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Ancient Greece
Greek City-States
 The central focus of Greek life and society was the polis
 Polis = Greek city-state . community of people with a
common identity and common goals
 Each polis developed independently of its
neighbors, own form of gov’t , laws, and customs
 Acropolis = fortified gathering place at the top of a
hill which was sometimes the site of temples and
public buildings
 Agora = an open area that served as a gathering
place and as a market
 Greeks were fiercely loyal to their polis and
regarded themselves not as Greeks, but as
members of a particular city-state
 Make-up of a polis:
 Citizens who had political rights = adult males
 Citizens who had no political rights = women and
children
 Non-citizens = slaves and foreigners
 Some cities develop democracy = gov’t by the
people or rule by the many
 Other city-states develop an oligarchy = rule by the
few
 New military system develops
 Based on hoplites = heavily armed foot soldiers
 Carried a round shield, short sword, and a
thrusting spear
 Formed a phalanx for protection
 Phalanx = a wall of shields created by foot
soldiers marching close together in rectangular
formation
 Greek colonies established, one of the most famous
being Byzantium
 Spread of cultural and political ideas
 Two prominent city-states emerge
Athens
 First ruled by kings, then aristocrats
 Economy was largely based on farming and trade
 Cleisthenes creates the foundation of Athenian
democracy (world’s first democracy)
 Standards for voting = must be a free male over the age
of 20 who has completed military training and owns
land - Accounts for 10% of the population
 Duties of people allowed to vote:
 Vote in all elections and serve in office if elected
 Serve on juries and in the military during war
 Athenian democracy consisted of three main bodies
1. Council of Five Hundred who proposed laws that
would be voted on by the Assembly and supervised
both foreign affairs and the treasury
2. Complex series of courts
3. Athenian Assembly – composed of all male citizens
who were eligible to take part in the gov’t
 This assembly voted on and passed the laws
 Direct democracy = people participate directly in
gov’t decision making and vote directly on an
issue
 Family – primary function was to produce new citizens
 Men – Were educated (started at age 6), discussed
politics, sold things in the market, went to plays, tended
their land (with the help of their slaves)
 Women - could not own property
and always had a male guardian
when out. Were not educated
 Chief obligation was to have
children
 Were expected to stay at home
and out of sight, unless attending
religious festivals or funerals
Sparta
 Located on the Peloponnesus, the large peninsula
of southern Greece
 Like most city-states, Sparta needed more land, so
they conquered neighboring peoples instead of
starting new colonies
 The Spartans turned these conquered peoples
into helots = state slaves
 The helots were given to Spartan citizens to
work on farms
 Spartans were now free to spend all their time
training for war
 Government structure
 Was an oligarchy headed by two kings who led the
army on its campaigns
1. Ephors – a group of five men elected each year
 Responsible for the conduct of all citizens and
education
2. Council of Elders – composed of the two kings and 28
citizens over the age of 60
 Decided the issues that would be presented to
the assembly
3. Assembly of male citizens – voted on the issues
Foreigners were discouraged from visiting and
Spartans were not allowed to travel abroad
Kept out dangerous ideas and discouraged new
thoughts
Spartans decide to create a military state to keep control
over the helots
 Helots outnumbered Spartan citizens by 7 to 1
 Life in Sparta was rigidly organized
 Babies were examined at birth and if they were
found to be weak, they were put to death
 Men
 Taught physical toughness by parents until age seven
 They then entered a school system designed to teach
them combat
 At the end of their training, boys were sent into
the wilderness and expected to survive
 At age 20 the boys became hoplites in the Spartan
army
 Allowed to marry, but had to live in barracks until
age 30
 Could now live their own lives, but expected to
fight with the army when needed
 Allowed to vote in the assembly at age 30, retired
from the army at age 60
 Women
 Expected to exercise and raise healthy children
 Had greater freedom and power in the
household due to separation from their
husbands
 Could own property
 Married - late teens-20
 Wives would say to their husbands –
Come back with your shield or come back on it
WHY SPARTAN WOMEN WERE MORE DOMINANT IN
SOCIETY THAN THEIR ATHENIAN SISTERS
 Girls were given a good education in both the arts and
athletics.
 Women were encouraged to develop their intellect.
 Women owned more than a third of the land.
 There was less difference in age between husbands and
wives, and girls in Sparta married at a later age than their
sisters in Athens.
 Husbands spent most of their time with other men in the
military barracks; since the men were rarely home, the
women were free to take charge of almost everything outside
of the army.
 Mothers reared their sons until age 7 and then society took
over. Fathers played little or no role in child care.