Download Athens: Greek city-state located on the Aegean Coast About 750 BC

Athens: Greek city-state located on the Aegean Coast
About 750 BC, Athenian nobles, merchants and manufacturers controlled the government
Oligarchy – a form of government in which a few people have the ruling power
Draco- an Athenian noble who tried to make reforms to change the government
-he was considered too harsh and his reforms failed
Solon – a rich merchant, prepared a constitution, a wet of principles and rules for governing
-this constitution broke the political power of the rich
-set limits on how much land a person could own
-gave land-owners the right to vote in the Assembly
-Assembly given the power to pass laws
-all debts were erased
-offered citizenship to artisans who were not Athenian
-ordered every father to teach their son a trade
-more Athenians began to take part in government
-trade increased
Peisistratus, an Athenian supported by the lower class
-divided large estates among the farmers
Stated that a person did not have to own land to be a citizen
-encouraged sculpture and other art
- when Peisistratus died, his sons took over the government
A Democratic Constitution
Cleisthenes- an Athenian noble. Put into effect the world’s first democratic constitution:
favoring the equality of all people
Cleisthenes opened the assembly to all males over the age of 20
Each year the assembly elected ten generals to run the army and navy and to serve as chief
magistrates, or judges, and a commander-in-chief.
The Council of 500 – chosen by lot each year, no one could serve more than twice
Citizens were required to educate their sons starting at age 7
At age 18, Athenian males became citizens
-they went to the temple of Zeus and took an oath of citizenship
The Persian Wars: Persian defeated the Ionia
The Ionians revolted and asked Athens for help
Athens sent warships to fight against Persia
Persia defeated the Ionians and decided to punish Athens for assisting
Darius, the king of Persia, ordered an attack on Athens
A fleet of 600 Persian ships landed on Marathon
-after several days ,the Athenians defeated the Persians in the battle
-Pheidippides ran 26 miles from Marathon to Athens to declare the
Victory, he shouted out “NIKE!” and died of exhaustion Nike- the Greek goddess of victory
-winning the Battle of Marathon gave Athens confidence
Triremes- warships with three levels of rowers on each side
Athens had the largest navy in Greece
Xerxes- Darius’ son, returned and conquered northern Greece
20 Greek city-states banded together, Sparta ruled the navy, Athens the army
The Greek city-states defeated the Persian navy in the Strait of Salamis
In 479B.C. the Persians were defeated in the Battle of Plataea, ending the Persian Wars
The Delian League
A defensive league- a protective group, made up of Greek city-states located on the island
of Delos (Sparta was not a member)
-they had a common navy run by the Athenians ;the league paid for the ships
-once a city-state joined the league, they could not leave without a vote
-Athens began gaining power
-city-states had to ask permission to sail or trade
-criminal cases brought to Athens for trial
-Athenian coins replaced other Greek money
-slowly the Delian League was turning into the Athenian Empire
Pericles- the main general of Athens – known as “the first citizen of Athens”
-rebuilt the temples and palaces on the Acropolis
-built the Parthenon, temple of the goddess Athena
-built the Long Walls, connecting Athens to Piraeus (5 miles)
-art, philosophy and literature increased
-the more powerful Athens became, the other city-states became resentful of them
Athens attacked an ally of Sparta. So Sparta declared war on Athens. It was called the
Peloponnesian War and lasted about 30 years.--eventually Athens surrendered to Sparta
-Athens lost ¼ of its people due to the war and a plague
-much of its land was ruined
-many Athenian males became mercenaries-hired soldiers, for Persia
The Spartans set up an oligarchy in Athens. The Athenians revolted and again set up a
democracy; however, they never regained much of their power.
Decline of the City-States
After the Peloponnesian War, people began to lose their sense of community
People were interest in making money and having fun
Tensions rose between the upper and lower classes
Sparta ruled Greece, they were harsh rulers
A group of city-states led by Thebes overthrew Spartan rule and weakened the city-states.
Due to their weakness, Greece was overthrown by Philip II of Macedonia