Tuesday, Sept. 18

We continued presenting and then took notes about Macedonia.

Do you think that Alexander should have punished the people of Thebes so harshly? Why or why not.

I think that he could have found a better way to punish them instead of killing that many. I think that he just wanted to show off his power and authority. He got a little carried away and wanted to make sure that people knew he was in control and no one could challenge him. 6,000 is a lot of people to kill just because the rebelled. I think that he over reacted.

Architecture of the Golden Age of the Athenians

 

  • Key Buildings-
  • Acropolis- main group of buildings in Athens that looked over the city.
  • Sacred area that’s one of the most recognizable monuments in the world.

 

  • Acropolis-
  • 9 years to build, completed in 438 B.C., cost 3 billion in today’s money.

 

  • The Paratheon and other buildings on acropolis were all built between 460 and 430 B.C. under leadership of Pericles.
  • Used for political and cultural achievements.

 

  • Paratheon-
  • Over 3 billion in today’s money, built between 447 B.C. and 432 B.C.
  • One of biggest construction projects of the ancient world.

 

  • The Porch of Caryatids-
  • 6 columns holding up 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.
  • Started 421 B.C. completed 406 B.C.
  • Cost 130 million.

 

  • Greek Art-
  • Most divine, complex structures of this time and the structures of the Athenian Acropolis.
  • Earliest of these are the Paratheon sculptures in time soon became a church.
  • Built between 442 and 432 B.C.

 

  • Purpose-
  • Buildings were built to show cultural and political achievements of Athens
  • Others were used to honor gods and goddess- Athena.
  • Goddess Nike also had buildings.
  • Some buildings were used for political gatherings.

 

 

  • Athens had walls that would surround the city protecting and defense.
  • Used for many reasons- praise/worship, buy/sell items, drama, education, law making.

 

  • The Paratheon-
  • Famous buildings to worship goddess- Athena.
  • Temple to honor and praise.
  • Celebrate ending of Athens’ war with Persia.

 

  • The Agora-
  • Town’s people come to buy/sell goods.
  • Market place, food and household items.

 

  • Theater of Dionysus-
  • Meant for dramatic plays.
  • Social life- many big events, pure comedy.
  • Either you were an actor or you watched.

 

  • Gymnasium-
  • Children would go to get education.
  • 6 or 7 homes go to school.
  • Boys/girls separate.
  • Parents had to pay for private school.
  • Big, all kids went.

 

  • Pnyx-
  • Athenians go to building to gather around and decide on laws and rules of town.

 

  • Key Players-
  • Pericles’s plan for Athens was to get the greatest Greek architects to build things like Paratheon.

 

  • Socrates-

 

  • Lived 470-399 B.C.
  • Son of a sculpture.
  • Served in army during Spartan clash.
  • Short and stout- not handsome.
  • Attracted to a young boy soldier.

 

  • Plato-
  • 437-347 B.C.
  • Prized student in philosophy.
  • Pirates captured him.
  • Plato made a school in 386 B.C. on property friends bought him.

 

  • Aristotle-
  • 384-322 B.C.
  • Born- Stagira- small Greek colony.
  • Scientist and philosopher, loved nature.

 

Military and Delian League

  • Tactics-
  • Phalanx-
  • Used in battle of marathon around 500 B.C.
  • Major downside- used against cavalry.
  • Horses in cavalry could ride around and attack weak side.
  • Athenians used mountains and natural habitat to protect weak side.

 

  • Naval warfare-
  • Used in Peloponnesian war.
  • Shipped grain and food into city.
  • Used ships called trireme.
  • Fought by ramming and boarding enemy ships.
  • Major naval force.

 

  • Pericles-

 

  • Politician- democrat.
  • General, Athenian.
  • Ruled Athens from 461-429 B.C.
  • Led victories in Peloponnesian and Persian wars.

 

  • Socrates-
  • Philosopher, Athenian.
  • Scrutinized Athens, praised Sparta.
  • Not well liked for that reason.

 

  • Plato-
  • Student of Socrates.
  • Write dialogues that contain most of Socrates ideas.

