Geography and Early History Unit 7 – Ancient Greece Geography and Early History

How did the physical features of ancient Greece impact their lives How did the physical features of ancient Greece impact their lives? Influence the settlement & growth of its civilization? Sea impact their lives? Geography City-States Colonies Trade

Geography Facts About the Geography of Greece 1.Greece has no major rivers. 2.Greece is surrounded on three sides by seas – peninsula. 3.Greece is mostly mountainous. 4.Greece includes hundreds of islands. How do you think the physical geography of Greece influences where people settled and how they lived?

Geography Ancient Greece had a very different geography from the river valley civilizations of Mesopotamia, India, China, and Egypt. As a result, it developed much differently as a civilization than the river valley civilizations.

Land and Sea The Greek Peninsula is mountainous. The mountains that reached down to the sea discouraged farming and made travel by land difficult for early settlers. Most of the rocky land also contains poor soil and few large trees, but settlers were able to cultivate the soil to grow olives and grapes. The greatest natural resource of the peninsula is the water that surrounds it. Greece’s islands and coasts created many natural ports. The Greeks built ships and sailed throughout the Mediterranean Sea. They proved to be good sailors and merchants. They made money by trading products as olive oil for wheat.

As the ancient Greek population grew, people created city-states As the ancient Greek population grew, people created city-states. A city-state included a central city, called a polis, and surrounding villages. Each ancient Greek city-state had its own laws and form of government. The city-states were united by a common language, shared religious beliefs, and a similar way of life. Greek city-states developed in isolation (remained independent) from one another due to the geography of the region. The mountains, peninsulas, and islands forced each city to create its own identity, including government, military, and culture. People thought of themselves as residents of a city, not as Greeks. The city-states became the foundations for civilization. It gave the people security and identity in the world. City-States

City-States’ Life A Greek city was usually built around a strong fortress which often stood on top of a high hill called the acropolis. The town around the acropolis was surrounded by walls for added protection. Farmers usually lived near their fields outside the walls. In time of war, however, people gathered inside the city walls for protections, while the men fought on the outside. Life focused on the marketplace, or agora in Greek. Farmers brought their crops to trade for goods made by craftsmen. Because it was a large open space, people often used it as a meeting place for shops, political and religions meetings.

Colonies By the mid 800s BCE, the Greeks were leaving the peninsula in search of better land and greater opportunities for trade. During the next 200 years, they built dozens of communities on the islands and coastline of the Aegean Sea. Some Greeks settled as far away as modern-day Spain and North Africa.

Colonies Provide Resources Once established, these distant Greek communities traded with each other and with those communities on the Greek Peninsula. This made a great variety of goods available to the ancient Greeks, including wheat for bread, timber for building boats, and iron ore for making strong tools and weapons.

Trade Brings New Ideas As they traded, the ancient Greeks learned and shared ideas. From the Phoenicians, another trading people in the Mediterranean, the Greeks adopted an alphabet and learned to use coins and money. They brought home ideas from other places about government, religion, and nature.

Effects of Trade Trade made the city-states much richer. Because of their locations, some city-states became great trading centers. By 550 BCE, the Greeks had become the greatest traders in the whole Aegean regions. Greek ships sailed to Egypt and cities around the Black Sea. With great wealth, individual city-states began to build grand buildings, design advanced technologies and generally enjoy their money with “pretty items”……think Egypt.

The Persian Empire The Persian Empire was one of the largest empires in the ancient world. It covered parts of three continents: Europe, Africa, and Asia. The Persian Empire also introduced new ways of governing empires, which were used for centuries to come. Cyrus of Persia united the area that is present-day Iran under his rule and conquered neighboring areas, establishing the Persian Empire. His successors conquered more lands, until the Persian Empire stretched from Egypt to India. During their conquests, the Persians conquered several Greek colonies. King Darius I organized the empire so that the Persians could control the vast and diverse land they had conquered. He created a single currency, established satrapies, and built roads to link his empire together.

The Persian Wars were fought between the Persian Empire and the Greek city-states between 500 BCE and 479 BCE. The wars determined whether the city-states would remain independent or become a part of the Persian Empire. Greek colonies in Turkey were conquered by the Persian Empire. These colonies rebelled against Persian rule in 500 BCE. Greek city-states from the Greek peninsula sent soldiers to help the colonies against the Persians. The Persians ultimately defeated the colonies and reestablished their power. In 490 BCE, King Darius sought to conquer the Greek peninsula. His troops were defeated at the Battle of Marathon. King Xerxes attempted to conquer Greece in 480 BCE. He won several victories, including the Spartan defeat at the battle of Thermopylae, and burned Athens to the ground. Finally, the Greek city-states won a sea victory at Salamis and a land victory at Plataea. Xerxes was defeated. 1= Marathon; 2=Thermopylae; 3=Salamis; 4=Plataea The Persian Wars

Why Does It Matter? The Persian Wars united the Greek city-states together against a common Persian enemy. The mountains and islands of Greece made it difficult for the Persians to conquer all of the Greek city-states. The Greek victory ensured that Greece would remain independent from the Persian Empire….and ensured Greek culture stayed alive.