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CLASSICAL GREECE
CLASSICAL GREECE
Greek Brainstorming:
ABC’s of Ancient Greece
1. Make a list A through Z on a piece of paper
2. Attempt to associate any term, person, place, idea
or even that correlates with your prior knowledge of
the Ancient Greek culture and starts with the letter
Example Z = Zeus
3. Well will try to make one list A-Z as a class
Classical Greece Time Line
CHAPTER
5
Classical Greece, 2000 B.C. –300 B.C.
Time Line
2000 B.C. Minoan
civilization prospers on
Crete.
About 1200 B.C. Trojan
War takes place.
2000 B.C.
479 B.C. Greece triumphs
in Persian Wars.
300 B.C.
1500 B.C. Mycenaean
culture thrives on
Greek mainland.
750 B.C. Greek
city-states
flourish.
334 B.C.
Alexander
starts to build
his Empire.
Overview of Main Ideas
• A rugged Greek landscape causes the creation of
city-states.
• They fight one another but unite to fight invaders
from Persia
• Ancient Greek has contributed so much in so
many ways to world history
• Athens becomes the home of culture, but it’s
empire collapses after years of war from Sparta
• Alexander conquers Greece, the Persian Empire
and Egypt
• After His death a new culture blends influences
from territories he conquered: Hellenistic Age
Geography Affects Life: Land,
Sea, Climate
Greece is rocky, with high mountains and deep valleys
making it difficult to move over the land.
• Greeks living in different areas could not be easily united
• Good farm land covered only a small portion of Greece
and could not support many people.
• They did have easy access to the sea
• They became excellent sailors
• Trade became important
• The climate is mild which allowed Greek men to spend
much time outdoors
• They attended public events
• Were active in civic life
Mycenaeans vs. Minoans
Mycenaeans-from Mycenae (main city)
• The Mycenaeans were Indo-Europeans that migrated to the
Greek peninsula around 2000 B.C.
• They built their main city of Mycenae on a rocky ridge
surrounded by a 20 foot thick wall. It could withstand almost
any attack
• The warrior kings ruled the city and the surrounding villages
and farms. Mycenaean palace-forts dotted the southern part of
Greece
• These warrior Kings won their enormous wealth by controlling
local production and commercial trade. Their armies were in
constant search of plunder. The early Mycenaeans were from
the Bronze age (2000-1100 BC).
• Fortified city of Mycenae
--steep rocky ridge
--walled city
Trojan War
Trojan War - 1200 BC 10 yr war
• Mycenaeans vs Troy
• Trojans kidnapped Helen, wife of Greek
King
• The Trojan Horse was famous in this war
• The poem “The ILIAD” tells of the war
of Troy
• Historians: battle for waterway control in
Aegean
Mycenaean Collapse – 1200 B.C.
• Around 1200 BC the Mycenaean
civilization collapses. Sea raiders attack
Mycenaean cities, destroying many of the
palace-fortresses.
Homer
Homer
• blind, storyteller
• epics - heroic narrative
poems
• Iliad and Odyssey—
stories of Trojan War
Myths
• Tried to understand
mysteries of nature and
gods and passions of man
• humanlike but immortal
given to the gods
Homer
Greek City-States
POLIS: The city-state was primary
political unit in ancient Greece
Each city controlled 50 to 500 square miles
A polis was made up of a city and its
surrounding countryside which included
numerous villages
Greek’s identified themselves more with
their local city-state and less with their
shared culture.
This created rivalries among them and
the Greeks constantly fought one another.
The Acropolis
The polis were often
no larger than 20,000
citizens and on a
fortified hilltop, called
an acropolis, male
citizens gathered to
conduct business
This is the most
famous of the
Acropolis’ found in
Athens, Greece
The Acropolis
Citizen-Soldiers
• Greeks valued their military
• Iron made weapons affordable to
ordinary citizens
• The new army of the Greeks
now was made up of common
citizens-merchants, artisans, and
small landowners
• Soldiers are known as Hoplites
• The stood in the fearsome
phalanx formation—side by
side, holding a spear in one hand
Phalanx (FAY-lanks)
and shield in another.
army formation
Political Systems in Greek City-States
Governments: 3 types
• (1) monarchy - king or monarch
• Some kings became dictators and
borderline tyrants
• (2) oligarchy - small group of elites,
warrior landholding elite
• (3) Democracy - rule by the
people
• Direct democracy
King Phillip II of Macedonia
Athens Builds a Limited Democracy
Why democracy in Athens?
• In Athens, there was power struggle
between the rich and the poor. But
the Athenians avoided civil war by
embracing new government reforms.
• One particular reform was the idea
of democracy.
• Solon: an Athenian leader, he
removed some of the laws that the
poor did not like
• He opened the assembly where laws
were discussed and approved to all
Athenian citizens
• Not everyone participated. Only
free adult males. Women, slaves
and foreigners were excluded
Athenian Democracy
• Later reforms would include the “Council of 500”.