 

  • Aristotle-
  • Student of Plato.
  • Teacher of Alexander the Great later in life.

 

  • Archimedes-
  • Well known mathematician.
  • First to calculate pi.

 

  • Pythagoras-
  • Developed Pythagorean Theorem.

 

  • Delian League-
  • Coalition of Greek States and Athenians.
  • Founded in 478 B.C.
  • Under control of Athens.
  • Headquarters in Delos.

 

 

  • What did it do?
  • Goals- free Ionian Greeks from Persia and protect Aegean Sea.
  • Use sea power.
  • Athens was the leader.
  • Persia was run out of the Aegean Sea.

 

  • Famous Battles-
  • Persian War.
  • Major battles- Marathon, Thermopylae, and Salamis.

 

  • Marathon-
  • 25,000 Persians met 10,000 Athenians.
  • Persians fled.
  • 6,000 Persians died very few Athenians died.

 

  • Thermopylae-
  • 7,000 Greeks and 300 Spartans.
  • Stood up to Persians for a long time.
  • Persians found a way around the mountain.
  • Spartans let Greeks flee and stayed to fight.
  • All 300 died.

 

  • Salamis-
  • Greeks abandon Athens.
  • Fought with naval forces.
  • Destroyed most of Persian fleet.
  • Formed Delian League to protect Greece.

 

  • Peloponnesian War-
  • 431-404 B.C.
  • Battle of Pylos.
  • 425 B.C.
  • Athenian naval forces were attacking Zacynthus.
  • Spartan troops decided to attack walled city called Pylos.

 

  • Pylos-
  • Over 2,000 Spartan troops.
  • Tried attacking sea side wall.
  • Spartans failed to capture Pylos before Athenian naval fleet could return.
  • Tried blocking harbor.

 

  • Weapons and Armor-
  • Swords, iron knives- not bronze, arrowheads, sling bullets- steel and clay, shield- bronze, archery, spears.

 

  • Who participated in the army?
  • Had to meet certain requirements.
  • Male, 18 or older, own land, have the mandatory 2 years military training.
  • This system is much different than the old ways.
  • Old ways-
  • Rich, had to buy your weapons, poor man could not afford to ight in the war, resulted in rather small army sizes.

 

  • Different kinds of soldiers-
  • From 18-60 all physically fit men went to military.
  • Most of the soldiers were the heavily armored infantry called hoplites.
  • Young ephebes- adolescent males trained for 2 years in barracks then went home until there was a time for more soldiers.
  • Hoplite attendants-
  • Light armors men usually poor citizens or trusted slaves.
  • Most of the other wealthier citizens that could raise their own horse were part of the cavalry corps.
  • Scythian police

 

  • If they only needed a small force they would take the people from 20-24 years old.
  • If crisis, they would summon everyone even elderly.
  • The hoplite attendants carried the hoplite’s shield and other supplies of theirs until they fought.
  • The peltast were lightly armored.

 

Geography-

  • Sea-
  • Greece borders the Aegean Sea, Ionian Sea, the East Mediterranean Sea.
  • Thought the sea was a beautiful element,
  • Gained many things- a freedom, environment.
  • Shipping people traveled where they could always see land.

 

  • Land-
  • Longest river in Greece- Aliakmon.
  • Riverbeds tend to dry up.
  • Grew barley- growing of barley was less demanding and more productive.
  • Olive plantations.
  • Grapes were very popular in Greece because of rock y 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 raised and eaten.
  • Oxen were on the land but rare.
  • Donkeys and mules used for traveling.

 

  • Climate-
  • Mild rainy winters.
  • Relatively warm and dry summers.
  • Lots of sunshine all through the year.
  • Mountains adjust to the climate changes,
  • Winters in the mountains can be rigorous and snowy.

 

  • Ancient Greek trade and colonization.
  • Important role as the furthest outpost of Greek culture.
  • Bronze, silver and gold vessels, olive oil, sine, textiles.
  • Luxury items and exotic raw materials.

 

  • Farming-
  • Little soil and farmland.
  • 20% of land.
  • Grain crops were planted in Oct. and harvested in April or May.
  • Main crop- barley.

