Download Greece Theme: City-states as an alternative to centralized empire

Ancient Greece
Greek
Geography
It is about the size of
Louisiana
It’s very close to Egypt, the
Persian empire (includes
Turkey) and Rome.
Greece is a peninsula
surrounded by islands
Peninsula – land surrounded
by water on three sides
Greek Geography
• Greece is very
mountainous
• Greek communities
often developed
independently and
were isolated
because of the
mountains
• As a result, Greek
communities were
very diverse
(different)
Impact of Geography
• City-states developed
independently (separately),
having different traditions,
economies, political systems
• This independence resulted in
rivalry and warfare
• Mountains led to isolation, which
kept the city-states small
• Small city-states resulted in more
people being involved in
government
Technology results from
necessity
• Technology - using
knowledge to make tools or
materials to produce goods
and services
• Because Greek coastal cities
were sandwiched between
the ocean and the sea, they
developed an awesome navy
for trading and fighting.
• Trade and colonization of
nearby islands resulted.
THE MINOANS
• Minoans-early civilization
on island of Crete
• Called Minoans after King
Minos
• Success was based on
trade
• Rulers lived in palace at
Knossos
• Walls covered with
frescoes
• the first Greek-speaking
people of whom we have
a written record.
• By 1400 BC Minoan
civilization disappears
• May have been a natural
disaster
• Invaders probably played
a role
• These invaders were
Mycenaeans
Mycenaean Society
• The Mycenaeans
established a society
on the Greek
peninsula beginning
with migrations in
2200 B.C.E.
• From 1500 to 1100
B.C.E., they
expanded their
influence beyond the
Greek peninsula,
overpowering the
Minoan society in
Crete
Polis = City-State
• Greece was divided into
city-states, each known
as a polis.
• Each polis was built
around an acropolis, a hill
with the temple of the
local god at the top.
• At the foot of the
acropolis was the agora,
an open area used as a
marketplace.
Structure of the Polis
• By 700 B.C. this inner part of the polis had
become a city.
• With the villages and farmland around it, it
made up a city-state.
• The ancient Greek city-states never united
because the mountains made travel
difficult.
• The two main city-states were Athens and
Sparta.
Architecture
• Architecture – the
designing of buildings,
furnishings, and other
artificial constructions
• The architecture of
ancient Greece is the
basis for virtually all
Western architectural
developments
Influence of Greek Architecture
The Parthenon
The Lincoln Memorial
Architecture
The Acropolis: Parthenon
Greek Government
Kings (tyrants) ruled the city-states of early
Greece.
 Later each city-state developed its own form of
government.
In some city-states the aristocracy shared
authority with the king.
 In other city-states democracies were formed and
male citizens took part in assemblies to make laws.
Why did different city-states form different types of
government?
Athens
• Athenians were
encouraged to
engage in
activities like art,
philosophy, music
(education).
Athens
• Athens was the first democracy.
• Democracy: type of government ruled by the
people
• Athens was a direct democracy where people
voted on everything.
• Citizens were encouraged to participate in
government.
• The U.S. today is a representative (indirect)
democracy, where we vote for people to make
decisions for us.
Athenian Democracy
• Direct participation was the key
to Athenian democracy.
• In the Assembly, every male
citizen was not only entitled to
attend assemblies as often as he
pleased but also had the right to
debate, offer amendments, and
vote on proposals.
• Every man had a say in whether
to declare war or peace.
• Basically any thing that required
a government decision, all male
citizens were allowed to
participate in.
This is Sparta!
• No really…it’s in ruins
• Sparta was an isolated
city-state that was
culturally and politically
different from Athens.
• Sparta was an
oligarchy, government
ruled by a few. They
had 2 kings.
• During the
Peloponnesian War
Sparta sacked Athens.
Sparta
• Spartan society was
obsessed with war.
• Boys were sent to
military school at a
young age.
