Download Chapter 8 Ancient_Greeks

CHAPTER 8: THE ANCIENT
GREEKS
Section 1: The Rise of City-States
Picture depicts life in some of the Greek city-states. Image taken from: bbc.co.uk.
Geography of the Greek World
 Greece occupies a large peninsula. Most people settled
on mainland Greece, which is an open area that is part
of a continent. The mainland of Greece is divided by
mountain ranges. Between these ranges lie narrow
valleys and small plains. The landscape made it difficult
to farm, but it was ideal for raising sheep.
 The sea was seen as being a positive for the Greeks,
because it allowed them to become skillful merchants
and sailors. It also allowed them to become exposed to
religions and cultures that were much older and
established than they were.
Geography of the Greek World
continued….
 The Mediterranean climate’s negative attributes were
that it was an area that lacked rain and thus it was
difficult to grow shallow-rooted crops such as grains.
The positive attributes were that the climate was ideal
for growing olive and grape vines, which became the
staple of their trading goods and brought wealth to
Greece.
Minoans
 The Minoan civilization was highly advanced. The
Minoans developed a writing system and built huge
stone palaces. There culture developed on Crete and
eventually spread across the Aegean islands.
Picture depicts a Minoan city.
Image taken from:
gizzisgoodies.wikispaces.com
Mycenaeans
 The Mycenaeans developed around 1600 B.C. and it was
governed by a monarchy.
 They lived in stone fortresses on hilltops. They made
fine bronze, weapons, and pottery.
 They traded these items for gold, copper, ivory, and
other luxury goods. Due to the fact that they traded
such mediocre items for luxury items, they often raided
other people for gold and other goods.
Dark Ages
 The Dark Ages were a time in which the Greek culture
declined.
 The Greek people lost their ability to read and write.
 As a result of this horrible time, the Greeks migrated
across the Aegean Sea and settled the islands along the
west coast of Asia Minor.
The Trojan War’s Ending and
Homer’s Literary Works
 The Greeks gave a large wooden horse (filled with
Greek soldiers) to the Trojans in hopes that they would
accept it as a good gesture gift.
 The Trojans fell for the trick and when they went to
sleep that night, the Greek soldiers crept out and
opened the city gates. The Greek army entered and
burned Troy to the ground.
 Homer’s Odyssey and The Iliad taught the Greek people
ideals of bravery, strength, and honor. The Greek people
wanted to live up to these stories, thus they did
everything with strength, honor, and bravery.
Emergence of City-States
 The polis was considered to be the most important feature of
Greek culture, because it was a community with its own
government. The people of the government, known as
citizens would meet and make decisions about laws that
would affect their polis. Due to their small population, every
citizen had a say in the decision making process regarding
laws.
 A polis consisted of two parts. The first part was an acropolis
that stood on a high hill. The acropolis held public buildings
and marble temples. On the lower ground, below the hill, lay
people’s homes, shops, and farms.
 Each polis had their own government, thus some had
monarchies and some had governments that were ruled by the
citizens.
Section 2: Greek Society and
Economy
Picture depicts Greek society. Image taken from: vector-clip-art.com
Women in Ancient Greece
 Athenian women were very restricted on what they
could do. They were expected to stay indoors and tend
to the house. Most Athenian women who were wealthy,
stayed at home, raised their children, and took care of
the household bills. They only went out of the house for
religious functions.
 Spartan women were much more freer than Athenian
women. They could sell property and receive an
education. They were also trained in sports, as this was
needed for them to have strong sons.
Greek Society
 People who were part of the aristocracy claimed that
they should hold power, because they were descendants
from God or a king. They had large plots of land and
slaves to work the land. This gave the people of the
aristocracy plenty of time to do other things.
 The citizens of Greece consisted of only one group, and
that was the adult male who owned land. There was a
large amount of rich male adult citizens, but they were
considered to be the minority. The majority of citizens
consisted of the men who owned smaller farms. Women,
children, aliens, and slaves were not considered to be
citizens. They had very little to no rights.
Greek Society Continued….
 Slavery was very common and acceptable practice in
Greece. By the 500s Greece’s population consisted of
more than a third of slaves. Slaves often were prisoners
of war, but sometimes they were bought from slave
traders. Finally, their own family could have placed
slaves in slavery, because they could not care for them.
Slaves greatly contributed to the economy of Greece, as
they did household work, tutored, cooked, and took
care of the children. They also worked on farms, ships,
and in mines.
Greek Economic Expansion
 The Greeks did not have good farmland to farm the basic
resources they needed, so they decided to find the resources
they needed.
 Most Greek city-states resorted to conquering neighboring
city-states that had farming abilities.
 Sparta managed to conquer the city-state of Messenia and
turned their people into captive workers. The captive workers
in Messenia farmed the land and provided ample crops to
maintain Sparta’s people. Once the Spartans were able to
acquire food without their people working for it, their men
were able to concentrate on building an army, which became
the most lethal army of the time.
Greek Economic Expansion
Continued…
 The ideal city for Greek colonization had to have a port
for docking boats and trading purposes. The city-state
should also have good farmland, as ancient economies
depended on agriculture. Finally, the city-state needed
to be by resources such as timber or materials that
could be exported.
 The usage of coins in the Greek economy was seen as an
economic revolution, because at the time, there were
few countries using coins as means of payment for
goods.
