Ancient Greece

1
Ancient Greece

• Chapter 4 (sec. 1-3, 5)

2
Where is Greece?

• Sunny Greece is 1,500 miles from England.
• Its capital city is Athens
• It is famous for its beautiful beaches and sea!

3
Impact of geography

• Greece consists of mountainous peninsula and
  numerous islands.
• Mountains and the seas are the most important
  geographical influences on Greece.

4
Geography, contd

• The many mountain ranges caused small,
  independent communities to develop different ways
  of life.
• Their size and independence probably encouraged
  political participation within, and war among,
  the different communities.

5
Geography, contd

• Greece has many ports, inlets, and islands.
• The Greeks became seafarers.
• They sailed into the Aegean, the Black, and the
  Mediterranean Seas, making contact with the
  outside world and setting up colonies and trade
  throughout the Mediterranean area.

6
Minoan civilization

• By 2800 BC, a Bronze Age civilization called the
  Minoan civilization was established on Crete.
• The Minoans sailed to southern Greece and Egypt
  for trade.
• Minoan civilization on Crete suffered a
  catastrophe around 1450 BC.
• Some historians believe a tidal wave caused by a
  volcanic eruption on the island of Thera was the
  cause.
• Others believe the civilization was destroyed by
  an invasion of mainland Greeks known as the
  Mycenaeans.

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The first greek state mycenae

• Fortified city in Greece.
• Made up of an alliance of powerful monarchies,
  each living in a fortified center within large
  stone walls.
• The rest of the population lived outside these
  walls.
• One interesting architectural feature is the
  large beehive-shaped tholos tombs, where the
  royal family was buried.

8
Mycenaeans contd

• Mycenaeans had a warrior culture.
• Their murals show the typical occupations of a
  warrior aristocracy hunting and fighting.
• They also developed an extensive commercial
  network.
• Their pottery has been found throughout the
  Mediterranean area.
• They conquered some of the Greek islands, perhaps
  even Crete.

9
homer

• Most famous of their supposed military adventures
  comes to us in the poetry of Homer.
• According to Homer, the Mycenaeans sacked the
  city of Troy, on the northwestern coast of modern
  Turkey, around 1250 BC. Agamemnon, king of
  Mycenae, led them.
• Ever since Schliemanns excavation of Troy, some
  people have believed Homers account is based in
  fact, but no one is certain.
• The Mycenaean states began to fight one another,
  and earthquakes damaged their civilization.
• It collapsed by 1100 BC, after new waves of
  invaders moved into Greece from the north.

10
The greeks in a dark age

• Period from 1100 to 750 BC. In Greece.
• Mainly because few records of that period exist.
• Both population and food production fell.
• Around 850 BC, farming revived and the basis of a
  new Greek civilization began to be formed.
• Many Greeks immigrated to the west coast of
  modern Turkey to Ionia.

11
Dark age contd

• Iron replaced bronze during the Dark Age,
  improving weaponry and farming.
• During the eighth century BC., the Greeks adopted
  the Phoenician alphabet, which made reading and
  writing simpler.
• The works of Homer, one of the worlds great
  poets, appeared near the end of the Dark Age.
• His two great epic poems were the Illiad and
  Odyssey.

12
The Polis Center of Greek Life

• By 750 BC, the polis (city-state) became the
  central focus of Greek life.
• It was a town, city, or village serving as a
  center where people met for political, economic,
  social and religious activities.
• The main gathering place was usually a hill,
  topped with a fortified area called the
  acropolis.
• This was a refuge and sometimes a place for
  religious or other public buildings.
• Below was the agora, an open area for people to
  assemble and for a market.

13
Polis contd.

• There were three classes of people
• Citizens with political rights (adult males)
• Citizens without political rights (women and
  children)
• Non citizens (slaves and resident aliens)

14
Hoplites

• Developed by 700 BC.
• Infantry who carried a shield, sword, and spear.
• Fought shoulder to shoulder in a formation called
  a phalanx.
• This close formation made the hoplites a powerful
  force.

