1. GREECE

2. Geography
Greece occupies a small area in the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas
Made up of the mainland and numerous islands
Two geographic features played a significant role in developing Greece:
Mountains
Isolated Greeks from one another – different communities develop
However, rivalries between communities led to warfare that devastated Greek society

3. The Sea
Became seafarers who established colonies that spread Greek civilizations
Peninsula = land that is surrounded on three sides by water
Archipelago = a chain of islands

5. Early Greek Civilizations
The Minoan civilization (3000 – 1450 BC)
Established on the island of Crete
Named after King Minos, legendary king of Crete (the Minotaur story)
Used bronze to make weapons
Large palace at Knossos – had basic plumbing
Sudden and catastrophic collapse around 1450 BC

7. Greek City-States
The central focus of Greek life and society was the polis
Polis = Greek city-state
Greeks were fiercely loyal to their polis and regarded themselves not as Greeks, but as members of a particular city-state
Make-up of a polis:
Citizens who had political rights = adult males
Citizens who had no political rights = women and children
Non-citizens = slaves and foreigners

8. Some cities develop democracy = gov’t by the people or rule by the many
Other city-states develop an oligarchy = rule by the few

9. New military system develops
Based on hoplites = heavily armed foot soldiers
Carried a round shield, short sword, and a thrusting spear
Formed a phalanx for protection
Phalanx = a wall of shields created by foot soldiers marching close together in rectangular formation

10. Athens Government structure was a democracy
Direct democracy = vote directly on the issues
Indirect democracy = elect people to vote on the issues in your place

12. Standards for voting = must be a free male over the age of 20 who has completed military training and owns land
Accounts for 10% of the population
Duties of people allowed to vote:
Vote in all elections and serve in office if elected
Serve on juries and in the military during war
Athenian democracy consisted of three main bodies
Council of Five Hundred who proposed laws that would be voted on by the Assembly and supervised both foreign affairs and the treasury

13. Athenian Assembly – composed of all male citizens who were eligible to take part in the gov’t
This assembly voted on and passed the laws
Direct democracy = people participate directly in gov’t decision making and vote directly on an issue
Complex series of courts
Built the Parthenon = a grand temple dedicated to the goddess Athena

15. Women could not own property and always had a male guardian
Chief obligation was to have children
Were expected to stay at home and out of sight, unless attending religious festivals or funerals
Demographics of Athens around 430 BC
150,000 citizens, 43,000 of whom were males with political power
35,000 foreigners – had protection of laws and some responsibilities
100,000 slaves

16. Sparta
Like most city-states, Sparta needed more land, so they conquered neighboring peoples instead of starting new colonies
The Spartans turned these conquered peoples into helots = state slaves
Spartans were now free to spend all their time training for war

18. Spartans decide to create a military state to keep control over the helots
Helots outnumbered Spartan citizens by 7 to 1
Life in Sparta was rigidly organized
Babies were examined at birth and if they were found to be weak, they were put to death
Men
Taught physical toughness by parents until age seven
They then entered a school system designed to teach them combat
At the end of their training, boys were sent into the wilderness and expected to survive

19. At age 20 the boys became hoplites in the Spartan army
Allowed to marry, but had to live in barracks until age 30
Could now live their own lives, but expected to fight with the army when needed
Allowed to vote in the assembly at age 30, retired from the army at age 60
Women
Expected to exercise and raise healthy children
Had greater freedom and power in the household due to separation from their husbands
Could own property

21. Government structure
Was an oligarchy headed by two kings who led the army on its campaigns
Ephors – a group of five men elected each year
Responsible for the conduct of all citizens and education
Council of Elders – composed of the two kings and 28 citizens over the age of 60
Decided the issues that would be presented to the assembly
Assembly of male citizens – voted on the issues
Foreigners were discouraged from visiting and Spartans were not allowed to travel abroad
Kept out dangerous ideas and discouraged new thoughts

22. ATHENS SPARTA Gov’t Type Military State? Who Can Vote? Voting Age?
Life of Women
Peninsula of Attica
Peninsula of Peloponnesus
Democracy
Oligarchy
YES NO
YES NO
Free men who own land
Men in the army 20 30
More freedom and power
Stay inside, have male guardian

23. SPARTA ATHENS Located: Peninsula of Peloponnesus
Gov’t type: Oligarchy
Military state?: YES
Foreigners?: NO
Who can vote: Men in the
army
Voting Age: 30
Women: have more freedom and power
ATHENS
Located: Peninsula of Attica
Gov’t type: Democracy
Military state?: NO
Foreigners?: YES
Who can vote: Free men who
own land
Voting Age: 20
Women: Expected to stay inside, must have a male guardian

24. The Persian Wars Persian emperor Darius decides to invade Greece
(490 BC BC)
Persian emperor Darius decides to invade Greece
First Persian Invasion – 490 BC
Battle at Marathon – Athenians attack the Persians while they are unloading and the Persians retreat
An Athenian messenger runs 26 miles from Marathon to Athens to announce the victory
He dies after delivering the message

