Download Mediterranean Society

The “Bronze” Age Mediterranean Region
Bronze Age Greece
The Minoan World: mid-2M B.C.E.
Early Development of Greek Society
• Minoan Society
– Island of Crete
– Major city: Knossos
• C. 2200 BCE center of maritime trade
• Scholars unable to decipher Linear A
script
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Artist’s Recreation of Knossos
Aerial View of Knossos
Palace of King Minos – North Entrance
Palace of King Minos – Throne Room
Minoan Ladies
Early Greek
Geometrics
Palace of King Minos - Interiors
Knossos: Minoan Civilization
Minoan Civilization
Decline of Minoan Society
• Series of natural disasters after 1700 BCE
– Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tidal waves
• Foreign invasions
• Foreign domination by 1100 BCE
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The Mycenaean World: mid-2M B.C.E.
Mycenaean Society
• Indo-European invaders descend through
Balkans into Peloponnesus, c. 2200 BCE
• Influenced by Minoan culture
• Major settlement: Mycenae
• Military expansion throughout region
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Aerial View of Mycenae
Mycenae Citadel & Reconstuction
Lion’s Gate Entrance to Mycenae
Approach to the Lion’s Gate
Mycenaean Writing System
Gained From the Minoans
Bronze Age Enemies: The Trojan War
Homer, the Blind Poet
Homer’s Great Epics
Chaos in the Eastern Mediterranean
• Trojan war, c. 1200 BCE
– Homer’s The Iliad
– Sequel: The Odyssey
• Political turmoil, chaos from 1100 to 800
BCE
• Mycenaean civilization disappears
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Plan of the City of Troy
The Mask of Agamemnon
In 1870, German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann
excavated a site in this area which he identified as Troy; this
claim is nowadays accepted by most scholars as evidence for
the battle.
Original Wall of the City of Troy
Triumphant Achilles dragging Hector's lifeless body
in front of the Gates of Troy, 1892
Migrations in the Aegean Region
(DORIANS}
Greek & Phoenician Colonization:
750-500 BCE
The Polis
• City-state
• Urban center, dominating surrounding
rural areas
• Highly independent character
– Monarchies
– “Tyrannies”, not necessarily oppressive
– Early Democracies
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The Rise of the Greek Polis
Athens
Naxos
Eboea
Larissa
Syracuse
Corinth
The Athens Acropolis Today
The Parthenon
The Agora
Greek Commonalities
• One’s polis gave a sense of identity
and each individual believed they
owed loyalty to their polis.
• Greeks shared:
– A common language.
– The belief that all non-Greek speakers
are barbarians.
– Religion.
– The Olympics.
– Common non-Greek enemies.
Greek Government
• Until the 8th century BCE, the
government of Greece was a
monarchy, with each polis having its
own kings.
• The kings were overthrown by
aristocrats, or “best men”, who held
power due to their economic
supremacy due to owning most of
the land.
Greek Government
• By the 7th century BCE, tyrants, or ones who
seize power illegally with the people’s
support, overthrew the aristocracy. They
formed an oligarchy, which is government
run by a small powerful business class elite.
• In 621 BCE, archon (Greek for ruler) Draco
created Athens first written laws. The laws
were harsh and severe with the death
penalty given for even minor offences.
• In 594 BCE, archon Solon outlawed slavery
for debt and freed people who had become
slaves to pay debts were freed. He began a
foundation of equality that would soon bring
democracy.
Sparta
• Highly militarized society
• Subjugated peoples: helots
– Serfs, tied to land
– Outnumbered Spartans 10:1 by 6th c. BCE
• Military society developed to control threat
of rebellion
• Austerity the norm
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Spartan Hierarchy
Equals
Free Non-Citizens
Helots
Spartan Government
• Two hereditary kings.
• A Council of Elders: 28 male wealthy
aristocratic citizens over the age of 60.
Proposed laws and headed criminal
court.
• Assembly of all men over 30. Accepted
or rejected proposed laws.
• The five ephors: oversaw kings and
Spartan education.
