Ancient Greece in a Nutshell

Crash Course #1

Physical Geography of Greece

• The landscape is rocky and mountainous• Communication and transportation is

difficult• Cities developed independently of one

another• A single great empire is impossible!

The Polis

• Polis – (city-state) designated city and its surrounding countryside

• The polis can be governed as a monarchy, aristocracy, oligarchy, tyranny, or democracy – you name it!

• Athens, Sparta, Thebes, and Corinth are among the most powerful polis

Democracy v. Oligarchy • Greek democracies were really expanded

oligarchies• Many Greeks saw democracies as unstable and

violent• Oligarchies allowed for social mobility and gave

passive civil rights on all citizens• Outsiders are excluded from citizenship• Both allow for strong identification with city state

by citizens – I smell nationalism!

The Archaic Age (800-500 BC)A Tale of Two Cities

Sparta Sparta is an oligarchy

ruled by 2 kings and 28 Elders

Conquest is means of economic and agricultural survival

Strong military society

Athens• Aristocracy rules• Civil unrest common

among economically dependent farmers and the aristocracy

• Society emphasizes education and philosophy

More on Athens• Draco establishes the first

Athenian Law Code (621 BC) – now everyone knows the law!

• Solon freed debt slaves and opened the aristocratic assembly to all citizens (594 BC)

• Cleisthenes set up a form of representative democracy by setting up local demes (gov’ts) to connect to the central government – creating a local voice

The Classical Period (500-338 BC)• Pericles made Athens a

cultural center of learning and creativity

• Sophocles and Euripides created plays and dramas

• Socrates analyzed human society and developed new questioning techniques geared towards analytical thinking

• Plato believed the truth lay in the world of ideas

• Aristotle put emphasis on the material world

Persian Wars

• Athens decided to help the Ionians rebel against Persia. Persia gets mad and wants revenge

• Persia begins an all out invasion of Greece – they think Greece would make a nice addition to their empire

The Battles

• Battle of Marathon• Battle of Thermopylae• Battle of Salamis

Wars = Alliances

• Persian Wars forced Greek city-states into military alliances

• The alliances worked so well, they decided to formalize it after the war as a defense.

• The Delian League – naval alliance against Persia

Getting Greedy

• The Athenians took control of the Delian League and turned it into a vehicle for building an empire (for themselves)

• The league was used as a way to exert control and force tributes

• Needless to say, the other city states weren’t thrilled

Peloponnesian War• Tired of the Delian

League, Sparta and some friends go after Athens, sparking a huge civil war

• Macedon sees this happening and sees it as a golden moment to invade – Greece is left weak and unstable from their war.

• Greece falls to Philip of Macedon

Hellenistic Greece• Alexander the Great

(Philip’s son) lays claim to the empire. He gets busy and expands and expands and expands

• As a result of expansion Greek cities become connected with other cities

• Greek culture spread to the Mediterranean and Asia

Hellenistic Philosophy

• Two Schools of Philosophy Develop:– Epicureanism – moderation, self-discipline,

and a quiet life– Stoicism – civic virtue, devotion to duty,

acceptance of one’s lot in life

Ups and Downs

• Trade and international commerce flourish through new communication and transportation networks

• After Alexander’s death the empire is broken up into pieces among his generals

• Monarchies eventually take over the splintered pieces