Download Topic Six: The Greeks Greece I. Dark Ages 1150 to 800 B.C. A. Most

Topic Six: The Greeks
Greece
I. Dark Ages 1150 to 800 B.C.
A. Most of our knowledge of Dark Age Greece comes from Homer, who writes ca. 800 B.C.
1. Theme of Homer’s work is the conflict between the Mycenaeans and the Amorites, but
the culture is Dark Age culture.
2. king now called basileus, not as much power as Mycenaean wanax
3. life is sedentary and agricultural
4. no urban life, instead small villages of 20 to 50 people
5. no writing, oral tradition
6. two main ideas drive the Greeks (or at least the men)
a. arete or the idea of excellence
b. agon or competition
7. organized competitive sports when not raiding one another
8. Did not call themselves Greek, but Hellenes
9. three distinct dialects, Achaen in the north, Dorian in the South and Attic in the Middle
10. By ca. 800 the population starts expanding and the polis has formed
B. Geography
1. Exceedingly mountainous, very little could be farmed
2. Dry climate, especially in the summer
3. Because of the terrain, hard to travel overland
4. Settlements will be built on the sides of mountains, usually on the coast, or near farmland
5. Because of the geography, communities will be independent and separate
6. most Hellenes will develop a sailing tradition
7. because of their geography, the Hellenes develop the polis (pl. poleis)
C. The Polis/Poleis
1. “Man is a Political Animal”...Aristotle, by 800 B.C. had hundreds all over Hellas
2. The Polis is critical to the development of democracy, although not all will develop it
3. Poleis are city-states, but not like Mesopotamia
4. each poleis develops different traditions, styles of government, some are large, some not
5. poleis needs two things
a. an acropolis
b. an agora
6. each poleis has citizens, which is an extremely important concept, and highly restrictive
7. no concept of “private” institutions
III. Archaic Age, ca. 800-500 B.C.
A. By the beginnings of Archaic Hellas, several developments are in place
1. Most poleis have overthrown their monarchs (basileus) and are ruled by oligarchies
2. written language has developed, increasing literacy and was also used as a political tool
a. Homer, Hesiod
3. The Hellenes forge a common identity through their language, culture, the Olympic Games
(776 B.C.), and their religion, even though they have indepentent poleis
4. Population boom of approximately 3 to 4 percent growth annually
B. The Age of Colonization 750 to 550 B.C.
1. Hellenes need to do something about their excess population
2. Hellenic colonies are started all over the Mediterranean basin
a. Italy, Asia Minor, Cyrene (Libya), Masilia (Marseilles), Syracuse (Sicily)
3. The Hellenes never settle very far inland, these are coastal settlements
4. Although these new polis retain emotional ties to their “metropolis” they are fully
independent
5. colonization will create new wealth for the Hellenes, both in the colonies and in their
metropolis
6. the Hellenes are also the first Western civilization to study other peoples, ethnography
a. this reinforces their sense of “Greekness”
7. cultural contacts also gives the Hellenes several advances
a. coinage from Lydia
8. The Hellenes refer to people who do not speak Greek as “barbaroi”
C. The Hoplite (those who wear the Hopla)
1. In art, by 675 B.C. new armor appears, the hopla
2. ca. 650 B.C. in Argos, the soldiers fight together, in the hoplite phalanx
3. by 600 B.C., the hoplite phalanx is the predominate form of warfare
a. not Homeric, fight in formation, interlocking shield
b. no individuality, fight for your polis
c. might be where we get the term “right hand man”
4. must buy your own equipment, so must be wealthy
5. this will break the power of the aristoi, who held all political power
D. Age of Tyrants, 7th Century
1. Not wholly the perjorative that we think of today
2. A tyrant was a single ruler with no “traditional” legitimacy
3. Tyrants came to power in a polis because the common people or the middle class were
excluded from economic opportunity or from political power
4. Tyrants institute reforms that will lead to democracy (but only in some poleis)
5. Since the institution of the tyrant could be hereditary, it could lead to abuse, hence the
negative use of the term
6. Monarchy -> Oligarchy -> Tyrants -> Democracy
a. A polis could go through all of these steps on the way to democracy or stop at any point
7. Two powerful poleis emerge during the Archaic Age that will eventually dominate the
Greek peninsula. They also leave the most written records. They are Athens and Sparta.
