Transcript AncientGreece Wh ch 5-1

Ancient Greece
2000 B.C.E.-1000 B.C.E.
Overview of Greece
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Physical Setting
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Northeast End of the Mediterranean
Consists of Small Peninsulas
Geography
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No clear river system
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Short mountain ranges cut through mainland
Separate communities
Prevents Unity among Greeks
No unifying meeting place
Prevents Unity
Mild climate, good soil, sufficient rainfall
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Farmers can grow grain, grapes, olives
Sheeps, Goats raised in mountains
Not enough to live on
The Importance of Geography
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Geography encourages trade
– Long coastline allows all of mainland to be
near sea
– Islands surrounding have many good
harbors
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Question: What types of occupations
might Greek citizens develop?
– (Farmers, fishermen, sailors, traders,
explorers)
The Predecessors of the Greeks
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The Minoans
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Existed on Crete before Greek Civilization
Legendary in Greek culture, verified in 1900 AD
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Archaeologists discover Knossos (palace of King Minos)
Ruins, artifacts discovered since back up finding
Characteristics
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Writing: “Linear A” (Not been deciphered yet), “Linear B” (early
form of Greek)
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Well established by 2000 BC
Art: created Frescoes (Wall paintings on plaster)
Dominated the Aegean Islands
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1500 BC: Volcano destroys much of Minoan civilization
The Palace of King Minos
King Minos’ palace:
built as a labyrinth
legendary home of the Minotaur
Outside King Minos’ palace today
King Minos' governmental throne
room.
The Mycenaeans
• 2000 BC: Groups from the North (IndoEuropean)
• Culture develops around 1600 BC-1200
BC
• Warlike group, conquered other areas
• Conquered Crete, adopted much of
Minoan civilization
• 1200 BC: Earthquakes destroy much of
civilization
The palace in
Mycenae was
surrounded by
massive walls
with a huge
gateway called
the Lion Gate
Mycenaen Civilization
• Palaces in the city of Mycenae
– served as the centers for government and
economy
• Government
– Role of Tax collectors:
• kept track of the wealth of the people living in the
kingdom
• collected taxes on: wheat, livestock, honey etc.
The Mycenaean Civilization
Mycenaen Civilization
• Economy
– tanned leather, sewed clothes, made jars for
honey and olive oil, created bronze shields
etc.
• What did they learn from the Minoans?
– used Minoan architecture as a model for their
palaces
– Metalworking--------shipbuilding
– navigation------lead by the sun and stars
– Religion- worshipped Earth Mother
Mycenaen Civilization
• Why does the civilization come to an end?
– Two Theories:
1. Infighting amongst the kingdoms
2. Invasion by the Dorians
Dorians
• Came in armed with iron weapons
• called the “dark age”:
– Why?
• Trade ended, poverty increased, literacy declined
• refugees fled to Ionia
• 750 B.C.- reintroduced culture, crafts, etc.
• Founding of Hellenic Civilization
– 700’s B.C.- 350 B.C.
Homer’s Odyssey
Ch. 5 Sect. II
Greek Systems of Government
• Monarchy- is a government by a royal family-in ancient
Greece a King. established a dynasty.
– Autocracy- (rule by one person who has total control over all others)
• Aristocracy- (government ruled by the wealthy or upper
class) was comprised of the nobility, or landowning class that
ruled the city-state.
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Oligarchy - absolute rule by a few
• Tyranny - (Tyrant) seized power, gaining popular support by
promising to defend the poor from the aristocracy.
• Democracy- the council of citizens helped form laws and
limited the power of rulers.
• Theocracy- government in which the clergy rules or in which a
“god” is the civil ruler.
Athenian Government
• In early times ruled by kings
• Later, the aristocracy, selected
representatives called archons
• Merchants later replaced some of the
nobility
Athenian social classes
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Nobility
Merchants, Artisans
Peasant
Slaves – common Athenian practice to
free their slaves
• Metics – foreigners allowed to live in
Athens but could not become citizens
Evolution of the system to a democracy
• Draco
– Wrote harsh code of laws
• Solon
– Canceled debts of the poor
– Set up a court of appeals for citizens
– Stopped debt slavery
• CLEISTHENES
– Determined that all male citizens over age 20 could be in the
Assembly
– Set up the Council of 500
• PISISTRATUS
– Created a following among lower classes
– Exiled nobles who disagreed with his policies
Citizen Rights
a) access to courts
b) no enslavement (but the very creation of
citizen class makes the distinction that other
people are slaves - that's what makes
citizenship a privilege)
c) religious and cultural participation
d) death penalty was rare
e) becoming a citizen was nearly impossible
f) citizen duties - taxes, military service
Geographic and historical influences in the development of Greek city
states
• Sparta was located on the Peloponnesus Peninsula, an
area that was good for growing grain but did not provide
the protection of an acropolis.
