The Glory of Greek Civilization Aegean Peoples

Classical Greece 2000B.C. – 200 B.C.

 What

direction is the Aegean Sea from Greece?  2000-1100 B.C. Three major civilizations prospered in the area around the Aegean Sea   

Minoans on the island of Crete The Hellenes on the mainland The Trojans on Troy 

On the coast of Asia Minor

 1700

B.C. – 1400 B.C.  Located on the Island of Crete which is in what direction from Greece?  The term Minoan comes from the name Minos, a legendary king of Crete.  Crete had poor soil and good harbors 

Much of their wealth came from trade

 Ships 

carried goods throughout the lands

Gold, Silver, jewelry, swords, and ivory carvings

 No

large army – instead built a powerful navy to keep sea free from pirates

 Made

clay vases, bronze daggers, gold cups, and other luxury items  Minoans had indoor plumbing with drains  Were skilled at Boxing and Bull Jumping  Most

impressive city = Knossos (on the island of Crete)

 Decline

of this civilization has no known

cause 

 It

Some believe that Hellenes invaded Crete sometime between 1450 and 1350 B.C.

is known however that the Hellenes on mainland Greece had opened direct trading with Egypt and Syria and that such trade would not have been possible if the Minoan navy had still controlled the seas

 After

the fall of Crete, the Hellenes turned their power in other places  They expanded their trade into the black Sea Region  As time passed, these people came into conflict with the people who lived in the city-state of Troy  Between 1200-1180 B.C. two Trojan wars were fought

A

Greek poet named Homer created a long poem about the wars  

ILLIAD Thought to be based on oral or spoken poetry



The Trojan Wars started after Paris, a son of the King of Troy, kidnapped Helen, the beautiful wife of a Greek King. An army of greek heroes, including Achilles and Odysseus, sailed to Troy to rescue Helen. The great battle between Achilles and Hector, prince of Troy, in which Hector is killed, is a high point of the poem. The Greeks finally defeated the Trojans and destroyed Troy



Based on Heinrich Schliemann, Troy as described by Homer, really did exist

 Dorians  Came

in after the fall of Troy when all other Greek city-states were fighting each other  They didn’t write anything down so the Greeks fell into what is known as the Dark Ages

The Classical Age

 Began

around 500 B.C.  Because of the geography, the Greeks DID NOT create one Nation – instead they created many city-states also called POLI 

Independent of one another

 Each   

was governed as it’s citizens viewed best

Monarchy – ruled by a king Aristocracy – ruled by nobles Oligarchy – ruled by wealthy merchants and landowners

 Athens 

chose Democracy

Ruled by the people

 http://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/wor

ldhistory/athens/  Athens

was different from all others – they had democracy

 http://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/wor

ldhistory/democracy/



Males began preparing for their role in the democratic government at 18 Public pledge to defend Athens and Gods  After training for 2 years – enter into active military 

Only after they served in military could they then vote  After 30 he could serve on the Council of 500 



This supervised the army, the navy, and financial affairs

Could also serve on jury (6000 people)  Could also be elected to serve as one of the Ten Generals 



They led the armed forces of Athens

 Not

all people could practice in the democracy   

Woman Slaves or prisoners of war Residents who were not born in Athens

 Athens

is therefore ruled by a MINORITY not a MAJORITY

 Boys   

Grammar Singing and musical instrument Geometry, astronomy, geography, and public speaking

 Also 

were educated to serve the city

trained the body

Participated in sports 

Wrestling, swimming, running, and throwing the javelin and discus

 Girls 

 

Taught to be good wives and mothers Weaving, household management, and the care of children Married between age 14 and 16

 What

is culture?  What does it mean to have culture or to be cultured?  Arts

and Sciences  Talented people came to Athens to learn – what does this tell us about the culture of Athens?  Artists,

architects, sculptors, dramatists, philosophers, mathematicians,

Socrates Plato Aristotle

 Wrote   

Aeschylus Sophocles Euripedes

 Wrote 

plays called Tragedies

comedies

Aristophanes

 Herodotus 

Wars between Greeks and Persians

 Thucydides 

Peloponnesian War

The Military State

 Cared

little about democracy or the arts  Most of their interests were around military matters  Government became organized around 600 B.C.  Strongest military power in all of Greece  Ignored

all other city-states

Elected two kings every 9 years  A council of elders and an assembly of free Spartans advised the king 

Council of elders = 28 men over the age of 60  Assembly of free Spartans = men over age 30 



Ephors held real power This was a committee of 5 people elected every year by the assembly  Closely watch the actions of the king  Control education  Supervise slaves 



Spartan people only lived to served the needs of the government



All males are professional soldiers Spent childhood training for the military  Most of adult life in the army 



All boys, starting at age 7 moved away from home to a military training camp 



Men required to marry at the age of 30 in order to start having a family 



Here they were taught how to be good Spartans

This gave the government more soldiers!

