The Ancient GREEKS timeline Ancient Times - The Achaeans (Greeks) City-States develop Athens vs. Sparta Alexander the Great Decline of the Greeks Roman Era

Ancient Greece Europe Greece

The Ancient GREEKS The country of Greece was once divided into around 100 city-states. A city-state is a city and the land around a city. A city-state has its own government, laws, and army. It started with just a few...

The Ancient GREEKS But eventually there were many Greek city-states...

The Ancient GREEKS At first, the Greek city-states were ruled by the wealthy people who owned land, called the aristocracy.

The Ancient GREEKS But over time, democracy, where each citizen had a vote and majority rules, developed in Athens and then spread to other parts of ancient Greece.

The Ancient GREEKS Popular Sovereignty When the people have the power in government.

The Ancient GREEKS ATHENS a democratic government w/ popular sovereignty, rule of law, and representative government. wanted citizens to be educated and cultured: - literature and poetry - music - art, painting, and sculpture - philosophy SPARTA a government led by generals and soldiers. wanted citizens to be a physically fit, strong, well-trained, marching army. focused on exercise and military training.

The Peloponnesian Wars

The Spartans believed that the Athenians wanted to take charge of all of the city-states in Greece, and so they began to fight the Athenians. These were called the Peloponnesian Wars, and they lasted from BC. The Spartans won and became the ruling city-state of Greece for a short time.

The Greek PHALANX military formation The Greeks developed a very effective military formation in which soldiers march closely together long spears and shields to protect the whole group and create a nearly impenetrable wall.

Alexander the Great Alexander the Great was the king of Macedonia who led a conquest against King Darius III and the Persian Empire.

Alexander the Great’s Empire Under Alexander the Great, the Greek Empire included Greece, Anatolia (Turkey), Northern Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and parts of India. This was the largest the Greek Empire would become. After Alexander’s death, his generals divided the empire and ruled over parts of it.

The GREEK Gods The Greeks believed in many gods. Each city-state believed that one particular god protected them. They believed that when good things happened to them it was because the gods were happy with them and when bad things happened to them it was because the gods were angry at them. They believed the gods lived on top of Mount Olympus in Greece.

The Acropolis in Athens A special place in each city-state was set aside to build temples to the many Greek gods. The temples were often built on a hill or over-looking the city. This area was called the acropolis.

The Acropolis in Athens

The Parthenon in Athens The Greeks built many temples to their many gods. One of the most famous is the Parthenon. It was a temple to the goddess Athena built high atop the acropolis in Athens. The ruins of the temple are still there today.

Greek Houses

Greek Clothing