Architecture of the Golden Age of the Athenians:
- Acropolis was the main group of building in Athens that looked over the city
- It is a sacred area and one of the most recognizable monuments in the world
- Acropolis took 9 years to build and was completed in 438 BC, would have cost 3 billion dollars today
- The parathenon and other buildings on the acropolis were all built between 460 and 430 BC under the leadership of Pericles It was used for political and cultural achievements
- The parthenon cost over 3 billion dollars in todays money, was built between 447 BC and 432 BC, it was one of the biggest construction projects of the ancient world
- The porch of Caryatids has six columns holding up the roof
- All female figures were each sculpted differently and engineered so that their slender necks could take the weight of the roof and still look real and elegant.
- The Porch of Caryatids started building in 421 Bc and was completed in 406 BC and it cost 130 million to build
- Greek Art in the Golden Age: the most complex structures of this time are the sculptures of the Athenian Acropolis
- The Earliest of these are the Parathanon sculptures, which soon became a church.
- Purpose of the buildings: to show cultural and political achievements of Athens, honor gods and goddesses such as Athena, political gatherings, Athens had walls that would surround the city for protection and defense, buy and sell items, drama, education, and law making.
- The parthenon was used to praise Athena and was a temple to honor and praise and to celebrate the ending of the Athen's was with Persia.
- The Agora- place where townspeople came to buy and sell their goods with each other, was kind of like a marketplace where food and household items were sold
- The Theater of Dionysus- meant for dramatic plays, big events,comedy, social life, acted or watched the plays
- Gymnasium- children would go to get educated, boys and girls were separate, all kids went
- Pnyx- Athenians would go to this building to gather around and decide on the laws and rules of the town.
- Key Players: Pericles plan was to get the greatest Greece artchitects to build things like the Parthenon, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were also big.
Military and Delian League:
- Tactics-
- Phalanx: major downside was that it was used against horses which could quickly ride around and the weak side, they used mountains to protect the weak side.
- Naval Warfare: shipped grain and food into the city, used ships called trireme, fought by ramming and boarding enemy ships, was a major naval force.
- Key Players:
- Pericles- politician, democrat, general, Athenians, led victories in the Peloponnesian and Persian wars
- Socrates- philosopher, Athenian, praised Sparta so he wasn't well liked
- Plato- student of Socrates
- Aristotle-student of Plato
- Archemides- first mathematician to calculate pi
- Pythagoras- developed the pythagorean theorum
- Delian League:
- Coalition of Greek states and Athenians
- Founded in 478 BC
- Under the control of Athens
- HQ was in Delos
- Goals: Free Ionian Greeks from Persia, protect Aegean Sea
- Used sea power
- Athens was the leader
- Famous Battles of the Persian War:
- Marathon, Thermopylae, and Salamis
- Marathon: Persians fled after hours of fighting, 6,000 Persians died while very few Athenians died.
- Thermopylae: 7,000 Greeks faced 300 Spartans all Spartans died after staying to fight
- Salamis: Greeks abandoned Athens and fought with their naval forces they destroyed most of Persian fleet and formed the Delian League to protect Greece
- Famous Battles of the Peloponnesian War:
- Battle of Pylos: Athenian naval forces were out attacking Zacynthus, Spartan troops decided to attack walled city called Pylos, over 2,000 Spartan troops tried attacking sea side wall, Spartans failed to capture Pylos before the Athenian naval fleet could return and tried blocking harbor
- Weaponry and Armor:
- Swords, Iron knives, arrowheads, sling bullets-steel and clay, shields-bronze, archery, spears
- Male 18 or older, own land, have the mandatory 2 years military training.
- Many in the army were rich because you had to buy your own weapons, small army sizes
Different Kinds of Soldiers:
- 18-60 physically fit men
- Heavily armored
- Hoplite Soldiers- light armored men usually poor citizens or trusted slaves
- Cavalry corps- wealthy citizens that could raise their own horse
- Peltast- lightly armored and had javelins and a small shield (pelte)
- If a small force was needed, they took 20-24 year old men
- If there was a crisis they would summon everyone, even elderly
Geography
- Sea- Greece borders the Aegean Sea, the Ionian Sea and the East Mediterranean Sea, they thought that the sea was beautiful and gained many things/ a freedom environment, shipping people traveled where they could always see land
- Land- The longest river in Greece is the Aliakmon, riverbeds tend to dry up, they grew barley because it was more productive and less demanding, olive plantations, Grapes were popular because of the rocky soil, houses on the land were made of wood, as well as wagons, goats and sheep were the most common animals in Greece, provided fur milk and meat, chicken and geese were grown and eaten, oxen were on the land but very rare, donkeys and mules used for traveling called "dry animals"
- Climate- Mild, rainy winters, warm and dry summers, sunshine year round, the mountains adjust the climate changes, winters can be rigorous and snowy in the mountains,
- Ancient Greek Trade and Colonization- bronze, silver and gold vessels, olive oil, wine and textiles were traded
- Farming- 20% of land was farmland, planted barley, grapes, and olives, soil was rocky, barley was the main cereal crop
- Ancient Greek Agriculture- diet based on cereals, home to many olive trees that provided olive oil, augmented by vegetable gardens and orchards
- Mining- Lavrion mines: silver production was so high, decline of the mines came during the Peloponnesian War
- Natural Resources- iron, bronze, flax, clay, timber, grain (wheat and barley), animals, leather, wool
- How the land affected the battles-
- Thermopylae: narrow coastal pass, not near the sea, Phalanx in between the pass
- Salamis: took place on Salamis island in the Saranic Gulf, Greeks fought with ships, 366 guarded, Greeks held off well with the help of the gulf
- Peloponnesian War- the seas helped both sides equally
- Different Jobs-
- Farmers: They grew enough to support their families, rarely sold in the local market if they had enough surplus
- Blacksmiths: used iron and ore to create tools for farming and fighting in wars
- Craftsman: family owned and small shops, made beds, plows, door frames. In larger communities, they would be in charge of making a single product.
- Doctors and Medicine: 4 Humors- blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm. Drew blood and induced vomiting and sweating to bring the 4 humors back into balance.
- Merchants:owned boats or rented cargo space on their boats, shipping involved a lot of risks like pirates, shipwrecks, or bad cargo. There were good profit possiblilities so many took these risks
- Bankers: Changed money from other city-states into local currency, often loaned money for trading voyages
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