A-LEVEL CLASSICAL CIVILISATION CIV2D Athenian Imperialism Report on the Examination 2020 June 2017 Version: 1.0
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General Comments It is clear that students have continued to enjoy their study of the Athenian Empire with most students revealing at least a general appreciation of the transformation from Delian League to Empire, and the reasons for, and stages of, the subsequent wars and eventual end of Empire. This year there was a reasonably even split in Section 1 with slightly more students choosing to answer the Option A questions on the inscriptions as opposed to those who felt more comfortable discussing the early Delian League in Option B. Similarly for Section 2, a few more opted for the Athenian speakers essay in Section C rather than the later Empire discussion in Section D. Section 1 Option A Question 01 required some points concerning the attempt by Erythrai to rebel from the League and/or refuse to pay their tribute, however many students only made one quick point and so only achieved one mark. The details of punishments sought for 02 often produced very general (or incorrect) responses; the decree was quite specific here and it was disappointing that this question was not more confidently answered. Question 03 needed close reference to the passage to demonstrate the Athenian determination to keep Erythrai loyal. Performance was, as ever on this sort of question, quite mixed. About three quarters of responses reached Level 3, usually by picking out three or four key phrases or sentences from the passage for discussion. The best answers looked at alternative motives demonstrated by the passage, several suggesting that total subjugation seems to have been the principal aim. An interesting point, often brought up more profitably in 04, was the degree to which the imposition of an Athenian-style democratic government would create loyalty and how much it would further antagonise the people who were used to an oligarchic pattern of government. Essays on the inscriptions have often been poorly done in the past. It was gratifying to see the greater extent of students knowledge on these this year in 04, even if a number of responses confused the details for Kolophon, Khalkis and the Kleinias decree; Kleinias was sometimes mistakenly taken to be a rebellious city. Most however focused quite well on attempts by Athens to deal harshly rather than sympathetically with the allies. A few considered the allies en masse, discussing whether the effect on the ally being punished was less important than the need to ensure unity among all the allies. Here it was useful to refer to those inscriptions which referred to Athens and the allies and those which mentioned Athens alone. Around half of responses reached Level 4, confirming that the inscriptions are no longer a point of weakness. Option B The short questions here were poorly answered on the whole. Question 05 was generally known (Athens and Piraeus) but those who regarded points as requiring dates were given due credit for an accurate answer. For 06, too many students gave very vague responses ( they stopped enemies attacking or similar) and missed the mark. In 07 fewer than one in five demonstrated any accurate knowledge about the Spartan withdrawal from Tanagra or the Athenian return to gain an easy victory. There were few strong responses to 08. Few students failed to point out that the Egyptian Campaign fitted the original anti-persian aims of the Delian League; many went on to produce a counter argument based on whether the League should have been disbanded following the battle of Eurymedon, so rendering its very existence (and therefore the Egyptian campaign) unconstitutional. Many left it there without any specific detail or judgement between these opposing 3 of 5
views. Question 09 asked about Spartan interference in the Delian League. Some students produced the standard Delian League essay without more than a passing reference to Sparta. These responses failed to reach Level 3. Rather more repeated this formula, concluding each paragraph by so Sparta had no influence here, or similar. These did slightly better, but the successful essays usually set the League in context with the removal of Pausanias and effective withdrawal of Sparta. They went on to discuss briefly the early actions where Sparta remained aloof, before focusing on the Spartan response to the revolt of Thasos. Many stopped at this point which was a shame as the events that followed the Egyptian campaign saw Sparta and Athens finally coming to blows (the situations regarding Aegina and Megara etc); few responses mentioned this integral part of the question. Fewer responses reached Level 3 here than on 04; conversely, the majority of the very best twenty mark essays were on this question rather than 04. Section 2 Again it is necessary to repeat that, for the 30 mark questions, 12 marks only are allocated to AO1 knowledge. This continues to be the main reason why many responses do not reach the Level 4 boundary. To gain the 18 marks allocated for understanding and evaluation, students must make use of their knowledge to respond directly to the question. Generally a more concise and thoughtful answer will achieve the higher levels of the mark scheme than a rushed longer essay. This year the questions asked students to discuss Athenian speeches with regard to their audiences, or the reasons for the defeat in Sicily and the loss of empire. Essays that did not supply a focused answer did not score many understanding and evaluation marks, however much factual content they contained. Option C The students answering Question 10 on speeches and their audiences generally showed impressive knowledge. Many essays were full of direct quotations, almost always of high relevance. The vast majority of these essays reached Level 3. About a third of these who considered the question of audience from the title generally went on to reach Level 4. The best could often be distinguished by their coverage of the Mytilenian Debate; those who had ignored or misunderstood the term audience focused on the levels of unfairness Cleon and Diodotus demonstrated towards the allies here. Better essays first identified that the audience here was the Athenian people, with the interests of the allies something of a red herring. This led to a relevant discussion on whether Athenian demagogues put themselves or their city first. Generally better done were examples where the foreign city was being directly addressed and so became the audience. For example there was often excellent coverage of the Athenians cruel lack of regard for the Melians. All in all there was much here to commend, although as always there were many missed opportunities from students who failed to keep in mind the phrasing of the question. Option D The general points on focus were even more important in Question 11. Many students had in mind and reproduced the standard essay on poor Athenian leadership in Sicily. This was extremely relevant here while discussing the degree to which Athens underestimated its enemies in Sicily and afterwards. However essays which focused on leadership sometimes without a single reference to overestimation were restricted in the level of the mark scheme they could reach (see above). It was most gratifying to see a much higher level of knowledge concerning the events of the post-sicily years than has been apparent in the past. The better responses continued to focus on the title, often claiming that, even after the disasters in Sicily, the end of the Athenian Empire 4 of 5
was not inevitable. They cited the key times when Athens rejected offers of peace from Sparta, showing that they still did not accept that other powers had overtaken them and that they should have, to quote one response, quit while they were ahead. There were a number of very good responses in this vein, even if there were rather more weak answers here than on Question 10. Use of statistics Statistics used in this report may be taken from incomplete processing data. However, this data still gives a true account on how students have performed for each question. Mark Ranges and Award of Grades Grade boundaries and cumulative percentage grades are available on the Results Statistics page of the AQA Website. 5 of 5