Download Greek City-States - Miami Beach Senior High School

Government In Greece
SS.A.2.4.4; SS.B.2.4.3-6
The Polis: Center of Greek Life
• Polis: Greek name for city-states, and the
surrounding countryside
• The meeting place in every polis was
usually a fortified area, atop a hill, called
acropolis, with an agora below
• The polis was a community made of
citizens with rights (adult males), citizens
with no rights (women and children) and
non-citizens (slaves and foreigners)
Ancient Greek Military
• At first, rich land owners fighting on
horseback, fought the wars in order to
control and protect the polis
• By 700 B.C. the military system was based
on hoplites, infantrymen heavily armed
with a round shield, a short sword, and a
thrusting spear about 9 ft. in length
• Phalanx: a unit of soldiers fighting
shoulder to shoulder in a rectangular
pattern creating a wall of shields
Greek Colonies
• 750-550 B.C.: Many Greeks leave Greece
to settle in other, far-away lands in order to
expand trade, and find good farmlands
• Colonies were founded in along the coasts
of Italy, France, Spain, parts of North
Africa not under Egyptian control
• Greeks also headed north to an area they
called Tharce, and settled around the
Black Sea, establishing cities like
Byzantium
The Rise of Tyrants
• Expanded trade created a new wealthy
class in the polis, at odds with rulers
• Tyrants are people who take power from
aristocrats by force, often with support
from rich merchants and peasants
• Once in power, tyrants usually embarked
on large-scale building projects to build
popularity
The Fall of Tyranny
• By the end of the sixth century B.C.,
Tyrants had fallen out of favor with
Greeks—who believed in the rule of law
• Tyranny had ended rule by aristocracy,
resulting in two new forms of government:
– Democracy: government of the people; or
rule by many (Athens)
– Oligarchy: rule by few (Sparta)
Sparta
• Many Greek city-states found a need to
search outside the polis for new farmlands
• Sparta chose to conquer its neighbors,
rather than colonize other lands
• Sparta conquered Laconia & Messenia,
enlisting the people as serfs called helots,
meaning “captured”
• To control the helots, Spartans established
a military state
The Spartan Military State
• Lives of Spartans were rigidly organized,
and tightly controlled by the government
• Men went to school to learn military
discipline, and enlisted in the army at 20
• Men lived in army barracks until 30, even if
married, and ate in public dining halls. At
30, men were given the right to vote and
live at home. At 60 they were discharged.
• Spartan women had more freedom than
other Greek women, and were expected to
exercise and stay fit for childbearing
Government of Sparta
• Oligarchy headed by two kings, who lead
Spartans in battle
• An elected group of five, called the
ephors, were charged with educating the
youth, and regulating citizen conduct
• A council of 28 men over 60, and the
kings, debated topics to present to a larger
assembly of men over 30 who could only
vote on the issue at hand.
• Outside visitors were not welcome, and
Spartans were forbidden from studying
philosophy, literature and art
Athens
• Early Athens was ruled by kings, then
aristocrats who owned land. An assembly
of many citizens existed, with little power
• Citizens who owed debts they could not
pay were often sold into slavery, a practice
which almost resulted in civil war
• The oligarchy avoided war by granting
power to an aristocrat named Solon,
cancelled debts and freed many slaves
• Solon’s reforms weren’t enough to keep
Pisistratus taking control as a tyrant in
560 B.C.
Athenian Tyranny
• Pisistratus worked to improve trade and
took land from aristocrats and gave to the
poor, an effort to gain popularity
• Pisistratus’s son was unpopular and
replaced by Cleisthenes
• Cleisthenes created a council of 500 men
to supervise foreign affairs, the treasury
and the writing of laws to be voted on by
the assembly, creating the foundation for
democracy
Do Now

Page 120, write and
answer questions 2, 3, 4,
5&6