Transcript City States of Greece

City States of Greece
Geography of Greece
• Peninsula jutting into the
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Mediterranean Sea
Made up of over 4000
islands
Surrounded by three seas
– Mediterranean Sea
– Ionian Sea
– Aegean Sea
• The Greeks became great
sailors and colonized
many lands
The Land of Greece
• Rugged mountains,
•
deep valleys
Terrain shaped politics
of Grecians
– Mountains divided cities
from each other =
ISOLATION!
– Led to many different
forms of government
– Made communication &
overland trade difficult
• Only about 20% of land
•
was good for farming
Trade was lifeline
Central Greece – very rugged
terrain, not good for agriculture
Rise of City States
• City states =
• Polis = “City”
independent
• Center of polis = Acropolis
cities (like who?) • Acropolis = fortified hill
Acropolis of
Athens
Greek Politics: Different strokes
for different folks
• Because of physical
isolation, many different
government forms were
invented
– Tyranny: one person w/
absolute power to rule
– Monarchy / Aristocracy:
king w/ advisor nobles
– Oligarchy: small group rules
– Democracy: people rule
• Citizen soldiers protected
polis
Armies of the City States
• Iron weapons were cheap & very
common; owned by virtually all
Greeks
– Bronze armor though (lighter, better
metallurgy)
• Led to the rise of the citizen-soldier
• Called “hoplite”
– Armed with long (6-8’) spear & a short
sword (used only in emergency)
– Armored with bronze breast plate,
helmet, shield
– Fought together with friends from
young age (lower chance to run away)
Phalanx: Fact . . .
• Group of hoplites fighting in
formation
• Formation a solid block of
spears, men
• Each man protected the man
to his left with his shield
(tended to drift right)
• Relatively few casualties (too
tired to pursue)
Phalanx: . . . and Fiction
The historical phalanx
The 300 phalanx
The City State of Sparta
• Located in Southern
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Peloponnese peninsula,
made up of five villages
Spartans conquered
neighboring Messenians,
enslaving them
Around 600 BC, Messenians
revolted
– Spartans almost defeated
– Changed government to make
state supreme: Purpose?
– Purpose: survival of Sparta
Original territory of Sparta; by
500 BC, they controlled up to
Red line across middle of pic
The City State Sparta
• Education (“Agoge”)
– Male education dedicated to
developing physical, mental,
moral, social Spartan
– Brutal training lasted 11 years,
from age 7 years
– Taught how to fight,
steal, live off land, endure
terrible hardship
– They were simply the best
in Greece
– Spartiates = full citizens
– Women were
treated = to men,
but could not be
citizens
The City State Sparta
• Class structure: three classes
– Helots = Messenians
• Conquered people were essentially
slaves
• Subject to cruel, brutal treatment
by all
– Spartans (“Spartiates”)
• Any resident of original five
villages who completed agoge
• Their life was dedicated to
protecting the state
– Perioikoi (Honors!)
• Non citizen resident of Sparta
• Farmers, merchants who were not
citizens
The City State Sparta
• Government
– Monarchy: Two kings (hereditary
rulers; agoge; military, political,
2 Spartan
religious leaders)
Kings
– Oligarchy: Council of Elders
(Senate)
• 28 spartiates, 60+ years
• Day to day decisions
Ephors
(Overseers)
Council of Elders
(Senate)
– Democracy: Assembly
• All spartiates, 18+
• Vote yes or no only
– Five Ephors
• Any spartiate
Assembly of Spartiates
• Responsible for best interests of
state
• Indep. of king, senate,
assembly (beat king)
Non Spartans (Periokoi, Helots) – no
political rights
Perspective: Spartan Military
Success
• The Spartan army was
defeated only 6 times in
battle, in almost 250
years
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Athenians (2x)
Thebans (2x)
Argives (1x)
Persians (1x)
• Simply the finest Greek
land force, ever – but at
what cost?
The City State Athens
• Located on European
mainland, near coast
– Oldest continuously
inhabited city in Europe
(3000+ years)
• City was a port, only 8
km from sea
Artist’s rendition of Athens, ca. 400 BC
The City State Athens
• Law code first written
around 621 BC
Draco - Lawgiver
– Unfair law written by
Draco (“Draconian”)
• Most punishments = death
• Can’t pay debt = slavery to
creditor
– People rejected &
threatened civil war
• New code written in 594
BC, by Solon
Solon – lawgiver
– Allowed more land to
poor farmers
– No more debt slavery
– Encouraged trade,
commerce (middle class)
Athenian Democracy
• Athenian democracy (“demos” =
people; “cratia” = rule) arose
about 510 BC
– All citizens split into ten artificial
“tribes”; citizens attended assembly
to hear debate and vote
– Assembly was both a legislature and
a supreme court
– Offices filled by lot (random chance)
– Ten Strategos (generals) elected for
1 year term
– Assembly had power to ostracize, or
banish, citizens for 10 years
Athenian Democracy
• Who were citizens?
– Males who completed their
military training
– Disallowed majority of Athenians
• Slaves, women, debtors
• Direct democracy
– Citizens heard debate and voted
directly on issues
– Citizens expected to serve as
government officials, if chosen
– Absolute majority rule (50% +1)
Legacy of Athenian Democracy
• Most stable democracy in
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Greece
Gave people voice in
government
Rule of law (all subject to
rules of society)
Democracy spread
throughout Mediterranean
world, including Rome
Huge influence on USA, too
Other City States
• Thebes
– Often fought with Athens
– “Sacred Band” = core of army
• 150 homosexual couples (bravest
soldiers on battlefield)
• Professional soldiers
• Beat Spartans twice!
• Corinth
– Strategic location astride
isthmus
– Often allied with Sparta