Download Greece: More than a thousand years before classical Greece, the

Greece:
More than a thousand years before classical Greece, the foundations for it were being set in the Minoan
and Mycenaean Civilizations.
Minoan Civilization:
 Named after the legendary King of Crete, Minos
 Centered on Crete
 Minoan prosperity was based upon large scale trading. The Minoan trading network ranged
throughout the Mediterranean. Italy, Greece, Asia Minor, Africa and probably even Great
Britain were all a part of the Minoan trading network.
 Exported mostly olive oil, wine, metalware and pottery.
 Ruled by a powerful leader and kept business records.
 Wrote with Linear A, a writing system with 87 characters representing syllables. We have yet to
decipher it though.
 Most of what we know of the Minoans is derived from walls, houses and pottery fragments
 The Palace at Knossis was the center of the largest and most populated Minoan city. It had
running water and a sanitation system that was unmatched until the Romans.
 Pictures depict the Minoans as both happy and peaceful. The Minoans seemed to enjoy dancing,
festivals and athletic contests.
 Women are shown with a freedom unmatched in the Near East or Classical Greece. They took
on equal parts in festivals, religious events and athletic events.
 Art in the Minoan civilization did not center or religion like other early civilizations. In fact,
there is no evidence to suggest a powerful priest class. There are no great temples or statues to
the gods. The principal deity seemed to be a mother goddess.
Mycenaean Civilization:
 Around 2000 b.c the first Indo-European tribe invaded Greece from the North. This tribe was
called the Achaeans. Today they are known as the Mycenaeans.
 By 1600 b.c they had absorbed much of the Minoan civilization.
 The Mycenaeans were exceptionally warlike Though they engaged in sea trade, they also
engaged in piracy and raiding.
 Women were not treated well, and even the aristocratic women did laundry, wove, reaped the
harvest, ground corn, etc.
 The desire to grow wealthier led the Mycenaeans to establish colonies. In 1450 they even
conquered Knossis. We know this because the writing switched to Linear B, a form of early
Greek written in Linear A.
 It was the Mycenaeans that launched an attack on Troy, a commercial rival. Troy was in a
strategic location and controlled key trade routes. The Mycenaeans located in the area Sparta
would spring up are the ones who started the attack supposedly.
 In 1200 b.c, a new wave of invaders with iron weapons invaded Greece from the north and
conquered the mycenaean strongholds.
 From 1150b.c-750b.c the Greek dark age was in existence.
Development of Hellenic Civilization
Geography:
 Geography played an important role in how Greece developed. Numerous mountains criss-cross
the peninsula.
 About 2/3 of Greece is covered by mountains. These mountains would lead to the establishment
of fiercely independent city-states.
 Only about 1/5 of Greece is arable
 The lack of fertile land and natural resources led the Greeks to establish colonies abroad.
Homeric Age:
 Most of the information we have surrounding the Greek dark age comes from epic poems put
into writing around 750 b.c. These poems, including the Iliad and the Odyssey, were supposedly
written by the blind Homer.
 These Homeric texts tell us that strength, skill and valor were of the upmost importance for the
Greeks.
From Oligarchy to Tyranny:
 At the center of every city was an acropolis, a high, fortified site where people could take
refuge and hide if under attack. At first these city states were ruled by monarchs, but eventually
the nobles started to take more power, leading to an aristocracy.
 The aristocracy led to oligarchy which was great for the rich and privileged, but very bad for the
poor.
 The oligarchy abolished the popular assembly, acquired control of the best land and forced
commoners to work land they didn't own.
 After 650b.c, rulers known as tyrants started to take power, supported by both the poor and
middle classes. Tyrants were supported by the hoplite armies.
 Many tyrants tried to redistribute the land and increase the standard of living, but when they
tried to give power to their sons, there was a backlash. Eventually all but two city-states
reverted back to aristocratic control. The exceptions: Athens and Sparta.
Athens to 500 B.C.:
 During the 7th century b.c nobles became the most powerful political group in Athens. The
popular assembly rarely met, and the kings authority was replaced by nine officials known as
archons (“rulers”)
 Rising debt, debt slavery and poor land distribution soon led to dissent. The archons, fearing the
rise of another tyrant, placed Solon in charge Sowho lon enacted middle of the road
compromises and pushed athens along the path towards democracy.
 After Solon Pisistratus, a tyrant, took charge. He further pushed Athens towards democracy.
 The next important ruler was Cleisthenes. Under Cleisthenes, the popular assembly became the
most important political institution. In act once the assembly decided something, no one could
go against it.
 It was Cleisthenes established Athenian Democracy. Under Cleisthenes all male citizens over
the age of 18 who owned land could vote. The assembly met every ten days and the average
attendance was 5,000 people.
Athenian Society:
 It is striking how poorly some Athenians were treated. Women, slaves and resident foreigners
could not participate in the government. It is especially amazing how poorly women were
treated.
 Women were considered property in Athens. First they belonged to their fathers and then to
their husbands. They could not own property, make contracts, testify in court, or initiate
divorce.