• Boys who are born
deformed are left to
die on
mountainsides
Sparta: Society
• In theory, all Spartans citizens were equal
• To discourage economic and social classes, Spartans
practiced a simple, plain lifestyle
- No jewelry, elaborate clothes, luxuries, or
accumulation of great private wealth
• Even today, “spartan” means
- Practicing great control
- Unsparing and uncompromising in discipline or
judgment
- Resolute in the face of pain or danger or adversity
Sparta: Society
• Class distinctions based not on wealth or
social status, but on prowess, discipline,
and military talent
• Spartan educational system cultivated this
idea:
– Boys left their homes at age seven to
live in military barracks under a rigorous
regime of physical training
– At age 20 they went into the military
where they served until retirement
Sparta: Society
• Women married at age
18 or 20 but did not live
with their husbands
• The men stayed in the
barracks until about age
30 when they began to
set up households with
their wives and children
• Women maintained strict
physical regimes in the
hopes of bearing strong
children
 Sparta had 2 kings - oligarchy
 Kings had little authority except in war
 Each king was part of a 30 member senate (all 60
years or older)
 All male citizens were allowed to participate in the
assembly
 5 wealthy landowners were elected to handle daily
governing (euphors)
The Persian Wars
• Persian leader Darius I upset
at Athens sends ships to
invade Greece at Marathon
• Greece defeats the larger
Persian force but decides to
build a fleet of ships after the
victory
• 480 B.C. Darius I son Xerxes
leads a massive force to try
and conquer Greece
Persian Wars
• This time Athens persuades
other city-states to help in
the cause
• Sparta sends troops to
intercept at Thermoplyae
• Xerxes reaches Athens and
burns it to the ground…
• Athens trapped Xerxes fleet
into the harbor of Salamis
• Athens wins the Persian
War
BATTLE FORMATION
Greeks used the
phalanx formation in
battle to protect
themselves and strike
opponents easily
The Peloponnesian War
•
•
•
•
•
The Golden Age of Athens
Delian League
Sparta grows tired of Athenian dominance
Athens vs. Sparta
Athens has geographical disadvantage
because of their reliance on their Navy
Review – Venn Diagram
Athens
Sparta
Review – Venn Diagram
• Limited Democracy
• Outlawed debt slavery
• Allowed grants of citizenship to
some foreigners
• Merchants and Farmers
• Traded with other city-states
• Boys received education if
their families could not afford it
• Education included many
areas of knowledge
Athens
•
•
•
•
•
Monarchy with two kings
Military society
Boys trained to be soilders
Women could inherit property
Conqured people became
state-owned slaves (POWs)
• Only native-born Spartan
males could be citizens
• Looked down on trade
• Isolated itself from other citystates
Sparta
Athens/Sparta Similarities
• Common language
• Shared religious beliefs
• Sense of superiority over non-Greeks
Socrates
• No personal writings
• His student Plato wrote about Socrates’ teachings
• He believed the goal of education was to improve the
individual, so accepted no pay
• Socratic method still used today – a Question/Answer
format
• Believed real knowledge already within us
• “The unexamined life is not worth living” – Socrates
• He questioned authority – in conflict with government and
was forced to drink hemlock, a poison (death sentence)
Plato
• Student of Socrates
• Plato wrote a lot about the question
of reality
• He wrote The Republic
• Examined his distrust of democracy
• A just life means philosophers
become kings, the warriors protect
the people, the masses were the
producers
• Believed men and women were equal
Aristotle
• Student of Plato
• Established a school
called the Academy
• Believed observation and
investigation is key
• People should analyze
existing governments to
find best one
• Wrote Politics and
discussed the best forms
of government as
monarchy, aristocracy,
and constitutional
government (his favorite)
Greek Writing
• Homer
– Wrote epics: a long poem which tells a story involving
gods, heroes, and heroic exploits
• Iliad: Greek perspective on the war against Troy in
the 12th Century B.C.
• Odyssey: Experiences of the Greek hero
Odysseus as he sailed home after the Trojan War
– Depicted not just heroic adventures but also much
about Greek travel, communication, and interaction in
the Mediterranean basin
Greek Writing
• Herodotus (484-420 B.C.)
– The “Father of History”
• Not the world’s first historian,
but the first to make
investigation the key to history
– Traveled to where the
event occurred and
interviewed witnesses
– Established the concept
that history requires
research
– The Histories chronicles
Greece’s war with Persia
Greek Decline
• The Greeks began to lose their sense of
community and fought with one another.
• In 338 B.C. Philip II of Macedonia north of
Greece (Alexander the Great’s father)
conquered Greece.
Ancient Persia
Persian Empire
•
•
•
•
Politics: “King of Kings” & satraps
Economics: trade, tribute, taxes
Military: 10,000 Immortals
Religion: Zoroastrianism
• Often seen through Greek eyes….
