Triremes and naval warfare; Greek images of war - OCR GCSE Classical Civilisation (War and Warfare) Exam Questions

Practise 31 exam-style questions on Triremes and naval warfare; Greek images of war for OCR GCSE Classical Civilisation (War and Warfare). Write your answer as you would in the exam and get it marked in seconds against the mark scheme, point by point, with an AI tutor on hand if you get stuck.

31 questions
1–15 marks each
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20 questions, marked as you go

Sample questions with model answers

Here are 4 of the questions in this topic, each with a model answer, an explanation of why it earns the marks and the mark scheme an examiner would use.

Question 1

1 mark

Figure 1 is a plan of the Acropolis of Athens in the late 5th century BC.

Name the temple labelled A, whose south frieze showed Greeks fighting Persians.

Plan of a fortified hilltop sanctuary. Plan of a rocky hilltop surrounded by a wall, with north at the top. The only way in is at the west end, through a large building, with a small building on a projecting corner south-west of it. Just east of the large building is a small square base. The largest building, a temple surrounded by columns, stands on the south side of the rock; opposite it, near the north wall, is a smaller, irregular building with porches. A small hatched block lies east of the irregular building. A dashed route comes up the slope from the west, through the large building at the west end and east between the two temples to the hatched block. A compass shows north (up) and east (right); there is a 50 m scale bar. Label A points to the small building on the projecting corner south-west of the building at the west end; the label "Parthenon" points to the large temple surrounded by columns on the south side of the rock; the label "Propylaia" points to the building across the west end of the rock, where the dashed route enters; the label "Erechtheion" points to the irregular building with porches near the north wall.

Model answer

The Temple of Athena Nike.

Explanation

The small Ionic temple of Athena Nike (Athena as goddess of Victory) stood on a bastion beside the Propylaia, the gateway to the Acropolis, so every visitor passed it. It was built in the 420s BC, during the Peloponnesian War, and its frieze included a battle between Greeks and Persians, perhaps Marathon.

Mark scheme

1 mark
The Temple of Athena Nike
Accept the temple of Nike / of Athena of Victory / Wingless Victory. Do not accept the Parthenon, Erechtheion or Propylaia (labelled on the plan).

Question 2

2 marks

Source A: a red-figure kylix (drinking cup) by the Triptolemos Painter, made in Athens about 480-470 BC.

Two warriors are fighting. A Greek hoplite, with his helmet and round shield, attacks his opponent. The opponent wears a close-fitting suit of trousers and long sleeves, covered in patterns, and a soft cap.

Explain how the painter makes it clear to an Athenian viewer that the opponent is a Persian. Make two points.

Model answer

The opponent wears trousers and a long-sleeved, close-fitting suit, which Greeks never wore and associated with Persians and other eastern peoples. He also wears a soft cap instead of a bronze helmet, the typical Persian headdress, so he is clearly not a Greek hoplite.

Explanation

Athenian artists used dress as a quick visual code: trousers, sleeves, patterned fabric and soft caps meant 'Persian' (or another eastern people) to any viewer. Made within a few years of Marathon, Salamis and Plataea, the cup reflects new Athenian pride and the idea of the Persian as the foreign 'other'.

Mark scheme

1 mark
One valid point, e.g.: he wears trousers, which Greeks did not wear and saw as typical of Persians and other 'barbarians'; his clothing is a close-fitting suit with long sleeves, very different from Greek tunics; the suit is covered in patterns - elaborate, colourful dress the Greeks linked with Persian luxury; he wears a soft cap, the typical Persian headdress, instead of a bronze helmet; he has no hoplite armour, in contrast with the Greek's helmet and shield.
Two from the list. Each mark needs a different feature with some explanation of why it marks him as Persian.
1 mark
A second, different point from the list above.

Question 3

4 marks

Source A: a red-figure kylix (drinking cup) by the Triptolemos Painter, made in Athens about 480-470 BC.

A Greek hoplite, with his helmet and round shield, attacks a Persian warrior. The Persian wears a close-fitting suit of trousers and long sleeves, covered in patterns, and a soft cap.

What impressions of the Greeks and the Persians does the painter give? Make two points.

Model answer

The painter gives the impression that the Greek is brave and superior, because he is the one attacking, armed as a hoplite with a helmet and round shield. By contrast the Persian seems foreign and vulnerable: his patterned trouser-suit and soft cap look strange to Greek eyes and give him far less protection than the Greek's bronze helmet and shield.

Explanation

Painted soon after the Persian Wars for use at a symposium, the cup flatters its Athenian drinkers with an image of Greek courage overcoming a foreign enemy. The contrast in dress - armour against patterned cloth - became a standard way of showing Greeks as manly and Persians as exotic. Answers can note that this is one-sided Greek propaganda, not a neutral record.

Mark scheme

2 marks
First point with supporting evidence from Source A: 1 mark for a valid impression of the Greeks or the Persians, 1 mark for a relevant detail of the painting that supports it. The evidence mark is awarded for a relevant detail even if the point is missing, weak or wrong. The two marks are independent: award 1 for a valid point even if no evidence is given, and 1 for a relevant quotation from, reference to or close paraphrase of the source even if the point is missing, weak or wrong.
Two pairs from, e.g.: the Greek is aggressive / brave / on the attack (1) - he attacks the Persian (1); the Greek is a well-equipped, disciplined soldier (1) - helmet and round shield of a hoplite (1); the Greek is likely to win / Greek superiority (1) - he is the attacker, the Persian on the defensive (1); the Persian is foreign and strange to Greek eyes (1) - trousers, long sleeves, soft cap (1); the Persian is less protected / weaker (1) - a soft cap instead of a bronze helmet, no armour mentioned (1); the Persian is luxurious or effeminate in Greek eyes (1) - patterned, elaborate clothing (1). The second pair must make a different point from the first. Credit a relevant detail (1) even if the impression is weak. Points must be supported from the description.
2 marks
Second, different point with supporting evidence from Source A: 1 mark for a valid impression of the Greeks or the Persians, 1 mark for a relevant detail of the painting that supports it. The two marks are independent: award 1 for a valid point even if no evidence is given, and 1 for a relevant quotation from, reference to or close paraphrase of the source even if the point is missing, weak or wrong.
As above; must be a different impression from the first point.

