Transcript Ancient Greece

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Heart of Ancient
Greece
Few people lived
more than 70 km from
it’s shore
Civilization
depended on the
sea
More than 2000
islands- some rocky
and some extremely
fertile
Earliest civilization
began on a fertile
island named Crete
Greece has nearly 3200
km of coastline.
 Deep fjords provided
excellent harbors.
 Greeks sailed from
island to island sharing
ideas and products.
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Landscape is marked by mountains.
 Only 1/5 of the land was fertile- so it
was highly valued.
 Mountains acted as partitions
between communities.
 Ancient Greece became a
collection of separate, independent
city-states- often at war with each
other.
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Ancient Greece can be divided into 4
periods:
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EARLY PERIOD (2000- 800 BCE)
EARLY CLASSICAL PERIOD (800- 480 BCE)
CLASSICAL GREECE (480-338 BCE)
HELLENISTIC AGE (338-27 BCE)
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The Minoan Period
The Mycenaean Period
The Dark Ages
The Persian Wars
The earliest civilization
associated with Greece.
 Located on the island of
Crete
 Named after legendary
ruler- King Minos.
(Mythical)
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Lived on the mainland in small simple
farming villages.
 Wealthy and powerful civilization.
 Gained wealth through trade and
piracy.
 Factors that led to the decline of the
Mycenaean civilization: Civil wars,
invasion, drought and famine.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3d
ak2YQdPM&feature=related
Greeks developed small, secure,
independent communities. These
became known as city-states or
”polis” (community of people).
 These rarely exceeded 20,000
people except for the two largest:
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 Athens
 Sparta
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In order to find additional food,
the Greeks set up “apoikai ”
(away homes or colonies).
This is considered the greatest age in
Ancient Greek History.
 Phenomenal rush of achievements- most
of which stemmed from Athens. A lot of
these achievements came from contact
with Egypt and Persia.
 Blossomed in Art and Science.
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ATHENS:
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Commercial city and cultural center
Had the most democratic government of
all the city states.
Controlled the Delian League (150 city
states banned together to protect against
further attacks from the Persians).
SPARTA:
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First city-state to keep a standing
army of professional soldiers
Highly militaristic
Ruled by a small group of
aristocrats.
Aristocrats
 Metics
 Perioikoi
 Helots
 Eunomia
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1.
2.
-Phenomenal rush of achievements in arts and
sciences. (paintings, statues, metal work,
glassmaking, thinking, poets, artists)
Completely different city states. Athens tried to
expand into central Greece, Athens blocked
trading by some cities, Delian League members
asked Sparta for help.
3.
- Plague swept 1/3 of population
- Leader (Alcibiades) was exiled.
- Spartans had strong allies in Persia
and Sicily.
- Blockade of Athens by Sparta.
Son of King Phillip II, of Macedonia.
 In 338 BCE, Macedonia takes over the
Greek city states.
 When Phillip II is killed, Alexander
becomes king of Macedonia at the age
of 20.
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To consolidate his power, he had
possible rivals killed and led campaigns
into Greece to demonstrate his power.
 He set out to fulfill his fathers dream of
expanding the empire.
 He spent 11 years at war- by the end of
which he had stretched the empire from
Greece to India.
 He died at the age of 33 of Malaria.
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“Hellenistic” civilization was a blend
of Eastern and Western influences--because his army consisted of both
Persians and Greeks, they learned
from each other.
 The large empire spread the culture
and ideas of Greece.
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Film: Alexander the Great (25 min)
The word "democracy" combines the
elements demos (which means "people")
and kratos ("force, power").
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The development of government
emerged in the dark ages with the
development of the “polis” or city state.
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KING- Most early states were ruled by a
king, sometimes elected, sometimes
hereditary.
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ARCHON- Aristocrats who were
appointed to office for life.
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TYRANTS- Citizens who took power with
the help of a military power.
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Every adult male over the age of 18
could speak and propose legislation in
the assembly, vote directly on every
piece of legislation, and stand for public
office.
Athens: Direct Democracy
(@2:30)
Was the Athenian system of government
truly democratic?
 Was it an efficient system of decision
making?
 How does it compare to the system of
democracy used in Canada?
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