Ancient Greece

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Ancient Greece

• 500-323 B.C.E.

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Questions for Today

• How does family form change with change from
  hunting gathering society to more permanent
  settlements?
• What was the basis for citizenship in Athens
  Greece?
• What are some characteristics of medieval towns?
• How did trade help to spread the plague?
• What is a demographic transition?

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Geography

• Greece is a peninsula about the size of Louisiana
  in the Mediterranean Sea.
• Its very close to Egypt, the Persian empire
  (includes Turkey) and Rome.

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Greek geography

• Greece is mountainous
• Greek communities often times developed
  independently because of the mountains, thus they
  were diverse
• As a result, they fought each other a lot.

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Technology results from necessity

• Since Greek coastal cities were sandwiched
  between the ocean and the sea, they developed an
  awesome navy for trading and fighting.

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Technology results from scarcity

• All cities need fresh water. This is a Greek
  aqueduct, basically a brick water pipe.
• The first aqueduct was Assyrian, but most ancient
  societies had them.

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Terracing saves water and soil in mountainous
environments
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Greek Inventions

• The Greeks invented dice.

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The Greeks were the original Olympiads. Their
scientists studied the best way to perform sports
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Greek Invention

• The Greeks invented the crane.

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Greek Architecture

• Greeks invented arches and columns.
• This obviously took advanced mathematics.

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More Greek Architecture
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Greek Military

• This is a catapult, a Greek invention.
• It could throw 300 pound stones at walls and
  buildings

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Greek Military

• This is a hoplite, a Greek infantry soldier.
• Hoplites were middle-class freemen who had to pay
  for their own weapon and shield.

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Greek Military

• This is a phalanx.
• Soldiers get in a tight box. They each have a
  large shield and a 9 foot long spear.

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Flamethrower!!!!!
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Greek religion was polytheistic.
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Political Athens was the first democracy.

• Democracy type of government where people vote.
• Well, actually, Athens was a direct democracy
  where people vote on everything.
• The U.S. today is a representative democracy,
  where we vote for people to make decisions for
  us.

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Direct participation was the key to Athenian
democracy. In the Assembly, every male citizen
was not only entitled to attend as often as he
pleased but also had the right to debate, offer
amendments, and vote on proposals. Every man had
a say in whether to declare war or stay in peace.
Basically any thing that required a government
decision, all male citizens were allowed to
participate in.
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Remember! If you think the U.S. is so much
better. . .

• Some southern states did not let African
  Americans vote until the 1960s (Voting Rights Act
  1965)
• Women could not vote in the U.S. until 1920 (19th
  Amendment)
• Eighteen year olds could not vote until the late
  1970s.

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Political terms

• All of Greece wasnt a democracy.
• Most of Greece was a monarchy a type of
  government ruled by a king or queen.
• At right is Pericles, a good king of Athens.

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Ancient Cities 1000 B.C. to A.D. 300

• Despite their many differences, stemming from
  their various histories, cultures, locations,
  ancient imperial centers shared several important
  structural characteristics repository of
  knowledge, power, wealth, and control in ancient
  world. Euripedes may all first requisite to
  happiness is birth in a great city notions of
  government, religion, civilization, family, and
  country closely intertwined for the ancients with
  the concept of the city

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Physical Features Ancient City

• Physical features of the ancient cities
  constructed with an eye toward public life
  temples for worship, markets for commerce,
  theaters for entertainment, and for a (plural of
  the Latin for him) for debate/discussion. Built
  environment a reflection of nature of government
  highly centralized/militaristic. Ancient Greece
  partially planned, main roads converging on
  marketplace /temple. Every city fortified,
  surrounded by walls, contain one or more forts
  located in a high place (Acropolis) Like Athens
  center of Rome contained plazas, markets, public
  buildings such as the Forum and Coliseum

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Social patterns in Ancient Cities

• Social patterns substantial wealth available
  only to elite, gain access to benefits that
  society would have to be a member, which in most
  cases meant being a citizen, but access to
  membership was restricted. There was limited by
  gender men had full access to legal rights,
  women badly limited or no access to citizenship
  and few property rights. Second, membership
  limited by descent.

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Social patterns .

• Ancient civilization used patrilineal descent
  systems, male children inherit fathers
  positions, including property and social
  obligations. Precapitalist economy no wage labor
  so no working class small artisan class produce
  necessary items for household consumption. Real
  engine of the economy production of public goods
  and services/slave labor. Slaves by definition
  were excluded from participation in political and
  economic system despite constituting three-
  fourths of population in Athens at its peak in
  fifth century BC.

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Sparta

• Sparta was an isolated city-state that was
  culturally and politically different from Athens.
• Sparta was an oligarchy, government ruled by a
  few. They had 2 kings.
• During the Peloponnesian Sparta sacked Athens.

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Sparta

• Spartan society was obsessed with war.
• Boys were sent to military school at a young age.
• Boys who are born deformed are left to die on
  mountainsides

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Athens

• Athenians were tough but were encouraged to
  engage in activities like art, philosophy, music.

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Alexander the Great

• Alexander was not from Athens, but Macedonia.
• Alexander was a brilliant military strategist.
• His favorite book was Homers Iliad

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Alexander conquered the Persian empire and
controlled the largest empire the world has ever
seen.
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• What happens when cultures collide?

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Alexander spread Hellenistic culture throughout
Asia.

• Hellenistic is a fancy word for Greek.
• Alexander spread Greek technology and ideas
  throughout his empire

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The Roman Coliseum has a strong Hellenistic
influence.
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What buildings in the USA have a Hellenistic
influence?
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Lincoln Memorial
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Any questions before the quiz?
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Greece Quiz

• 1.What is Greeces political contribution to the
  political world (especially the United States)?
• 2. How did geography influence Greeces economy
  and military technology?
• 3. How did Hellenistic ideas spread throughout
  Asia?
• 4. Describe an example of how necessity brings
  about technological change.
• 5. Define monarchy
• 6. Define oligarchy