Men stayed in the military and did not live at home with their wives until after they were 60 years old

 Received

no formal education  Taught to be healthy mothers  Had more legal rights then other woman in other city states  Had legal rights equal to men

 Not

allowed to participate in trade or manufacturing 

People who were not citizens did this for the Spartans

 Spartans 



owned farms

Helots = non Spartan slaves Helots do all of the work on the farms

 Mainly  Very,

agriculture with very little trade

very harsh life

 During

5th century B.C. – The Greek city-states are defeated twice by the Persian empire

 Greeks 

tried to fight the Persians

The unite under the leadership of Athens

 They

defeat the Persians

 However,

now all of the city-states begin to fight one another 

Disaster for all of Greece

 522B.C. 

– Persian empire controls Middle East

This includes many Greek City-States in Asia Minor

 Darius

= King of Persia  City-States in Greece rebel against Persia in 499 

Athens sends ships to help – this angers Darius

 Darius

decides to conquer Greece and punish

Athens  To

defend themselves, Athens and Sparta form an alliance

 490

B.C.  Athenian army defeats the Persians 

The Persians outnumbered the Athenians

 Runner

was sent 25 miles to report the

victory 

This is why we run marathons =)

 Darius

is forced to withdraw from Greece

 Xerxes  480

= Son of Darius of Persia

B.C. – Xerxes attacks Greece

 Persian

forces outnumbered the few hundred Spartans

 Persians

capture Athens and set fire to it

 BUT

the Athenians fight back at sea and defeat the Persian navy in a battle at Salamis 

Persians leave for home a year later

 This

victory saves the freedom of the Greek CityStates 

To prevent further attacks by Persia the city states organize themselves into a lose alliance called the Delian League

 Glory

and power come to Athens  Pericles leads Athens 

Makes a beautiful city 

Temples and other buildings

 Parthenon 

Honored Athena

 Wrote

new laws that made the government even more democratic

 Called

the Golden Age of Greece

 Athens

tries to use the Delian League to build an

empire  

It didn’t work because the city-states were forced to pay taxes and give land to Athens Led by Sparta the others rebelled

 431-404

B.C. = Sparta and Athens are fighting to determine who would control the Peloponnesian Peninsula  

This is southern Greece Sparta wins this and gets the Peloponnesian Peninsula 

They end democratic government in other city-states

 But

Sparta is very weak

 City

state of Thebes, with help from Persia, defeats Sparta 

But the other city-states won’t accept Thebes as the ruler

 All

other city states are destroying themselves

 King

Phillip II of the kingdom of Macedonia take power 

He unites the city-states by force and Greece and Macedonia become one kingdom

 King

Phillip II of Macedonia was murdered after conquering Greece 

His son = Alexander the Great, he becomes king

 Alexander

the Great leads Greece into a new Era called the Hellenistic Age

 Country

North of Greece  Most people are herders and farmers 

Little interest in learning

 King

Phillip prevents them from killing one another 

 

Unifies the people as a nation Creates a powerful army Teaches them to fight in large, heavily armed formations called phalanxes

 Phillip

Greeks 

wants them to have the culture of the

He brings Aristotle to Macedonia to give his son an education

 After

he conquered Greece, Phillip organizes the city-states into the Hellenic League 

Only Sparta is not a member

 The

city-states could govern themselves as long as they gave Phillip military support

 Phillip’s

dream was to conquer the great Persian empire – but he was murdered before he could accomplish this

 Instead,

his son, Alexander the Great does

 334

B.C. – Alexander the Great begins his conquest of the Persian Empire  Also takes over Egypt, the Middle East, and the Indus River Valley  By

324 B.C. Alexander the Great rules over one of the largest empires

 Alexandria

of Egypt develops into one of the most important cities of the entire empire 

Major learning and trading center

 Those

who settled in the area were encouraged to marry Persians, Egyptians, Syrians and others who were native 

This begins to unite the cultures

 Very

wealthy cities  Amazing temples, government buildings, and theaters  Scholars,

artists, scientists, and merchants all venture here to expand their minds

 323

B.C. Alexander dies at the age of 33  His great empire is divided among his strongest generals who makes themselves kings   

Macedonia Syria Egypt

 City-States  The

are independent again

culture remained and grew and was picked up by the Roman civilization as they gained more and more power by 200 B.C.

 Olympic

games which originated in Athens

 Drama  Architecture

 Philosophy  Geometry  Physics  Most 

important = democracy

It has shaped many of the great nations of the world, including ours