CULTURES OF THE MOUNTAINS AND THE SEA
-Greece Today : country in Southeast Europe
-Greece in Ancient times: a collection of separate lands where Greek-speaking people lived
Geography Shapes Greek Life
-Ancient Greece consisted of a mountainous peninsula
jutting out into the Mediterranean Sea
3 Environmental Factors that shaped Greek life:
1. The Sea
- Greeks lived on or near the Mediterranean Sea,
Aegean Sea, and Ionian Sea
- Sea provided valuable trade routes
- Important because Greece lacked natural resources
such as timber, precious metals, and usable farmland
2. The Land
- Rugged mountains covered 3/4 of Greece
- Mountains divided the land into separate regions
- Rugged mountains made land travel difficult
- Greece had very little farmland
Effect: Greece never had a large population
3. The Climate
- Greece had warm temperatures year round
Effect: Greeks spent much time at outdoor public
events
Early Greek Civilizations
-As the Fertile Crescent became crowded, people migrated to new areas
-Some migrated by land, and others by sea
Early Civilizations in Greece
1. Minoans
- Settled on the island of Crete around 2,000 B.C.
- Powerful seafaring people
- Advanced culture (art, architecture, writing, religion)
- Civilization ends around 1200 B.C.
2. Mycenaeans
- Settled on Greek mainland around 2,000 B.C.
- Capital city of Mycenae was located on a steep ridge
surrounded by a wall that was 20 feet thick
- Around 1200 B.C. they fought the Trojan War
- War against city-state of Troy
- According to legend, the Greeks attacked and
destroyed Troy because a Trojan prince had
kidnapped Helen, the wife of a Greek king
- Civilization collapsed shortly after Trojan War
3. Dorians
- Moved into Greece after Minoans and Mycenaens
- Were less advanced people
- Left no written records during their rule
Epics of Homer
- with no writing, Greeks learned through storytelling
- Homer:Blind storyteller famous for composing
several epics
- Epic: narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds
- Homer’s famous epic, the Iliad, tells the story of
the Trojan War
Greeks Create Myths
- with no writing, Greeks also created stories about
their gods or myths
- Greek gods had human qualities such as love, hate,
and jealousy
- Zeus: the ruler of the Greek god
WARRING CITY-STATES
Rule and Order in Greek City States
The City-State
-The Greek city-state, or polis, becomes formal government
-A polis is a city and its surrounding villages
-Citizens gather in the marketplace and acropolis- a fort on top of a hill
Greek Political Structures
-City-states have different forms of government
- Monarchy – rule by a king
- Aristocracy – rule by nobility
- Oligarchy – rule by small group of powerful people
Athens Builds a Limited Democracy
Building Democracy
- Democracy - rule by the people -developed in Athens
- Ruler Solon gets rid of debt slavery
- Cleisthenes - has citizens make laws
- Only males born in Athens can own property
- School was only for boys in wealthy families
Sparta Builds a Military State
Sparta Dominates Messenians
-Around 725 B.C., Sparta conquers Messenia
-Messenians become helots - forced to farm the land
-The Messenians try to revolt, so Sparta decides to
become stronger
Spartan Daily Life
-Spartan values: duty, strength, and, discipline over freedom
-Sparta forms the most powerful army in Greece
-Boys were taken from home at age 7 and trained for war
-Men served in the army until age 60
The Persian Wars
Battle at Marathon
- By 546 B.C., the Persian Empire (present-day Turkey)
was expanding and conquered several Ionian Greek
city-states in the area
- Persian King Darius the Great defeated the revolting
city-states and wanted to conquer Athens
- In 490 B.C., the Persians sent 25,000 men across the
Aegean Sea and landed at a plain called Marathon
- 10,000 Athenians charged the Persians who
were not as well trained as the Greeks
- Persians lost 6,000 men
- Athenians lost less than 200
- Army leaders chose Pheidippides to run the 26 miles
from Marathon back to Athens to tell the city about
the victory
Thermopylae and Salamis
- Ten years after the Battle at Marathon, Darius the
Great’s son Xerxes planned a huge invasion on Athens
- The Greek city-states were divided and the Persians
found little resistance
- Only Sparta stood up to the Persians
- Athens decided to leave the city and fight on
the sea near the island of Salamis
- Athens was set on fire by Xerxes, but Xerxes’
fleet of ships were sank by Athens
- After Xerxes was defeated, the Greek city-states
formed an alliance called the Delian League and drove
the Persians away from Greece
Consequences of the Persian Wars
1. Greek city-states had new sense of confidence
2. Athens became leader of the Delian League and most
powerful city-state in Greece
3. Athens and Greece enter a golden age
DEMOCRACY & GREECE'S GOLDEN AGE
