Ancient Greece Geography

Aegean Sea Heart of Ancient Greece Few people lived more than 70 km from it’s shore Civilization depended on the sea More than 2000 islands- some rocky and some extremely fertile Earliest civilization began on a fertile island named Crete

Greece has nearly 3200 km of coastline. Deep fjords provided excellent harbors. Greeks sailed from island to island sharing ideas and products.

Landscape Landscape is marked by mountains. Only 1/5 of the land was fertile- so it was highly valued. Mountains acted as partitions between communities. Ancient Greece became a collection of separate, independent city-states- often at war with each other.

Ancient Greece- Historical Overview: Ancient Greece can be divided into 4 periods: EARLY PERIOD (2000- 800 BCE) EARLY CLASSICAL PERIOD (800- 480 BCE) CLASSICAL GREECE (480-338 BCE) HELLENISTIC AGE (338-27 BCE)

THE EARLY PERIOD – EARLY CLASSICAL PERIOD The Minoan Period The Mycenaean Period The Dark Ages The Persian Wars

The Minoan Period The earliest civilization associated with Greece. Located on the island of Crete Named after legendary ruler- King Minos. (Mythical)

The Mycenaean Period Lived on the mainland in small simple farming villages. Wealthy and powerful civilization. Gained wealth through trade and piracy. Factors that led to the decline of the Mycenaean civilization: Civil wars, invasion, drought and famine.

The Dark Ages Greeks developed small, secure, independent communities. These became known as city-states or ”polis” (community of people). These rarely exceeded 20,000 people except for the two largest: Athens Sparta In order to find additional food, the Greeks set up “apoikai ” (away homes or colonies).

CLASSICAL GREECE This is considered the greatest age in Ancient Greek History. Phenomenal rush of achievements- most of which stemmed from Athens. A lot of these achievements came from contact with Egypt and Persia. Blossomed in Art and Science.

THE TWO GREAT CITY STATES OF GREECE ATHENS: Commercial city and cultural center Had the most democratic government of all the city states. Controlled the Delian League (150 city states banned together to protect against further attacks from the Persians).

SPARTA: First city-state to keep a standing army of professional soldiers Highly militaristic Ruled by a small group of aristocrats.

THE PELOPONNESIAN WARS

ALEXANDER THE GREAT Son of King Phillip II, of Macedonia. In 338 BCE, Macedonia takes over the Greek city states. When Phillip II is killed, Alexander becomes king of Macedonia at the age of 20.

What did he do? To consolidate his power, he had possible rivals killed and led campaigns into Greece to demonstrate his power. He set out to fulfill his fathers dream of expanding the empire. He spent 11 years at war- by the end of which he had stretched the empire from Greece to India. He died at the age of 33 of Malaria.

What was his significance? “Hellenistic” civilization was a blend of Eastern and Western influences---because his army consisted of both Persians and Greeks, they learned from each other. The large empire spread the culture and ideas of Greece.

Film: Alexander the Great (25 min)