Building the perfect soldiers…
• Ages 7-18, military barracks. Reading,
writing, music training & military training
• Ages 18-20, focus on military training only
• Marriage, but no home life until age 30
• Ages 20-60 served as Spartan soldiers
• Girls received strict physical training, basic
education and musical training
• Some relaxation of discipline by 4th c. CE
Athens & Sparta
Athens
• Development of early democracy
– Free, adult males only
– Women, slaves excluded
• Athenian style of government differed
significantly with Spartan militarism
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Athenian Social Hierarchy
Citizens
(Athenian born, male)
Metics
(non-citizens)
Slaves
Athenian Society
• Maritime trade brings increasing prosperity
beginning 7th c. BCE
• Aristocrats dominate smaller landholders
• Increasing socio-economic tensions
– Class conflict
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Solon and Athenian Democracy
• Aristocrat Solon mediates crisis
– Aristocrats to keep large landholdings
– But forgive debts, ban debt slavery
• Removed family restrictions against
participating in public life
• Instituted paid civil service
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Athenian Government
• In 507 BCE, Cleisthenes introduced
democracy. Called direct
democracy because all citizens
directly participated in the decision
making process.
• 10 Tribes > 50 men each > Council
of 500 > served one year, could not
serve twice. Proposed laws to the
assembly.
• Introduction of juries in court.
Golden “Age of Pericles”:
460 BCE – 429 BCE
Pericles
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Ruled 461-429 BCE
High point of Athenian democracy
Aristocratic but popular
Massive public works
Encouraged cultural development
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Greek Golden Age of the
5th Century BCE
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Artists & Teachers
Architecture – Parthenon
Painting – Vases
Sculpture – Phidias & Myron
Philosophy –
– Socrates
– Plato
– Aristotle
Greek Golden Age of the
5th Century BCE
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Pythagoras
Hippocrates
Herodotus
Theater –
– Dramas
– Tragedies
– Comedies
Greek Colonization
• Population expansion and Greek
geography drives colonization
– Coastal Mediterranean, Black sea
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Sicily (Naples: “neapolis,” new city)
Southern France (Massalia: Marseilles)
Anatolia
Southern Ukraine
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Greek Colonies (in red)
Classical Greece and the Mediterranean
basin 800-500 BCE
65
Effects of Greek Colonization
• Trade throughout region
• Communication of ideas
– Language, culture
• Political and social effects
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Persian Wars: 490 BCE – 470 BCE
Persian Wars (500-479 BCE)
• Revolt against Persian Empire 500 BCE in Ionia
• Athens supports with ships
• Greek rebellion crushed by Darius 493 BCE;
routed in 490
• In 480 BCE, the second wave of the Persian
War begins as Xerxes arrives with his army at
Thermopylae.
• After succeeding, he then burns Athens, only to
be defeated at the Battle of Salamis weeks later.
• In 479 BCE, at the Battle of Plataea, the final
land battle ended with the Greeks driving Xerxes
back to Persia permanently.
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The Delian League
• Poleis create Delian League to forestall
more Persian attacks
• Led by Athens
– Massive payments to Athens fuels Periclean
expansion
– Resented by other poleis
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Peloponnesian Wars
The Peloponnesian War
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Civil war in Greece, 431-404 BCE
Poleis allied with either Athens or Sparta
Athens forced to surrender
But conflict continued between Sparta and
other poleis
72
Macedonia Under Philip II
Kingdom of Macedon
• Frontier region to north of Peloponnesus
• King Philip II (r. 359-336 BCE) builds
massive military
• 350 BCE encroaches on Greek poleis to
the south, controls region by 338 BCE
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Alexander of Macedon
• “the Great,” son of Philip II
• Rapid expansion throughout
Mediterranean basin
• Invasion of Persia successful
• Turned back in India when exhausted
troops mutinied
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Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great’s Empire
Alexander the Great in Persia
The Hellenization of Asia
The Economy of the Hellenistic World
Library at Alexandria (333 B.C.E.)
