2SS C2 PO7 I can describe the development of democratic forms of government in Greece.

ANCIENT GREECE

DEFINITIONS

• acropolis - fotress built on a hill

• agora - market place in ancient Greece

• assembly - a law making group

DEFINITIONS

• democracy - rule by the people

• oligarchy - small group of people in control

• majority rule - system by which the decisions supported by the most people are followed

DEFINITIONS

• myth - story passed on from generation to generation

• direct democracy- each citizen takes a direct role in day to day goverment

• peninsula - land with bodies of water on three of its four sides

• city states - city with its own leaders and government

PEOPLE / PLACES

• Minoans - people who lived on Crete under King Minos’ rule

• Mycenaea - ancient city-state; may have destroyed the Minoan civilization

• King Minos - first ruler of ancient Crete

PEOPLE / PLACES

•Homer - Greek poet and author

• Athens - ancient Greek city-state; present day capital of Greece

• Sparta - ancient Greek city-state; rival of Athens

PEOPLE / PLACES

• Pericles - leader who ruled Athens; he instituted direct democracy

• Socrates - Greek philosopher who taught by asking questions

• Plato - Greek philosopher who was a student of Socrates

• Aristotle - Greek philosopher who is considered the greatest thinker of all time

GREECE

•Greece is a small country in Europe.

•Greece is near the Mediterranean Sea.

•The main part of Greece in on a peninsula.

•A peninsula is a body of land surrounded by water on three sides.

GREECE

•The rest of Greece is made up of islands.

•Greece also has many tall mountains. In fact, mountains cover over 3/4 of Greece.

•The mountains and islands made travel hard and trade impossible.

GREECE

•There was no contact with other villages.

•Because of this, the Greeks began to build city-states instead of one country.

MINOANS / MYCENEANS

•The earliest Greek culture can be traced back to two groups: The Minoans and the Mycenaeans.

MINOANS / MYCENEANS

•The Minonans were named after their King, Minos.

•The Minoans lived on the island of Crete, just north of the Mediterranean Sea.

n The Minoan king lived in the capital city of Knossos, in a maze of a palace with 1500 rooms!

MINOANS / MYCENEANS

• Their legacy was as masters of the sea and great shipbuilders.

• They had a strong navy.

• The Minoans grew grapes, grain, and olives and traded with the Greeks, Egyptians, and others in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

MINOANS / MYCENEANS

n Around 1700 BCE, an earthquake hit Crete.

n Much of the Minoan civilization was destroyed.

n The Minoans rebuilt.

MINOANS / MYCENEANS

n Around 1500 BCE, a volcano erupted near the island of Crete.

n Tidal waves followed the eruption. 

n The Minoans might have been wiped out by natural disaster or by war.

n Whatever the cause, around 1500 BCE, this civilization disappeared from the island of Crete.

MINOANS / MYCENEANS

n The next civilization to appear was the Mycenaeans.

n The Mycenaeans worshiped many gods.

n The Mycenaeans built their palaces on hilltops.

MINOANS / MYCENEANS

n The Mycenaeans believed themselves to be great warriors.

n They fought with everyone with whom they came in contact.

MINOANS / MYCENAEANS

n The most famous of the Mycenaean kings was named Agamemnon.

n He was a key figure in the Trojan War.

• The Mycenaeans went to war with Troy because Troy was controlling a trade route and unfairly taxing ships going from southern Russia to Greece.

MINOANS / MYCENAEANS

•The Trojan War

• The Mycenaeans killed the King of Troy and burned the city.

• Then they returned to their homes with Helen, the wife of the King of Troy.

n The Mycenaeans never returned to a peaceful existence.

ATHENS

• Direct democracy• Council of 500:

administer decisions made by Assembly

• Assembly: made of all male citizens; passed laws

• Trial by jury• Athens’ Government ruled

as a democracy. They were the first to ever do this.

ATHENS

• Athens was a very creative city state.

• They believed in a good education (for boys).

• You could go into the army or navy if you wanted to (if you were a boy).

• Athens wanted to control as much land as possible and this led to much war between Greek lands.

SPARTA

• Sparta’s Government was an oligarchy and were led by two kings.

• Remember, an oligarchy is rule by few

SPARTA

• The Spartan government:

• Two kings: led army• 5 Overseers: ran day-

to-day operations of Sparta; had veto power

• Senate: 28 men over 60; elected for life; acted as judges; proposed legislation

• Assembly: all Spartan males

SPARTA

• Sparta was very focused on obedience and war and the people did not have any luxuries.

• Boys did not have to work or be educated but trained to be warriors from a young age.

• Boys had to join the Spartan army.

• Sparta, although more powerful kept itself to itself unless their army was needed.

SPARTA

• Has militaristic values

• Citizens were not permitted to own luxuries

• Children were taught to respect elderly, women, and warriors

PERICLES

•Pericles was the leader of creating democracy in Athens.

•Pericles came to power after banishing all oligarchial ideas from Sparta.

•He increased the number of salaried public officials and promoted a direct democracy.

PERICLES

•Pericles’ democracy had three branches: The Assembly, the Council and the Courts.

PERICLES

•The Assembly was open to every male citizen age 18 and older.

•The Assembly was responsible for making and passing laws.

PERICLES

•The Council was made up of 500 members (50 members from each of the ten geographic areas in Athens).

•The council was responsible for executing the wishes of the assembly. They could not pursue their own initiatives.

PERICLES

•The Courts held jury trials.

•Jurors must be citizens.

•Each trial had 30 jurors, which were chosen out of a pool of 600 people.

•There were two types of trials: smaller and private lawsuits and really important public lawsuits.

•People represented themselves in court and could not appeal the verdict.

PERICLES

•Pericles made the government of Athens stronger by allowing all citizens to work.

•Architects and builders designed and had constructed many buildings.

•Pericles had the Parthenon and the Acropolis built.

PERICLES

•Writers also recorded Athens’ history.

•Early Athenians wrote about the Trojan War, while other writers wrote about the time when Pericles was in power.

•These authors wrote comedies (humorous plays) and tragedies (serious plays where the main character comes to a bad end).

PERICLES

•Scientists also contributed to the workforce by proving that illnesses came from nature and not by punishments of the gods.