Ancient Olympic Games and other lessons available on this site: Ancient Greek Government is one of the most popular lessons this website - it's good for citizenship too.

Sometimes it is not easy to understand how the different units of the Key Stage 2 National Curriculum were selected, but this is not true for the Ancient Greek unit. Since the renaissance period, knowledge of ‘the classics’ has been a central element for an educated man or woman. Ancient...

Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated. Editorial note: Below is a one-page outline of a wonderful briefing replete with visual and textual sources and teaching ideas from The Cambridge Schools  Classics Project (CSC P). The outline below consists of the full introduction...

A Topic Pack on Ancient Greece, with sections on Ancient Greek Society, Wars in Ancient Greece, and How do we know about the Ancient Greeks?

Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated. When I was a boy the Greek Olympics was one of the perennials of the primary history curriculum, alongside the Battle of Hastings and the execution of Charles I. I have memories of an old text...

Cross-curricular History and Science in the Literacy Hour Problem-solving in science through story-telling: how did Archimedes work out much gold there was in the king's crown? Archimedes is an excellent subject. Indeed, Archimedes offers an excellent cross-curricular lesson opportunity, as he covers science, mathematics and a range of other subjects,...

Cross-curricular History and Science in the Literacy Hour Archimedes and how his weapons worked Archimedes is an excellent subject. Indeed, Archimedes offers an excellent cross-curricular lesson opportunity, as he covers science, mathematics and a range of other areas, including cunning plans to defeat enemy armies and navies. The previous week...

This was a ten-week Ancient Greece unit, taught to a Year 6 mixed ability class of 34 children. There was a strong citizenship strand running through the whole programme, particularly the strands of political literacy and critical enquiry (see below). Citizenship values and concepts, with teaching/learning activities in italicsAppreciation of...

This primary workshop took place at at the Historical Association Annual Conference, Chester, May 2019. In this session, Stuart explored the principles of how working at greater depth can be applied into history units of work to allow the most able of learners to excel and fully reach their potential in history...

In this series of podcasts Professor Thomas Harrison of the University of Liverpool examines the Persian Empire, life in ancient Persian society and the Greek-Persian War.

You don't need a degree in film studies or Classics to enjoy the Hollywood blockbuster: Troy. Or to enjoy Brad Pitt, for that matter! But the question my teacher friend asked me, after two hours and forty minutes of being with Brad in a warm, dark place, was a great...

The ancient Greeks were a maritime people – they travelled and traded vast distances by sea, but rarely left sight of land. They were also a very divided nation. Separate city states fiercely guarded their independence, only uniting [sometimes!] to fight against a common enemy like the Persians. The Greeks all...

Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated. In a 10-week unit on Ancient Greece, we gave the fourth lesson over to the ancient Olympic Games. The class was a delight: 32 enthusiastic Year 6 children in an urban county primary school. We knew...

About 3,200 years old, the Acropolis of Athens supports the most stunning and complete collection of ancient Greek structures that still exist. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987, it remains a mostly intact classical collection that fascinates those who study and visit it. I have always been intrigued...

In this podcast Dr Fiona Hobden of the University of Liverpool looks at what Greek myths and legends can tell us about how the early ancient Greeks saw their world.

In this series of podcasts Dr Richard Hawley of Royal Holloway, University of London looks at the history of women in Ancient Greece and Rome.

In this podcast Dr Ursula Rothe & Dr Colin Andrews of the Open University discuss how social, moral and religious life in Rome differed from that of ancient Greece.

In this podcast Dr Fiona Hobden of the University of Liverpool discusses what Greek tragedy and comedy tell us about the society of Ancient Greece and what has been the legacy of the great writers of this period.

Truth-loving Persians do not dwell upon The trivial skirmish fought near Marathon. So begins Robert Graves' poem, The Persian Version. The conceit of the poem is to invert the standard narrative of the Persian war of the early fifth century BC - a narrative drawn from Greek sources such as...

THE OLYMPICS: TEACHING HISTORY TODAY 04 Editorial: Nelson Mandela, Apartheid and the Olympics 05 Think Bubble: What ever happened to the Standing Long Jump? - Peter Vass 06 Public celebration of the 1864 Olympian Festival - Dominic Wallis PLANNING FOR THE OLYMPICS 08 Primary History and planning for teaching the...