Question 4

8 marks

Source A: Thucydides, History 7.70

In 413 BC the Athenian fleet tries to break out of the Great Harbour of Syracuse.

'The battle was fiercer than any of those before ... Many ships met in a small space - for these were the most ships ever to fight in the smallest area, nearly two hundred on the two sides together - so there were few rammings, since there was no room to back away or to break through the line; collisions were more frequent, as ships crashed into each other while fleeing or attacking another. While a ship was coming in, the men on the decks hurled javelins, arrows and stones at it; and once they met, the marines fought hand to hand, trying to board each other's ships. In many places, because there was so little room, a ship that had rammed one enemy was itself rammed by another ... The great noise of so many ships crashing together caused terror and made it impossible to hear what the rowing masters were shouting.'

To what extent did the place where a sea battle was fought decide its outcome? Use Source A as a starting point and your own knowledge.

Model answer

Source A shows how much the place of battle could matter. In the Great Harbour of Syracuse nearly two hundred ships fought 'in the smallest area', so 'there were few rammings, since there was no room to back away or to break through the line'. The Athenians' great skill - the diekplous and periplous - was useless. Instead ships collided, marines fought hand to hand and the noise drowned out the rowing masters. The battle became a brawl, and the Athenians lost. Thucydides shows that the Syracusans had planned this: they strengthened their prows to ram head-on, knowing the Athenians would have no room in a confined space.

Other battles confirm the point. In 429 BC Phormio refused to fight inside the narrow Gulf of Corinth, telling his men that a narrow space was a disadvantage for a few skilled ships against many; in open water off Patrae his twenty ships won. At Salamis in 480 BC Themistocles lured the much larger Persian fleet into the narrows, where, as Aeschylus describes, its ships were crowded together and smashed one another's oars.

However, the place of battle did not decide outcomes on its own. It mattered because of the forces involved: narrow waters helped the side with more or heavier ships, open water helped the side with more skilful crews. Leadership was what chose the place - Themistocles, Phormio and the Syracusan commanders all deliberately picked the battlefield to suit their strengths. Crew skill, ship design, morale and even the weather, such as the wind Phormio waited for, also played a part.

Overall, the place of battle was often decisive in trireme warfare, but chiefly because it decided whether skill or numbers would count; the real key was the commander who chose a battlefield that suited his fleet.

Explanation

Top answers link the geography to tactics (no room for diekplous or periplous, boarding instead of ramming) and use several battles (Syracuse, Phormio, Salamis). The strongest judgement explains that the place of battle mattered through its interaction with skill, numbers and leadership.

Mark scheme

8 marks
Levels of response (8 marks). AO1 (4) and AO2 (4) are equally weighted.
Level 4 (7-8 marks): consistently accurate and detailed knowledge of trireme tactics and of battles fought in narrow and open waters, using both Source A and own wider knowledge; very good understanding of how geography interacted with skill, numbers, ship design and leadership; a well-argued response with a clear judgement on how far the place of battle decided the outcome, supported by a range of well-selected evidence, including critical analysis.
Level 3 (5-6 marks): accurate knowledge, using both Source A and own knowledge; a focused response with relevant analysis and a judgement.
Level 2 (3-4 marks): sound, mostly accurate knowledge; engages with the general topic; a limited range of evidence and some analysis.
Level 1 (1-2 marks): limited knowledge, may only use the source given; isolated analysis.
0 marks: no response or no response worthy of credit.
A mainly descriptive or narrative answer with little analysis or judgement cannot go above Level 2.
Indicative content (not a checklist; credit other valid points): AO1: Source A - nearly 200 ships in a small space; few rammings, no room to back water or break through; collisions; missiles and boarding by marines; ships rammed and rammed in turn; noise drowned the keleustai. Own knowledge: the Syracusans chose the Great Harbour and strengthened their prows to ram head-on (Thucydides 7.36); the Athenians defeated and the expedition destroyed (413 BC); Phormio refused to fight inside the narrow gulf because skill needs room (Thucydides 2.89) and won in open water off Patrae using the dawn wind; Salamis (480 BC) - Themistocles drew the larger Persian fleet into the narrows; Aeschylus' picture of Persian ships crowded and smashing each other's oars; the diekplous and periplous need open water; the kyklos. Other factors: crew skill and training; numbers; ship design; leadership and planning; morale; weather (storms off Artemisium, the wind at Patrae). AO2: for - narrow waters cancelled the advantages of speed and skill and turned sea battles into 'land battles' of boarding, favouring numbers or heavier ships; commanders deliberately chose the battlefield (Themistocles, the Syracusans, Phormio). Against - the place only mattered because of the forces involved; skill, numbers and design decided who could exploit it; leadership chose the place; at Salamis, the narrows helped the Greeks because their fleet was smaller. Judgement: e.g. the place of battle was often decisive, but mainly because it decided which side's strengths - skill or numbers - would count.

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