Chapter 4 The Ancient Greeks Lesson 1 – Poets and Heroes Lesson 2 - The Greek City-States Lesson 3 – Classical Greece (500BCE-338BCE) Lesson 4 – Classical Greek Culture Lesson 5 – Alexander and the Hellenistic Era

GREEK CITY STATES Polis – Greek term for city-state, We get the word “Politics” Like the city-states in Mesopotamia made up of a city and the surrounding area countryside Metropolis: “Mother city” Neapolis (Naples) – New City

GREEK CITY STATES Acropolis – the center of the city, usually high hill also fortress or religious center Agora - marketplace below the Acropolis Not unlike the Ziggurat in Mesopotamia

GREEK CITY STATES 1) City-states varied in size and population Athens = 300,000 most were smaller 200 – 2,000 2) People shared common identities and goals Women, children and men were citizens but only males had political rights Foreigners, agricultural workers and slaves were considered non-citizens

GREEK CITY STATES 3) Male citizens had to serve in the military as hoplites Hoplites were equipped with – shield, sword and spear Hoplites – one who carries a hoplon Hoplon is a large round shield Greaves (shin armor) Breastplate Helmut Sword spear

GREEK CITY STATES Phalanx: tight military formation where soldiers are side-by-side and work as a unit Phalanx used until the Romans developed something better

GREEK CITY STATES 4) did not usually agree with other city-states 5) a lot of division between the city-states

GREEK EXPANSION 750BCE – 500BCE Many Greeks left the mainland to form colonies The most important was Byzantium Would become one of the most important cities in the world

GREEK EXPANSION EXPANSION: 1) Spread Greek culture and ideas 2) Increased trade and industry 3) Created a new group of wealthy people who wanted political power, but could not wrestle it away from the *aristocrats Aristocrats – Upper class people who own land Aristo – the best

CITY-STATE POLITICS TYRANTS – Seized power from the aristocrats, with the support of the people People gave tyrants their support because they were tired of the domination by aristocrats How did they seize power? Paid Soldiers Tyrants lost popularity which left room for more people to participate in government In ancient Greece, tyrants were influential opportunists that came to power by securing the support of different factions of a deme. The word tyrannos, possibly pre-Greek, Pelasgian or eastern in origin,[9] then carried no ethical censure; it simply referred to anyone, good or bad, who obtained executive power in a polis by unconventional means. Reference to young citizens (the men of the ruling class) who led armies at the front line. Due to martial bravery being highly regarded as a virtue in ancient Greece, it was assumed that the armies were being led by "the best."

CITY-STATE POLITICS Rule of Law: Everyone must obey the law, even the ruler Democracy: Government participation by the people One of the lasting legacies of ancient Greece to the United States and the West. Oligarchy: Government rule by the few Democracy a fundamental idea of Western Civilization – remains one of the most lasting political influences of Ancient Greece. Aristotle pioneered the use of the term as a synonym for rule by the rich,[4] for which another term commonly used today is plutocracy.

TWO CITY-STATES THAT WERE RIVALS AND DID NOT SEE THINGS ALIKE SPARTA (Sparta and Athens) TWO CITY-STATES THAT WERE RIVALS AND DID NOT SEE THINGS ALIKE Sparta: Captured other Greeks and made them ‘helots’ (slaves of the state)

SPARTA Created a military state Ruled by an oligarchy (Two Kings and a council of ephors) The ephors were leaders of ancient Sparta and shared power with the two Spartan kings. The ephors were a council of five elected annually who swore "on behalf of the city", while the kings swore for themselves.[1]

ATHENS

ATHENS Athens: Tried many types of government before trying democracy Cleisthenes: Created a Council of 500 and an Assembly – males only (would lead to democracy) He is credited with reforming the constitution of ancient Athens and setting it on a democratic footing in 508/7 BC.[1][2] For these accomplishments, historians refer to him as "the father of Athenian democracy."[ Cleisthenes also may have introduced ostracism (first used in 487 BC), whereby a vote from more than 6,000 of the citizens would exile a citizen for 10 years. The initial trend was to vote for a citizen deemed a threat to the democracy (e.g., by having ambitions to set himself up as tyrant). However, soon after, any citizen judged to have too much power in the city tended to be targeted for exile (e.g., Xanthippus in 485/84 BC). Under this system, the exiled man's property was maintained, but he was not physically in the city where he could possibly create a new tyranny. One later ancient author records that Cleisthenes himself was the first person to be ostracized

ATHENS Turn to your partner and answer the following question What was so special about the reforms made by Cleisthenes? Laid the early foundations of democracy