Ancient Greece Vocabulary

Peninsula A piece of land that is surrounded by water on 3 sides. Examples: Florida and Italy

Harbor A harbor is a sheltered place along the coast.

Polis A polis is a Greek city-state. Each city-state was independent and usually had one city at its heart.

Acropolis An acropolis is a walled hill where people could seek safety when attacked.

Agora An agora is an open space where they held town meetings. Similar to a marketplace, a gathering place.

Citizen A citizen is a person who has rights or responsibilities in his or her country or community.

Monarchy A monarchy is a government that has only a single ruler like a king or a queen.

Oligarchy An oligarchy is a small group of the richest and most powerful citizens control the decision making. “Ruled by Few.”

Democracy A democracy is a government ruled by the people. Everyone gets to vote on the issues.

Hellenism Hellenism was the spreading of 3 cultures such as Greek, African and Asian by Alexander the Great.

Orator Orator is a skilled public speaker.

Commerce Commerce is the commodity or items to be traded. Example for Greece would be Olive oil, which was used for cooking, lamp fuel, and body lotion. Grapes is another example of goods that they traded.

Homer Homer was one of the most famous ancient Greek poet. He wrote 2 epics. An epic is a long poem that tells a story.

Export Sending goods out of a country for use by others. Part of the economy

Import Having goods sent into a country for use by the people. Usually these things are brought in because a country doesn’t have them

Economy Economy is the way a country handles it’s money. Greek economy was based on their geography. Due to the waterways, imports and exports were a major part of Greek economy.