Transcript Greek City-States, Persia, Alexander the Great, Rome

Aegean Beginnings
• Geography– southern tip of Balkan Peninsula in
southern Europe and surrounding islands
• Interior mountain ranges and fertile coasts and valleys
• Short, swift rivers
• Mild climate with moderate temperatures, low humidity
and limited rainfall
Aegean Civilizations
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The Minoans of Crete (2500-1450 BC)
Island kingdom on Crete
Knossos was capital city; home of King Minos
Advanced culture with extensive sea trade
Greater gender equality; much emphasis on social and
athletic activities
e) Religion based on Earth Mother goddess
f) Reached peak around 1600 BC, fell soon afterward—reason
unknown
Aegean Civilizations (cont)
• The Mycenaeans of the Balkans
a) Indo-European group that migrated down from central Asia
around 2000 BC
b) Intermarried with indigenous Hellenes over time, established
series of kingdoms
c) Kingdoms surrounding a hilltop fortress; wealthy estates
d) Contact with Minoans; adopted many Minoan customs
(religion, metalworking, etc)
Aegean Civilizations (cont)
e) Eventually conquered Minoans and took control of the
Aegean around 1400 BC
f) Infighting among Mycenaeans weakened their empire
g) Greek-speaking Dorians w/iron weapons swept in from the
north and destroyed Mycenaean kingdoms
h) Many Mycenaeans fled to Turkey to escape
The Greek Dark Ages
• Dorians were eastern Europeans who had iron weapons,
but no written language or advanced culture
• After several generations, written language was lost in
the region for about 300 years
• Period of the Greek epics (Iliad and Odyssey)
• Oral histories/stories from Mycenaean past
• Finally, refugees from Ionia (coast of Turkey) returned
to Greece and brought back written language and culture
The City-States
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The Polis—Greek
word for city-state
• Root word for
politics
a) Consisted of city
and surrounding
countryside
b) At center was the
acropolis
c) Served as temple
for local deity
Citizens
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Citizenship in most city-states was elitist
Citizens made up the minority of each city-state
Qualifications in most city-states included:
Born in Greek city-state to Greek parents
Male
Land ownership
Political and Social Change
• Initially, polis governed by kings
• Eventually lost power to aristocrats (nobles)
• Aristocrats began taking advantage of lower
classes; farms lost to aristocracy to pay back
loans, etc.
• Lower classes became resentful and demanded
change
• Also, middle class merchants (most noncitizens)
began wanting a voice in government
Rise of Tyrants
• In order to maintain peace, many city-states
turned gov’t over to tyrants who ruled singlehandedly (usually good and fair rulers) but often
harsh and disliked by the majority
• Most tyrannies evolved into either oligarchies or
democracies
• Two best examples: Sparta (oligarchy) and
Athens (democracy)
SPARTA
• Best army in ancient Greece
• Most powerful state before rise of Athens
• Lycurgus - established the military-oriented reformation
of Spartan society
• No historical literature or written laws
– According to tradition, prohibited by Lycurgus.
• State ruled by two hereditary
kings
– Equal in authority
• Duties
– religious, judicial and military
• Real power
– Assembly (citizens over 30)
– headed by 5 ephors and council of
elders
• Only those w/distinguished
military records could be ephors
or elders
• Spartan citizens far outnumbered by two groups
working for them:
– Helots—slaves
– Perioeci—artisans and merchants (noncitizens)
• Fear of revolt by these two groups fueled the
strict military gov’t
– Revolt in 650 BC took 30 years to put down and
created environment where change/new ideas
unwelcomed
Sparta’s Military Society
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City had no walls as sign of military might
All male citizens required to serve in army
Life of a male citizen:
a) birth—inspection by military officials
b) 7 yrs—off to military school (academics, physical
training and weaponry)
c) 20 yrs—became soldiers and sent to frontier areas
d) 30 yrs—arranged marriage; back to military
e) 60 yrs—retirement and return home
Women in Spartan Society
• Greater rights than other Greek city-states
– Treated equally from birth by parents (food,care)
• Physical training and fighting skills
– Married at 19 (most city-states 14), strange rituals of marriage
• Allowed to leave home unescorted
• Could own property, Couldn’t participate in government
• Took great pride in son’s military records
The wife of King Leonidas was allegedly asked why
Spartan women were the only women in Greece who
"ruled" their husbands. Gorgo replied, "because we
are the only women who give birth to men."
