Ancient Greece

Early Greece• Mycenae – The First Greek City State

– 1600 – 1100 BC

• Ruled by Monarchies– According to Homer, The Battle of Troy Happened

during this era

Dark Ages

• 1100 – 750 BC– Not much Info– Many Greeks sailed away– Iron invented

• Helped farmers, brought some Greeks back• Brought back Phoenician alphabet

Greek Expansion

• POLIS – Greek City State

• The word “politician” comes from this word• Acropolis

– Protection, Meeting place, Ceremonial

• Agora– Open area where people could assemble– Market place

» Agoraphobia (fear of open places)

Greek Expansion

• With growth of Polis, came growth of military– Hoplites

• Heavily armed infantrymen

– Phalanx

Greek Expansion

• By 550 BC, Greeks began leaving again– Over-population, need for better farms, trade

• Byzantium– Very important city in world history

Greek Expansion

• Greeks got rich from trade• These traders wanted power• Became TYRANTS in Athens

– Seized power by force from aristocrats

– Although these tyrants helped poor and created public works projects, tyranny ended

• Powers now rested in the Assembly of Athens

Greek Expansion

• Ended Aristocratic rule in Greece

• Birth of Democracy in many city-states

Sparta

• City state in Greece• Conquered the Helots

– Helot is Greek word for “capture”

• Created Military state to control the Helots

Spartans

• Spartan = “Highly Self-Disciplined• Spent childhood training for military service• Enrolled in army at 20, lived in barracks until 30,

stayed in army until 60.

Spartans

• Women lived at home• More freedoms than

most women in world at this time

• Had to stay “fit” in order to bear healthy children

Sparta

• Oligarchy– “Rule of the Few”– A government run by a select few

• Sparta ruled by 2 Kings and the Ephors

• Ephors– A group of 5 men elected every year– Education of youth, citizens conduct

• Council of Elders– 2 Kings, 28 citizens over age of 60– Decided on issues

The Problem with Persia

– Darius (Persian King…remember??)• Attacked Greece at marathon• Greeks ran at the Persians, defeating them• Pheidippides ran from Marathon to Athens (26

miles) and died yelling “Rejoice!! We Win!!)

The Problem with Persia

• Xerxes – Ruled after Darius– Wanted vengeance for the defeat– Planned an attack on Greece

• Athens built a navy

• Sparta consolidated

armies

The Problem with Persia

• Xerxes attacks with 180,000 soldiers and 1,000 ships

• In 480 Persia burns Athens

The Problem with Persia

• 479 BC Greece defeats Persia

• Athens took over as the leading city-state in all of Greece

The Age of Pericles

• Pericles– Dominant political figure in Athens– Height of Athenian power and philosophy– Direct Democracy

• Every male citizen directly involved in government• Assembly consisted of 43,000 men• Met every 10 days to vote on issues

The Age of Pericles

• Athens became center of Greek culture

• Trade very important (had to import 50 – 80% grains)

• Women had little rights, married off at 13, Only job was to have and take care of kids

What happened to Sparta?

• Sparta and its supporters were called the Peloponnesians– Hated Athens and vice versa

• Sparta and Athens went to war for the next 27 years (431 – 404 BCE)– Athens fell to Sparta, weakening all of Rome– Next 67 years, Sparta, Athens, Thebes in

power struggle – Left Greece vulnerable

Macedonians Invade

• 359 BCE Macedonia

• Greeks thoughtMacedonians werebarbarians

• Phillip IIAdmired GreeceWanted to unite them

Alexander the Great

• In 338 BCE, Macedonia crushed Greece

• Phillip united Greece and Macedonia

• Wanted to invade Persian Empire

• Phillip assassinated • Alexander becomes

king

Alexander the Great

• Only 20 years old, but militarily brilliant

• Sought to imitate Achilles

• In 12 years, conquered all of the Persian empire– Left a lasting impression of Greek cultures all

over the Eastern world

Hellenistic Era

• Hellenistic = “to imitate Greeks”– Expansion of Greek ideas, language, culture– Alexander built new cities from military posts

• Alexandria, Egypt• Center of science, philosophy, writers, poets

– Library had 500,000 scrolls

Hellenistic Era

• Age of Science and Philosophy– Astronomy – “The world is round!” “The sun!”– Math – Archemides – “pi”. “gravity”– Philosophy

Hellenistic Philosophy

• Epicureanism– Epicurus– Human free to follow

own self interests– Happiness is goal– Pleasure is freedom

from turmoil and worry– Free themselves from

public activity

• Stoicism– Zeno– Happiness is goal– Can only be attained

by harmonious living with will of God

– Bear life (Stoic)– Public service was

noble

Quiz Tomorrow

• There will be a quiz tomorrow over Ancient Greece

• Please study

• Please begin putting Portfolio together

• Only 2 weeks left in semester

Ancient Greece Quiz1. What does the word Hellenistic mean?2. What was Mycenae?3. What are hoplites?4. How did the tyrants help create democracy in

Greece?5. Explain the difference in the lives of women in

Sparta and in Athens.6. What is an oligarchy, and what city state used this

system?7. How did the Peloponnesian War impact Greece?8. What is the main difference between Epicureanism

and Stoicism?9. Explain what phalanx is.10. Who was Pericles?

Quiz Answers1. To Imitate Greeks2. The 1st Greek city state3. Heavily armed foot soldiers4. They ended Aristocratic rule5. Spartan women had more freedom, were the basis for

Spartan society, Athenian women had babies6. “Rule by Few” Sparta7. Weakened Greece, created internal strife, allowed

Macedonia to conquer Greece8. Stoicism believed in will of Gods and public service9. A defensive technique used by Greek soldiers, hard to

defend or break. 10. Popular political figure in Athens, helped Athens

become more powerful.