Transcript Ancient Greece: History

Ancient Greece: History
Chapter 5
Early Greeks
• The Minoans
– Lived on the island of
Crete
– Major polis: Knossos
– Sailors and traders
– Advanced civilization
• Plumbing
• arts
Early Greeks
• Minoan civilization declined. Why?
– Natural disasters
• Earthquakes, tidal waves
• Volcanic eruption on Thera- changed weather and
destroyed crops
– Conquered by the Mycenaeans
Early Greeks
• Mycenaeans
– Warlike
– Built a fortress at Mycenae (my-see-nee)
– Constant warfare destroyed Mycenaean
civilization
Other Polises
• Sparta
– Warlike
– Conquered nearby peoples; these became
slaves called helots
• Helots were farmers and servants
• Gave Spartans time to devote to military training
– Spartans emphasized physical fitness and
good health
Sparta
• Boys trained for warfare; girls trained to
be strong mothers
• At age 20 young men became hoplites,
or foot soldiers
Athens
• Center of culture and
•
•
learning
Birthplace of
democracy
Rival of Sparta
Athenian Democracy
• Democracy means “rule by the people”
• Athenian rulers
– Draco wrote laws that punished lawbreakers harshly
• Gives us the word Draconian
– Solon gave all Athenian men rights to sit on juries and
participate in governing assemblies; only wealthy men
could hold office
• Cleisthenes reformed Athens’ gov’t
– Divided Athens into 10 tribes; each tribe elected 50
men to serve on a Council of 500 who made laws
Athenian Democracy
• Who could participate in Athenian
democracy?
– Free men born in Athens who had finished
military training – 10 % of population
– No women, children, immigrants
– In the assembly, all members voted directly –
direct democracy
Other Greek Polises
• Thebes
• Corinth
• Thessaloniki
• Byzantium
• Miletus
• Ephesus
• Sardis
Persian Wars
• 400s B.C. – Persian Empire controls much of
Western Asia
Persian Wars (490 B.C.)
• Persian Empire controlled some Greek citystates, who had rebelled
– Athens and other polises gave aid to Greek
rebels, but Persia won
– Persian king, Darius the Great, wanted to
punish Athens for supporting the rebellion- he
brought an army to invade Greece
Persian Wars (490 B.C.)
• Persians attacked at Marathon, near
Athens
– Athens won the battle
– Legend of the Marathon runner- a soldier ran
26 miles from Marathon to Athens to
announce the Greek victory
– Basis for today’s marathon races
– Battle of Marathon showed that the mighty
Persian army could be defeated
Persian Wars (479 B.C.)
• Darius’ son, Xerxes,
•
wanted to finish what
his father started
Athens called for help
from other Greek citystates; Sparta came
to their aid
Persian Wars (479 B.C.)
• Battle of Thermopylae
– Greeks met the Persians at Thermopylae to
give Athens time to evacuate and prepare
defenses
– 300 Spartans, 900 helots, 1200 other Greeks
fought to the death against 200,000 Persians
– Thermopylae a symbol of courage against
overwhelming odds
Persian Wars (479 B.C)
• The Athenians later defeated Persians in
naval battle at Salamis and land battle at
Plataea
• The first time Greeks had stopped fighting
and worked together to defend each other
• Persians never attacked Greece again
Peloponnesian War
• After Persian Wars, Athens and Sparta
most powerful city-states in Greece
• Athens entered a Golden Age of arts and
culture
– Golden Age: a period of peace, prosperity,
and great achievement
Peloponnesian War
• Golden Age of Athens
– Athens had to rebuild after
the war with Persia
• New temples built on the
Acropolis
– Parthenon- temple to
Athena
• Beautiful sculptures and
monuments
• Rebuilding led by Pericles,
one of Greece’s greatest
statesmen
Peloponnesian War
• The Delian League
– Greek city-states formed a defensive alliance
against Persia called the Delian League
– Athens was most powerful and important
member
– Athens controlled the League and would not
allow other members to leave
Peloponnesian War
• Sparta led the
•
•
rebellion against
Athens
Sparta led its own
alliance, the
Peloponnesian League
war broke out in 431
B.C.
Peloponnesian War
• For many years, neither side could win
– Athens had a strong navy
– Sparta had a strong army
– Plague in Athens led to a truce in 421 B.C.
• 415 B.C.- Athens attacked a Spartan ally
– Sparta destroyed Athenian navy
– Athens surrenders in 404 B.C.
Peloponnesian War
End of Greece’s Golden Age
• Sparta couldn’t maintain control of Greece
• City-states quarreled and fought
• Eventually all of Greece was conquered by
Macedonia