HISTORY GUIDE – ANCIENT GREECE

Introduction:
- Athens was a Greek city-state of 250,000 people controlling a 117-square-mile
plain.
- The Persian Empire, on the other hand, stretched from the Indus River (in what
is now Pakistan) to the shores of the Mediterranean and Black seas.
- Themistocles → son of Neocles, said that it would be foolish for Athenian
soldiers to try to save their city from the Persians. If need be, let the Persians
enter the city and burn it. Send the women, old men, and children to safety on a
nearby island. Meanwhile, let all men of fighting age row out to meet the
Persian fleet with the 200 new Athenian warships.
- → The Athenians won a complete victory at sea and forced the Persians to
withdraw.
- In Greece → civic decisions were made through open debate.

Geographic Setting:
- The mailand of the ancient Greeks was a rugged peninsula that jutted out into
the part of the Mediterranean Sea known as the Aegean Sea.
- The rest of Greek territory consisted of lands on the coast of Asia Minor and
hundreds of islands in the Aegean and Ionian seas.

Geography shaped Greek civilization:

- The seas were the links between most parts of Greece, and also a link with other
societies → Sea travel and trade were important because Greece itself was poor
in resources.
- The highest mountain was called Mount Olympus → Home of the Gods.
- Because of the mountains, the Greeks were content to live in a collection of
small independent communities.
- The three principal Greek crops were grains, grapes, and olives.
- Mediterranean climate → temperatures are moderate, and rain falls only in
winter → outdoor life.
- The open gatherings, combined with the small settlements, meant that most
people in a city-state knew one another.
- For the Greeks, taking an active part in civic life became both a duty and a
virtue.

Rich cultures arose in the Bronze Age:

- Across the southern end of the Aegean Sea lies the largest of the Greek islands
→ Crete.
- Minoans (2000-1400 B.C.) → Cretan Civilization
- Seafaring people with great power in the Mediterranean world.
- Built beautiful palaces without fortified walls.
- Knossos → Capital city
- Athletic contests, festivals, and stylish dress.
- Women enjoyed a level of social equality rarely found in the ancient world.
- People delighted in the beauty of nature.
- Plumbing → at Knossos, pipes carried water for bathing, and even for a flush
toilet.
 - Ended abruptly some time between 1400 and 1200 B.C. → because of a natural
disaster → Thera (volcano) 1622 – 1600 B.C.

- Mycenaeans (1600 – 1200 B.C.) → not as high as the Minoans

- Leading cit → Mycenae → located on a steep, rocky ridge and was surrounded by
a protective wall up to 20 feet thick.
- Warrior-king ruled the surrounding villages and farms.
- Only the nobles lived well.
- Wealth was won by warrior-kings who led their armies in search of plunder.
- Trade was also a source of wealth, but Bronze Age trade often was close to
piracy.
- The Trojan War → now Turkey → Stories from this war were told hundreds of
years later by the Greek poet Homer. According to him, a Greek army besieged and
destroyed Troy because a Trojan youth had stolen Helen, the beautiful wife of a
Greek king.
- Schliemann thought Troy was real. So he found it in 1871.

- Dorians (1150 – 750 B.C.) → Dark Ages

- Spoke a dialect of Greek
- Dorians were distant relatives of the Bronze Age Greeks.
- They were far less advanced than the Mycenaean Greeks.
- Not good traders
- No writing
- No good poetry
- Homer → epic poems (heroic poems) → the Iliad and the Odyssey
- Iliad → story of heroes at war.
- Odyssey → adventures of Odysses.
- Arete → excellence, courage, fame and honor.

- Olympic Games (776 B.C.) → pentathlon → supreme contest of athletic skill.

The winner was crowned with a wreath of olive leaves.
- Myths → stories about their Gods. Through these, the Greeks sought to
understand the mysteries of nature and the power of human passions.

Greek city-states competed for power:

- After 750 B.C. the Greeks began to recover from the Dark Ages → period
marked by the rise of the city-states, for which the Greek word was polis.
- Polis → included a city and its surrounding countryside.
- Greeks expected all citizens (free adult men) to share in the discussion of public
matters.
- Meetings were held in the agora or on a fortified hilltop called an acropolis.
- Polis → central force in Greek life.

Power passed from kings to citizens:

- Aristocracy → rule passed into the hands of a small group of noble families.
- Ordinary citizens could afford iron weapons and armor
- Every citizen was expected to be a soldier for his polis → Hoplites fought on
foot.
 - Phalanx (most powerful fighting machine in the world) → Soldiers stood side by
side, each man with a spear in one hand and a shield in the other. As the hoplites
faced their enemy, the shields formed a solid wall bristling with spears.
- Tyrant → a man who took over the government by force but usually supported
the interest of the common people against the nobles.
- Many Greek city-states also founded colonies → important source of trade and
wealth.
- Most powerful city states → Sparta and Athens.

Sparta built an army state:

- Located in the southern part of Greece, in the area known as the Peloponnesus.
- About 725 B.C., the Spartans conquered the Messenians and took over their
land.
- Spartans adopted a harsh set of laws known as the Code of Lycurgus.
- Babies were examined at birth to see if they were healthy. If not, they were left
in the hills to die.
- Spartan girls also led hardy lives → they ran, wrestled, and played sports. As
adults, they managed the family estates while their husbands served the polis.
- From around 600 until 371 B.C., the Spartans had the most powerful army in
Greece → but created little literature, art, or architecture.
- Spartans valued duty, strength, and discipline over individuality, beauty, and
freedom of thought.

Athens turned to democracy:

- In sharp contrast to Sparta, Athens had values and outlook.
- Athenians were always eager to learn new ideas. They had been educated to
think and act as free people.
- Athenians avoided civil war by making timely reforms.
- Solon and Cleisthenes → reforms that created a democracy, a government in
which all citizens took part.
- Solon’s reforms (594 B.C.) → canceled all debts. Made farming profitable.
Encouraged farmers to grow more wine grapes and olives. Encouraged industry
by requiring every father to teach his son a trade. Allowed every male citizen to
attend the assembly. Important matters were debated and decided by vote. New
legal system in which any citizen could bring charges against anyone who had
committed a wrong.
- The reforms of Cleisthenes (508 B.C.) → convinced the Athenians to enact a
series of laws that made Athens a full democracy. Increased the power of the
assembly. Created the Council of Five Hundred.