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Ancient Greece
“Birth of Democracy”
Geography
Balkan Peninsula of Greece surrounded by Aegean,
Mediterranean and Ionian Sea
Scattered arable land to farm divided by mountains
Small City states formed in these isolated areas
Early Governments
Emperor or King = Monarchy (early system)
Changed to more people with power or Aristocracy. This
is an elite ruling class
or a small group that holds power, Oligarchy
Athens will develop a democratic government
Sparta
Dorians conquered Laconia, enslaving
them Dorians < Laconians
Rulers
< Slaves
Sparta's brutal system of control would
keep them on top
Life = From age 7 they began training
Lived in Barracks, coarse diet, hard
exercise, Rigid Discipline
Encouraged to steal food, but if caught,
would be beaten
"So seriously did Spartan children go about their stealing, that a boy,
having stolen a young fox and hid it under his cloak, let it tear out his
guts with its teeth and claws and died right there, rather than let it be
seen."
Sparta cont.
At 20 they would marry, but still live in the barracks till
they were 30
at 30 they would become a member of the assembly
and move in with their family
Women would train to produce a healthy son
women were able to own property and ran the home
when men were off at war.
Sparta
“Spartans are willing to die for their city,
because they have no reason to live.”
Athens
Many non-nobles wanted rights. As the amount of
people who needed more rights grew, they moved
towards a government of democracy
Outlawed debt slavery
granted citizenship to foreigners
gave more say to general assembly or government of
the people
Athenian Society
Citizenship was very restricted, 10,000s of slaves worked
to keep society going and educated and wealthy advancing
women were seen as less then males and managed
households
Boys who could afford to go to school, learned to read,
write, music, poetry, rhetoric, citizenship, and military
tactics.
Persian Wars
500 BC, Persians demanded allegiance to
Persia
Greeks refuse and Persia attacks
Marathon to Athens 26.2 miles
Xerxes, King of Persia, attacks @
Thermopoylae (300 Movie)
Persia attacked with boats, but was tricked
and defeated by a smaller, faster force of
Greeks
The victory would establish “alliance” or
Delian League of Greek city-states