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Ancient Greece
What do you know about anicent
Greece?
• Take a quiz:
• http://www.mysteryproductions.info/hyper/Hypermedia_2003/
Miller/AM_hypermedia/Artifact/
Greece was famous for:
Early Olympics
• The Olympic Games
began over 2,700
years ago in Olympia,
in southwest Greece.
• The Games were part
of a religious festival.
The Greek Olympics,
thought to have
begun in 776 BC,
inspired the modern
Olympic Games
(begun in 1896).
•
• The Games were held
in honour of Zeus,
king of the gods, and
were staged every
four years at Olympia,
a valley near a city
called Elis.
• People from all over
the Greek world came
to watch and take
part.
• At the first one-day Olympic Games, the only
event was a short sprint from one end of the
stadium to the other.
• Gradually more events were added to make four
days of competitions. They included wrestling,
boxing, long jump, throwing the javelin and
discus, and chariot racing.
• In the pentathlon, there were five events:
running, wrestling, javelin, discus and long jump.
• One of the toughest events was the race for
hoplites, men wearing armour and carrying
shields.
• Winners were given a wreath of leaves,
and a hero's welcome back home.
• Winners might marry rich women, enjoy
free meals, invitations to parties, and the
best seats in the theatre.
• The running track was much wider than a
modern one. Twenty people could run at
once.
Greek Architecture
Map of Ancient Greece
• Ancient Greece was a collection of Greek
city-states.
• Because Greece was not yet one country,
there was no central government in
ancient Greece.
• Around 500 BC, villages started to band
together to form strong trading centers.
• These groups of villages that banded
together were called city-states.
• Soon, hundreds of city-states had formed
in ancient Greece.
• TO BE A CITIZEN OF A CITY-STATE:
The ancient Greeks referred to themselves
as citizens of their individual city-states.
• Each city-state (polis) had its own
personality, goals, laws and customs.
• Ancient Greeks were very loyal to their
city-state.
• The city-states had many things in
common.
• They all believed in the same gods.
• They all spoke the same language.
• Each city-state had its own form of
government.
• Some city-states, like Corinth, were ruled by
kings.
• Some, like Sparta, were ruled by a small group
of men.
• Others, like Athens, experimented with new
forms of government. Sometimes these citystates cooperated, sometimes they fought each
other.
Forms of government
• Monarchy: Rule by a king. One city-state whose government was a
monarchy was the city-state of Corinth.
• Oligarchy: Rule by a small group. One city-state whose government
was an oligarchy was the city-state of Sparta.
• Democracy: Rule by the citizens, voting in an assembly. One citystate whose government experimented for about a hundred years
with democracy was the ancient city-state of Athens.
•
• What kind of government would you
create?
Your Project: Create a country
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Give it a name.
Choose a capital.
Decide on a form of government.
Decide how laws are made.
Form a currency.
Decide how laws are enforced.
Make a flag.
Create a map of your country.
Make a presentation to share with your class.
Lava Land
Lava Land’s Currency is
• All credit cards.
Lava Land’s Flag is blue with gold
stars.
Lava Land’s government is
• A democracy. All leaders are chosen by a
majority of the people in a free election.
Lava Land’s laws are enforced by
• The leaders themselves. They hire local
enforcers to keep the peace and deal with
those who break the law.
• Laws are made by the ruler but the people
vote on whether or not they want the law.
Elections are held once a year. Majority
vote wins.