Transcript Regents Review - Ancient Greece

By: Jonathan Marston
Dominion Christian High School, Marietta, GA
The Geography of Greece
Greek City States
• Greeks lacked political unity
• Mountains hindered and isolated Greeks
from one another
• Greeks built their cities at the foot of a
hill:
• Defensive walls
• Polis: city-state. Basic political unit of
Greece
• Acropolis: fortress on top of a hill
Greek agora
• large open space that served as a public
square and civic center
Citizens
• Males and females were citizens
• Male citizens could vote, pass on their
property and participate in public life
• Women: did not vote
• No rights: slaves and resident aliens
(people from somewhere else)
Types of Greek government
• Monarchy: king
• Received advice from a council of nobles
and a popular assembly
• Oligarchy: rule by a few (council of
nobles)
• Tyranny: Rule by force.
• Democracy: Rule by the people
Sparta: Then and Now
SPARTA
Sparta
• Located on the southern part called the
Peloponnesus
• Rigid hierarchical society
• Dominated by warrior elite
• Physical enslavement of its neighbors
Spartan Citizenship
• Spartiates: elites. Full citizens
• Perioici: neighboring communities who
were allowed local autonomy but subject
to serve in the Spartan army.
• Helots: class of serfs who worked the
land of the Spartan citizen. They were
kept under control by maintenance of
the social order.
Spartan politics: A “Mixed
Constitution”
• Dual kingship
• Administration: 5 ephors
(overseers)Acted as a check to the
kings
• Council of 30 Elders (over age 60)
advised the king and served as a court
• All adult males over the age of 30
deliberated in a general assembly
Spartans trained for war
• Social cohesion was maintained by raising boys
away from their families
• Agoge: educational system trained boys as
warriors
• Crypteia: (secret commission) forced boys to
live off the land and learn physical endurance.
• Men lived with their peers, dining together in
common messes. Here they would form
relationships that would last throughout their
military career and beyond
Spartan warrior
Greek phalanx: stinks to be the guy on the
end
ATHENS: Yesterday & Today
Athens
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Commercialism
Trade
Naval power
Democracy
Creativity
Individualism
The antithesis of Sparta
Athens
• Monarchy ended in 683 B.C.
• Managed by 3 to 9 archons
(administrators) elected annually by an
assembly in which all male citizens could
vote
• Served one year
• Areopagus: permanent council of 300
plus ex archons
Reform in Athens
• Draco (621 B.C.) First reformer
Clarified law on homicide distinguishing
between voluntary and involuntary
homicide (Early societies frowned upon
any kind of homicide)
Recognize basis for justice and did away
with forcing citizens to rely on the
dictates of tribal elders.
6th century B.C.
• Period of rapid change throughout
Greece
• More manufacturing and greater trade
contributed to social upheaval and
widespread instability.
• Led to tyrants
• Solon: “father of the Athenian
Constitution”
Solon
• Elected archon (administrator) in 594: tried to protect both the
common people and the elite
• A. Cancelled all agricultural debts and forbade further
borrowing against the body (No slavery)
• B. No products could be exported except olive oil
• B. Formalized the rights and privileges of each social class
according to wealth, not birth (only top two classes could hold
office) Men could improve their status in life
• C. published Athens laws
• D. Solon’s reforms set Athens on the road to democracy by
strengthening the rule of law
• Background: Athenian farmers tried to feed the entire region
around Athens. Some farmers borrowed from others who were
better off and had gone so deeply in debt in the form of grain
that they lost their land and had even fallen into slavery by
pledging their body as security for more food.
Pisistratus (Tyrant) 546-528
B.C.)
• Popularly supported by poorer farmers
• Gave land to his supporters
• Built temples to Athena and Zeus
Cleisthenes
• Created council of 500 members to
prepare business for the general
assembly, which was popularly elected
• All males over 30 were eligible to serve
for one year in the general assembly
• Councillors to 500 member council were
chosen by lot (good chance every
eligible Athenian would be called to
serve once in his lifetime)
Persian Wars: 499 BC – 480 BC
Persian Wars
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Chronology of the Persian
Wars
499 B.C. Greek cities of Ionia in Asia Minor revolt from Persian Empire
498. Athens takes part in burning of Sardis in Persian Empire
496: Persians besiege Miletus, the leading city in the revolt
494: Fall of Miletus
493: End of Ionian Revolt (Persia seeks revenge for Athenian
involvement)
492: Persian expedition to northern Greece suffers heavy losses in
storms
490: Battle of Marathon near Athens; Persians defeated.
486: Death of King Darius of Persia; accession of Xerxes
484-480. Xerxes prepares for new invasion of Greece
480. Persian army sets out from Sardis
480. Battle of Thermopylae and Artemisium
480. Battle of Salamis
479. Battle of Plataea
Darius I and Xerxes: Persian
menaces
Persia vs. Ancient Greece
(freedom)
• Freedom of Speech
• City States were based on the consent of the
governed (freedom to choose government)
• Greeks could buy and sell property and pass it on (the
essence of freedom)
• Freedom of action: to fight or not
• Persians: forced to serve. If they questioned
authority, they were decapitated.
• Free citizens are better warriors since they fight for
themselves, not for kings. They accept a greater
degree of discipline than either coerced or hired
soldiers.
Persian Empire under Darius I
Persian Wars: Famous Battles
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Marathon (490 BC) Athenian infantry routed the
Persians. Athenians lost 192 men and the Persians
lost 6,400 men.
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Thermopylae (480 BC)
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26 miles from Athens
300 Spartans at the Mountain pass.
Greek loss.
Salamis (480 BC)
Athenian navy led by Themistocles destroys Persian
fleet
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Plataea (479 B.C.) Greek army led by Spartans defeat
Persians
Battle of Marathon
Phidippides “Hail we rejoice.”
On the way to Marathon from
Athens
Present Day Thermopylae
Battle of Thermopylae
King Leonidas
• "300" vs. reality
Battle of Salamis
Xerxes watching the destruction of his fleet at
Salamis
Themistocles: Victor at
Salamis
Plataea: Persians defeated in
land battle