 

  • Ancient Greek Agriculture-
  • Diet based on cereals.
  • Home to many Olive trees- oil, fruit.
  • Augmented by vegetable gardens and orchards.

 

  • Farming-
  • Small farming villages were set up by people who came from the North.
  • Average holding size was 5.6.

 

  • Mining-
  • Silver production was high.
  • Decline of mines came during the Peloponnesian War- 30 year civil war between Athens and Sparta.

 

  • Natural Resources-
  • Iron, bronze, flax, clay, timber, grain-wheat and barley, animals-hare boar, leather, wool.

 

  • How land affected battles-
  • Thermopylae-
  • Narrow coastal pass.
  • Not near sea.
  • Phalanx in between the pass.

 

 

  • Salamis-
  • Took place on Salamis Island.
  • Located in Saranac Gulf.
  • Greeks fought with ships.
  • 366 guarded.
  • Greeks held off well with the help of the gulf.

 

  • Peloponnesian War-
  • Southern Europe.
  • Bordering Aegean Sea, Ionian Sea and Mediterranean.
  • Sea helped both.

 

 

  • Different jobs-
  • Farmers-
  • Grew enough to support their families.
  • Sometimes grew a small surplus to sell at local market.

 

  • Greek Blacksmiths-
  • Used iron ore to create swords, plow, axes, and other tools.
  • Used billows made of animal skin to low air into their fires to produce heat needed to work with the metal.

 

  • Craftsman-
  • Most shops in Greece were family owned and small.
  • Specialize in their work depending on the size of the city where they worked.
  • Beds, plows, door frames.

 

  • Doctors-
  • Field of medicine combined science and religious beliefs.
  • Medicine during this time was limited in its ability to cure diseases.
  • Induced vomiting and sweating to get 4 humors back.

 

  • Merchants-
  • Traders in Greece.
  • Owned boats or rented cargo space on their boats,
  • Known as metrics, often foreigners, many risks.
  • Good profit possibilities.

 

  • Bankers-
  • Changed money from other city states into local currency.
  • Often loaned money for trading voyages.

 

Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates

  • Aristotle-
  • Greek philosopher- name means best purpose.
  • Very important founding person in Western philosophy.
  • Wrote about physics, poetry, theatre, music, logics, politics, government, ethics.
  • Born- 384 B.C. North Greece
  • Died- 322 B.C.
  • Married Pythias- adopted daughter of Hermias.
  • First trained in medicine.
  • 18 went to Plato’s academy in Athens.
  • Studied philosophy with Plato.
  • Traveled to Asia with Hermias to study biology.
  • Traveled to Lesbos to research island’s plants and zoology.
  • Wrote about philosophies.
  • Taught Alexander the Great.
  • Advanced- physics and astronomy.

 

 

 

  • Plato
  • Born- 428 B.C.
  • Original Aristocles, wrestling coach called him Platon
  • 2 brothers, 1 sister.
  • Father died when young, mom remarried.
  • Outstanding in sports, music, academics.
  • During war with Sparta won the Athenian prize for bravery.
  • Studied music at the gym.
  • Student of Socrates in 407
  • Believed that justice is the most important virtue.
  • Developed foundations of metaphysics and epistemology by studying doctrines of Cratylus
  • Died- 347 B.C. - either died in bed while a girl played the flute or at a wedding feast.
  • Thought most people were stupid.
  • Taught Aristotle.
  • Wrote The Republic.
  • Contributions in philosophy, math, and science.
  • Believed the best and brightest should rule government.
  • Thought all people should be educated.

 

  • Socrates-
  • Classical Greek philosopher.
  • Known for contributions to ethics.
  • Born in Athens 469-399 B.C.
  • Military at age 18 hoplite soldier in Peloponnesian War against Sparta.
  • Completed 2 works of sculpture.
  • People were charmed by his wit and his kindly disposition.
  • Served on legislative council of 500.
  • Accused of atheist and corrupting the youth of Athens, accepted the death penalty, but drank poison and died.
  • Obsessed over the truth and how to find it.
  • Committed suicide by force.
  • Known for devotion to ethics, method of reasoning, linking knowledge with happiness, rationalism- find truth through reasoning.
  • Teaching method- Problem/Question.

