LO3 Greece

Citizens and communities: the Greek City-State

Athens 

• the tribal communities of the dark ages began developing into city-states
• Athens made a joke out of Spartans way of life; they thought it wasn't worth living
• Athens had a direct way to the city
• Athens had a free way of life
• more focused on reading and writing
• women couldn't vote or hold office
• free, land-owning white males could vote 
• democracy 

Greek City-states were small places, usually consisting of no more than a town and a few square miles around the country side

• population of town and country were growing
• when they could, they built the towns around a hill that had an acropolis on top

An acropolis is the high fortified citadel and religious center of an ancient Greek town

• from the Athenian acropolis, Athena's temple, the Parthenon, or "place of the maiden," overlooked the whole city
• for the Greeks, the city state was a community where all of the members shared

City States and Citizens

• they first developed at exactly the time that the Assyrians were reaching for power westward from Mesopotamia
• Greece was protected by many miles of land and sea
• there was no universal empire to keep them in order so the city-states struggled among themselves

An Athenian Owl was the slang name for the tetradrachma, because the owl(the sacred bird of Athena) on the other side the goddess wears a worriers helmet

a hoplite was a heavily armed and armored citizen solider of Greece

A phalanx is a unit of several hundred hoplites, who closed ranks by joining shields when approaching the enemy

A monarchy is a state in which supreme power is held by a single (usually hereditary) ruler

An oligarchy is a state in which supreme power is held bu a small group

Triremes were massive fighting vessels with three banks of oars used to ram or board enemy ships

Tyranny was rule by a self-proclaiming dictator 

Democracy in ancient Greece, was a from of government in which all adult male citizens were entitled to take part in decision making
Aliens were any people not from Greece; couldn't vote
Ostracism was when you were banished for 10 years

"Alongside Mesopotamia and Egypt there now appeared a third civilization: that of classical Greece"

In 600 B.C. a poet named Alcaeus wrote "Not stone and timber, nor skill of carpenter, but brave men who will handle sword- and spear-- with these you have city and walls"

Monarchy, Oligarchy, Tyranny, Democracy

• in the earliest times of classical Greek civilization, the communities would become city-states which were ruled by kings
• with this development of government came more types of government
• one was oligarchy meaning "rule by few"
• many city-states in Greece were oligarchy, above all, Sparta
• in city-states with many citizens, it was too hard to have an oligarchy government
• this lead to tyranny
• tyranny didn't last to long before it formed into democracy
• the most successful democratic city-state was Athens

Sparta: The Military Ideal

• the Spartans were descendants of Greeks who had conquered part of the southern mainland
• by the 8th century, they were a minority of landholders
• the Spartan citizens were outnumbered by the non citizens

Helots were non-citizens forced to work for landowners in ancient city-states of Sparta

A Winner in the Heraean Games was a bronze statue of a female runner looking backward

Spartan way of life

• farms were workers by helots
• boys were taking at the age of 7; they were thought manly behavior and reading and writing 
• girls were required to participate in drills and exercises to make them healthy
• state controlled men more than women
• more controlled and organized 
• women couldn't vote or hold office
• monarchy

Aristocrats were members of prominent and long-established Athenian families; rich, powerful landowners 

Differences

• Spartans were based on war
• Spartans were open to ideas Athens didn't like change
• Athens thought Spartans way of life was a joke
• Athens had were a navy base - Triremes were large ramming ships
• Spartans were more on land
• Spartans were independent; made trade harder

"Instead of softening their feet with shoes, his rule was to make them hardy through going barefoot... Instead of pampering them with a variety of cloths, his rule was to habituate them to a single garment the whole year through, thinking that so they would be better prepared to withstand the variations of heat and cold"

Persian Wars

• by the 6th century B.C., the Persians conquered a realm that stretched from the border of India to the Nile and the Aegean
• Nile was for trade, transportation, bathing, irrigation
• by 445 B.C. when peace was made with Persia, Athens was the controlling power of the Aegean Sea
• success was followed by the golden ages 460-430 B.C.

"Where our rivals from their very cradles by a painful discipline seek after manliness, at Athens we live exactly as we please, and yet are just as ready to encounter every legitimate danger."

Map

• Adriatic is above
• to the left is the Ionian sea
• to the right is the Aegean sea
• the peninsula is called Peloponnese