Chapter 8 History By: Bradey Wolken

The Cycladic, Minoan, Mycenaean, and Trojan cultures. The Cycladic are group of about 200 island located east of the Greek mainland. The Mycenaean culture takes its name from the city of Mycenae. The Trojan culture is located in Troy. The Minion culture began on the large island of Crete in about 2700 b.c.

The Cycladic, Minoan, Mycenaean and Trojan culture. In about 3000 b.c. the Cycladic culture began on these islands. Minoan culture began on the large island of Crete in about 2700 b.c. The city was located on the large southern peninsula of Greece. The Trojans farmed, raised horses, and herded sheep.

Persian War In 490 b.c. Persian King Darius I turned his solider toward the Greek mainland. Citizen solider from Athens met larger Persian force on the plain Marathon not far from Athens. Marathon to Athens to report the amazing victory. In 480 b.c. the Persians again invaded Balkan peninsula.

The Persian War For hundreds of years the Greek city states fought over land and trade. Then beginning in the 500 b.c a common enemy brought the Greek people together. There common enemy was the Persia. During that century Persian built a huge empire that included Assyria, Babylonia , Egypt, and the Greek city-states.

The Rise of the City-State Villages joined together to protect themselves from outside dangers. Neighbor city states often fought over lands that lay between them. As a result of these struggles, some city-states grew in size and importance. To ease the overcrowding , Greek colonies were set up in Southern Italy.

Rise of City States The development of Classical Greek civilization began with the rise of the city states. Many of these group built walled forts for safety during enemy attacks. Each fort was built on hilltops. Over time villages grew into cities around acropolis.

Athens The city-state of Athens was located on Attica a part of the Balkan Peninsula northeast of the Peloponnesus. Solon divided the Athenian people into classes based on wealth became part. Those with the most wealth became part of the ruling class. A public assembly of all the classes made laws and ran the government.

Sparta Most city-states were located in coastal areas and had economies based on trade. The Sparta’s had an island located on the Peloponnesian Peninsula. It’s inland location caused Sparta to develop a military economy. People in Sparta led simple lives of hard work and physical activity.

To Be Greek Since the City-states were independent people did not think of themselves as belonging to a country as Americans do. The different city-states had a culture identify or connections with one another. The ancient games were held from about 776 b.c. to a.d. 393. Writing also helped bring the city-states together.

End of the Golden Age Pericles wanted to make Athens not only “the school of Greece” but also its most powerful city-states. To do this, soldiers were sent to conquer lands in Egypt. Athens also forced its allies from the Dalian League to play tribute as the price for peace and protection . Sparta feared the growing power of Athens and broke off friendly relations.

The Greek Philosophers After the Peloponnesian war there were still many great thinkers and teachers in Athens. They were called philosophers which means “lovers of wisdom” in Greek. One of them Socrates called himself the city’s “gadfly,” after an insect that bites horses and makes them to “sting” Athenians into thinking about life and the best way to live it.

The Age of The Pericles Athenians felt great pride in their new leadership position after the defeat of the Persians. The pride led to achievements in other areas. Pericles was a relative of Cleisthenes the Athenian leader who had taken governing authority away from aristocracy and given it to the city-states assembly.

Achievements of the Golden Age Pericles was a patron or supporter of learning and the arts. He hired the best architects and artist to build and decorate the temples such as the Parthenon theaters and other public buildings. The beautiful city of Athens became an important cultural center. Pericles also supported writers, such as Herodotus an early historian.

Making and building of an Empire Alexander was born in 356 b.c in Macedonia. His father was Philip II a Macedonia who had spent part of his boyhood in Greek. His mother Olympians was Greek. Both parents wanted to pass on to their son love of Greek culture. With the Greek city-states under his control, Alexander turned to completing his father’s plan for attacking the Persian Empire. In 334 b.c. Alexander led an army of more than 35,000 soldiers from southern Europe to Asia Minor. An early victory over the Persians at the Gracious River gave Alexander more wealth and glory. It also led the way to Alexander’s conquest of much of southwestern Asia.

Alexander’s Legacy Alexander the great and his army came into contact with many different cultures. Many of the conquered peoples learned to speak and write in Greek and to follow Greek customs. For this reason the period of Alexander's rule and several centuries after his death are known as the Hellenistic or “Greek-like ,” Age like the golden age, the Hellenistic Age was a time of achievements in Greek civilizations. The huge library at Alexandria, Egypt contained more than 500,000 scrolls of papyrus.