25. Second Persian Invasion – 480 BC
Battle at Thermopylae
Greeks are afraid they won’t have enough time to prepare
A group of 300 Spartans decide to hold off the entire Persian army at the mountain pass of Thermopylae
Are successful for several days until a local shows the Persians an alternate path through the mountain and they kill all the Spartans
In 479 BC a large Greek army led by the might of Sparta crushes the Persians, ending the war

28. The Peloponnesian War War between Athens and Sparta
Sparta and allies dominate the land
Athens and allies dominate the sea
Spartans surround Athens hoping for an open battle
Athens avoids any battles on land
Knowing they can’t compete in open battle, they hide behind their city walls, relying on supplies from their navy and colonies
Sparta eventually destroys the Athenian navy and Athens surrenders
The walls of Athens are torn down and the Empire destroyed

29. Costs of the war
Weakened major Greek city-states
Athens nearly destroyed, Sparta exhausted as well
Struggle for power in Greece led to a long cycle of warfare that left all of Greece vulnerable
Ignored the growing power of Macedonia to the north
Loss of freedom

31. Greek Culture Philosophy = the search for wisdom and knowledge
Greek word meaning “the love of wisdom”
Socrates
First of the great Athenian philosophers
Everything known about Socrates comes from the writings of his students
Interested in broad concepts of human life
Best way to learn is to ask questions
Use question-and-answer format to acquire knowledge
Known as the Socratic method

32. Socrates was charged with disrespect for religion and corrupting the city’s children
Thought he caused children to question the actions of the gods
Believed the displeasure of the gods caused Athens to lose the war
Sentenced to death by drinking a cup of hemlock, a poison
Plato
Student of Socrates
His most famous work was the Republic
Gov’t should be led by the people most qualified to make good decisions - philosophers

34. Plato founded the Academy, a school where respected philosophers could teach their students and hold debates
Questioned reality and believed in ideal Forms
Every material object in the world was only the reflection of a perfect ideal
Aristotle
Student of Plato
Emphasis on reason and logic to study the natural world
Reason = clear and ordered thinking
Logic = the process of making inferences

35. Aristotle believed in analyzing through observation and investigation
People should use reason to learn about the world by making careful observations
Influenced the development of science in Europe
History
A systematic analysis of past events, created by the Greeks
The Greeks were one of the first people to write about and analyze the past
Herodotus – First historian, wrote about the Persian Wars

38. Thucydides – considered to be the greatest historian of the ancient world
Included many primary speeches and looked at his sources critically

39. Homer
One of the greatest poets of all times, wrote epic poems based on the Trojan War that became the basis for Greek education system
Epic poem = a long poem that tells the deeds of a great hero
Iliad – tale of the Greek hero Achilles
Odyssey – long journey home of Greek hero Odysseus

41. Greek Drama Used for entertainment, two distinct forms of drama
Tragedies – usually focused on hardships faced by Greek heroes
Comedies – satires, written to expose the flaws of society
Several well-known Greek playwrights
Sophocles – concentrated on the suffering people brought upon themselves
Many of his characters had fatal flaws
Famous play = Oedipus Rex, the story of a king who accidentally kills his father and marries his mother

43. Alexander the Great
Macedonia was a powerful kingdom to the north of the Greek city-states
Philip II reorganized the Macedonian army and adopted the phalanx system
Conquered all of the major Greek city-states except Sparta and became the new leader of Greece in 338 BC, he was assassinated in 336 BC
After his death, his son Alexander came to the throne ( BC)
Alexander was a great military leader and strategist

45. Decided to fulfill his father’s dream of conquering the Persian Empire
Destroyed the Persian army and emperor Darius III fled – he was later murdered by one of his own officers
After this victory, Alexander led his army deeper into Asia
Went and conquered parts of India
When his army refused to go any further, Alexander agreed to go home

47. On his way back home, Alexander fell ill in the city of Babylon and died a few days later
He left no heir, so his generals began to fight for control
In the end the empire was divided among the three most powerful generals
Macedonia and Greece, Persian Empire, and Egypt
Legacy of Alexander
Created new cities, most of them named Alexandria
Built Alexandria as the Greek capital of Egypt – important city which had a famous library
Alexander envisioned a world in which many cultures would live together

49. Made a conscious effort to bring people and ideas from different places together
Encouraged Greeks to move to the Alexandria cities
Created a new type of culture
Blended elements of Greek civilization with ideas from Persia, Egypt, and Central Asia
Created the Hellenistic Era
Hellenistic means “to imitate the Greeks”
Expansion of Greek language and ideas to other parts of the world
Massive spread of Greek colonists to Asia
Alexander’s empire fell apart soon after his death, and the different Hellenistic kingdoms were shortly conquered by the Romans