 Women were expected to bear children and manage the home. If her husband was entertaining
guests, she was restricted to the women's quarters.
 Men married around the age of 30 to girls no more than half their age.
 Athenians had small families, usually no more than two children. Infanticide through exposure
was common as a means to keep the population down.
 Athenian women enjoyed less freedom than almost every other Greek city-state.
 Athens had a fairly high slave rate at 25%. Their slaves were able to earn money and buy their
own freedom however.
Sparta:
 Sparta had five archons called ephors (overseers), and two kings. The Ephors had more power
than the kings. The kings were essentially just generals.
 Sparta looked to get the resources it needed throuh conquest. They conquered Messenia, and
took the Messenians as slaves.
 Spartan slaves were called helots.
 In 650 bc the helots revolted. The revolt lasted for 20 years. In order to put down the revolt, the
Spartan aristocracy had to grant more land and better political participation to the spartan
commoners.
 Sparta redistributed the land and allowed citizens to vote for the ephors, and approve or veto
certain proposals.
 Sparta is best known for its military. Spartan military training was designed to make every man
a professional soldier. Many believe the Spartan focus on military comes from the fact that 7/8
of the population were helots.
 Boys received state training called the Agoge.
 Girls received training too. The primary service of women was to have more soldiers. Therefor
women were also tough. They ran, threw discus and wrestled. They married at the age of 18.
Women could own property, managed estates and had more political and economic influence
than any other city-state.
Agoge:
 This was the training regimen required of all males except for the first born son of the ruling
houses. The Agoge involved stealth, loyalty, military training, pain tolerance, hunting and social
skills.
 At the age of seven he was enrolled in the Agoge.
 There were three stages of Agoge: Paides (ages 7-17), Paidiskoi (ages 18-19) and Hebontes
(ages 20-29)
 Beginning at age 12 the boys would be given only one pieve of clothing a year, a red cloak.
They also would have to create their own bed out of reeds and were intentionally underfed. This
served many purposes. First it encouraged stealth (steal your own food), it also got them used to
hunger and supposedly led to tall, lean soldiers.
 At Paidiskoi, the young men would become reserve members of the Spartan Army. They would
also serve as a type of secret police.
 At Hebontes, the men were full members of the army. Despite this, they did not become full
citizens until the age of 30.
 Not everyone passed Agoge. Those who failed would never become citizens.
Persian Wars:
 The first Persian war ended when the Athenians defeated the Persian Army led by Darius I
 The Second Persian was was led by Xerxes, and involved both Athens and Sparta. Athens led
the navy and Sparta the land. The Second Persian war ended with the defeat at Plataea. More
important than the wars themselves, were the fact that they would lead to a rise of Athens, and
another war.
Athens After the Persian Wars:
 Athens played a prominent role in defeating the Persians. This excited the city-state.
 The Athenians decided that they had the ability to lead Greece. Directly after the Persian Wars,
Athens reached the height of its power, Athenian democracy reached its fullest extent, and
Athens established an empire on both land and sea.
 From 461-429 b.c, Pericles helped Athens do this.
 In Pericles' time, Athens had 10 generals who proposed changes for the popular assembly to
vote on. These generals were elected every year for one year terms. Pericles was elected 31
times in 32 years.
 He was so important to Athens that Thucydides, a historian, stated that Athenian democracy was
really just Pericles and his policies.
 One thing that Pericles did was extent payment for voting.
Athenian Imperialism:
 Persian invasions temporarily united the Greeks but after the wars Sparta left the alliance and
returned to isolationism. Soon the rest of Greece also left the alliance.
 Persia still controlled parts of Greece however and Athens was worried about another attack.
Athens therefore invited other city-states to form a league based on the island of Delos. This
Delian league was to maintain a 200 ship navy, drive out Persian and protect the waters for
Greece.
 Each member was to pay either money or ships. Most of the 173 members paid money. Athens
therefore took the money and created a fleet. This helped to boost the Athenian economy while
reaching the 200 ship goal.
 By 468 b.c, the Persians no longer had a foothold in Greece. Some city-states wanted to disband
the Delian league but Athens would have none of it. Athens took further control of the league,
combining the Delian league's treasury with Athens'. Athens then started forcing members to
switch to democracy.
 To many, especially Sparta and its allies, Athens had become to big for its britches.
The Peloponnesian War:
 In 431 b.c, war broke out between Sparta and its allies and the Athenian empire. In year two of
the war, the besieged Athens had a typhus outbreak and 1/3 of the population, including
Pericles, died.
 Eight more years passed until a truce was called in 421b.c
 Everything was okay until 416 b.c when Athens murdered all the men of Melos and sold
everyone else into slavery because they would not ally themselves with Athens. Athens then
tried to conquer Syracuse, a Sparta ally, in 415 b.c
 This would be the end for Athens. They would lose two fleets and an army trying to take
Syracuse and they surrendered in 404 b.c
 Sparta then turned over Athens to the oligarchic factions. Sparta could not however rule an
empire and it soon disintegrated. Sparta then returned to isolationism, and democracy returned
to Athens.