The Origins & Environment Classical Greece
Jan 02, 2016
Little know about civilizations of Greece from 1200-800 BCE
Left no written recordsOnly fragments of pottery
800 BCE new civilization beganLived in same environmentSame crops, livestock, resources to build homes
and make tools, used harbors to tradeSome differences:
Iron was common in 800BCEUsed marble for sculpturesWritten language similar to modern day Greek
Classical Greece (800BCE)
Political organization linked to conditions of environment
Very mountainous, few major rivers, travel was difficult , communities were isolated
Communities developed into Polis – “city-state”Each city-state had it’s own
GovernmentLawsMoney
Farm products were important part of economyTraded with and went to war against other city-
states
Classical Greece (800BCE)
Corinth, Eretria, Thebes, Athens and Sparta had existed for centuries
As they grew the environment couldn’t support populations
Small pastures did not produce enough foodSome families had to leave their city-state
(700-500BCE)Established new home colony (colonies)In Europe & AsiaTook flame and bottle of earth from old home
Classical Greece (800BCE)
Mainland city-states traded oil, pottery and wine for timber and grain
~500BCE two powerful city-statesAthensSparta
Classical Greece
Divided into +100 city statesMost land east of Aegean Sea ruled by one
KingCyrus of Persia
Also controlled city-states in Asia Minor
Athens and Sparta
499BCE Miletus Rebelled (Asia minor city-state)Persians crushed rebels even with help from Athens
and EretriaPersians burned down Miletus and EretriaAttempted attack on Athens
Athenians won even though outnumberedGreek city-states must UNITE against Persia
30 city-states united (formed an alliance) against PersiaAthens and Sparta were part of this alliance
Others surrendered to PersiaWar ended in 479BCE victory for Greek allies
Athens and Sparta
Next half century lived in peace under Athenian leadership
Delian League Delos –the small Greek island where league’s
members first metSparta was not part of league
Peloponnesian LeagueSparta was part of this league with other city-states of Peloponnesian
Peninsula
Athens and Sparta
431BCE – war between Athens and SpartaQuarrel between Corinth and AthensWar lasted for yearsNeither side able to defeat the other Athens had a strong navy
404BCE – Sparta and Persia made a dealExchanged gold for Sparta surrendered to Persia Gold was used to strengthen the navyThis allowed Sparta to defeat Athenian navySparta blocked Athens from getting suppliesAthens surrendered Sparta defeated the enemy that was previously the ally.
Athens and Sparta
People’s life was influenced byPhilosophersPoetsPlaywrightsScientistsPolitics
Believed Athen’s was world’s first example of democracyGreek word meaning “ruled by the people”
Strong feeling of community in AthensResponsibility was on leaders and people
Athenian Government
Male citizens played a role in city’s governmentEvery month any man could speak in front of the
CouncilThe Council was 500 members who served a term
of one year (chosen by a lottery)Any man could be put into the lottery Every committee was made up of ~ 10 men
Tax collecting, street cleaning, policing One committee elected
Military affairs – needed trusted experienced soldiersMost famous soldier was Pericles
Athenian Government
Not all people had equal rights Women, slaves and foreigners could not speak before Council, be a
member or vote Women
Age 15 were considered ready for marriage – arranged by their father Spent days managing household Some skilled potters and weavers
Slaves Prisoners of war, children of slaves, poor outsiders Some extremely difficult lives working in silver mines Most were household servants (cooked, cleaned, watched children Worked at trades, some ran own shops Some paid small wages – only some bought freedom 40% of Athenians were slaves
The role of slaves and women allowed men to live lives discussing philosophy and politics
Athenian Government