Download CHAPTER 4: TERMS AND QUESTIONS

Week 6: Chapter 4: Part 1: Terms
Cyrus the Great - (600?-530 BC), king of Persia (550-530 BC). He was the son of
Cambyses I, a descendant of Achaemenes (Hakhamanish) (flourished 7th century BC),
and a member of the Achaemenid dynasty. When Cyrus became (in about 558 BC) ruler
of the Persian district of Anshan, the district was subject to the Medes; five years later he
led a rebellion against the Medes that resulted in the capture of King Astyages (reigned
about 584 to about 550 BC) and the overthrow (550 BC) of the Median Empire.
Thereafter Cyrus called himself king of Persia and ruled a territory extending from the
Halys River in Asia Minor, eastern border of Lydia, to the Babylonian Empire on the
south and east. Babylon, Egypt, Lydia, and the city-state of Sparta in Greece combined to
curb the power of Cyrus, but in about 546 BC the Persians added Lydia to their realm,
and in 539 BC the kingdom of Babylon fell to Cyrus.
The Persian Empire was the most powerful state in the world until its conquest two
centuries later by Alexander the Great. Cyrus was an able and merciful ruler. Significant
among his deeds was his granting of permission to the Jews to return from their exile in
Babylon to their native Israel to rebuild the Temple of Solomon. Cyrus died while
leading an expedition against the eastern tribe, the Massagetae, and was succeeded by his
son, who became Cambyses II.
Zoroastrianism - religion that arose from the teachings of the devotional poet Zoroaster,
known as Zarathushtra to ancient Iranians, who is regarded as the faith’s founding
prophet. Scholars believe that Zoroaster lived sometime between 1750 and 1500 BC or
1400 and 1200 BC. The Zoroastrian scripture, called the Avesta, includes poems
attributed to Zoroaster. The religion continues to be practiced today by Zoroastrian
communities in India, Iran, the United States, Canada, and other countries. In his writings
Zoroaster speaks of an ethical and moral opposition between Asha (“order”), which he
equates with righteousness, and Drug (“confusion”), which he equates with evil and the
lie. Zoroaster personifies this dualism in a pair of spirits called Ahura Mazda (“Wise
Lord,” known as Ohrmazd in Middle Persian), and Angra Mainyu (“Evil Spirit,” known
as Ahriman in Middle Persian). See also Persian Language.
Sparta and Athens - also Lacedaemon, city in ancient Greece, and capital of Laconia,
and the most famous ancient Greek city of the Pelopónnisos. It was on the right bank of
the Evrótas River, about 32.5 km (about 20 mi) from the sea, in the foothills of Mount
Taygetus. The ancient city, even in its most prosperous days, was merely a group of five
villages with simple houses and a few public buildings. The passes leading into the valley
of the Evrótas were easily defended, and Sparta had no walls until the end of the 4th
century BC. The inhabitants of Laconia were divided into Helots (slaves), who performed
all agricultural work; Perioeci, a subject class of free men without political rights, who
were mainly tradesmen and merchants; and the Spartiatai, or governing class, rulers and
soldiers, descended from the Dorians, who had migrated to the area about 1100 BC.
Athens - city in southeastern Greece, capital and largest city of the country. Athens
dominates the economic, cultural, and political life of modern Greece.
Peloponnesian War - military conflict from 431 to 404 BC in ancient Greece that pitted
Athens and its allies against Sparta and its allies. The Spartans and many of their allies
lived in the Pelopónnisos, the southern half of Greece, where Sparta’s influence was
paramount. The term Peloponnesian War therefore implies that it was an Athenian war
against the Peloponnesians. But from a Spartan point of view it was the Attic War, that is,
a war against Athens, whose territory was called Attica. The Spartans eventually won the
war, but only with financial help from the Persians of the Achaemenid Empire. The war
was preceded by a conflict that took place from 460 to 446 BC and was known as the
First Peloponnesian War. That war was ended by the Thirty Years’ Peace, the terms of
which are not known in detail or for certain. This lack of information is frustrating
because attempts to fix responsibility for the outbreak of the main war in 431 BC involve
deciding who broke the terms of this peace. For our main source, the Athenian historian
Thucydides, the matter was simply one of power and fear. In a famous formulation he
said that the growth of Athenian power instilled fear in the Spartans and compelled them
to go to war. The war was fought in two regions: mainland Greece, in particular the
Aegean seaboard; and Sicily.
