Transcript The Crisis of Greek Politics Notes

Background Info
 Peloponnesian war over – Athens
crushed
 Sparta tried to take over as leading
power in Greece
 Persian Empire took control of Ionia.
 Sparta helped in exchange for support
against Athens
Continuing Warfare
 401 BC – 10,000 Greeks under
Spartan leadership achieve a
stunning victory at Cunaxa (kyooNAK-suh)
 Spartans continue for many years to
harass Persia to gain control of Ionia
– all in vain
 394 BC Sparta’s hopes dashed at
battle of Cnidus (NYD-uhs)
Continuing Warfare (cont)
 Next several decades the Greek city
states fought among themselves for
power
 387 BC Greek city states form a truce –
Persia would control Ionia and Greek
city states would be independent (no
alliances or empires)
Pan-Hellenism
 Isocrates (Greek orator) pushes for a
Greek alliance
 All Greeks binding together is known
as “Pan-Hellenism”
 Thebes tries to unite the Greeks, then
Athens tried once again
Pan-Hellenism (cont)
 By 357 BC Athens’ second attempt to
unify the Greeks failed as city states
revolted.
 Greek independence began to draw to a
close
The Destruction of the Polis
 What was the central element of Greek life?
 How did the Delian League destroy the
independent and self sufficient concept of
the polis?
 As people begin to question the polis what
other elements of Greek civilization might
they begin to question?
 Why is this dangerous?