WJEC Level 1 Roman Civilisation Past Papers

WJEC Level 1 Certificate in Roman Civilisation provides a comprehensive introduction to the culture, society, and history of ancient Rome, assessed entirely in English without requiring knowledge of the Latin language. The qualification is suitable for learners who are fascinated by the Roman world and wish to study it at a formal level, whether or not they are also studying Latin. The written paper covers four main areas of Roman civilisation. Roman Society and Social Structure examines the Roman class system (patricians and plebeians, freedmen, and slaves), the structure of the Roman family (the paterfamilias and his authority, the roles of women, childhood and education), citizenship and its privileges, and the mechanisms of Roman political life (the senate, the popular assemblies, the role of consuls and tribunes, the transition to the principate under Augustus). Roman Daily Life covers the physical world of a Roman — the layout and features of a Roman house (atrium, impluvium, tablinum, garden, the arrangement of rooms), food and dining customs (the structure of Roman meals, the convivium dinner party, types of food), entertainment (the theatre, the chariot races at the Circus Maximus, gladiatorial combat at the amphitheatre), bathing (the layout and social function of the public baths), and Roman dress. Religion and Mythology examines the principal Roman gods and their functions (Jupiter, Juno, Mars, Venus, Mercury, Minerva, Diana, and their Greek equivalents), religious practices (offerings, sacrifice, the role of the pontifex), the imperial cult, mystery religions that spread through the empire (Isis, Mithras), and the development of Christianity in the Roman world. Roman History covers the key periods of Roman history — the kingdom, the republic, and the empire — with particular focus on the late republic (the Gracchi, Marius and Sulla, Julius Caesar and Octavian/Augustus) and the early imperial period.