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Transcript
The Greek Adventure SSWH3:a-c. Time and Geography POLITICAL Geography and Political Development • Greece is shaped by its geography – many small islands and mountainous southern tip – Little suitable land for large scale farming • No place within Greece was more than 80 miles from the sea No place within Greece was more than 80 miles from the sea Geography and Political Development • Greeks expert sailors with ships, shipping was livelihood • Travel and trade by sea easier • Geography encouraged political fragmentation – Own sense of community and identity – Only secondarily shared common culture and language A Greek ship THE MINOAN CIVILIZATIONS • Origins of Greek civilization traced to Crete • Found urbanized civilization around 2000 BCE • Cretan culture called Minoan (Minos, mythical king of Crete) • Not known if Minoans were Greeks but part of the formation of Greek civilization Minoans going about daily work THE MINOAN CIVILIZATIONS • Islanders established a seaborne commercial network • Became wealthy through their mastery of the sea • Wealth produced a socially complex society (tiny states with kings) The Minoans became wealthy through their mastery of the sea MYCENAEAN CIVILIZATIONS • Mycenaeans, mainland Indo-European people – invaded Crete – destroyed island settlements – took over trading network • Our knowledge comes from archaeological excavations and epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey ECONOMIC MYCENAEAN CIVILIZATIONS • Trojan War – probably caused by Mycenaean’s trade rivalry with Troy • Mycenaeans engaged in extensive internal warfare – Fell to the Dorians – Dark Ages began as culture declined Trojan War – probably caused by Mycenaean’s trade rivalry with Troy POLITICAL Early Hellenic Civilization The Polis (pl poleis) • Community of free persons making up a town • Could be any size: Athens 300,000 people • Each polis a political and cultural unit, but also as part of distinct “Greek” culture • Polis, frame of reference for all public life A “Polis” was a Greek city-state Early Hellenic Civilization • Not everybody was a citizen – – – – Women excluded Many resident were aliens Many slaves Included only free males over age 20 ECONOMIC Early Hellenic Civilization • Each polis had same economic and demographic design – Town of varying size, surrounded by farms, pasture, woods – Artisans, traders, import-export merchants, intellectuals, artists etc. – Most Greeks were peasants, workers The Pantheon POLITICAL Athens and Sparta • Two poleis dominated Greek life and politics • They came into conflict • Four types of government known to the Greeks – Monarchy – Aristocracy – Oligarchy – Democracy The Entry of King Otto in Athens, Peter von Hess, 1839 Early Athens • Original monarchy forced aside by aristocrats • Aristocrats gave way to oligarchs – Most important oligarch was Solon – Oligarchs gave him supreme power to deal with discontent – He established a constitution Early Athens • Pisistratus made himself sole ruler, gave concessions to common people • Cleisthenes – True founder of Athenian democracy – Believed the people should have the last word in their government Cleisthenes Athenian Democracy • Ekklesia – town meeting – All free male Athenians, met on ad hoc basis – All could speak freely – All could be elected • Boule – – – – Council of 500 citizens, served 1-year terms Day-to-day legislature, executive Supervised civil and military affairs All male citizens would serve at least one term • Deme – Territorial unit – Could select certain number of boule members Athenian Democracy • Ostracism – “Pushing out” of citizen who did not conform to will of others – Person had to go into exile, lost all rights of citizenship Ostracism is the “pushing out” of citizen who did not conform to will of others Athenian Democracy • Democracy – – – – – An abnormal system of government Daring when introduced Not used again until 18th century Some poleis adopted similar governments Resistance even within such poleis Democracy is a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives. Spartan Militarism • Sparta differed from Athens in almost every way • Messenian Wars: Sparta fought with nearest neighbors and won • Defeated people became near-slaves – helotry • Sparta became nation of soldiers and helpers • Economic needs largely met by captive helots – Worked the fields, did all