• Spartan laws discouraged anything that would
distract people from their disciplined military
life.
– Sparta did not welcome visitors from other cities, and
Spartans were not allowed to travel.
– The Spartans were not interested in other ways of life
and did not want to bring new ideas to their polis.
• Sparta is on the Peloponnesus
– Hilly, rocky area at the southern end of the Greek
peninsula.
– The Spartans conquered many people in the region
and forced them to work as slaves.
Athens
• Monarchy-aristocracy-tyrannydemocracy
• Athens began its history as a
Neolithic hill-fort on top of the
Acropolis ("high city"), some time
in the third millennium BC.
• By 1400 BC Athens
• Powerful centre of the Mycenaean
civilization
– Athens was never sacked and
abandoned at the time of the Doric
invasion
• Athenians claimed to be "pure"
Ionians with no Doric element.
• 8th century BCE
– Athens re-emerged, by virtue of location, as a
key city
– Became the INTELLECTUAL CENTER of the
world
• Reformers of Athens
• Draco: codified laws, harsh-death penalty
for minor crimes
• Solon:
– rewrote laws – canceled land mortgages,
limited amt of land one can own, male
commoners right to vote
• Cleisthenes:
– men of all classes could serve on council,
“Father of Greek Democracy”
• Pericles:
– removed restrictions on office holding, paid
salaries to public officials
END INTRO TO GREEKS
Persia
• Established by Cyrus the Great
– Great builder/conqueror
• Followed by Darius the Great
• Darius led Persia against the Greeks
– A great administrator
– Allowed people to maintain identity
• Satrapies, Roads, Uniformity
– Language, weights, currency, law code
• Rival power to the Greeks
• Religion: Zoroastrianism:
– Developed by the prophet Zoroaster around 600 B.C.E.
– Taught that life is a battle between the opposing forces of good
and evil,
• Humans must choose between the two.
PERSIAN WAR 500-479 BC
• DARIUS LED PERSIANS
• Battle of Marathon
• Heavily outnumbered, win by “double envelopment”
• 480: Battle of Thermopylae Pass
– -Xerxes led Persians
– Leonidas led Greeks
– Bravery at its finest
• 300 vs Thousands
• Allows Greeks to prepare for invasion
• Battle of Salamis – Persian naval disaster
– Large Persian fleet versus small mobile Athenians
• Xerxes and his throne
• Battle of Plataea – 38,000 Athenian and Peloponnesian soldiers
Delian League
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Headed by Athens
Money squandered
Peloponnesian War
Sparta wins
GOLDEN AGE
• THEATER
• TRAGEDY: SOPHOCLES, EURIPIDES,
AESCHYLUS
• COMEDY: ARISTOPHANES
• Philosophy:
– -Socrates “Know thyself”
– Plato: wrote THE REPUBLIC about a perfect society
ruled by intelligent aristocracy
– Aristotle: wrote on science, govt, logic
History:
-Herodotus
-Thucydides
• Architecture:
– -Columns: Doric, Ionic and Corinthian
PARTHENON
Science and math
• Pythagoras: geometry
• Hippocrates: disease of natural causes
• Democritus: matter is composed of small atoms
Alexander the Great
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Son of Philip of Macedonia
Greatest empire of the time
Blended cultures=hellenistic
Instilled peace
Horse was Bucephalus
• Decisive battle=Gaugamela
• Envisioned a global world where cultures could
mix
• Encouraged generals to marry Persians
• Died 323 BC
• Power struggle
• Ptolemy
• Antigonid
• Seleucid
Hellenistic Cultural achievements
• Alexandria
• Aristarchus: astronomer who developed theory
that the universe was heliocentric
• Eratosthenes: circumference of the earth
• Euclid: ELEMENTS OF GEOMETRY
• Archimedes: lever, pulley, value of pi
Philosophers of Hellenistic age
• Diogenes: cynic, rejected societal values of
wealth, power, social position for self control
• Zeno: live according to reason, be indifferent to
pleasure or pain-Stoicism
• Epicurus: seek pleasure and happiness in a
balanced, moral life
Sculpture
Venus de Milo
Nike: winged victory of Samothrace
Dying Gaul
Ancient Rome
Foundations of a great civilization
• 753 BCE Roman Civilization founded
• Situated on seven wooded hills along the Tiber River
• Legend has it that twin brothers Romulus and Remus
founded Rome on one of these hills
• Why is this location important?
