Chapter 7 The Greek Adventure

1
Chapter 7The Greek Adventure

• Three epochs of ancient Greek history
• Mycenaean Age
• Hellenic period
• Hellenistic Age

2
Geography and Political Development
3
Geography and Political Development

• Little suitable land, no large flat areas for
  large-scale farming
  
• No place is farther than 80 miles from the sea
• Has always been easier to travel and trade by sea
  than by land
  
• Geography also encouraged political
  fragmentation
  
• Own sense of community and identity
• Only secondarily shared common culture and
  language

4
Mycenaean Civilization

• Mycenaeans were nomadic Indo-Europeans, settled
  into towns
  
• Our knowledge comes from archaeological
  excavations and epic poems, the Iliad and the
  Odyssey
  
• Trojan War probably caused by Mycenaean trade
  rivalry with Troy
  
• Minoan culture was wide-ranging empire
• Both partner and rival of Mycenaeans
• Mycenaeans destroyed settlements
• Minoan civilization disappeared
• Mycenaeans engaged in extensive internal warfare
• Fell to the Dorians
• Dark Ages then began as culture declined

5
Early Hellenic Civilization

• The Polis (pl poleis)
• Community of adult free persons making up a town
• Could be any size Athens had nearly 300,000
  population
  
• Each polis saw itself as political and cultural
  unit, but also as part of distinct Greek
  culture
  
• Polis was the frame of reference for all public
  life

6
Early Hellenic Civilization

• Not everybody was a citizen
• Women were excluded
• Many resident aliens
• Many slaves
• Included only free males over age 20
• