Download Warring City-States

Warring City-States
Review
 First great civilization of the Aegean world:
Minoans on the island of Crete
 Mycenaeans (Indo-Europeans) in Greece;
influenced by Minoans; fought Trojans possibly
over trade, lands, or crops
 Mycenaeans declined and Greece entered the Dark
Ages under the Dorians (400 years)
 Greece started to emerge from the Dark Ages in the
8th century B.C.; trade increased and colonies were
established
The City-State
 By 750 B.C., the polis was
the formal gov’t
 The polis is the city and
surrounding countryside
 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
City-states have different forms of gov’t
1. Monarchy (Macedonia) (Mycenae)
2. Aristocracy: rule by small group of noble,
landowning families (Sparta) (Athens)
3. 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)
 Seize control of an area and rule in interests of
people
Athens builds a limited democracy
 About 621 B.C., democracy—
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rule by the people—develops in
Athens
Draco, develops legal code
based on equality of citizens
 “Draconian” –very harsh
laws; upheld debt slavery
Ruler Solon abolishes debt
slavery (594 BC)
Cleisthenes has citizens make
laws (500 BC)
Only native-born, propertyowning males are citizens
Women, slaves, foreigners
excluded citizenship & rights
Athenian Education
 Schooling only for sons of
wealthy families
 To prepare them to be
good citizens
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Began at 7
Includes logic and public
speaking so they could
debate (grammar, poetry,
history, math, music)
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
Primary Source
 A Greek historian describes how a husband might respond
to his wife’s question about how she could remain
attractive:
 I counseled her to oversee the baking woman as she made
the bread; to stand beside the housekeeper as she measured
out her stores; to go on tours of inspection to see if all
things were in order as they should be. For, as it seemed to
me, this would at once be walking exercise and supervision.
And, as an excellent gymnastic, I recommended her to
knead the dough and roll the paste; to shake the coverlets
and make the beds; adding, if she trained herself in exercise
of this sort she would enjoy her food, grow vigorous in
health, and her complexion would in very truth be lovelier.
Athenian Values
 Individuality
 Beauty
 Freedom
 Learning
 Education
 Art
Sparta
 Located on the
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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;
Spartans build stronger
state
Spartan Education
 Sparta has the most powerful army
in Greece
 Males move into barracks at age 7
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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 Youth Discipline
 SOAPS =
Subject: What is the document talking about?
 Occasion: What was happening at the time of the
document? What was going on in author’s life?
 Audience: Who is being addressed? How does the
audience approach the author?
 Purpose: What type of action/reaction does the author
want the audience to have?
 Speaker: Who is doing the speaking or writing?
 Significance: What is important about the document?

Spartan Education for Girls
 Receive some military training
and live hardy lives
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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.
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
 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.
Battle of Marathon
 490 BC Darius’ Persian fleet of
25,000 lands at Marathon
 10,000 Athenians arranged in
phalanxes charge the Persians
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Valley between mountains
Greek surround them on 3 sides
Persians try to get back to boats,
however defeated
 Greeks defeat Persia even though
they were outnumbered
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6,400 Persians die; 192 Athenians
 Pheidippides
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Legend says he ran from
Marathon to Athens to announce
victory (26 mi)
“Nike” or “Victory! We conquer!”
Basis for modern marathon
The statue of Pheidippides along
the Olympic marathon route in
Rafina, Greece.
Persian Leaders
 Cyrus
 Cambyses
 Darius I
 Xerxes I
Thermopylae
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In 480 B.C., Xerxes launches new
invasion of Greece

180,000 troops/1,000 warships/supply
vessels
Met with little resistance as Greeks are
divided
 Finally 7,000 Greeks & 300 Spartan
warriors try to delay the Persians at
Thermopylae pass (main road into
central Greece)
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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
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All 300 die & become heroes for their
sacrifice
When told that Persian arrows would darken
the sky…
“That is good news. We will fight in the
shade!”
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
 Xerxes sends warships up
channel
 Athenian ships sink 1/3 of
Persian warships
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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
Where would you live?
 Travel Brochures or Real Estate Ads
After reading the information about Sparta and Athens, and looking at
the chart above:
 prepare a poster or travel brochure or real estate ad extolling your
city-state (choose between Sparta and Athens).
 Tell about its advantages to the prospective visitors or potential
home owners.
 Highlights may include: cultural activities (such as drama, music
and arts); recreation, athletics and sports; architecture and famous
sites; schools; accommodations (like homes where the tourists can
stay with some of the locals or homes for sale); transportation; and
food.
 Include a map showing where your city-state is located.