Monday:
Persian War(Greco-Persian)
Fought between the Persian Empire and Greek city-state(Athens, Sparta, Thebes, etc.)
Problems started when Persian leader Cyrus the Great took over Ionia in Greece in 546 BC
The Ionians(Greeks) led a revolt against the Persians after Cyrus the Great died
Ionian Revolt
Led by athenian General Miltiades
Ionia asked Athens to help them which they did
Darius quickly suppresses the Ionian Revolt but is very angry at the Greeks
Darius the Great vowed to burn Athens to the ground before he died
Miltiades Escapes
Miltiades escapes back to Athens and tells the Athenians that the Persians are coming to burn Athens
This sets up the beginning of the Great Persian War
Ancient Greece vs Civilizations of Persia
Persia was the largest empire in the world at the time and consisted of millions of people
Ancient Greece was about 500,000 total people
It was truly a David vs. Goliath battle
Athens and Sparta united
Athens and Sparta had been fighting for hundreds of years
They now fought nor for Athens or for Sparta but for Greece
Battle of Marathon
25,000 Persians
10,000 Athenians
Who won
Athenians
Deaths
Persians 6,400
Athenians 192
How did the Athenians Win
Battle formations
The Phalanx
The Persians were lightly armored and not prepared
Pheidippides
After the battle ended, he ran from Marathon to Athens to tell the Athenians of the victory over Persia
About 26 miles
Battle of Thermopylae
Ten years after the Battle of Marathon, Persia once again invaded Greece
Darius the Great’s son, Xerxes, made it goal to destroy Athens
The Persians won the Battle of Thermopylae but not before the Spartan soldiers held out of days allowing many Greek troops to retreat
The movie 300 is based on this battle
Battle of Salamis
At the naval Battle of Salamis, the Greeks destroyed the Persian Navy
The Persians were never the same after and they were eventually driven out of Greece
After the Persian Wars, the Delian League was established setting up an alliance between the Greek city-states
- Starting around 470 BC Greece, and Athens specifically, entered a golden age
Golden age of Athens- 477-431 BC
- Came about after Greece defeated the Persians
- Drama, sculpture, poetry, philosophy, architecture, and science flourished
- Also known as the "Age of Pericles"
- led Athens in the Peloponnese War
- Pericles plan for Athens
- Strengthen Athenian democracy
- hold and strengthen the empire
- glorify Athens
- Goal 1: stronger democracy
- increased the number of paid gov't jobs which benefited people who were not wealthy
- instituted Direct democracy- citizens rule directly and not through elected representatives
- Goal 2: strengthen the empire
- helped establish and eventually led the Delian League after the Persian wars
- alliance of Greek city- states
- Grew Athens navy
- Started dominating other city-states which led to conflicts
- Goal 3: glorify Athens
- used money from the Delian League to buy gold, marble and ivory
- Used money from the Delian League to hire artists, architects and workers to build buildings and sculptures
- Phidias was hired to build the Parthenon
- Greek sculptors focused on beauty, not realism
- Classical art focused on simplicity and being well proportioned
- Greek drama tragedy and comedy
- A tragedy was a serious drama about common themes such as love, hate, war or betrayal
- the hero usually was an important person and often gifted with extraordinary abilities
- a tragic flaw usually casued the heros downfall, usually excessive pride
- Sophocles wrote Oedipus the king, a famous tragedy
- A Comedy contained scenes filled with humor
- playwrights often made fun of politics and respected people and ideas of the time
- Aristophanes was a famous writer of comedies
- the fact that Athenians could listen to criticism of themselves showed the freedom that existence in democratic Athens
- The start if the Greatest subject in recorded history
- history
- Herodotus pioneered the accurate reporting of events
- Thucydides believed that certain types of events and political situations recur over time
- studying those events and situations would aid in understanding the present
- the approaches Thucydides used in his work still guide historians today
- Peloponnese war
- fought between Athens and Sparta
- came about as a result of Sparta not liking Athens growth of wealth and power in the area
- Athens was acting like a bully
- Sparta had a better army, Athens had a better navy
- with the help of a plague that hit Athens, sparta eventually won
Tuesday:
Tuesday-
Rise of the Philosophers-
- Philosopher is someone who tries to explain the nature of life
- After losing Peloponnesian War, people in Athens turned to philosophers for answers
- Socrates, Plato, Atistotle
Socrates-
- Socrates was a philosopher of Ancient Greece
- Socrates taught by asking questions
- This method of questioning is called 'Socratic method'
Plato-
- Plato was a student of Socrates
- Started a school called The Academy that lasted 900 years
- Wrote The Republic
- Had an impact on history
Aristotle-
- Aristotle was a student of Plato
- He wrote about science, art, law, poetry, government, etc..
- Taught Alexander the Great
King Philip II of Macedon
- Goal was to take over all of Greece and get revenge by taking over the Persian Empire
- Became King of Macedon
Macedonians-
- Lived in mountainous villages, not city-states
- Macedonians considered themselves to be Greek but were looked down upon by the big city-states
- Philip II built up his military and eventually invaded and defeated the Greek city-states
- Used the phalanx and cavalry to great effect
Alexander the III of Macedon "Alexander the Great"
- Took over for his father Philip
- Philip was assassinated at his daughter's wedding by a former bodyguard
- Ruled Greece and it's empire for only 13 years
- Due ti his great accomplishes became known as Alexander the Great
- was taught by Aristotle
- Philip died
- after taking power, Alexander eliminated his opponents to the throne and then moved to consolidate Greece
- Alexander then turned to east to take over of the Persian empire and achieve the goal of his father
- after losing some battles, Darius III retreated quickly and offered Alexander all lands west of the Euphrates river
- Alexander the great refused Darius III offer and announced he would take the entire Persian Empire
- in 332 BC, Alexander the Great moved into Egypt and liberated Egypt from the Persians
- the Egyptians crowned Alexander Pharaoh
- Founded the Egyptian city of Alexandria
- After conquering Egypt, Alexander moved into Mesopotamia and finished the job of defeating Darius III and the PersiansAlexander would continue east into India where he eventually ran into a strong Indian Army
- the capital city of the Persian Empire, Persepolis (In Iran), was burned by Alexander as possible revenge for the Persians burning Athens
- his troops were tired- fighting for 11 years and traveled more than 11,000 miles
- Even after defeating the Indian army in a battle, the monsoons of India were having an impact and Alexander agreed to turn back west
Alexander the Greats legacy
- Greek Empire split into three sections Leaders all ruled with absolute power
- Greek city states led by Antoninus
- Egypt led by Ptolemy
- Former Persian Empire ruled by Seleucus
- Cultural diffusion
The spread of Hellenistic Culture
- Hellenistic culture became common all throughout the Greek Empire
- Greek, Egyptian, Persian and Indian cultures mixed
- Language- Koine
- trade
- cities
- science and technology
- philosophy, art, architecture
Wednesday: Watched a video
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