 

  • Socratic Method-
  • Scientific method.
  • Pretended to know nothing to get answers.
  • Definition, analysis.

 

Athenian Government-

  • Changed from tyranny to a democracy-
  • Tyranny- Autocratic rules who governed by decree.
  • Athens created the 1st democracy.
  • Direct Democracy- people voted for other people to make own decisions.
  • Only citizens were allowed to participate.
  • Men were considered citizens.
  • Women, slaves, and foreigners were not citizens
  • If child’s parents were not citizens the child was not considered a citizen.

 

  • Branches-
  • Assembly-
  • Any man could attend.
  • 40 times a year on hillside.
  • Made decisions about war and wrote and revised laws.
  • Majority rules.

 

  • Council-
  • Supervised gov. workers.
  • In charge of navy ships and army horses.

 

  • Courts-
  • Most powerful.
  • 500 jurors were chosen every day to serve.
  • Had to be males over the age of 30.

 

 

  • People could speak their minds.
  • All citizens could participate.
  • Peacefully settled disputes.
  • Age restrictions.
  • Paid for service.
  • Included rich and poor.

 

  • Many critics
  • Only some men could vote.
  • No women’s rights
  • Limited citizenship.
  • Slavery.
  • Money and power still had advantages.

 

  • Key Players-
  • Perciles-
  • Leader for 30 years.

 

  • Solon-
  • Introduced many new gov. reforms.

 

  • Cleithenes-
  • “Father of democracy”.

 

  • Elections-
  • Didn’t have elections for council.
  • 500 names were drawn from all people of Athens.
  • 50 from each of 10 Athenian tribes.
  • Those 500 people had to serve as the lawmakers for one year.
  • After year 500 more were chosen.

 

 

 

Macedonia-

  • Geography-
  • North of Athens.
  • Had a rough terrain and a cold climate.
  • People lived mostly in mountain villages instead of the city-states like Athens had.

 

  • Most of the Macedonians nobles referred to themselves as Greeks.
  • Once again the Geek thought that the Macedonians were barbaric and not as civilized as the Greeks.
  • Greeks treated Spartans like this.

 

  • Changes-
  • After Peloponnesian War several Greek city-states were very weak- economically and militaristically.
  • When there is weakness or a struggle there is usually a predator or someone else to take advantage of the opportunity. In this case it was Macedonia.
  • Peloponnesian War- Delian League vs. Sparta.

 

  • Leadership-

 

  • Philip II was the king of Macedonia around 306 B.C.
  • Only 23 when he became king.
  • Brilliant general.
  • Was able to train peasants into warriors.
  • His dream was to take over Greece and avenge the Persian Invasion of Greece in 480 B.C.
  • Invade Persia.

 

  • Philip’s tactics-
  • Organized his army into phalanxes of 16 men across the 16 men deep.
  • All 256 men had to work together for this formation to work correctly.
  • After the phalanx had broken through the enemy’s line, he would then send in cavalry to crush the disorganized or retreating opponents.

 

  • Conquest for Greece-
  • An Athenian orator named Demosthenes tried to warn the Greek of the threat of Phillip and told them to prepare and army.
  • However, the city-states of Greece couldn’t come up with united response.
  • Finally Athens and Thebes decided to standup to Phillip but it was too late.
  • Greek independence was lost to King Phillip of Macedonia.

 

  • New leader-
  • Next Phillip wanted to invade Persia.
  • However, he was never able to do this.
  • At his daughter’s wedding he was stabbed to death by one of his former guardsmen.
  • His son immediately proclaimed himself the King of Macedonia.
  • His name was Alexander later known as Alexander the Great.

 

  • Alexander the Great-
  • Taught by Aristotle.
  • Spread Hellenistic.
  • Very intellectual kept a copy of the Iliad under his pillow to remind him of the heroic Achilles in the Trojan War.
  • Alex wanted to show his power early and when the people of Thebes rebelled he destroyed their city and took 6,000 lives.

 

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