• These members were elected officials that proposed
laws and advised the assembly (similar to the Senate)
Sparta Builds a Military State
Sparta in Peloponnesus
• Sparta is located on Peloponnesus,
a peninsula in southern Greece
• Rival kingdoms cause Sparta to
build and maintain a powerful army
Government
• oligarchy
• (1) Assembly: Elected officials
voted on major issues
• (2) Council of Elders:
proposed laws
• Two Kings ruled the military
Spartan Society
Class System
•
•
•
•
Citizen landowners (free) ruled
Non-citizen workers (usually foreigners, free)
Helots (low class)
Slaves
• At one time, Sparta had 25,000 citizens and 500,000
slaves
• Education – boys’ entered into military
programs called the agoge
• Training begins at 7y/o
• Boys were beaten, starved
• Taught to put Sparta before family
• Women— Spartan women had no formal education, ran
the farms/businesses so their husbands were free to serve
in the army, participated in sports
The Persian Wars
• The Greeks and the Persians
were long rivals and have a
great history of wars fought
between them.
• Persians had conquered Greek
lands around 520 B.C.
• Ionia in Anatolia (modern day Turkey)
• The Ionians revolted against the
Persians. Athens supported the
Greek colonies along Anatolia
and sent aid to them. King
Darius crushed the revolt and
sought revenge against Athens.
• Thus started the Persian Wars.
The Battle of Marathon
• Darius plans to destroy Athens.
• An army of 25,000 Persians set
sail.
• The Persians landed at Marathon
where 10,000 Greeks waited in
their phalanxes.
• The Athenians were greatly
outnumbered.
• Although they were highly
outnumbered, the Persians were
no match for the disciplined
Athenian phalanx and the
Persians were defeated.
Did You Know?
• According to legend, following
the Battle of Marathon, a young
runner name Pheidippides ran
back to Athens to tell them of
the Persian defeat.
• He ran non-stop for 26 miles
from Marathon to Athens.
• Upon reaching Athens he
proclaimed, “Nike!” (victory)
and then fell dead.
• This is why modern day
marathons are run at 26.2
miles.
Athens
Greece vs. Persia
• 10 years later following the
Persian defeat at Marathon,
Darius’ son, Xerxes, mounts a
massive army (100k-300k) and
marches towards Athens.
• Xerxes is dedicated to
finishing what his father could
not, destroying Athens.
• At this time, the Greeks were
not one nation but still many
independent city states that
constantly fought one another.
Greece vs. Persia
• Athens calls for aid while it
mounts its own army to
defend itself.
• Few Greeks respond.
• Xerxes marches his army
towards Athens but is blocked
at the Thermopylae Pass
where 7,000 Greeks, including
300 Spartans stand in the
way.
• The battle lasts 3 days and the
Greeks inflict heavy losses on
the Persians before they are
finally defeated.
Greece vs. Persia
• Xerxes continues his
march towards Athens.
• The Athenians are forced
to flee and their city is
burnt to the ground.
• The Greeks eventually
make a naval stand at
Salamis and destroy
Xerxes’ navy.
• The Spartans then defeat
the Persians once and for
all at Plataea (pluh-tee-uh)
Outcome of the Persian Wars
• With the Persian threat
ended, all Greek city-states
felt a new sense of
confidence and freedom.
• Athens became the leader
of an alliance of 140 citystates called the Delian
League that drove the
Persians from the
territories surrounding
Greece and ushered in the
golden era for Athens.
Delian League
A Leader for Athens
• During Greece’s Golden
Age, democratic ideas and
Greek culture flourished
• Athens chose Pericles as
it’s leader
• Served for more than 3
decades
• He took many steps to
make Athens better and
he had 3 main goals that
were successful
Pericles’ Three Goals for Athens
Pericles’ Goals
Strengthen Athens’
democracy:
Increased number of paid
officials, increased citizen
participation
Hold and strengthen
empire:
Built navy through Delian
League’s funds, protected
overseas trade
Glorify Athens: Brought
gold, ivory and marble to
Athens. Hired artists, built
architectural projects and
the Parthenon
The three goals of Pericles:
1. He wanted Athens to be more democratic: he created
more positions in government and paid a salary. Poor
people could hold these jobs
2. He wanted to make Athens stronger: the city was the
head of a group of more than 140 Greek city-states
called the Delian League. He used the league’s
money to make sure they had the strongest navy in
the Mediterranean.
3. He wanted to make Athens beautiful: he used the
Delian League money to fund a great building program
for his city: Parthenon, Statue of Athena
The Peloponnesian War
• Peloponnesian war was a war
fought between Sparta and
Athens for control of Greece.
• Tension had been building for
many years.
• Sparta did not like how
prosperous Athens had become
through the Delian League
• The war lasts 27 years.
• Fought to control the Greek
region and the prosperous trade.
Spartans and Athenians Go to War
- Sparta: Strengths
- Strong land-based army
- Advantage: Athenian navy could
not attack Sparta was too far
inland
- Athens
- Strong navy
- Attack Sparta’s allies
- Sparta marches on Athens
- Pericles brings citizens into city
behind walls
- Sparta burns countryside (food)
- Athens would be spared as long
as ships sailed into harbor
The War Ends
• The war would not go well
for Athens.
• Athens suffers 2 major
disasters.
• A terrible plague strikes the
city killing a large portion of
the people, including Pericles
• Athens suffers several military
defeats, including a loss of
most all its navy in a battle
with Sparta’s ally Syracuse
• Athens finally surrenders
and Athen’s Golden Age is
over.