Macedon - (Bulgarian Makedoniya, Greek Makedonía, Macedonian Makedonija),
historic region in southeastern Europe, in the south central part of the Balkan Peninsula.
Macedonia covered about 66,000 sq km (25,500 sq mi). Today slightly more than half of
the region lies in northern and northeastern Greece, in the Greek province of Macedonia.
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and a small portion of Bulgaria make up
the remainder of the region. Macedonia spanned a diverse geographic area. Though
mostly mountainous, the region also encompassed the valleys of the Aliákmon, Vardar
(Axiós), Néstos, and Struma rivers, all of which drain into the Aegean Sea.
Philip of Macedon - (382-336 BC), king of Macedonia (359-336 BC) and father of
Alexander the Great, born in Pella. From 367 to 365, Philip was a hostage in Thebes, and
during that period he observed the military techniques of Thebes, then the greatest power
in Greece. In 364 he returned to Macedonia. In 359 he was made regent for his infant
nephew Amyntas; later that year he seized the throne for himself.
Faced by internal dissensions and attacked on all sides, Philip reorganized the
Macedonian army on the model of the Theban phalanx. In less than two years he had
secured the safety of his kingdom and firmly established himself on the throne. From
then on his policy was aggressive. In 357 he conquered the Athenian colony of
Amphipolis in Thrace, gaining possession of the gold mines of Mount Pangaeus, which
financed his subsequent wars. In 356 he captured Potidaea in Chalcidice and Pydna on
the Gulf of Thermaïkós. In 355 he captured the Thracian town of Crenides, which, under
its new name, Philippi, soon acquired great wealth and fame.
Alexander the Great - (356-323 BC), king of Macedonia, conqueror of the Persian
Empire, and one of the greatest military geniuses of all times.
Hellenism - interest in, devotion to, and imitation of the culture and ideals of ancient
Greece, especially as developed in Athens in the 5th and 4th centuries BC. The term,
implying an unrestricted, pagan love of life, is often used in contrast to Hebraism, which
implies an austerely moralistic, less sensuous, way of life.
Hellenistic culture - (4th-1st century BC), period between the conquest of the Persian
Empire by Alexander the Great and the establishment of Roman supremacy, in which
Greek culture and learning were preeminent in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. It
is called Hellenistic (Greek Hellas, “Greece”) to distinguish it from the Hellenic culture
of classical Greece.
Carthage and Punic Wars - (Latin Carthago) great city of antiquity, on the northern
coast of Africa, near modern Tunis, Tunisia. Dido was the legendary founder and queen
of Carthage; the city was probably established as a trading post toward the end of the 9th
century BC by Phoenicians. The earliest artifacts unearthed by archaeologists at the site
date from 800 BC. The city was known to its Punic or Phoenician inhabitants as the “new
city,” probably to distinguish it from Utica, the “old city.” Built on a peninsula jutting
into the Gulf of Tunis, Carthage had two splendid harbors, connected by a canal. Above
the harbors on a hill was the Byrsa, a walled fortress. By the subjugation of the Libyan
tribes and by the annexation of older Phoenician colonies, Carthage in the 6th century BC
controlled the entire North African coast from the Atlantic Ocean to the western border of
Egypt, as well as Sardinia, Malta, the Balearic Islands, and part of Sicily. A Carthaginian
admiral, Hanno, made a voyage along the Atlantic coast of North Africa. The maritime
power of the Carthaginians enabled them to extend their settlements and conquests,
forming a scattered empire devoted to commerce. Among the commercial enterprises
were the mining of silver and lead; the manufacture of beds and bedding; a lumber
industry in the Atlas Mountains; the production of simple, cheap pottery, jewelry, and
glassware for trade; and the export of wild animals from African jungles, of fruits and
nuts, and of ivory and gold.
And Punic wars - name given to the three wars between Rome and Carthage in the 3rd
and 2nd centuries BC. The adjective Punic (Latin Punicus) is derived from Poeni, the
name by which the Carthaginians, being of Phoenician descent, were known to the
Romans.
Julius Caesar - (100-44 BC), Roman general and statesman whose dictatorship was
pivotal in Rome’s transition from republic to empire. Caesar laid the foundations of the
Roman imperial system. Born in Rome on July 12 or 13, 100 BC, Caesar belonged to a
prestigious family that had been powerful in Roman politics for more than a century.
Augustus - (63 BC- AD 14), first emperor of Rome (27 BC-AD 14), who restored unity
and orderly government to the realm after nearly a century of civil wars. He presided over
an era of peace, prosperity, and cultural achievement known as the Augustan Age.