Persian Empire (ancient)
“King of Kings”
Cyrus (559-530 BC)
Cambyses (530-525 BC)
Darius (521-486 BC)
Xerxes (486-465 BC)
King Darius
“King of Kings”
Persepolis
Persepolis
Darius I began the elaborate citadel; his son, Xerxes, continued its construction; and his
grandson, Artaxerxes I, completed the magnificent city of Persepolis, which was a
confluence of styles--Median, Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Greek. Only portions of
the audience hall remain. (George Holton/Photo Researchers, Inc.)
Persian military
• 10,000 Immortals
• Meritocracy
• Very large army
Cataphracts =
Persian knight
Trade, tribute, & taxes in Persia
Persian economy
• Gold daric & silver shekels standardized
• Royal Road:
• 1700 miles from Sardis to Susa
• “neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor darkness…”
(Herodotus)
• International trade
Silver rhyton
Silver rhyton
This Achaemenid Persian silver rhyton
(drinking vessel) is in the shape of a
griffin, a mythological animal that is
part lion and part eagle. Persian rulers
commanded the talents of western
Asia's best artists and craftsmen,
silversmiths among them. (Courtesy of
the Trustees of the British Museum)
Zoroastrianism
• Zoroastrianism is one of the world's oldest monotheistic
religions. It was founded by the Prophet Zoroaster in
Persia approximately 3500 years ago.
• For 1000 years Zoroastrianism was one of the most
powerful religions in the world. It was the official religion
of Persia from 600 BCE to 650 CE.
• Zoroastrians believe there is one God called Ahura
Mazda (Wise Lord) and He created the world.
• Zoroastrians are not fire-worshippers, as some
Westerners wrongly believe. Zoroastrians believe that the
elements are pure and that fire represents God's light or
wisdom.
Stone relief of Persian Magi
Stone relief of Persian Magi
This stone relief from Dascylium,
headquarters of the Persian governor in
northwest Anatolia, shows two magi
wearing veils over their mouths and
holding bundles of sticks used in the
ceremony of sacrifice. The Persian kings
and their subordinates were Zoroastrians,
and it is likely that Zoroastrianism spread to
the provinces, where significant numbers of
Persians lived, and influenced the beliefs of
other peoples. (Archaeological Museums
of Istanbul)
Zoroastrian Magus
End of Greece
Phillip II of Macedonia
defeated Athens and its allies gaining control of most of
Greece.
greatly respected Greek culture and wanted to preserve it.
after his death, his son Alexander took over at the age of
20.
Alexander dreamed of world conquest.
Alexander was a brilliant military strategist.
Alexander conquered the Persian empire and
controlled the largest empire the world has ever seen.
Alexander the Great
His empire was multicultural.
He spread Greek culture.
He built cities that became great
centers of learning.
After his death, his empire
crumbled because his generals
fought for control.
Alexander spread Hellenistic
culture throughout Asia.
• Hellenistic is a fancy
word for Greek.
• Alexander spread
Greek technology
and ideas
throughout his
empire
Greek Architecture
• Greeks invented
arches and
columns.
• This obviously took
advanced
mathematics.
Architecture
Doric
Ionic
Corinthian
• Used three orders (Doric,
Ionic, Corinthian) to relate
proportionally the
individual architectural
components to the whole
building.
Religion
Temple of Apollo
Oracle at Delphi
Greek Religion
• Over the centuries, Greeks
associated the natural elements
to gods; natural occurrences
were explained by an act of one
of the Gods.
• They created myths that related
the stories of the gods, their
relations with one another, and
their roles in bringing the world
into its present state
• As the gods struggled among
one another, Zeus emerged as
the ruler
Poseidon: God of
Sea and
Earthquakes
Religion
• Zeus’s court included
many deities who had
various
responsibilities
Poseidon:
Sea,
Earthquakes
Athena:
Wisdom, War
Apollo:
Truth, Light,
Music, Healing
Art and Writing
Colossus of Rhodes
Statue of Zeus at Olympia
Two of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
Greek Tragic Drama
• Theaters were always
outdoors and sat
thousands of people
• Central character (the
tragic hero) suffers
some serious
misfortune that is
logically connected with
the hero’s actions (the
tragic flaw)
• Aeschylus, Sophocles,
Euripides
Theater at Epidaurus
held 14,000 people