IV. Sparta in the Archaic Age
A. Conquest of Messenia
1. The Spartans speak a Dorian dialect so they must have been Dorian
2. Sparta is located inland, so they never develop a naval tradition, or send out colonies
3. Along with everyone else, Sparta experiences a population surge between 900-800 B.C.
4. Instead, the Spartans conquer their neighbors, Messenia
a. they had great farmland
b. there was also ethnic tension between them (Dorians vs. Achaeans)
c. the Messenians were enslaved, the Spartans called them Helots
d. the major problem was that the Helots outnumbered the Spartans
e. the Helots rebelled, often
f. in 640 B.C. there was a major helot revolt that lasted 20 years
4. The need to control the Helots leads to the creation of a military state
B. Lycurgus and the Great Rhetra
1. Lycurgus (ca. 800 - ca. 730 B.C.) was the Spartan who introduced the means to suppress
the Helots
a. He gives the Spartans a constitution, the Great Rhetra
2. The Great Rhetra establishes a formal, military state in Sparta
a. diarchy, that is, Sparta has two kings
3. real power however, is in the Gerousia, a governing council of 30
a. “council of elders”, 28 men who are at least 60 years old plus the two kings
b. the Gerousia is elected, and they serve for life
4. the Spartans also had a citizen assembly, the Apella
a. joined this assembly at 30 years, they elect the Gerousia
5. every year five ephors were elected
a. supervised the state education system
b. decided which infants lived or were “exposed”
C. Life in Spartan Society
1. your duty was to be a soldier or to bear a soldier
2. lived with your mother until you were six, then tyou went to the army barracks
a. girls left at child-bearing age, men stayed until 60
3. during your training you were kept hungry and cold
a. the regimen of physical training was rigourous to toughen young boys into soldiers
b. boys were ritually whipped
4. at 20 men joined the army, could get married, and were given an estate
a. this estate provided the Spartan male with income, but he never saw it
b. it was worked by helots
5. at 30, men became full citizens but you still lived in the barracks, not with your wife
6. at 60, soldiers retired from active duty
7. helots did all the work
8. not all Spartans made it through the “education” system
a. Three classes of people in Sparta
- Spartiate, the elite
- Perioeki, go-betweens between the Spartans and the Helots
- Helots, Messenian slaves
9. the helots were surpressed
D. The Positives and Negatives of the Spartan System
1. women have high status and equality
a. women received the same education as men
b. women have much more freedom and a higher standard of living in Sparta
2. Spartans are admired and idealized all over Greece
a. seen as upholding the Greek ideal of “arete”
b. however, no one emulates them
3. everything is done in the interest of the state
a. from childbirth to death, you live for Sparta
4. The Spartans practice discipline and self-denial
a. luxury is frowned upon, it will make you weak
5. The government severely limits outside contact
6. The army cannot move far from Sparta
a. it really has one function
7. The Spartans have a low birth rate
V. Athens in the Archaic Age 800 to 500 B.C.
A. Monarchy to Oligarchy
1. Athens overthrows their basileus sometime before or around 800 B.C.
a. they keep the Areopagus, the council of wealthy aristocrats who had advised the king
b. it was probably the Areopagus who had deposed the king
2. In place of a basileus, nine archons were elected by the Areopagus
a. civic, religious, military, then six for judicicial matters
b. after a one year term, you joined the Areopagus
3. Only the wealthy had access to political power (oligarchy)
B. Athenian Society
1. Like Sparta, Athens didn’t farm out it’s population with colonies either
a. it has farmland around it and a harbor, Piraeus
b. Athens can engage in agriculture and in trade
2. Aristocrats own huge estates and most of the land, engage in trade
3. The lower classes grow wheat
a. however, the farmers don’t grow enough wheat to feed the population
b. Athens has to import wheat to feed the people
c. this drives the price of wheat down, putting farmers into debt
d. when farmers can’t pay their debts, they sell themselves, or their family, into slavery
4. A cycle is created in Athens
- > less farmers -> less wheat -> import more wheat -> wheat prices low ->
<- sell themselves into slavery <- more farmers in debt <5. To fix the problem (before a class war breaks out), the Areopagus appoints a “temporary”
tyrant, Solon the Wise.
C. The Reforms of Solon, 594 B.C.
1. Political
a. Athenians are divided into 4 classes based on wealth (how much you harvested)
- 1st class, harvested 1000 gallons or more, could be archons
- 2nd class, harvested 600 to 1000 gallons, could be archons
- 3rd class, harvested 400 to 600 gallons, could hold lower administrative offices
- 4th class, called the thetes
b. The Ekklesia will vote for Archons, all male citizens, but probably not the thetes.