GREECE

Geography• Greece occupies a small area in the Mediterranean

and Aegean Seas• Made up of the mainland and numerous islands• Two geographic features played a significant role

in developing Greece:–Mountains• Isolated Greeks from one another – different

communities develop• However, rivalries between communities led

to warfare that devastated Greek society

–The Sea• Became seafarers who established colonies

that spread Greek civilizations• Peninsula = land that is surrounded on three

sides by water• Archipelago = a chain of islands

Early Greek Civilizations• The Minoan civilization (3000 – 1450 BC)– Established on the island of Crete– Named after King Minos, legendary king of Crete (the

Minotaur story)– Used bronze to make weapons– Large palace at Knossos – had basic plumbing– Sudden and catastrophic collapse around 1450 BC

Greek City-States• The central focus of Greek life and society was the polis– Polis = Greek city-state• Greeks were fiercely loyal to their polis and

regarded themselves not as Greeks, but as members of a particular city-state

– Make-up of a polis:• Citizens who had political rights = adult males• Citizens who had no political rights = women and

children• Non-citizens = slaves and foreigners

– Some cities develop democracy = gov’t by the people or rule by the many

– Other city-states develop an oligarchy = rule by the few

–New military system develops• Based on hoplites = heavily armed foot soldiers• Carried a round shield, short sword, and a

thrusting spear• Formed a phalanx for protection–Phalanx = a wall of shields created by foot

soldiers marching close together in rectangular formation

Athens• Government structure was a democracy–Direct democracy = vote directly on the issues– Indirect democracy = elect people to vote on

the issues in your place

• Standards for voting = must be a free male over the age of 20 who has completed military training and owns land– Accounts for 10% of the population

• Duties of people allowed to vote:– Vote in all elections and serve in office if elected– Serve on juries and in the military during war

• Athenian democracy consisted of three main bodies– Council of Five Hundred who proposed laws that

would be voted on by the Assembly and supervised both foreign affairs and the treasury

– Athenian Assembly – composed of all male citizens who were eligible to take part in the gov’t• This assembly voted on and passed the laws• Direct democracy = people participate directly

in gov’t decision making and vote directly on an issue

– Complex series of courts• Built the Parthenon = a grand temple dedicated to

the goddess Athena

• Women could not own property and always had a male guardian– Chief obligation was to have children– Were expected to stay at home and out of sight,

unless attending religious festivals or funerals

• Demographics of Athens around 430 BC– 150,000 citizens, 43,000 of whom were males with

political power– 35,000 foreigners – had protection of laws and some

responsibilities– 100,000 slaves

Sparta• Like most city-states, Sparta needed more land, so

they conquered neighboring peoples instead of starting new colonies– The Spartans turned these conquered peoples

into helots = state slaves– Spartans were now free to spend all their time

training for war

• Spartans decide to create a military state to keep control over the helots– Helots outnumbered Spartan citizens by 7 to 1

• Life in Sparta was rigidly organized– Babies were examined at birth and if they were

found to be weak, they were put to death– Men• Taught physical toughness by parents until age

seven• They then entered a school system designed to

teach them combat–At the end of their training, boys were sent into

the wilderness and expected to survive

• At age 20 the boys became hoplites in the Spartan army• Allowed to marry, but had to live in barracks until

age 30–Could now live their own lives, but expected to

fight with the army when needed• Allowed to vote in the assembly at age 30, retired

from the army at age 60– Women• Expected to exercise and raise healthy children• Had greater freedom and power in the household

due to separation from their husbands• Could own property

• Government structure– Was an oligarchy headed by two kings who led the

army on its campaigns– Ephors – a group of five men elected each year• Responsible for the conduct of all citizens and

education– Council of Elders – composed of the two kings and 28

citizens over the age of 60• Decided the issues that would be presented to the

assembly– Assembly of male citizens – voted on the issues

• Foreigners were discouraged from visiting and Spartans were not allowed to travel abroad– Kept out dangerous ideas and discouraged new

thoughts

ATHENS SPARTA

Gov’t Type

Military State?

Who Can Vote?

Voting Age?

Life of Women

Peninsula of Attica

Peninsula of Peloponnesus

Democracy Oligarchy

NO YES

YES NO

Free men who own land Men in the army

20 30

Stay inside, have male guardian

More freedom and power

ATHENS• Located: Peninsula of Attica• Gov’t type: Democracy• Military state?: NO• Foreigners?: YES• Who can vote: Free men who

own land• Voting Age: 20• Women: Expected to stay

inside, must have a male guardian

SPARTA• Located: Peninsula of

Peloponnesus• Gov’t type: Oligarchy• Military state?: YES• Foreigners?: NO• Who can vote: Men in the

army• Voting Age: 30• Women: have more freedom

and power

The Persian Wars• (490 BC - 479 BC)

• Persian emperor Darius decides to invade Greece

• First Persian Invasion – 490 BC– Battle at Marathon – Athenians attack the Persians

while they are unloading and the Persians retreat– An Athenian messenger runs 26 miles from