• Fertile soil
• Excellent Building materials nearby
• Strategically located
• Easier to fend off invaders
• Centrally located away from coast to protect against
invaders such as pirates
• Protected to the north by Alps
The ancient city of Rome
• Population: 50 – 70 million people at the Roman Empire’s
height
• 1 million lived in Rome
• 5 – 6 million in Italy
• The people of the Roman Empire were of all different
nationalities and faiths
• Class Structure
• Upper Class – members of senate and their families
• Lower Class – Citizens (farmers, city workers, and
soldiers) and slaves (captured in war and eventually freed)
• Equites – wealthy landowner class that emerged. They held
government positions and helped run the civil service
Political Structure (cont’d)
• Patricians
– Senate
• Plebians
– Assembly
• Consuls
• Representative (as opposed to Direct in Greece)
• 12 Tables (innocent until proven guilty)
The ancient city of Rome (cont’d)
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Cities of Importance
Cities of importance
Alexandria, Antioch(Syria) and Constantinople
All were centers of trade and cultural diffusion
Forum – a large open space surrounded by markets and
buildings, and temples
• Family Structure
• Family Structure was paternal (paterfamilias) and sons
could not own property until father was deceased
• Boys married around age15 – 18 and girls @ age 13 or
14
• Education
• Until around the age of 11, most attended school at home
or at a “private” school
• Often, children were taught by slaves
• It was not uncommon for these slaves to have more
education than the people they taught
• Higher education was reserved for the upper class
• Religion
• Early Romans believed in gods and goddesses
• 300s BCE – Roman contact with Greeks leads then to
adopt some Greek ideas-Magna Graecia
• gods and temples to honor them
• 313CE – turn to religion of Christianity
Roman Economy
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Occupation - 90% of the people were farmers
Manufacturing and Mining
Most of these items came from areas outside Rome
Gold and silver came from Spain
Tin and Lead from Britain
Italy did have iron ore and copper deposits
This meant that they were heavily engaged in trade
Cargo ships from the Mediterranean would bring
goods from all over the empire
• Traded for silk from China, Ivory from Africa
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Transportation and Communication
• 50,000 miles of roads covered the empire
• Constructed by the army to increase movements
of troops
• These roads promoted trade and communication
Arts and Sciences
• Architecture was adapted from Greek architecture
• Achievements of Roman Architecture
• 1 – The arch – supported bridges and aqueducts and
allowed for the construction of vaulted ceilings which
could eliminate the need for columns
• 2 – Concrete – provided a strong building material
• Science
• Ptolemy developed the study of astronomy 275 BCE
The Roman Republic
• 509 BCE – Roman Republic established
• 2 elected officials called consuls headed the
government
• Served for 1 year
• The Senate was the most powerful government
body in the Roman Republic
• Unlike the consuls, senators served for life
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They were patricians(upper class members of
society)
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The plebeians(citizens) held little power as
members of the assembly, the Concilium Plebis
From Republic to Empire
• 31 BCE – Roman Republic ends and the Roman
empire is established
• This was brought about by 20 years of civil war
• An emperor now controlled the government’s
decision making ability
• The emperor appointed senators, consuls and other
officials
Laws to live by in Rome
• 450 BCE Romans publish their first code of laws called
the “Laws of the Twelve Tables”
• The flexibility of these laws led to the establishment of
a basic set of laws called jus gentium(law of nations)
• These were a set of common sense laws
• Army
• Made of land owning citizens
• They had a larger stake in what they were fighting for
• Role of the Army
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Build roads, walls, aqueducts, walls, and tunnels
Rulers of Rome
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Julius Caesar
Augustus Caesar
Tiberius
Nero
Vespasian
Trajan
Hadrian
Constantine
Diocletian: East and West
Theodosius
The Fall of Rome
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The empire grew steadily weaker over time
Why?
Size
Internal Conflict
Mercenary troops
Germanic Peoples invaded and crushed Rome
476 - Empire ends when the last emperor is
forced out of power by Germanic chieftain
Odoacer
Lasting Impacts of the Romans
• Roman Law became the basis for many legal
systems: Justinian’s Code(eastern)
• Latin was the basis for many languages spoken
today
• Architectural achievements
• Government structure
• Religion