• The ruling class of citizens of Sparta was small in numbers
compared with the slaves, or helots.
• Due in part to a constant fear of outside invaders and of
inside slave revolts, the Spartan aristocracy empathized
military strength and uniformity.
• The government controlled all phases of life for both
citizens and slaves.
• By doing so, art, literature, philosophy, and science were
present only as they supported the military and only in a
practical nature. Military might, as shown by strength,
courage, endurance, and cleverness, along with devotion
to Sparta were the most important values.
• Individual freedoms were sacrificed.
Persian Wars
• Greek colonization brought the city states
in conflict with the Persian Empire
– Remember from Lesson 6
• Result was the Persian Wars (500-479
B.C.)
Ionian Rebellion
• As Persian emperors Cyrus
and Darius tightened their grip
on Anatolia, the Greek cities
on the Ionian coast became
increasingly restless
• In 500 B.C., they revolted and
expelled the Achaemenid
administrators
• Athens sent a fleet in support
of their fellow Greeks and
commercial partners
• In 493, Darius repressed the
rebellion
Cyclades Islands
Persian Wars
• To punish the
Athenians and
discourage future
interference, Darius
attacked Athens in 490
• The Athenians repelled
the invasion
– Marathon
Battle of Marathon
• The Persians landed
at the Plains of
Marathon on
September 9, 490
• For eight days, the two
armies faced each
other
• On the ninth day, the
Persians started to
advance, forcing
Miltiades, the
commander in chief of
the Athenian army, to
deploy his army of
10,000 Athenians and
1,000 Plataeans for
battle
Battle of Marathon
• The Athenians
surrounded the
Persians in a double
envelopment
– Although the
Athenians were
outnumbered, their
spears were
superior to the
Persians’ bows and
short lances
• The Persians fled to
their ships
• Persians lost 6,400
men and seven ships
• Athenians lost 192
Battle of Marathon
• However, Miltiades realized that the
Persian fleet could sail and attack
the undefended city of Athens
• According to legend, he called upon
Phidippides to run to Athens to tell
them of the victory and warn them of
the approaching Persian ships
• Phidippides ran the 26 miles from
Marathon to Athens in about three
hours, successfully warning the
Athenians who repelled the Persian
invasion
• Phidippides was exhausted from the
fight at Marathon and the 26 mile run
and died upon announcing the
warning
Miltiades
Olympic Marathons
• The marathon was part of
the 1896 Olympics
– The course was from
Marathon to Athens
(24.85 miles or 40 km)
• At the London Olympics in
1908, the Olympic
marathon course was set at
26 miles, 385 yards (42.195
km) to accommodate the
Royal Family’s viewing
• In 1921 the International
Amateur Athletic
Foundation made 42.195
km the official distance of a
marathon
Xerxes
• Darius’
successor
Xerxes tried to
avenge the
Persian losses
by launching
another attack in
480
– Thermopylae
Thermopylae
• The Greeks sent an allied
army under the Spartan
king Leonidas to
Thermopylae, a narrow
mountain pass in
northeastern Greece
• The point was to stall the
Persians long enough that
the city states could
prepare for later major
battles after the Persians
broke through
Persians attempting to force
the pass at Thermopylae
Thermopylae
• Twice the Greeks repelled the Persians
• Then Ephialtes, a local farmer, traitorously led
a force of Persian infantry through a mountain
passage and the next morning they appeared
behind the Greek lines
• Leonidas ordered the rest of the army to
withdraw and held the passage with just 300
Spartans
• As true Spartans, they chose death over
retreat
– Remember Lesson 17
• All died but they did hold off the Persians long
enough to ensure the safe withdrawal of the
rest of the Greek army.
Leonidas
Thermopylae
• “Stranger, go tell
the Spartans that
we lie here in
obedience to
their laws.”
(Inscription
carved on the
tomb of
Leonidas’ Three
Hundred)
Leonidas at
Thermopylae by David
After Thermopylae
• The Persians
captured and
burned Athens but
were defeated by
the Athenian navy
at Salamis
• In 479 the
Persians were
defeated at
Plataea and forced
back to Anatolia
Delian League
• After the Persian threat subsided, the Greek
poleis had conflicts among themselves
• The Athenians formed an alliance called the
Delian League
– Athens supplied most of the military force and the
other poleis provided financial support
– In the absence of the Persian threat, eventually the
other poleis came to resent financing Athens’
bureaucracy and construction projects
• The resulting tensions led to the Peloponnesian
War (431-404) in which the poleis divided up into
two sides led by Athens and Sparta
300
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