Constantine - (about AD 274-337), Roman emperor (306-337), the first Roman ruler to
be converted to Christianity. He founded Constantinople (present-day İstanbul) as a
capital of the Roman Empire in 330, and it remained the seat of the Byzantine (Eastern
Roman) Empire until 1453. Constantine the Great was born Flavius Valerius
Constantinus at Niš, in what is now Serbia, son of the commander Constantius Chlorus
(later Constantius I) and Helena (later Saint Helena), a camp follower. Constantius
became co-emperor in 305. Constantine, who had shown military talent in the East,
joined his father in an invasion of the British Isles in 306. He was popular with the
troops, who proclaimed him emperor when Constantius died later the same year. Over the
next two decades, however, Constantine had to fight his rivals for the throne, and he did
not finally establish himself as sole ruler until 324.
Polis - Greek for 'city,' in ancient Greece, a city-state or the political and social center of
most larger Greek communities. Originally a citadel on a rock or hill, in classical times
the polis consisted of a walled city with adjoining land, which could be extensive. The
basis of classical Greek civilization included membership in a polis as a citizen,
participation in its cults and festivals, and the protection of its laws.
Pericles - (495? BC -429? BC), Athenian statesman, so influential in Athenian history
that the period of his power is called the Age of Pericles.
Roman senate and consuls - During the republic, the senate, although it could not make
laws, was the dominant force in Roman politics; its decrees virtually had the force of law
and strongly influenced legislation. The senate was not an elected body. One became a
senator simply by virtue of being elected to the quaestorship, the lowest office among the
chief Roman magistracies (the others being the praetorship, consulship and censorship).
(http://depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/classics/dunkle/romnlife/senate.htm)
And consuls - The Senate and the citizen Assembly survived from the monarchy into the
republic. In theory the Senate played only an advisory role, but because it contained
mostly former civil officials, called magistrates, it was respected as the repository of
Roman wisdom and tradition. The Senate had such great authority (auctoritas) that
magistrates consulted it on all-important issues, and it became the dominant force in the
areas of religion, foreign policy, and public finance. The Senate did not pass legislation,
but its decrees were treated with the greatest respect. Citizens participated in the
Assembly, which could pass laws, elect magistrates, and declare war. Over the centuries
the Romans organized these popular assemblies in different ways, but the voting system
always favored the rich. For example, one popular assembly, the comitia centuriata,
which probably developed in the 6th century BC, consisted of 193 voting blocks, each
with a single vote. Citizens were assigned to those 193 “centuries” on the basis of wealth,
and the centuries of the richest class had few members, while the one century reserved for
the landless had tens of thousands of members, but could only cast a single ballot. No
free discussion took place in Roman assemblies, and citizens could only approve or reject
proposals presented by a magistrate.
The kings left the early Romans with a fear of domination by a single ruler. As a result,
the Romans replaced the kings with magistrates who were collegial, which meant that
several officials held the same office simultaneously, and each could check the others.
The Assembly of citizens elected these officials annually. The two chief magistrates,
called consuls, were invested with the military, judicial, administrative, and even some of
the religious powers of the king. They could veto (from the Latin word veto, for “I
forbid”) each other’s actions, but they usually agreed to share power. Often one consul
served in Rome while the other was in command of the army. A consul could not be
removed while in office, although he could be prosecuted for corruption after leaving the
position.
12 Tables - earliest code of Roman law. It was formalized in 451-450 BC from existing
oral law by ten magistrates, called decemvirs, and inscribed on tablets of bronze or wood,
which were posted in the principal Roman Forum. According to tradition, the code was
drawn up to appease the plebs, who maintained that their liberties were not adequately
protected by the unwritten law as interpreted by patrician judges. Originally ten tablets of
laws were inscribed; two more tablets were added the following year. The tablets were
destroyed in the sack of Rome by the Gauls in 390 BC, but a number of the laws are
known through references in later Latin literature. The Twelve Tables covered all
categories of the law and also included specific penalties for various infractions. The
code underwent frequent changes but remained in effect for almost 1000 years.
Greek Pantheon of Gods - (from Greek words meaning “of all gods”), temple dedicated
to all the gods. The Pantheon of Rome is the best-preserved major edifice of ancient
Rome and one of the most significant buildings in architectural history. The building’s
enormous dome and the walls supporting the dome form a masterpiece of concrete
construction. The Pantheon was erected by Roman emperor Hadrian between AD 118
and 128, replacing a smaller temple built by Roman statesman Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa
in 27 BC. In the early 7th century it was consecrated as a church, Santa Maria ad
Martyres, to which act it owes its survival.
