Roman Civilisation

A judgement, not a fact list

The civilisation paper gives you a topic from Roman life, some ancient sources about it, and asks for a response. It is tempting to answer by writing down everything you know. That earns the knowledge marks and stops there. The higher marks are for something else, and it is a skill rather than a stock of facts. ⭐⭐ The exam wants two things together. Knowledge of the topic, and the use of an ancient SOURCE to support a JUDGEMENT about it. Knowing that Romans went to the baths is knowledge. Using a writer description of the baths to argue what they were really for, and saying how far that writer can be trusted, is the judgement. ⭐ And every source has to be weighed, because the people of the ancient world did not write things down for us. They wrote for their own reasons. So before you lean on a source, ask three questions: WHO made it, WHEN, and WHY. Those decide how much weight it will bear. The prescribed topics change from time to time, so this module does not drill one of them. It teaches the skill that works on ALL of them, using ordinary, well-established parts of Roman life, daily life at home, entertainment, religion, the army, and Britain as a Roman province, as the examples. ⚠️ Carry one question through the module: what does this source show, and how much weight will it bear?

Two kinds of ancient source

The evidence for Roman life comes in two broad kinds, and each is strong where the other is weak. A good answer knows what to ask of each.

Tap the two that weaken a source

You are judging how far to trust a written account of an emperor. Tap the TWO facts that would make you trust it LESS.

• The writer depended on that emperor for his position and safety.
• The account was written long after the events, from stories passed down.
• The account is written in elegant, correct Latin.
• The account is fairly short.

The historian who owed a favour

An ancient historian writes a glowing account of an emperor, and depended on that emperor for his own position. How should a careful student treat the account?

• Use it, but weigh it with care, since the writer had a reason to flatter, which lowers how far it can be trusted without making it worthless
• Throw it out entirely, because anyone with a reason to flatter is worthless as a source
• Believe it fully, since it was written at the time by someone close to events
• Ignore who wrote it, because only what the source says matters

Words for using the sources

Five terms the civilisation paper expects you to use precisely. Each is part of turning a source into a judgement.

Match each source to what it reveals

Two that make a strong response

Select the TWO things that turn a description of Roman life into the evaluative answer the paper rewards.

• Using a source as evidence for a particular claim, rather than just retelling it
• Weighing how far the source can be trusted, given who made it and why
• Listing as many facts about Rome as possible
• Believing the source completely because it is ancient

Build a response the sources support

A source-based civilisation question has a shape, and once you know it you can answer on any topic the paper sets. ⭐ Start with a CLAIM. Not a fact, a claim: something that could be argued, such as that the baths were as much about meeting people as about washing, or that the army held the provinces together as much by building as by fighting. ⭐ Then bring in a SOURCE as evidence for it. Say what the source shows that supports the claim. ⭐⭐ Then WEIGH the source. Who made it, when, and why? A writer praising his own city, a tomb a family paid for, a coin an emperor issued: each has a reason to lean one way. Say how far that lets the source be trusted. Then reach a CONCLUSION that reflects the weight, not more than it. If the source is strong, say so; if it leans, say the claim is likely but the evidence is one-sided. ⚠️ A note on the darker parts of Roman life. Roman society relied heavily on the labour of enslaved people, and its entertainment included violent gladiatorial games. State these plainly as part of the historical record. Do not dwell on them for effect, and do not pretend they were not there; both are failures of an evaluative answer. Keep the one-line test to hand: what does this source show, and how much weight will it bear?

Order a response to a source

Put the steps of a source-based civilisation answer into a sensible order.

• Read the source and work out what it actually says
• Identify who made it, when, and why
• Judge how far it can be trusted for the point you want to make
• Use it as evidence to support or qualify your claim
• Reach a conclusion that reflects how much weight the source can bear

Assemble a weighed judgement

A writer who served at the imperial court describes the emperor as loved by all. Assemble a properly weighed use of that source.

The civilisation sources run

Five quick decisions about Roman civilisation and its sources. Three lives.

A home fan and a neutral reporter

Leave Rome aside for a screen. Imagine a football match written up two ways. One account is by a passionate home supporter. The other is by a neutral reporter sent to cover it. The home supporter calls it a heroic win, blames the referee for the goal against, and barely mentions the other team good spells. The neutral reporter gives both sides, notes the referee got the decision right, and calls it a close game that could have gone either way. ⭐ Which do you trust more about what actually happened? The neutral, plainly. But notice you do not throw the supporter account away. It still tells you the score, who played, and how the crowd felt, which the neutral report may skip. It leans one way, and once you know which way, you can read past the lean and still learn from it. ⭐⭐ The move that matters is asking, before you believe a word, WHO wrote this and WHY. A person with a side will lean towards it, not usually by lying outright, but by choosing what to stress and what to leave out. And the skilled reader does not pick one account and swallow it. They weigh both, set them against each other, and reach a judgement of their own that fits how far each writer can be trusted. ⚠️ Hold that picture. Every ancient writer is one of these reporters. The only difference is that you cannot ring up a neutral, so you have to do the weighing yourself.

Complete the source-handling facts

A piece of information from the ancient world, whether a text or an object, is a _____. When you use it to support a claim about Roman life, you are using it as _____. If the person who made it had a reason to present things a certain way, it shows _____, a leaning towards one view. How far a source can be trusted is its _____, and it depends on who made it, when, and why. Weighing all of that to reach a supported judgement, rather than simply believing the source, is _____.

Weigh three sources for a claim

You are answering a question on Roman entertainment and want to argue that the games were as much about the emperor showing his power as about amusing the crowd. Three sources are in front of you.

• The first source is a poet writing under the emperor, praising the magnificent games the emperor gave to the people, and you are deciding how much weight to give it.
• The second source is the ruin of a great amphitheatre with the name of the emperor who paid for it carved above the entrance.
• You have both sources and must now write the point that uses them together.

Use a source to back a claim

Choose any aspect of Roman life you know and make a claim about it, then use one ancient source as evidence, weighing how far it can be trusted. Write about the skill, not a set prescribed topic.

• Make a clear claim about an aspect of Roman life, not just a statement of fact
• Bring in one ancient source, written or material, as evidence for the claim
• Say who made the source and why, and how that affects how far it can be trusted
• Reach a judgement that reflects how much weight the source can bear