15
Greek Colonies

• Between 750 and 550 BC., many Greeks settled
  distant lands.
• The growth of trade and wanting good farmland
  were two motives.
• Each colony became a new polis and spread Greek
  culture and ideas.
• The Greeks also settled along the shores of the
  Black Sea, setting up cities on the Hellespont
  and Bosporus.
• The most notable was Byzantium, which later
  became Constantinople and then Istanbul.
• Increased trade created a new wealthy class of
  merchants who wanted political power.

16
Tyranny in the City-States

• The creation of this wealthy class led to the
  rise of tyrants in the Greek city-states.
• Tyrants seized and kept power by using hired
  soldiers.
• By the end of the sixth century B.C., tyrants had
  fallen out of favor.
• The end of tyranny allowed new classes to
  participate in government.
• Some city-states became democracies, ruled by
  many.
• Others became oligarchies, ruled by a few.
• Athens and Sparta show the differences between
  these two kinds of government.

17
Athens Contd

• The reformist aristocrat Solon was appointed
  leader in 594 BC. to handle these problems.
• In 508 BC. Cleisthenes became leader.
• He created a new council of five hundred to
  propose laws and supervise the treasury and
  foreign affairs.
• The assembly of all male citizens had final
  authority to pass laws after free and open
  debate.
• For this reason, Cleisthenes reforms laid the
  foundation for Athenian democracy.

18
Challenge of Persia

• Greeks came into contact with the Persian Empire
  to the east.
• The Ionian Greek cities in western Asia Minor
  revolted unsuccessfully against the Persians in
  449 BC.
• Darius, the Persian ruler, sought revenge.
• In 490 BC, the heavily outnumbered Athenians
  defeated the Persians at the Battle of Marathon,
  only 26 miles from Athens.
• By 480 BC, Athenians defeated the Persians again
  becoming the leader of the Greek world.

19
Growth of Athenian Empire

• After the Persian defeat, Athens became the
  leader of the Greek world.
• The Athenians formed a defensive alliance called
  the Delian League, headquartered on the island of
  Delos.
• Under Athenian leadership, the league expelled
  the Persians from almost all the Greek
  city-states in the Aegean.
• The Leagues chief officials were Athenians.
• The headquarter was then moved to Athens.

20
Age of Pericles

• Under Pericles, the prime figure in Athenian
  politics between 461 and 429 BC., Athens expanded
  its empire.
• Democracy and culture thrived at home.
• Period was the height of Athenian power and
  brilliance.
• Pericles turned Athens into a direct democracy.
• Developed ostracism to protect themselves from
  overly ambitious politicians.
• If six thousand assembly members voted so, a
  person was banned from the city for 10 years.

21
The Great Peloponnesian War

• The Greek world came to be divided between the
  Athenian Empire and Sparta.
• Athens and Sparta had built very different kinds
  of societies, and Sparta and its allies feared
  the growth of the Athenian Empire.
• War broke out in 431 BC.

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• Athens planned to win by staying behind its walls
  and receiving supplies from its colonies and
  powerful navy.
• Athens was finally defeated in 405 BC when its
  navy was defeated.
• Its walls were torn down, the Athenian Empire
  destroyed, and the war ended.

23
Decline of the Greeks

• The Peloponnesian War weakened the Greek
  city-states and ruined cooperation among them.
• For the next 66 years, Sparta, Athens, and
  Thebes, struggled for domination.
• These internal struggles caused the Greeks to
  ignore the growing power of Macedonia, an
  oversight that cost the Greeks their freedom.

24
MACEDONIA

• King Philip II became king of Macedonia.
• He admired Greek culture and wanted to unite all
  Greece under Macedonian rule.
• He wanted to form a league with the conquered
  Greek city-states under his control to conquer
  Persia.
• He was assassinated.

