Classical Greece
Sea-
- Allowed for great opportunity for trade and travel.
- Important because it allowed Greece to get the natural resources that it lacked- timber, precious metals, usable farmland.
Land-
- Rugged mountains covered about ¾ of ancient Greece.
- Mountains were often the divider for different regions.
- Played a big role in wars- hard to move through the mountains with large armies.
Climate-
- Upper 40’s in winter.
- Lower 80’s in summer.
- The climate allowed for many different outdoor activities.
3 Big players in Classical Greece-
- Minoan-
- Created an elegant civilization that had great power that started around 3000 B.C.
- Minoans culture influenced the Mycenaeans.
- Writing, language.
- Design.
- Trade.
- Used ships to trade goods.
- Mycenaean
- Heavily influenced by the Minoans.
- Came from Indo-European migrants.
- Dominated Greece from 1600B.C. to 1100 B.C.
- Dorian-
- Spoke a kind of Greek.
- Not as advanced as the others, no writing system.
- Focused more on storytelling
- Best storyteller was Homer.
The Dorian Period-
- Change-
- Dorian and Mycenaean people started to identify less with culture of their ancestors and more with the local area.
- Gov. made the transition from tribal or clan control to more formal governments called city-states.
- Government-
- A polis- made up of a city and its surrounding countryside, which would include numerous villages.
- Citizens of the polis would come together to meet at an acropolis to discuss their city government.
- Not all city-states had the same form of government.
- Different forms of Government-
- Monarchy-
- State ruled by a king.
- Rule is hereditary.
- Some rulers claim that they have a divine right to rule- thought god appointed them.
- Practiced in Mycenae by 2000 B.C.
- Aristocracy-
- State rule by nobility.
- Rule is hereditary and based on ties, social rank, and wealth.
- Social status and wealth supported authorities.
- Practiced in Athens prior to 594 B.C.
- Oligarchy-
- State ruled by a small group of citizens.
- Rule was based on wealth and/or ability.
- Ruling group controls the military.
- Practiced in Sparta by 500 B.C.
- Direct Democracy-
- State ruled by the citizens.
- Rule is based on citizenship.
- Majority rule decides vote.
- Practiced in Athens by 500 B.C.
- Athens-
- About 600 B.C. Athens was taking steps towards a democracy.
- There were major reforms for the next 100 years that would eventually lead to a democracy starting around 500 B.C.
- Key Players-
- Draco-
- Developed a legal code based on the idea that all Athenian, rich or poor were equal under law.
- He had very harsh punishments for nearly any crime.
- He believed in debt slavery.
- The word “draconian” has come to mean “extreme cruelty or severity.”
- Solon-
- Stated that no citizen should own another.
- Organized Athens into 4 social classes based on wealth.
- Only top 3 classes could hold political office, but all 4 could participate in the Athenian assembly- discuss city states, laws, appointed people.
- Cleisthenes-
- Broke Athens up based on region that the citizens lived instead of wealth- 10 groups.
- He increased the power of the assembly by allowing all citizens to submit laws for debate and passage.
- Created the Council of Five Hundred-
- Proposed laws.
- Counseled the assembly.
- Members were chosen at random.
- Limited Democracy-
- The reforms allowed for a limited democracy.
- However but all people were citizens.
- Requirements-
- Free.
- Adult.
- Property owner.
- Born in Athens.
- Sparta-
- Located in the southern part of Greece.
- Was cut off from the rest of Greece by the Gulf of Corinth.
- Spartan Government-
- Several branches-
- Assembly, all citizens, elected officials and voted on major issues.
- Council of Elders, 30 older citizens, proposed laws on the assembly to vote on.
- 5 elected officials that carried out the laws that were passed by the assembly.
- 2 kings that ruled over Sparta’s military.
Persian War-
- New technology-
- During the Dorian age, only the rich could really afford to buy the bronze weaponry and armor.
- Iron later replaced bronze and allowed the common man to be able to arm himself and fight battles.
- Also a new formation was formed in battle called the phalanx- spear in one hand, shield in the other.
- Start of the Persian War-
- War between Greece and the Persian Empire.
- It first began in Ionia on the coast of Anatolia.
- Greeks were settled there but Persians conquered it around 546 B.C.
- The Ionian Greeks revolted-
- Athens sent soldier to help in the revolt.
- Darius the Great defeated the revolt and then vowed to destroy Athens- leader of the Persians.
- In 490 B.C. the Persian fleet of 25,000 men landed in an area called Marathon.
- 10,000 Athenians met them there.
- After several hours of fighting-
- Persians fled the battlefield.
- 6,000 Persian lives were lost.
- 200 or less Athenian lives were lost.
- Victory-
- The Athenians were using this new fighting formation called the phalanx.
- The Persians were not well trained in this type of land fighting.
- The Persians also wore very light armor compared to the Athenians.
- Athenians were fighting on their homeland.
- Marathon-
- Even though Athenians had won, they left their city without much of an army.
- According to tradition, army leaders would send a runner to alert Athens of the battle.
- Pheidippides was that runner.
- He had run 26 miles from Marathon to Athens.
- Persians tried to quickly attack Athens after their defeat at Marathon, but the Athenians had already returned so they fled once again.
- Xerxes, Darius the Great’s son had become the successor of the Persian army.
- He brought an enormous army with him to complete the job that his father once vowed.
- Greek Issues-
- The Greeks were very divided on how to handle the Persian situation.
- Some city-states thought that they should fight them and defend their city of Athens.
- Some city-states thought it wasn’t worth it and they should just allow them to burn it.
- Some even fought with the Persians.
- Battle of Thermopylae-
- A narrow mountain pass was the setting of this battle.
- 7,000 Greeks and 300 Spartans stood in the way of Xerxes and his huge army on this push to get to Athens.
- Xerxes underestimated the Greeks and Spartans however they stood up for 3 days to them.
- A traitor went to Xerxes and informed him of a secret path around the pass.
- Fearing defeat the Spartans fought the Persians so that the Greeks could flee to fight another day.
- All 300 were killed including Leonidas.
- Lasting effects on Spartan sacrifice-
- Made a great impression on the Greeks.
- Allowed the remaining Greeks to retreat and fight the Persians again.
- Showed Xerxes what he was up against.
- Battle of Salamis-
- Greeks abandoned Athens because they thought that fighting at sea was their best chance.
- They were right, Xerxes watched as 1/3 of this fleet was suck truly diminishing his army.
- Lasting effects of the Persian War-
- The Delian League was created- an alliance of Greek city-states to continue to push the Persians out of all Greece.
- Athenians were the head of the league and moved the headquarters to Athens.
- This gave the Athenians a lot of power and helped push them into their golden age.
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