crafts, commerce – Spartans devoted all their energies to military arts Leonidas I of Sparta Spartan Militarism • Spartans held arts in contempt, rejected individualism – Public life meant total obedience – Government headed by ephors (elected officers) A Spartan soldier Spartan Militarism • Most Greeks admired Spartan way of life – Self-discipline, courage, rigid obedience, physical vigor – Single-minded patriotism A Spartan soldier Spartan Militarism • Sparta was conservative, non-aggressive state – Army was large and feared, thus rarely used – Became peaceable polis Spartan soldiers Persian Wars • Athens and Sparta concerned with keeping independent of foreign threat (Persia) • First Persian War – Athenian victory – Athens went to aid rebellious Persian colonies – Persian emperor Darius sent army to Greece – Persians defeated at Marathon in 490 BCE Persian soldier (left) and Greek hoplite (right) depicted fighting, on an ancient kylix, 5th century BC Persian Wars • Second Persian War – Even more decisive Greek victory – Other poleis helped Athens – Spartan troops defeated Persians at Thermopylae in 480 – Athenian navy defeated Persians at Salamis • Greece had turned back Persia • Crucial turning point for Western civilization Herodotus, the main historical source for this conflict Peloponnesian War 431-404 BCE • No harmony among Greeks after Persian Wars • Athenians under Pericles in conflict with Corinth, a Spartan ally • Sparta defended Corinth, Pericles responded with war • Athens thought they could defend against Sparta indefinitely • War was an intermittently fought deadlock • In 404 Spartans defeated Athenian navy with Persian help • War was a loss for all concerned Final Act in Classical Greece • Greeks continued to fight for two generations • Macedonians took over from north – Philip of Macedonia turned it into effective, aggressive state – Took over most of mainland • City states became provinces of Macedonian Empire • From then on, Greece was almost always under foreign rule Philip of Macedonia ALEXANDER AND THE CREATION OF A WORLD EMPIRE • Alexander reigned for 13 years conquering the world: – an unresisting Egypt – the mightiest empire the world had yet seen, the empire of Darius III of Persia – tribal kingdoms of the Indus basin and the highlands to its north (present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan • The Army exhausted, Alexander led his men back to Persia where he died a year later in Babylon at age 33 Alexander the Great A Mixed Culture • Alexander the Great’s empire disintegrated the day he died • Territories split into kingdoms (Hellenistic kingdoms), each ruled by one of his generals • Intermarriage was encouraged • Ten-of thousands of Greeks left overcrowded, resource-poor Greece to make their names and fortunes under GrecoMacedonian control • Greek values/ideas were imposed on Asiatics and Egyptians • Greek rulers failed to duplicate the polis of shared government and interdependent community • Accepted the monarchy and became subjects • Indian Hindu/Buddhist world introduced to the Western world • Direct trade contacts between India and the Mediterranean Greeks and Easterners in the Hellenistic Kingdoms THREE MAJOR KINGDOMS: • Ptolemaic, Kingdom of Egypt – General Ptolemy captured Egypt and ruled as a divine king, like the pharaohs – By 100s BCE, Egypt became a hybrid society - Greeks and Egyptians intermixed • Seleucid, Kingdom of Persia – General Seleucus ruled from India’s borders to the Mediterranean – Kingdom began to lose pieces to rebels because of its large expanse – Immigrant Greeks mixed with locals especially in Syria and Turkey – When Romans invaded the western areas, most of the east was lost • Antigonid Kingdom – General claimed the Macedonian homeland and part of Greece – Rest of Greece divided into city-states vying for political and economic supremacy – Both fell to the Romans in the middle 100s BCE Discussion Questions 1. The polis was the organizational unit of Greek civilization. What commonalities exist between the polis and the modern city? What does the modern city have that the polis did not? Are there advantages to living in the polis; what are they? 2. The rule of the people was one of Athens’ most enduring developments, yet it differed from modern ideas of democracy. What comparisons can you make between Greek and modern democracy? Are there advantages of the Athenian model over the modern one?
