Download City-States and Greek Culture

The Ancient Greeks - City-States and Greek Culture
Classical Greek civilization started when people in villages came together for protection and
formed city-states. Cities grew around the ______________________________________, Greek
for "high city". Below this hilltop, houses, buildings, and open-air markets called
_____________________________ were found.
~ The city-state of ____________________ was inland on the Peloponnesian Peninsula. Sparta
had a _________________________________ economy where people lived simple lives of hard
work and physical activity. It had a standing army led by two kings who were part of a
governing council. Sparta’s governing system was an __________________________________,
a system of a few people from the ruling class making decisions for the entire society. Spartan
citizens ____________________________ the lower classes, who outnumbered them more than
10 to 1. The Spartans focused on their military because of fear of internal
____________________________ and external _____________________________.
~ The city-state of ____________________________ was on Attica, a part of the Balkan
Peninsula. At first it was ruled by a small group of leaders from wealthy, landowning
families. Members of this ________________________________ often struggled with each
other for control of Athens. Because people asked for government reforms, Athens became a
______________________________________ in 508B.C. One leader welcomed all free men
aged 18 and older to be a part of a council. Each year a new council was selected, and the
council voted on government ________________________________, or plans of action.
~ Although the city-states were independent, according to their mythology, the people of all
the city-states shared a common ancestor called Hellen. Over time, the people began to think
of themselves as Hellenes, or Greek.
Their mythology, religion, activities, and language united them. The _____________________
________________________ were held every four years to honor Zeus. Their writing was
based on the alphabet used by the _____________________________________ traders.
Anyone who could not speak Greek was referred to as a ________________________________.
Today, a barbarian is a person who is considered uncivilized, or rough-mannered.