Marathon to Athens to announce the victory• He dies after delivering the message

• Second Persian Invasion – 480 BC– Battle at Thermopylae• Greeks are afraid they won’t have enough time to

prepare• A group of 300 Spartans decide to hold off the

entire Persian army at the mountain pass of Thermopylae• Are successful for several days until a local shows

the Persians an alternate path through the mountain and they kill all the Spartans

– In 479 BC a large Greek army led by the might of Sparta crushes the Persians, ending the war

The Peloponnesian War• War between Athens and Sparta– Sparta and allies dominate the land– Athens and allies dominate the sea

• Spartans surround Athens hoping for an open battle– Athens avoids any battles on land– Knowing they can’t compete in open battle, they hide

behind their city walls, relying on supplies from their navy and colonies

• Sparta eventually destroys the Athenian navy and Athens surrenders– The walls of Athens are torn down and the Empire

destroyed

• Costs of the war– Weakened major Greek city-states• Athens nearly destroyed, Sparta exhausted as well

– Struggle for power in Greece led to a long cycle of warfare that left all of Greece vulnerable

– Ignored the growing power of Macedonia to the north

– Loss of freedom

Greek Culture• Philosophy = the search for wisdom and knowledge– Greek word meaning “the love of wisdom”

• Socrates– First of the great Athenian philosophers– Everything known about Socrates comes from the

writings of his students– Interested in broad concepts of human life– Best way to learn is to ask questions• Use question-and-answer format to acquire

knowledge• Known as the Socratic method

– Socrates was charged with disrespect for religion and corrupting the city’s children• Thought he caused children to question the

actions of the gods• Believed the displeasure of the gods caused

Athens to lose the war– Sentenced to death by drinking a cup of hemlock, a

poison

• Plato– Student of Socrates– His most famous work was the Republic• Gov’t should be led by the people most qualified

to make good decisions - philosophers

– Plato founded the Academy, a school where respected philosophers could teach their students and hold debates

– Questioned reality and believed in ideal Forms• Every material object in the world was only the

reflection of a perfect ideal

• Aristotle– Student of Plato– Emphasis on reason and logic to study the natural

world• Reason = clear and ordered thinking• Logic = the process of making inferences

– Aristotle believed in analyzing through observation and investigation• People should use reason to learn about the world

by making careful observations• Influenced the development of science in Europe

• History– A systematic analysis of past events, created by the

Greeks– The Greeks were one of the first people to write

about and analyze the past– Herodotus – First historian, wrote about the Persian

Wars

– Thucydides – considered to be the greatest historian of the ancient world• Included many primary speeches and looked at

his sources critically

– Homer• One of the greatest poets of all times, wrote epic

poems based on the Trojan War that became the basis for Greek education system–Epic poem = a long poem that tells the deeds of

a great hero• Iliad – tale of the Greek hero Achilles• Odyssey – long journey home of Greek hero

Odysseus

• Greek Drama– Used for entertainment, two distinct forms of drama• Tragedies – usually focused on hardships faced by

Greek heroes• Comedies – satires, written to expose the flaws of

society– Several well-known Greek playwrights– Sophocles – concentrated on the suffering people

brought upon themselves• Many of his characters had fatal flaws• Famous play = Oedipus Rex, the story of a king

who accidentally kills his father and marries his mother

Alexander the Great• Macedonia was a powerful kingdom to the north of the

Greek city-states• Philip II reorganized the Macedonian army and adopted

the phalanx system– Conquered all of the major Greek city-states except

Sparta and became the new leader of Greece in 338 BC, he was assassinated in 336 BC

– After his death, his son Alexander came to the throne (356-323 BC)

• Alexander was a great military leader and strategist

• Decided to fulfill his father’s dream of conquering the Persian Empire– Destroyed the Persian army and emperor Darius III

fled – he was later murdered by one of his own officers

• After this victory, Alexander led his army deeper into Asia– Went and conquered parts of India– When his army refused to go any further, Alexander

agreed to go home

• On his way back home, Alexander fell ill in the city of Babylon and died a few days later– He left no heir, so his generals began to fight for

control– In the end the empire was divided among the three

most powerful generals• Macedonia and Greece, Persian Empire, and Egypt

• Legacy of Alexander– Created new cities, most of them named Alexandria• Built Alexandria as the Greek capital of Egypt –

important city which had a famous library– Alexander envisioned a world in which many cultures

would live together

– Made a conscious effort to bring people and ideas from different places together• Encouraged Greeks to move to the Alexandria cities

– Created a new type of culture• Blended elements of Greek civilization with ideas from

Persia, Egypt, and Central Asia• Created the Hellenistic Era– Hellenistic means “to imitate the Greeks” – Expansion of Greek language and ideas to other parts of

the world– Massive spread of Greek colonists to AsiaAlexander’s empire fell apart soon after his death, and the

different Hellenistic kingdoms were shortly conquered by the Romans