the mopping-up at Zela, Thapsus and Munda that left Caesar master of the Roman world through clementia and accumulating dictatorships.
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How did the informal pact of 60 BC and Caesar's consulship of 59 BC weaken the constitutional government of the Roman Republic?
Why did the killing of Caesar on the Ides of March 44 BC fail to restore the Republic, and why could the Republic no longer be revived once he was dead?
How did the Second Triumvirate and the defeat of the Liberators at Philippi in 42 BC bring the Roman Republic to its effective end?
How did Octavian defeat Antony and Cleopatra to become master of the Roman world?
The Second Triumvirate (43 to 33 BC), the Battle of Philippi (42 BC), Antony's Eastern policy and his alliance with Cleopatra, the propaganda war, and the Battle of Actium (31 BC)
The Second Triumvirate (43 BC) to Actium (31 BC) - the lex Titia, the proscriptions, Philippi (42 BC), Brundisium, Misenum, Naulochus, the Donations of Alexandria, the propaganda war, and Octavian's victory at Actium and Alexandria.
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What were Augustus's social and moral reforms?
How did Augustus manage the succession and what was the impact of his death?
The succession problem under Augustus, including the candidates (Marcellus, Agrippa, Gaius and Lucius Caesar, Tiberius, Agrippa Postumus), the role of Livia, and the death of Augustus in AD 14
A focused answer to the HSC Ancient History dot point on the Augustan succession. The structural problem (no throne to inherit), the heirs and their fates (Marcellus, Agrippa, Gaius and Lucius Caesar, Tiberius, Agrippa Postumus), Livia's role, the AD 14 death and transmission, and the verdicts of Syme, Levick, Barrett and Goldsworthy.
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