Download Warring City-States

Warring City-States
The City-State
 The polis is the city and
surrounding countryside
 By 750 B.C., polis was
the formal gov’t.
 Citizens gathered at the
agora (marketplace) and
the acropolis (fortified
hill)
 Served as central mtg
point, refuge during
attack, religious center
w/ temples & public
bldgs
Greek Political Structures
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City-states have different forms of gov’t
Monarchy (Macedonia) (Mycenae)
Aristocracy: rule by small group of noble, landowning
families (Sparta) (Athens)
Oligarchy: rule by small group of powerful merchants
or artisans (Corinth) (Sparta)
Tyrants rule city-states
 Tyrant—noble and wealthy citizen who wins support
of common people (Syracuse)
Athens builds a limited democracy
 About 621 B.C.,
democracy—rule by the
people—develops in Athens
 Draco
 Develops legal code based
on equality of citizens
 Solon
 abolishes debt slavery
(594 BC)
 Cleisthenes
 has citizens make laws
(500 BC)
Athenian Education
 Schooling only for sons of
wealthy families
 To prepare them to be
good citizens
 Began at 7
 Includes logic, public
speaking so they could
debate, grammar,
poetry, history, math,
music, etc.
 Spent each day in
athletic activities
 Go into military when
older
Athenian Education for Girls
 Girls learn from mothers and other female members
of household
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Child-rearing
Weaving and spinning cloth
Preparing meals
Managing the household
Wealthy girls had private tutors
and learned to read/write
Athenian Values
 Individuality
 Beauty
 Freedom
 Learning
 Education
 Art
Sparta
 Located on the
Peloponnesus
 Builds military state
 Around 725 B.C., Sparta
conquers Messenia
 Messenians become
helots—peasants
forced to farm the land
 Harsh rule leads to
Messenian revolt
Spartan Education
 Sparta has the most powerful army
in Greece
 Males move into barracks at age 7
 Days spent marching, exercising,
& fighting
 Wear only light tunics, no shoes
 Slept on hard benches w/out
blankets
 Diet of coarse black porridge
 Run a gauntlet to snatch as many
cheeses as they could from the
steps of an altar
 Sent out alone into the
countryside to live by their wits
 Train until 30
 Serve until 60
Spartan Education for Girls
 Receive some military training and live active lives
Ran, wrestled, played sports
 Taught to value service to Sparta above all else
Women told husbands and sons: “Come back with your
shield or on it.” “I bore him so that he might die for
Sparta.”
 Enjoyed freedom of running family estates when husband
on military duty
 Weak infants left to die on
the
slopes of a nearby mountain.
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Spartan Values
 Duty
 Strength
 Discipline
 Individual expression
discouraged
 Didn’t value arts,
literature, or intellectual
pursuits
 Little trade
 Little home life
The Persian Wars
 Army
 Iron weapons & armor
 Based on hoplites:
citizen-soldiers
 Phalanx
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Marched into battle
shoulder to shoulder in
rectangular formation
Persian Wars
 Between Greece and
Persian Empire—began in
Ionia (Anatolia) 520 B.C.
 King Darius of Persia
conquered Greeks living
on Anatolia.
 Athenians tried to help
the Greeks there and
were defeated. Darius
sought revenge.
Persian Leaders
 Cyrus
 Cambyses
 Darius I
 Xerxes I
Battle of Marathon
 490 BC Persian fleet of 25,000
lands at Marathon (Darius)
 10,000 Athenians arranged in
phalanxes charge the Persians
 Greeks defeat Persia even
though they were outnumbered
(6,400 Persians die; 192
Athenians)
 Pheidippides
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Legend says he ran from
Marathon to Athens to
announce victory (26 mi)
Basis for modern marathon
Thermopylae
 In 480 B.C., Xerxes launches
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new invasion of Greece
 180,000 troops/1,000
warships/supply vessels
Met with little resistance
Finally 7,000 Greeks & 300
Spartan warriors try to delay
the Persians at Thermopylae
pass
 Hold them for 3 days
A traitor informs the Persians
of a secret path around the pass
Fearing defeat, Greeks retreat
while 300 Spartans hold
Persians back
 All 300 die & become heroes
for their sacrifice
Battle of Salamis
 Persians then burn Athens
after Themistocles
(Athenian leader) told the
people of the city to flee.
 Athenian fleets defeat
Persians at sea, near island of
Salamis
 Athenian ships sink 1/3 of
Persian warships
 Armed w/ battering rams
 The Persian threat was over.
Consequences of Persian Wars
 City-states create an alliance called the Delian
League (140 city states)
 Pay $ to league so Athens will help defend them
 Athens enters its brief, golden age
Athens becomes powerful after Persian War
 Delian League
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created as defensive
alliance w/ Athenian
control
 Governing
assembly
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Passed laws, elections,
decide war
Anyone could speak
 Ostracisim
Used as a way to protect
citizens from bad rulers
 Massive building
Athens was given loads of
money to rebuild after
being burned in the
Persian Wars
Pericles
 Skillful politician
 Inspiring speaker
 Respected general
 Came from a rich and
high-ranking noble
family
 Dominates life in
Athens from 461-429
BC (Age of Pericles)
Pericles’ three goals for Athens
 1. Stronger Democracy
 Increased the number of
public officials who were
paid salaries
 Creates direct democracy
Pericles’ three goals for Athens
 2. Strengthen the
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empire
Takes over Delian
League
Uses money to
strengthen Athenian
navy
Trade
Sparta and other cities
resent Athenian power
Pericles’ three goals for Athens
 3. Glorifies Athens
 Beautification of
Athens
 Buys gold, ivory,
marble; hires artisans
to create works of
classical art
Athenians and Spartans Go to War
 Sparta declared war on
Athens in 431 BC
 WHY?
 Called the Peloponnesian
War
Peloponnesian War
 Sparta had better
army
 Athens had better
navy
 Who held the
advantage during the
Peloponnesian War?
Peloponnesian War
 Sparta marched into
Athenian territory
 Pericles brought people
inside the city walls.
 Plague strikes Athens in
430 BC, kills many
including Pericles
 Athens and allies
surrender in 404 BC