- For about 50 years from 477 to 431 B.C., Athens advanced in
learning, drama, sculpture, philosophy, and science
Pericles’ Plan for Athens
- Pericles was a respected general who led Athens during
much of its golden age
- Pericles had three goals for Athens:
1. Strengthen the democracy
2. Strengthen the empire
3. Glorify Athens
1. Stronger Democracy
- Pericles increased the number of public officials who
were paid
- Introduced Direct Democracy – form of government
where citizens rule directly, not through representatives
2. Athenian Empire
- After defeating the Persians, Athens took control of the
Delian League
- Pericles used money from the Delian League to build up
the Athenian navy
- caused some city-states to become angry at Athens
3. Glorifying Athens
- Pericles also used money from the Delian League to make
Athens beautiful
- He spent lots of money buying gold, ivory, and marble
- He paid artists and architects to design sculptures and
buildings
- His most famous project was building the Parthenon-
temple built to honor the goddess Athena
Greek Drama
- Greeks invented drama as an art form
- It expressed pride for Athens and honored the gods
- Actors used colorful costumes and masks to act out
their two different types of drama
Tragedy and Comedy
1. Tragedy – a serious drama about love, hate, war, or
betrayal
- featured a main character or tragic hero
- the hero usually had extraordinary abilities, but
had a tragic flaw that caused his downfall
2. Comedy – drama that contained slapstick humor
- often made fun of politics and respected people
of that time
Athenians and Spartans Go to War
- As Athens grew in wealth and power, other city-states
became jealous, especially Sparta
- Both Athens and Sparta believed they had the advantage if
a war occurred
- In 431 B.C., Sparta declared war on Athens
Peloponnesian War
- Peloponnesian War – war between Athens and Sparta
- Athens had stronger navy
- Sparta had stronger army
- Pericles wanted to avoid land battles and wait for an
opportunity to strike Sparta from the sea
- Sparta marched into area around Athens and began
setting fire to crops
- Athens was safe inside the city walls until a plague hit
and killed one third of Athens including Pericles
- This weakened Athens but they continued to fight
Sparta Gains Victory
- Athens sent a fleet carrying 20,000 soldiers to island of
Sicily in 415 B.C.
- The plan was to destroy the city-state of Syracuse,
one of Sparta’s wealthiest allies
- In 413 B.C. Athens was crushed by Syracuse and Sparta
- Athens continued to fight but surrendered in 404 B.C.
- Athens lost its empire, power, and wealth
ALEXANDER’S EMPIRE
- As the Greek city-states were weakened after the
Peloponnesian War, the nearby kingdom of Macedonia sought
to conquer Greece
Philip Builds Macedonian Power
- Macedonia was located just north of Greece
- Its people lived in mountain villages rather than
city-states
- The Greeks looked down on Macedonians because they
had no great sculptors, architects, or writers
Conquest of Greece
- In 359 B.C., Philip II became king of Macedonia and
quickly formed a powerful army
- After building and training his army, Philip began to
invade Greece
- The Greek city-states were divided and soon conquered
by Macedonians
- Philip II was stabbed to death in 336 B.C., and his son
Alexander became king
- Over the next 13 years, he becomes known as
Alexander the Great
Alexander Defeats Persia
- Alexander’s father, King Philip, had wanted to conquer
Greece and the Persian Empire, but was killed before
he could invade the Persians
- In 334 B.C. Alexander led 35,000 soldiers into the
Persian Empire
- 40,000 Persians were waiting to defend their
empire but Alexander attacked first and
smashed the defense
- Persian king Darius III feared defeat so he built up an
army of about 75,000 soldiers
- When Alexander got to Darius’ army, the Macedonians
charged through Persian lines directly toward Darius
- Darius and his army fled
Conquering the Persian Empire
- Darius III decided to offer Alexander all of the land
west of the EuphratesRiver, but Alexander would not
accept
- Alexander set out to conquer all of the Persian Empire
1. Invaded Egypt
- Egyptians crowned him pharaoh
2. Moved into Mesopotamia
- Met Darius at Gaugamela near the TigrisRiver
- Darius fled once again
3. Went into Persian cities and took all valuables
4. Burned the Persian capital to the ground
Alexander’s Other Conquest
- Alexander kept moving east – Why?
1. To find and kill Darius
2. To conquer more land
- Near the Caspian Sea Alexander found Darius already
killed
- He pressed on eastward and conquered land as far east
as India
- In 326 B.C. after fighting for 11 years and marching
11,000 miles, Alexander’s army wanted to return home
- Three years later they had reached Babylon
- Alexander became very sick and died shortly after at
age 32