Socrates - (469-399BC), Greek philosopher, who profoundly affected Western
philosophy through his influence on Plato. Socrates' contribution to philosophy was
essentially ethical in character. Belief in a purely objective understanding of such
concepts as justice, love, and virtue, and the self-knowledge that he inculcated, were the
basis of his teachings. He believed that all vice is the result of ignorance, and that no
person is willingly bad; correspondingly, virtue is knowledge, and those who know the
right will act rightly. His logic placed particular emphasis on rational argument and the
quest for general definitions, as evidenced in the writings of his younger contemporary
and pupil, Plato, and of Plato's pupil, Aristotle. Through the writings of these
philosophers, Socrates profoundly affected the entire subsequent course of Western
speculative thought.
Plato - (428?-347 BC), Greek philosopher, one of the most creative and influential
thinkers in Western philosophy. Plato was born to an aristocratic family in Athens. His
father, Ariston, was believed to have descended from the early kings of Athens.
Perictione, his mother, was distantly related to the 6th-century BC lawmaker Solon.
When Plato was a child, his father died, and his mother married Pyrilampes, who was an
associate of the statesman Pericles.
Galen - (129-199?), the most outstanding physician of antiquity after Hippocrates. His
anatomical studies on animals and observations of how the human body functions
dominated medical theory and practice for 1400 years.
Euclid - lived circa 300 BC), Greek mathematician, whose chief work, Elements, is a
comprehensive treatise on mathematics in 13 volumes on such subjects as plane
geometry, proportion in general, the properties of numbers, incommensurable
magnitudes, and solid geometry. He probably was educated at Athens by pupils of Plato.
He taught geometry in Alexandria and founded a school of mathematics there. The Data,
a collection of geometrical theorems; the Phenomena, a description of the heavens; the
Optics; the Division of the Scale, a mathematical discussion of music; and several other
books have long been attributed to Euclid; most historians believe, however, that some or
all of these works (other than the Elements) have been spuriously credited to him.
Historians disagree as to the originality of some of his other contributions. Probably the
geometrical sections of the Elements were primarily a rearrangement of the works of
previous mathematicians such as those of Eudoxus, but Euclid himself is thought to have
made several original discoveries in the theory of numbers.
Euclid's Elements was used as a text for 2000 years, and even today a modified version of
its first few books forms the basis of high school instruction in plane geometry. The first
printed edition of Euclid's works was a translation from Arabic to Latin, which appeared
at Venice in 1482.
Ptolemy - (AD100?-170?), astronomer and mathematician, whose astronomical theories
and explanations dominated scientific thought until the 16th century (see Ptolemaic
System). He is also remembered for his contributions to the fields of mathematics, optics,
and geography. Ptolemy's actual name, Claudius Ptolemaeus, reflects all that is really
known of him: The name 'Claudius' suggests a Roman background, while 'Ptolemaeus'
hints at a possible Egyptian heritage for him. In fact, ancient sources report that for most
of his life he lived and worked in Alexandria, Egypt. At a time when Egypt was ruled by
Romans, Alexandria was the center of widespread Greek culture, and we know that
Ptolemy wrote his works in Greek. Ptolemy's earliest and most famous work, originally
written in Greek, was translated into Arabic as al-Majisti (Great Work). In Europe,
medieval Latin translations reproduced the title as Almagesti, and it has since become
known simply as the Almagest. In this work, Ptolemy proposed a geometric theory to
account mathematically for the apparent motions and positions of the planets, sun, and
moon against a background of unmoving stars. This work did not include any physical
descriptions of objects in space.
Iliad and Odyssey/Homer - ancient Greek epic poem in 24 books attributed to the poet
Homer. It was probably composed in the 8th century BC, but it describes events of the
Trojan War, a conflict between Greece and Troy that took place four centuries earlier.
The initial cause of the Trojan War was the abduction of Helen, the queen of Sparta, by
Paris, a Trojan prince. The Iliad relates in 15,693 lines a momentous episode in the
Trojan War—the wrath of the Greek hero Achilles and its destructive consequences. The
action of the Iliad begins in the tenth and final year of the Greek siege of Troy. The
Greek army has been besieging Troy for over nine years. In a recent raid on a nearby
district, the Greeks have captured Chryseis, daughter of a priest of the god Apollo.
Agamemnon, commander in chief of the Greek forces, has taken her for his slave woman.
