1000 – 30 BCE

 A. Geography and Resources  i. Iran is bounded by mountains, deserts, & Persian Gulf; open to invasion from Central Asia. High mountains on edges, salt desert interior, sloping plateau w/streams.  ii. Limited natural resources. Water scarce; environment can only support limited population. Irrigation networks used underground tunnels; labor-intensive & advanced, under strong central authority. Mineral resources (metals) & plentiful timber.

 B. Rise of the Persian Empire  i. Medians helped destroy Assyrians in late 7 th cen. BCE. Persian Achaemenids related by marriage. 550 BCE, Cyrus took over & created new empire including Medes & Persians.  ii. Built up by 3 kings: Cyrus the Great started, took Lydia & Mesopotamia. Cambyses took Egypt, contacted Libya & Nubia. Darius I: Persians more dominant. Extended empire from Indus to Thrace.

 C. Imperial organization and ideology  i. Darius established provinces headed by satraps connected to court. Satraps hereditary; became more autonomous in far provinces.  ii. Provinces had to pay tribute. Central gov’t hoarded gold/silver, causing scarcity & inflation. Well-maintained roads converged on Susa, w/garrisons.  iii. Kings aloof, as masters of all. Owned & administered “king’s land.”  iv. Kings were lawgivers, but permitted people to live according to their own traditions. Managed central Susa, performed Persepolis.  v. Major religion: Zoroastrianism. Origins unclear. Zoroaster (Zarathustra) lived between BCE. Monotheistic: Dual universe of good vs. evil (Ahuramazda vs. Angra Mainyu). Final judgment, heaven/hell. Dualism may have influenced Judaism & Christianity.

 A. Geography & Resources  i. Part of Mediterranean ecological zone; all areas have similar climates, seasons, crops. Conducive to migration, transfer of crops/technology, & trade. Culture area includes Greek mainland, islands, & western Anatolia.  ii. Reliance on rainfall (no H 2 O sources for irrigation). Limited water / thin, arable soil meant limited population. Few metal resources/little timber. Plentiful harbors.

 B. Emergence of the polis  i. Post-Mycenaean “Dark Age” B.C.E. Ended when contact/trade w/ Med lands re-established. Phoenicians played a role & provided alphabetic system. Archaic Per. begins ( B.C.E.)  ii. Explosive pop. growth. Causes: shift from pastoral to agricultural eco, importation of foods/raw materials. Effects included urbanization, specialization, & development of polis.

 iii. Polis (city-state) was urban center & rural territory. Features included acropolis, agora, fortified walls, public buildings. No sharp distinction between urban & rural areas or inhabitants.  iv. Frequent wars between C/S. Warfare used hoplites – close formation of infantry trying to break enemy’s defense. Soldiers mostly farmer-citizens serving short-term.  v. When population outstripped resources, excess sent to colonies in Med & Black Sea. Brought Greeks into close contact w/other peoples.

 vi. Colonization introduced new ideas, but also sharpened Greek identity. Important idea: coins in Lydia (early 6 th cen. B.C.E.)  vii. Increasing prosperity & growing middle class led to mid-7 th & 6 th cen. emergence of tyrants, reducing power of traditional elites. Tyrants eventually rejected in favor of oligarchy or democracy.  viii. Religion: anthropomorphic sky gods (many represent forces of nature). state ceremonies. Sacrifice important & helped create sense of community. Sought advice from oracles Delphi) & revered female fertility deities.

 C. New intellectual currents  i. Archaic Greeks began developing concepts of individualism & humanism.  ii. Pre-Socratic philosophers began to question religion & tried to explain rationally why world created, what it is made of, why it changes. (Sophists)  iii. “Logographers” in Ionia began to gather information on Med peoples, founding of cities, & family backgrounds. Method of investigation/research called historia – adopted by Herodotus.  iv. Herodotus went beyond simple collection/recording of info to offer explanations for Persian Wars in Histories. Invented modern concept of “history”. “Father of History.” (Also included legend, folktales, etc.) Thucydides: Only primary sources!  v. Hellenic period sculpture very stiff and formal.

 D. Athens & Sparta  i. Sparta: on Peloponnese in S. Greece. To ensure food supply, took over fertile Messenia & enslaved Messenians (slaves called helots). Fear of uprising led to creation of a severely ascetic, highly militarized society in which all Spartan males trained for the army & devoted lives to needs of state.  ii. Athens: large hinterland (Attica) supported 5 th -cen. B.C.E. pop of ~300, th cen. B.C.E., period of rule by tyrants.  iii. Late 6 th -early 5 th cen., Athens ejected tyrant family & developed democracy. Direct democracy. Limits on citizenship. Pericles completed transition to democracy in 460s-450s. Gov’t included Assembly, Council of 500, & People’s Courts. Participation expected (or idiotes).

 A. Early encounters  i B.C.E., Greek cities of Anatolia, aided by Eretria & Athens, staged revolt against Persians. Led to Persian Wars: 2 Persian attacks on Greece. 1 st : 490, Darius I’s generals attacked. Athenian forces Marathon (Pheidippides- Nike!).  ii. 2 nd : 480, Xerxes led army & fleet. Many C/S submitted. Sparta organized Hellenic League (after Thermopylae, Greeks victorious). Athens took leadership; organized Delian League & drove Persians out of most of E. Med.

