Chapter 13, Section 1: Pages 310-317Ancient Greece

The Greeks were the earliest people to use voting, over 2500 years ago.

Greek City-States• Political units made up a city and it’s surrounding lands• In the middle of the city-state/fortress or hill called an acropolis (included

temples and other public buildings • City-states were surrounded by high walls• 2 city states:

Athens and Sparta• People considered themselvesMembers of their city-state, not Greeks

Athens V.S. Sparta (brains versus brawn)

Athens V.S. Sparta

• Athens1. __________________2. __________________3. __________________4. __________________5. __________________6. __________________7. __________________

• Sparta1. __________________2. __________________3. __________________4. __________________5. __________________6. __________________7. __________________

Greek Colonies

• Outposts of some city-states• Now modern cities; Naples, Italy and

Marseille, France• Traded goods and shared ideas

The Golden Age of Greece (500-300BCE)

A period of great achievement in Greece.A time of great philosophers, writers, scientists and artists.

Growth in Greek Power

• City-states banded together to fight off enemies of Greece.• Around 500 BCE, Persia (powerful empire in central Asia)

invaded Greece. • Persian army was huge and well trained.• Greeks, led by Athens, defeated Persian army.• 10 years later, Persia invaded again and was again defeated.

Athenian Culture

• Pericles, an Athenian leader in the 400s BCE, encouraged creation of great works

• Ex: The Parthenon temple

Athenian Democracy IN 6.2.2

• Leaders like Pericles were elected• Power was in the hands of the people• Ideas were presented to the assembly– A group of free men who took part in the decision

making.– Ideas were often argued and debated publicly.This was the world’s first democracy which all others were modeled.

Architecture and Art

• Temples, buildings and sculptures done in marble

• Statues were created to look realistic and lifelike.

Science, Philosophy, and Literature

• Scientists studied biology and medicine.• Greek scholars made great advancements in

math and astronomy.• Philosophers, or thinkers wanted to figure out

what made people happy-Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.• Greeks were writers of great stories, poems

and plays.

Decline of the City-States

• War between rivals: Sparta and Athens-went on for years, Sparta won-destroyed several city-states in Greece-thousands of people killed-weakened Greek civilization-Allowed a foreign conqueror to invade and take over Greece. Alexander The Great

Alexander’s Conquests

The Empire of Alexander• Conquered Greece in 330s BCE• From Macedonia• Unified Greece under a single ruler

for the first time.Spread of Greek Culture• Alexander would conquer lands and

encourage Greeks to move there• Built cities throughout his empire;

Alexandria• Greek culture spread and blended

with other cultures• Hellenistic-meaning “Greek-like”

• 336 BCE invaded and conquered all of Greece

• 334 BCE after conquering Greece, set out to create a huge empire

• Extended his empire to central Asia and Egypt

• 325 BCE died at the age of 33 of an illness