Classical Greece Notes
Geography:
Sea:
- allowed great opportunities for travel and trade –
- allowed them to get natural resources they lacked: timber, precious metals, usable farmland.
Land:
- Rugged mountains covered about ¾ of ancient Greece
- Mountains were dividers for different regions
- Played big role in wars – hard to move armies thru mountains
Climate:
- Upper 40s in winter
- Lower 80s in summer
- Outdoor activities!
3 Big Players in Greece:
Minoan:
- Started around 3000 BC
- Created elegant civilization – great power
- Influenced the Mycenaeans
- Writing, language, design, trade, used ships to trade goods
Mycenaean:
- Heavily influenced by Minoans
- Came from Indo-Europeans migrants
- Dominated Greece 1600 BC – 1100 BC
Dorian:
- Spoke some form of Greek
- Not as advanced as others, no writing system
- Focused on storytelling – most famous storyteller: Homer
Dorian Period
- Dorian and Mycenaean people started to identify less with culture of ancestors and more with local area
- Government made transition from tribal/clan control to more formal govts called city-states
- A polis was made up of a city and its surrounding countryside, which included numerous villages
- Citizens of the polis would come together to meet at an acropolis to discuss city government
- Not all city-states had same form of govt
Different forms of govt:
- Monarchy: state ruled by king. Rule is hereditary. Some rulers claim they have a divine right (felt like God appointed them) to rule. Practiced in Mycenae by 2000 BC.
- Aristocracy: ruled by nobility, rule is hereditary and based on social ties, wealth. Social ties and wealth support rulers’ authority. Practiced in Athens prior to 594 BC.
- Oligarchy: state ruled by small group of citizens, rule based on wealth/ability, ruling groups control military, practiced in Sparta by 500 BC.
- Direct Democracy: state ruled by citizens, rule is based on citizenship, majority rule decides vote, practiced in Athens by 500 BC.
Athens
- About 600 BC, Athens was taking steps towards democracy
- Major reforms for next 100 years that would eventually lead to democracy starting 500 BC.
KEY PLAYERS
Draco:
- Developed a legal code based on idea that all Athenians, rich and poor, were equal under law
- Had very harsh punishments for any crime
- 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 four social statuses based on wealth
- Only top 3 classes could hold political office
- However, all four could participate in the Athenian assembly – place for discussion
Cleisthenes:
- Broke Athens up based on region that the citizens lived instead of wealth (10 groups)
- Increased power of assembly by allowing ALL citizens to submit laws for debate/passage
- Created the Council of Five Hundred (proposed laws, counseled the assembly, and members were chosen at random) – sometimes they were too pushy with too many ideas
Limited Democracy:
- Reforms allowed for limited democracy
- All people had to be citizens by:
- Free
- Adult
- Property owner
- Born in Athens
Sparta
- Located in Southern part of Greece
- Cut off from rest of Greece by Gulf of Corinth – long way from Athens so major event if they met up
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
- Five elected officials carried out laws that passed by assembly
- Two kings ruled over Sparta’s military
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