Economic Expansion continued…
 Athens grew rich from trading. Their workers produced
pottery, jewelry, and other trade goods to pay for the
resources they needed to maintain their growing citystate.
 Expansion to other city-states and countries allowed
Greece to share cultural ideals. This allowed the Greek
culture as a whole to grow. This also allowed the Greek
city-states to become wealthy from trading. Finally, the
expansion allowed the Greek people to have an
opportunity to colonize lands away from their mother
country while keeping their traditional culture.
Section 3: Democracy in Athens
Image is a cartoon depicting Greek ideals of democracy. Image taken from:
greece.mrdonn.org
BEFORE DEMOCRACY
 Before there was a democracy, the Greek cities had an
oligarchy government.
 An oligarchy is a government in which a small group of
people held power.
 A council that consisted of people from the aristocracy
usually led the oligarchy.
 One of their members Draco created a law code that
specified harsh punishments for all offenses, from
serious to minor crimes.
The Phalanx
 The characteristics of the phalanx that allowed them to
become successful, as a unit was their ability to move
together in unison. They also were able to shield the
soldiers next to them; because of the way their shield
was held.
 They were not only successful on the battlefield, but
also in politics. The phalanx soldiers became powerful in
the political arena, because the aristocrats no longer
played the role of the most important soldiers.
Tyrants
 Tyrants in Greece often promised their people more
land and other benefits. These false promises often
made them popular with the people, but eventually the
people saw through them.
 Other forms of government eventually replaced
tyrannies, as the tyrant’s power was short lived.
Solon and Cleisthenes
 Solon reformed the courts and ended the practice of
selling into slavery poor people who could not pay their
debts.
 Cleisthenes reduced power to the rich and increased
the number of citizens who could vote.
 During the time of Cleisthenes, Athens created a citizen
jury, which put legal decisions in the hands of the
people.
Pericles
 Pericles wanted to enhance the democratic system of
Athens.
 He wanted the people of Athens to be proud of the
country they lived in. He therefore decided to pay the
people for participating in jury services and other civic
duties.
 These payments helped poor people take part in the
government.
 The reforms created by Pericles created the world’s
first democracy.
Citizenship and Education in
Democracy
 The idea of citizenship, which is membership in a
community, gave the people both rights and
responsibilities. This also allowed people to have
ownership for their country.
 Educating the people was very important to ensure the
longevity of democracy. By the 420s B.C. higher
education was available to the Greek students to
enhance their learning.
Democracy at Work
 The Athenian government met 40 times a year to discuss
governmental matters.
 A part of the government was the council, which
consisted of 500 members.
 The council members were randomly picked from all
male citizens.
 This was a fair procedure and it ensured that every
male citizen had a chance to serve on the council.
Athenian Courts
 The Athenian court system was the third key component of
the government.
 Athens had many different courts to judge different cases.
 The juries that served on these cases were made up of
Athenian citizens.
 The Athenian juries varied in number, but could be as large as
several thousands.
 The Athenian court system became very powerful and as a
result of this power, older governmental bodies lost their
power.
Direct vs. Representative
Democracy
 Athens had a direct democracy, because of its size and
its citizen’s dedication to the theory of having a
democracy.
 A representative democracy would not be beneficial for
Athens, because Athens had a small population and did
not have the need to elect people to represent them.
 A representative democracy is beneficial when the
country is larger, such as the United States.
Section 4: Oligarchy in Sparta
Modern day Sparta. Image taken from: crystalinks.com
Sparta’s Government
 Sparta’s government consisted of two kings, a council of
28 men over the age of 60, an assembly made up of
some free adult males, and five elected ephors. At least
one king always marched with the soldiers in wartime.
The assembly made laws, but they lacked power,
because the council would have to approve the laws
they made. Finally, the ephors were responsible for the
day-to-day operation. They seemed to have the most
power, because they could remove kings and councilmen
if they felt that they were acting inappropriately.
Conquered People
 The people who the Spartans conquered became helots
or captive workers. The helots worked the farms and
were enslaved by the Spartan people. They were
treated very badly and often inhumanly. Their hard
labor allowed Spartan men to focus on their military
duties.
Helot Revolt
 After the revolt, Sparta declared their state a military
state with the sole purpose of waging war.
 Every year the Spartans would declare war on the helots
and the Spartan people could kill any helot that they
pleased without ramifications.
Spartan Soldier Training
 Boys were removed from their homes at the age of
seven, because the Spartan military believed that they
should start their training as early as possible to become
efficient soldiers.
 They could marry at age 30 and officially left the
military at age 60.
Spartan Citizen
 Only men could become Spartan citizens.
 In order for them to become a citizen, they had to gain
entry into a men’s club of soldiers. Upon gaining entry
into this club, they became known as “equals”.
 At the age of 60 years old, all “equals” were qualified
to become a member of the council of elders.
Spartan Women
 Spartan women were known for their strength and
tenacity.
 They kept themselves strong through exercising and
playing sports.
 They had a tremendous amount of independence, as
their husbands were rarely home.
 They understood that their main job was to raise strong
Spartan men to contribute to the army.
Sparta vs. Athens
 The main differences between Athens and Sparta was
their governmental system, their way of life, their
beliefs in the military system, roles of women, and
court systems.
 They both had assemblies and governments that
included smaller councils.