Apollo in anger afflicts the Greeks with a devastating plague after Agamemnon
humiliates the priest.
And Odyssey - ancient Greek epic poem in 24 books attributed to the poet Homer. It was
probably composed in the 8th century BC. The Odyssey relates in 12,110 lines the
perilous adventures of Odysseus (called Ulysses in Latin), a Greek hero and king of
Ithaca in western Greece. After the fall of Troy at the end of the Trojan War, Odysseus is
forced to wander for ten years before returning home to his wife Penelope in Ithaca.
The epic poem the Iliad, also attributed to Homer, describes events of the Trojan War. In
contrast with the Iliad, which is mainly located in Troy and is recounted in a
straightforward narrative, the Odyssey has many changes of scene and a complex plot. Its
scenes range from Troy to Egypt, North Africa, the Peloponnesus, Ithaca, and the western
Mediterranean. The narrative begins near what is chronologically the end of the story,
and earlier incidents are unfolded later in the poem (as in the modern flashback
technique).
Homer’s Odyssey is one of the great stories of all time. It has had a strong influence on
later European literature, especially on epics of the Renaissance (14th century through
16th century). From Homer’s plan of the Odyssey, a standard practice developed of
beginning an epic with an incident from the middle or the end of the story. Earlier events
are then related at a convenient point later in the story. The outstanding 20th-century
example of the Odysseus, or Ulysses, theme is the novel Ulysses, by Irish author James
Joyce.
And Homer - the name traditionally assigned to the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey,
the two major epics that have survived from Greek antiquity. Nothing is known of Homer
as an individual, and in fact it is a matter of controversy whether a single person can be
said to have created both the Iliad and the Odyssey. Linguistic and historical evidence,
however, suggests that the poems were composed in the Greek settlements on the west
coast of Asia Minor sometime in the 8th century BC.
Doric, Ionic, Corinthian styles - Of the three columns found in Greece, Doric columns
are the simplest. They have a capital (the top, or crown) made of a circle topped by a
square. The shaft (the tall part of the column) is plain and has 20 sides. There is no base
in the Doric order. The Doric order is very plain, but powerful-looking in its design.
Doric, like most Greek styles, works well horizontally on buildings, that's why it was so
good with the long rectangular buildings made by the Greeks. The area above the
column, called the frieze [pronounced "freeze"], had simple patterns. Above the columns
are the metopes and triglyphs. The metope [pronounced "met-o-pee"] is a plain, smooth
stone section between triglyphs. Sometimes the metopes had statues of heroes or gods on
them. The triglyphs are a pattern of 3 vertical lines between the metopes.
There are many examples of ancient Doric buildings. Perhaps the most famous one is the
Parthenon in Athens, which is probably the most famous and most studied building on
Earth. Buildings built even now borrow some parts of the Doric order.
Ionic shafts were taller than Doric ones. This makes the columns look slender. They also
had flutes, which are lines carved into them from top to bottom. The shafts also had a
special characteristic: entasis, which is a little bulge in the columns make the columns
look straight, even at a distance [because since you would see the building from eye
level, the shafts would appear to get narrower as they rise, so this bulge makes up for that
- so it looks straight to your eye but it really isn't !] . The frieze is plain. The bases were
large and looked like a set of stacked rings. Ionic capitals consist of a scrolls above the
shaft. The Ionic style is a little more decorative than the Doric.
The Corinthian order is the most decorative and is usually the one most modern people
like best. Corinthian also uses entasis to make the shafts look straight. The Corinthian
capitals have flowers and leaves below a small scroll. The shaft has flutes and the base is
like the Ionian. Unlike the Doric and Ionian cornices, which are at a slant, the Corinthian
roofs are flat. (http://www.cmhpf.org/kids/dictionary/ClassicalOrders.html)
(http://encarta.msn.com)
Week 6: Chapter 4: Part 2: Questions
1. How does Greek civilization compare and contrast to other civilizations?
When comparing Greece to India and China, it is easy to draw several comparisons. All
developed empires and all were agrarian societies. Each of the civilizations developed a
clear social hierarchy with a large distinction between rich and poor. Each found common
tensions with elites in all three societies determining that they needed to carefully control
the lower groups so that their own prosperity could be assured. A strong philosophical
tradition was also observed in all three civilizations.
Differences should be noted as well. In each of the societies, though distinctions between
classes were similarly formed, the groups at the top of the social pyramids varied greatly
- reflecting the distinct value systems of the colonies (India – priests, China –
bureaucrats, Greece – aristocrats.) The status of merchants varied greatly in all three
civilizations as well. Social mobility was more rigid in India than in Greece and political
values in Greece were based more on democracy than bureaucratic training as in China.
