Download Ancient Greece and Rome: A Philosophical legacy

Ancient Greece: Why were they
so Important?
Questions to think about
• In what ways have modern governments been
influenced by the Ancient Greeks?
• In what ways have modern social ideas been
influenced by the Ancient Greeks?
Religion
Government
Persia
I. The Persian Tradition
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Cyrus the Great-Founded the first Persian Empire in the
500s BCE
At the height of power, the empire was over 5 million square
miles and spanned 3 continents
An extremely diverse Empire that brought multiple cultures
under one rule.
Military Superpower until Alexander
Zoroastrianism
– Zoroaster– Ahura Mazda
– State religion of Persia/Iran until marginalized by Islam
Persian influence felt through the Mediterranean world, and the
middle east for centuries
Arts and
Sciences
Religion/Philo
sophy
Government
Ancient Greece
Military
Geography
Greek History
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2000 small islands surround the Greek peninsula.
Rugged terrain and remote islands make it hard to unite
the villages.
The first people settled Greece between 5000 and 3000
BCE.
Mycenae-an archeological site from the Golden Age of
Greece, around the time of the writing of the Iliad and
Odyssey, c. 1900 BCE
The Olympics-a series of athletic competitions held
between various city-states of Ancient Greece held in
honor of Zeus. The exact origins of the Games are
shrouded in myth and legend but records indicate that
they began in 776 BC in Olympia in Greece.
City states
http://www.eduplace.com/kids/socsci/ca/books/bkf3/ima
ps/AC_12_389_citystates/AC_12_389_citystates.html
Greek History-Continued
Peloponnesian Wars:
• Philip II of Macedon:
– The Macedonian Invasion,
– the uniting of the city states
• Hellenistic Period:
– The Empire of Alexander
– The spread of Greek culture
• Alexandria: The epicenter of Greek learning in the
Near East-Founded By Alexander the Great. One
of the reasons Greek Culture spread so far afield.
Alexander video
Alexander’s World
It is War!!!!
• “Many considerations may easily convince us that, if only the phalanx has
its proper formation and strength, nothing can resist it face to face or
withstand its charge. For as a man in close order of battle occupies a space
of three feet; and as the length of the sarissae are sixteen cubits according
to the original design, which has been reduced in practice to fourteen; and
as of these fourteen four must be deducted, to allow for the weight in
front; it follows clearly that each hoplite will have ten cubits of his sarissa
projecting beyond his body, when he lowers it with both hands, as he
advances against the enemy: hence, too, though the men of the second,
third, and fourth rank will have their sarissae projecting farther beyond
the front rank than the men of the fifth, yet even these last will have two
cubits of their sarissae beyond the front rank; if only the phalanx is
properly formed and the men close up properly both flank and rear, like
the description in Homer:
• So buckler pressed on buckler; helm on helm; And man on man; and
waving horse-hair plumes In polished head-piece mingled, as they swayed
In order: in such serried rank they stood. [Iliad, 13.131]”
Polybius, The Histories,
Book XVIII, Chapters 28-32
Prepare for war-Ancient Greek Style
• Read the primary source
• Write out a step by step process of how to
form the phalanx
• Discuss Military commands
• Learn a battle strategy:
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/ro
me/battlemaps/battlemaps.html
• Arm ourselves!
• Practice Military Drills on Football feild
Reflection Questions
• Why do you think that this
military formation was so
successful for Alexander?
• What do you think that it would
have been like to march with
Alexander’s army?
Greek Government
Polis:
– Greek towns and cities became city states, which are political units
made up of a city and it surrounding villages.
– Each city state chose different forms of government.
• Most people were farmers or worked by the sea. They were ruled
by kings, queens, or tyrants.
• Citizenship and the Ancient Greeks-Only free adult males were
citizens.
