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Hello and welcome to the A Level Classical Civilisation “New Starters” activity pages.

My name is Sarah Bell and I’m the Head of Classical Civilisation, Philosophy and Religion and Ethics at Reigate College. I’m looking forward to welcoming you in person at the beginning of the academic year and sharing my passion for Classics.

In the meantime, I’m going to be setting a series of activities for you to complete over the coming months. These are designed to not only fuel your enthusiasm, but also show how important classical studies are to our understanding of the modern world. For most of you, this will be a new subject, so these tasks will also give you a great insight into studying Classics at A Level.

At A Level you will be expected to work independently and motivate yourself, so use this time as a training session. I’m looking forward to discussing your findings when we meet in September.

The tasks are organised in three distinct steps and should all be completed by Choices Day on 25 August 2026. This is to give you the best insight into what the courses will be like and/or help prepare you for them.

Please note, some Course Leaders (for example for Music) may release their tasks earlier, as they may form part of the College’s audition process. If this applies to you, you’ll be notified separately.

New Starters Course Tasks and Activities

Release date Suggested Completion Dates
Explore your Subject1 June 1 July
Get Going1 June1 August
Aim High1 June1 September

Explore your Subject

The Trojan War

One of the key texts you will be reading as part of your Classical Civilisation course is Homer’s Odyssey.  This is the story of the adventures had by the hero Odysseus during his voyage home from the war against Troy.

  • As an introduction and to give you some background information, please begin by watching the following Turkish broadcast about the British Museum’s exhibition on the Greek world, Troy: Myth and Reality. 
  • Make some notes on things you find particularly interesting and then jot down your thoughts on this question: Homer’s epic accounts of the Trojan War are among the most influential narratives in world history. But are they rooted in reality – or mere myth?

Read the article by Classicist Dr Daisy Dunn and then answer the following questions:

  • Why is the author sceptical about whether the war of Troy ever happened in the first place?
  • What do you think the example of the Trojan War reveals about some of the problems of knowing anything for sure about the ancient world?

Get Going

The Ara Pacis

Use the links below to research the Ara Pacis monument and answer the following questions:

  1. Who decided to build the Ara Pacis? Who were they?
  2. When was it built?
  3. What does the name ‘Ara Pacis’ mean?
  4. What is the Pax Romana? How might the Latin phrase link to this building?
  5. Which mythological creatures appear on the Ara Pacis? Why might they have been chosen?
  6. Which Roman figures may be represented on the processional scenes? Who were they?
  7. Why do people still visit the Ara Pacis today?

Khan Academy: Ara Pacis article

Ancient World Magazine: The Altar of Peace – The Pax Romana made Manifest

Google Arts and Culture: Museo dell’Ara Pacis

Aim High

The Delphic Oracle: In Our Time podcast

Listen to this In Our Time podcast on BBC Sounds (you will need an iplayer account, although you should be able to access this on other podcast providers) and try and answer as many of these questions, in as much detail as possible. You may have to pause the podcast to write down your answers and don’t feel you have to tackle it all in one go. You can always do 10 minutes of the podcast at a time, just make a note of where you get up to.

The setting

  1. Describe the location of Delphi.
  2. Between what dates was Delphi popular?
  3. What is the myth about Zeus and Delphi?
  4. What is the myth about how Apollo found Delphi?
  5. When did it emerge as an important settlement?

The Greeks

  1. What word did the Greeks not have a word for?
  2. What unites all Greeks? What examples does Paul Cartledge give?
  3. How did the Greeks envisage their gods and goddesses?
  4. What do we learn about heroes?
  5. Why did the Greeks need to find out the will of the gods?

Delphi and Apollo

  1. What do you find out about the god Apollo from Nick Lowe?
  2. Why does Edith Hall think the experience of visiting the oracle was exciting? Give as many reasons as possible.

Delphi and its influence

  1. Why does Cartledge describe Delphi as a gigantic war memorial?
  2. What was put up in 479 BC and why?
  3. How often could the Pythia (the priestess of Apollo who gave the oracles) be consulted?

Gifts

  1. What do “gifts” have to do with Delphi?

The Pythia

  1. What is unusual about the Pythia?
  2. What else does Edith Hall tell us about her?
  3. What do we learn about the process of consultation?

Bribery and interpretation

  1. Was the oracle open to bribery?
  2. What is the most common type of answer from the oracle?
  3. What was special about Delphi compared to other ways of finding out the will of the gods?

Specific Examples

  1. Explain how Croesus gets the oracle wrong.
  2. Explain why Xenephon ran into trouble with his consultation.
  3. How did the use of Delphi die out?
Sarah Bell
Head of Classical Civilisation, Philosophy and Religion and Ethics
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