In Greece, the establishment of city-states created a community approach to keeping the
social hierarchy. Offering a share in political structure for the lower classes (although a
limited share) perhaps proves to be the most marked distinction between Greece and the 2
other civilizations.
2. Define a polis. How did the polis change between 800 and 400 B.C.E.?
The new Mediterranean civilization built on earlier cultures along the eastern
Mediterranean and within the Greek islands, taking firm shape with the rise of the Greek
city-states after 800 B.C.E. These states began as monarchies but then evolved into more
complex and diverse political forms. They also developed a more varied commercial
economy, moving away from a purely grain-growing agriculture; this spurred the
formation of a number off colonial outposts around the eastern Mediterranean and in
Italy. The decline of the city-states ushered in the Macedonian conquest and the
formation of wider Hellenistic culture that established deep roots in the Middle East and
Egypt. Then Rome, initially a minor regional state distinguished by political virtue and
stability, embarked on its great conquests, which would bring it control of the
Mediterranean with important extensions into western and south-eastern Europe plus the
whole of North Africa. Rome’s expansion ultimately overwhelmed its own political
institutions of its own and resulted in two centuries of peace and glory.
3. How did Greek city-states work together? Why were they often separate?
The rapid rise of civilization in Greece between 800 and 600 B.C.E. was based on the
creation of strong city-states, rather than a single political unit. Each city-state had its
own government, typically either a tyranny of one ruler or an aristocratic council. The
city-state served Greece well, for the peninsula was so divided by mountains that a
unified government would have been difficult to establish. Trade developed rapidly under
city-state sponsorship, and common cultural forms, including a rich written language
with letters derived from the Phoenician alphabet, spread throughout the peninsula. The
Greek city-states also joined in regular celebrations such as the athletic competitions of
the Olympic games.
4. Compare the political structure of Hellenistic Greece to that of the Greek world before
400 B.C.E.
Early Greece rejected monarchy as the preferred form of government, abolishing many of
its early monarchies. They relied instead on tyrants, or strong men, who ruled with great
authority. Aspects of democracy were present in these earlier states – primarily in
Athens. City-states, rather than one political unit, dominated Greece. In the Hellenistic
period, this was replaced by an autocratic ruler. The Greeks were ruled by the Hellenes
who consolidated the Greek civilization, while contributing to the political decline.
5. What was the function of philosophy in Greek culture?
Philosophy served to deemphasize human spirituality while emphasizing mans ability to
think and rationalize. It bore great resemblance to the role of Confucianism n China as
well as laid the groundwork for the later advent of the humanist movement in the
Renaissance. The Socratic principal of determining ration thought through questioning
became a centerpiece of Greek thinking and philosophy as well as paving the way fro
questioning the natural order and thus changes in science. Many also saw it as a means of
providing ethical behavior for the masses as the foibles of the gods left many lacking.
6. What, according to the authors, were the principles of Greek culture?
Literary traditions, humanlike qualities of the gods, philosophy as ethical guide, focus on
arts (architecture, sculpture, drama)
7. Why was the Greek economy so market-oriented?
Soil conditions were not adequate for growing grain. As grain was one of the major
staples, Greece had to shift to grow what they could (olives, grapes) and then trade fro
grain. Their location and the establishment of colonies in the Middle East and Sicily
(which were able to sustain intensive cultivation) also paved the way for increased trade.
8. Discuss the role of slavery in Greek & Roman economic and social life. Why did it
lead to less technological innovations?
Slaves were initially used as household servants, but later found usage in areas such as
the silver mines. Slaves were also used in agricultural production. The majority of slaves
came from conquered territories, thus slavery and military expansion became intertwined.
With large numbers of slaves available to work the fields, Greece and Rome did not see
as great a need to develop farming technology. With more hands, the need to make
farming more efficient was not seen as vital.
9. Discuss the status of women in society. What effect did class position have on
women's roles?
Greece and Rome both had patriarchal societies. Within the upper classes women saw
great influence within their household, but this did not carry over outside of the home as
women were seen as inferior in both laws and culture. Female infanticide was common
amongst larger families unable to support the financial “drain” a female child would
bring. Though Roman law dictated a man is in complete control of his wife, the reality is
that life for women can be seen as less harsh in Greece and Rome than perhaps in China.
Women in many areas were active in business and could own land.