• Pericles
– Direct Democracy
– NOT freedom for all
• Tyrant-A person who takes power illegally, usually by force of army
• Oligarchy-rule by a small group of people, usually military leaders
Religion and Culture
• The Pantheon
• The Mystery Religions-member-by-invitation religious
cults in Greece and Rome
• Philosophy
– Thales, Anaximander, Democritus, and other preSocratics
– Socrates-The Father of The dialectic, or the art of
questioning
– Plato-Socrates Student, wrote many important
books including the Allegory of the Cave
– Aristotle-Plato’s student, tutored Alexander the
Great
– Stoics-Believed in suppressing emotion
The Metaphor of the Cave
IV. Religion and Culture (continued)
• Sciences:
– Ptolemy: A mathematician, astronomer,
geographer, astrologer, and poet
– Pythagoras: A Greek philosopher and
mathematician, He developed a method of
calculating angles called the Pythagorean theorem
• Literature Briefly describe each:
– Sappho-Well known ancient Greek Female Poet
– Sophocles-Greek playwright, wrote 123 plays over
the course of his life, including Oedipus Rex
– Iliad, Odyssey –Famous Greek Epics, attributed to
the writer Homer.
Government debates!
• Watch the Types of Government PowerPoint slides
• Fill out the government graphic organizer provided
my Mr. Reid.
• Choose one of the types of Government to promote
in a debate.
• Develop five strong, detailed, well thought out
reasons why your type of government is superior to
the other types.
• You will be paired with another student for head to
head debates!
Democracy
• This form of government is considered to be more fair than some
others,
• It is based on involving the people in making decisions for the bettering
of the country.
• A direct democracy allows for the people to vote on laws to gather
their input and decide what will be best for the country as a whole.
• The decision that gets the highest number of votes ultimately wins and
is enacted.
• An indirect or representative democracy allows people to vote for
leaders who then vote in laws.
• Although it is the fairest option, there are some problems with it:
– As the democracy gets larger, it is harder to get mostly everyone to
agree on the issue
– Hard to keep everyone informed of all of the information.
– By taking the most popular vote, the minority gets ignored and
exploited.
– Sometimes the most popular decision is not exactly the right one
• Places with Democracy: United States, Ancient Athens, Most countries
of Modern Europe
Communism/socialism
• Communism is the idea that there will be no private
property
• everything will be owned by the state and, in theory,
divided equally to all people.
• This is called redistribution of wealth.
• The State controls the means of production, meaning
all factories, facilities, industries, and services are ran
by the state. This often leads to dictatorships.
• Socialism is a version of communism that can happen
along with democracy, but it still requires that the state
regulate the means of production, and the government
allows some redistribution of wealth through taxes.
Oligarchy
• An oligarchy government is one in which a select few
people have the power to make the decisions for the
region.
• Usually, the select few are the people who are the
wealthiest within the country, causing them to be the
most powerful.
• Oligarchies are not run by a constitution and the rules
are made up by the elite and they see fit.
• In an oligarchy, decisions can be made easily and quickly,
and there is power sharing involved because there is not
one absolute ruler.
• Problems with this type of government involve not
getting the people’s input when making decisions.
• The People do not even get to decide the people in
power because they are chosen by the other wealthy and
elite people.
Dictatorship
• A dictatorship is a form of government in which
the government is ruled by an individual, the
dictator.
• In this form of government the power is in the
hands of the person or group of people, and can
be obtained by force or by inheritance. The
dictator(s) may also take away much of its
peoples' freedom.
• The leader is unrestricted by law, constitutions, or
other social and political factors within the state.
• The Roman Empire was a dictatorship, Nazi
Germany, Stalin’s USSR are other examples
Monarchy
• A monarchy is a form of government in which the
office of head of state is usually held by a king or
queen until death, then handed down to the oldest
son
• It is almost always handed down by family.
• The monarch often bears the title king or queen.
However, emperor/empress, grand duke/grand
duchess, prince/princess and other terms are or have
been used to designate monarchs.
• heads of state bearing the title president or premier
are not officially considered monarchs