Download Greece 1-21 - Copley-Fairlawn City Schools

Ancient Greece
Origins
- What we call Greece,
they called Hellas
- Not a likely place for a
dominant civilization to
take hold
Origins
- Persia & Egypt were
both centered on rivers
& on great plains
- Greece had too many
mountains, too many
islands
- Too fragmented
Origins
•Divided into hundreds of
tiny poleis, or city-states
•Each polis was a unique
entity
- Same language, same
religion, different
customs
- Very competitive &
quarrelsome with each
other
Origins
•Athens started as a
village
• Built around the
Acropolis - a rocky,
steep sided plateau
•Akron = Summit.
Polis = City.
•Used as a military
stronghold
•Easy to defend their
city from there
Origins
•Life was dirty, tough,
short.
•Life expectancy at birth
was 15 years
•(Aristotle wrote that it
was injustice &
serfdom)
Solon
•594 BCE: Solon (politician,
poet) fought against moral
decline in Athens
•Wrote the groundwork for
democracy, even though it
was not adopted in his
time
•Solon changed the boule
(council of 400 citizens)
from being aristocrat-only,
to being anyone not in the
poorest class
peisistratos
•560 BCE: Peisistratos came to
Athens with a tall woman he
said was Athena
•Just a particularly tall girl
from the neighboring
village
•Demanded control of Athens
because he had the protection
of a goddess
•They agreed & welcomed him
peisistratos
•Became a tyrant, but the
majority surprisingly liked
him
•Turned to the commoners for
support, ignoring the
aristocrats
•Reduced taxes, introduced
interest-free loans
peisistratos
•527 BCE: Peisistratos died &
his son, Hippias, took over
•Ruled jointly with his brother,
Hipparchus
•Tried to take after his father,
but were not liked
•514 BCE: Hipparchus was
assassinated
•After this murder, Hippias
started slipping into madness,
ordering more frequent
executions, suspicious of
everyone.
peisistratos
•Hippias had the murderers
executed, but even also had
one murderer’s wife tortured
to death
•Stripped away all of
Athenians’ new freedoms
Cleisthenes
•510 BCE: Cleisthenes lead a
revolt against Hippias
•Cleisthenes had been born
into nobility in Athens
•Grew up knowing he was an
aristocrat
•Aristokratia: “Excellent
Power.” Ancient Greek term
for a member of the ruling
class
•Aristrocrats controlled
every aspect of life
Cleisthenes
•The revolt was successful
•Cleisthenes was put in charge
•Right away there was a
conspiracy to overthrow him
•Greek politics was all about
proving that you could seize
power.
•If you could maintain control,
then you deserved to have
control.
Cleisthenes
•508 BCE: Isagoras was an
ambitious aristocrat that
emerged as a major
contender.
•Turned to Spartans for support
•(Never happened before.)
•Rumor was that Isagoras had
shared his wife with the
Spartan king.
Cleisthenes
•Spartans sent a battalion of
troops to support Isagoras
•Athenians felt that his ties to
Sparta were going to make
them subjects to Spartans
•Isagoras won & took control
•Ruled from the Acropolis
•Targeted other aristocrats,
most especially Cleisthenes
Cleisthenes
•Cleisthenes + 700 other
families were exiled from
Athens
•508 BCE: Citizens
revolted against the rulers,
demanding freedom
Cleisthenes
•First time in history there was
a civilian uprising against
rulers
•Isagoras & Spartans held out
for 2 nights against the
revolution on top of the
Acropolis
•3rd day - he surrendered
Cleisthenes
•507 BCE: The people asked
Cleisthenes to return & build
a new government
•He was appointed archon
(ruler)
•He knew he had to think of
something revolutionary
•In a moment of inspiration, he
realized that these people
should have freedom & a
chance to govern themselves
Cleisthenes
•Cleisthenes’ contributions to
Athenian Government:
•Enacted the first democracy
•Changed the boule to be 500
citizens (Athenian-born free
males)
•50 from each phyle (clan)
•Boule was chosen by lottery
•At least 30 years old
•Can’t serve more than
twice
Cleisthenes
•The Boule would meet every
9 days to discuss & vote on
daily affairs (from building
roads to going to war)
•Built the pnyx: democratic
assembly
•A public meeting place
carved out of the side of a
mountain for the boule to
meet
•Institute a voting system
•White pebble - yes
•Black pebble - no
Cleisthenes
•Ostraka: Broken pieces of
pottery on which citizens
could etch the name of
someone they felt was a threat
to democracy
•These were dropped into a
pot & counted
•>6,000 votes needed
•The person whose name
appeared the most would be
exiled from Athens for 10
years, or ostracized.