25
ALEXANDER THE GREAT

• King Philips son, Alexander the Great, became
  king when he was only 20.
• He had been educated by the great Greek
  philosopher Aristotle.
• He considered non-Greeks equal of Greeks and
  envisioned an unified world.
• Alexander moved immediately to fulfill his
  fathers dream of conquering Persia.
• By 331 BC., He had conquered the Persian Empire
  and established the city of Alexandria in Egypt.

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The Hellenistic Kingdoms

• Alexander created a new age, called the
  Hellenistic Era.
• This era saw the expansion of the Greek language
  and ideas to the non-Greek world of Southwest
  Asia and beyond.
• After Alexanders death his empire fell apart as
  Macedonian generals vied for power.

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Four Hellenistic Kingdoms

• Macedonia
• Syria
• Pergamum
• Egypt
• All were conquered later by the Romans.

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HELLENISTIC CULTURE

• The Hellenistic Era saw considerable cultural
  achievement, especially in science and
  philosophy.
• Most important cultural center was Alexandria,
  home to scholars of all kinds philosophers,
  scientists, and writers.
• Alexandrias library was the largest of its kind,
  with over five hundred thousand scrolls.

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• Founding and rebuilding cities provided
  opportunities for architects and sculptors.
• The baths, theaters, and temples that
  characterized the Greek homeland lined the
  streets of the Hellenistic cities.
• Hellenistic sculptors added realism and emotion
  to the classical periods technical skill.

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• Important advances in mathematics and astronomy
  were made.
• Aristarchus developed the theory that the sun is
  the center of the universe and that the sun
  rotates around the sun.
• Eratosthenes determined that Earth is round and
  nearly calculated the correct circumference of
  the Earth.
• Euclid wrote a textbook on plane geometry, the
  Elements, that was used up to modern times.
• Archimedes was one of the most important
  Hellenistic scientists.
• He established the value of pi and did important
  work in the geometry of spheres and cylinders.
• He invented the Archimedes screw, used in pumping
  and irrigation.

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• Athens remained a center for philosophy.
• It became the center of two new schools of
  thought, Epicureanism and Stoicism.
• Epicurus believed that human beings were free to
  follow their self-interest.
• Following freedom from anxiety that comes from a
  mind at rest.
• Happiness was the goal of life, and happiness was
  achieved by pursuing pleasure, the only true
  good.
• Remove oneself from public life.
• Life could only be achieved by fulfilled when
  centered on virtuous friendship.
• A teacher named Zeno founded Stoicism.
• This school of thought also emphasized achieving
  happiness.
• Happiness was gained by living in harmony with
  the will of God.
• Lifes problems could not disturb a person.
• Regarded public service as noble and did not
  remove themselves from public life.

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Time Line
776 BC     The first Olympic games.
about 750 BC   Early Greek culture. Homer '. writes the epics 'The Iliad' and the 'Odyssey
650 - 580 BC    Corinth is ruled by the tyrant Kypselos and then his son Periander.  
508 BC       Democracy begins in Athens   
490 and 480 BC    Greeks defeat Persian invaders at the battles of Marathon (490 BC)and Salamis (480 BC).
by 450 BC      Athens becomes a very powerful city, and controls an empire.   
472 - 410 BC Greeks theatre thrives in Athens. Many of the most famous Greek plays are written during this time.     

•   

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Time line

•  

462 - 429 BC   Perikles is the popular leader at Athens as the general of the Athenian army   
432 BC    The Parthenon in Athens is finished being built.     
431 - 404 BC      War between Athens and Sparta (the Peloponnesian war)
428 BC    The revolt of Mytilene     
404 BC   Sparta defeats Athens.
338 BC    Philip, king of Macedonia, takes control of Greece
336 - 323 BC   Alexander the Great, son of Philip, conquers most of the known world as far east as India.
146 BC    Rome conquers Greece - Greece becomes part of the Roman empire.