 B. Height of Athenian power  i. Classical period ( B.C.E.) marked by Athenian dominance – subordinated other Delian League states & became imperial power. Power based on navy.  ii. Naval strength based on technological innovation (triremes) and use of lower-class men as rowers (they began to demand rights of citizenship).  iii. Power used to conduct trade & extract tribute from subject states. Wealth of empire made it possible for Athens to conduct public works (Parthenon), put on festivals, and support arts & sciences (drama important!). Classical sculpture much more realistic in style. Naked male body considered peak of beauty.

 iv. Most influential philosophers: Socrates & Plato. Socrates focused on ethics, probed meaning of words, & used “Socratic method” of question & answer. Tried on charges of corrupting youth & not believing in gods – untrue, but sentenced to death (he really made people uncomfortable by challenging ideas/beliefs). Suicide or martyr?  v. His student Plato wrote dialogues exploring concepts like justice, excellence, & wisdom. Said world we see is but a pale reflection of higher, ideal reality (allegory: The Cave). His intellectual activity is representative of transition from oral to written culture; he read & wrote books, including The Republic, and founded a school (the Academy). His most famous student was Aristotle, who gathered knowledge into systems… like scientific method.

 C. Inequality in Classical Greece  i. Athenian democracy limited in scope; only free adult males participated (10-15% of pop). Women, children, slaves, & foreigners not citizens.  ii. Slaves mostly foreign, 1/3 of pop, regarded as property. Average family owned 1 or more; treated them as domestic servants. Slavery provided male citizens with leisure for political activity.

 iii. Position of women varied. Sparta: relatively free & outspoken. Athens: more confined & oppressed. Marriages arranged unions of younger woman/older man. Duties of wife: produce & raise kids (esp. sons), weave cloth, cook & clean. Poorly educated.  iv. Little meaningful relationship/equality between men & women, so men sought emotional & intellectual companionship with equals (other men).

 D. Failure of the C/S and triumph of Macedonians  i. Imperial Athens triggered resentment from other Greek C/S, which led to Peloponnesian War( B.C.E.) (Sparta’s alliance vs. Athens’). Persians paid for Spartan navy to defeat Athens.  ii. Spartan arrogance inspired other C/S. The internal conflict allowed Persia to reclaim territory in W. Asia, including Greek cities in Anatolia.

 iii. As Greek C/S declined, kingdom of Macedonia developed as a military power. King Philip used longer spears, cavalry & infantry, phalanx, and siege equipment/catapults.  iv. Philip’s son/heir Alexander (the Great) invaded Persia in 336 B.C.E. and conquered as far as Pakistan – also Egypt. Built an empire maintaining the Persian administrative system, using Persian, Greek, & Macedonian officials, encouraging intermarriage, and presenting himself as successor to the Persian king (and son of Zeus, and pharaoh...) New cities (Alexandria). 33 with no heir.

 A. Hellenistic kingdoms  i. After Alex’s death, empire divided into 3 parts w/Macedonian rulers – Hellenistic Age ( B.C.E.).  ii. Seleucid Kingdom: Mesopotamia, Syria, parts of Anatolia, Iran, Indus Valley... Peripheral area lost by 2 nd cen. B.C.E. Maintained Persian-style administration and Alexander’s institution of Greek-style cities.  iii. Ptolemies: Egypt, sometimes Palestine. Used centralized, well-controlled Egyptian admin/tax systems. Capital: Alexandria. Greek immigration encouraged. Did not build other Greek-style cities or try to change Egyptian lifestyle/language. Resentment of Greek rule meant uprisings common from early 2 nd century on. Last Ptolemaic ruler: Cleopatra.  iv. Antigonids in Macedonia & Greece. Spartans and confederations of C/S resisted Macedonian rule; Athens neutral.

 B. Alexandria  i. Greatest Hellenistic city. Pop of ~1/2 million; Mausoleum of Alexander, Library, Museum. Served as center for politics, learning, & trade. Hellenistic sculpture had a great sense of motion and realism.  ii. Greek city (but in Egypt). Greek residents were citizens, participated in gov’t Assembly & Council. Public baths, theaters, gymnasiums. Also a significant Jewish community.

 C. Great developments in sciences, math, philosophy. Aristarchus: earth goes around sun. Archimedes: Water displacement, etc. Euclid and Pythagoras: geometry. Epicurus: Epicureanism. Zeno: Stoics. Diogenes: Cynics.  D. Hellenization included intermarriage between Greeks & non-Greeks, spread of Greek language & lifestyle, and synthesis of indigenous & Greek culture.

 A. Significance of Persian Empire  i. Largest world had seen. Held together not so much by force but by ability of Persian kings to co-opt local elites & incorporate them into imperial structure.  ii. Persians were masters of PR and represented themselves as benevolent rulers.   B. Changes in W. Asia brought about by the Persians  i. Persian Empire brought dramatic political changes to W. Asia – less significant cultural impact.  ii. Greeks not considered a significant threat until Alexander.

 C. Cultural impact of Greeks  i. Persia was a major factor in Greek political life after 2 centuries of invasion threats.  ii. Alexander’s conquests in W. Asia had a deep, long- lasting cultural effect. Hellenistic kingdoms used Greek soldiers, officers, & administrators and established Greek-style cities. Strong Hellenistic influence lasted 1000 years.