Cultural Advancement in the
Age of Hellenism
• Euclid – “The Elements”
• Archimedes – Pi, the Archimedes
Screw
• Herophilus – Value of the human brain
• Aristarchus – Heliocentric Theory
• Eratosthenes – Circumference of the
Earth
The Hellenistic Empires
• After Alexander’s death, competition for
empire
• Divided by generals
– Antigonus: Greece and Macedon
– Ptolemy: Egypt
– Seleucus: Persian Achaemenid Empire
• Economic integration, Intellectual crossfertilization
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The Breakup of Alexander’s Empire
The Antigonid Empire
• Smallest of Hellenistic Empires
• Local dissent
• Issue of land distribution
– Heavy colonizing activity
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The Ptolemaic Empire
• Wealthiest of the Hellenistic empires
• Established state monopolies
– Textiles
– Salt
– Beer
• Capital: Alexandria
– Important port city
– Major museum, library
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The Seleucid Empire
• Massive colonization of Greeks
• Export of Greek culture, values as far east
as India
– Bactria
– Ashoka legislates in Greek and Aramaic
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Trade and Integration of the
Mediterranean Basin
• Greece: little grain, but rich in olives and
grapes
• Colonies further trade
• Commerce rather than agriculture as basis
of much of economy
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Panhellenic Festivals
• Useful for integrating far-flung colonies
• Olympic Games begin 776 BCE
• Sense of collective identity
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The Ancient Olympics
• The Olympic Games were held in
four year intervals and they began
in 776 BCE in Olympia. They were
celebrated until 393 AD. The prizes
were olive wreaths, palm branches
and woolen ribbons.
• They were in honor of Zeus, but
were a way of showing bravery and
strength to the gods.
Olympia
The Ancient Olympics:
Athletes & Trainers
Trophy
Vases
The Classical Greek “Ideal”
Patriarchal Society
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Women as goddesses, wives, prostitutes
Limited exposure in public sphere
Sparta partial exception
Sappho
Role of infanticide in Greek society and
culture
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Slavery
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Scythians (Ukraine)
Nubians (Africa)
Chattel
Sometimes used in business
Opportunity to buy freedom
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The Greek Language
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Borrowed Phoenician alphabet
Added vowels
Complex language
Allowed for communication of abstract
ideas
– Philosophy
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Socrates (470-399 BCE)
• The Socratic Method
• Student: Plato
• Public gadfly, condemned on charges of
immorality
• Forced to drink hemlock
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Socrates: Louvre Museum, Paris, France
Greek Bust
Socrates (rubbing chin) and Plato (standing left): Mosaic from Pompeii
• The Death of Socrates, by Jacques-Louis David (1787)
Plato (430-347 BCE)
• Systematized Socratic thought
• The Republic
– Parable of the Cave
– Theory of Forms/Ideas
104
Aristotle (389-322 BCE)
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Student of Plato
Broke with Theory of Forms/Ideas
Emphasis on empirical findings, reason
Massive impact on western thought
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Greek Theology
• Polytheism
• Zeus principal god
• Religious cults
– Eleusinian mysteries
– The Bacchae
– Rituals eventually domesticated
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Greek Religion
• The Greek gods were created to
– explain nature.
– explain emotions.
– Bring the benefits of a long life/good luck
and/or good harvests.
• The afterlife consisted of everyone going
to the underworld ruled by Hades.
• To explain their world, Greeks created
myths, which are traditional stories about
gods, goddesses and heroes.
The Twelve Olympian
Gods
In Greek mythology, were the
principal gods of the Greek
pantheon, residing atop Mount
Olympus. The classical scheme
of the Twelve Olympians
comprises the following gods:
Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter,
Ares, Hermes, Hephaestus,
Aphrodite, Athena, Apollo,
Artemis, Hestia.
Tragic Drama
• Evolution from public presentations of
cultic rituals
• Major playwrights (5th c. BCE)
– Aeschylus
– Sophocles
– Euripides
• Comedy: Aristophanes
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Hellenistic Philosophies
• Epicureans
– Pleasure, distinct from Hedonists
• Skeptics
– Doubted possibility of certainty in anything
• Stoics
– Duty, virtue
– Emphasis on inner peace
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The Incursion of Rome into the
Hellenistic World