Download Greece and Iran, 1000-30 BCE

Greece and Iran, 1000-30
B.C.E.
Ancient Iran, 1000–500 B.C.E.
• Geography and Resources
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Mountainous edges; salty interior deserts; sloping plateaus
limited natural (water/food) resources = limited population; plentiful but underexploited
mineral resources
• The Rise of the Persian Empire
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Cyrus (r BCE) – Anatolia (Lydia) & Mesopotamia
Cambyses (r 530-522 BCE) – Egypt, Nubia, & Libya
Darius (r 522-486 BCE) – Indus Valley & Europe (Thrace)
• Imperial Organization
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20 provinces/20 “satraps”
Royal roads and garrisons
Opulent Royal Court
Susa & Persepolis
• Ideology and Religion
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Propaganda contrasts with that of Assyrians; emphasizes cooperation and abundance
Zoroastrianism
The Rise of the Greeks,
1000–500 B.C.E.
• Geography and Resources
• Homogeneous climate but varied terrain: limited arable land in south, greater
agricultural production in north
• Little timber & few metal deposits; abundance of stone & clay
• Coastline includes many natural harbors; overland travel difficult
• The Emergence of the Polis
• “Archaic” period following “Dark Age” (ca. 1150-800 BCE) included:
• Greek alphabet & increased population densities
• Emergence of the independent polis, which featured an acropolis and agora
• Hoplite defense forces; citizen militias
• Safety valve “colonies”
• Hellenes vs. Barbaroi
• Coinage
• Land-based aristocracies replace kings; rise of tyrants
• Anthropomorphic deities with power over nature
• State-sponsored festivals involving sacrifice
• New Intellectual Currents
• Poetry emphasizing individuality
• Flowering of Natural Philosophy
• Prose-based Logography
• Herodotus as the “father of history”
• Athens and Sparta
• Spartan military state; isolationist and centered in Peloponnese
• Athenian society’s evolving “democracy”; located in Attica
The Struggle of Persia and Greece,
546–323 B.C.E.
• Early Encounters
• Ionic Rebellion (499 -494 BCE)
• Spartan-led Hellenistic League (480- 479 BCE)
• Athenian-led Delian League (ca 477-457 BCE)
• The Height of Athenian Power
• Imperialist naval power (Trireme) based in Pireaus
• Greek philosophy: Socrates, Plato (The Academy), & Aristotle (The
Lyceum)
• Transition from oral to literary culture
• Inequality in Classical Greece
• Democratic participation extended to free adult males of pure Athenian ancestry
• Exploitation of Slaves
• Position of women varied greatly across Greece but males had absolute authority over
households
• Failure of the City-State and Triumph of the
Macedonians
– Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE)
– Phillip II of Macedonia (r 359-336 BCE)
– Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE)
The Hellenistic Synthesis,
323–30 B.C.E.
•The Hellenistic Kingdoms
• Seleucid = Western Asia
• Ptolemies = Egypt and Palestine
• Alexandria
• Antigonids = Macedonia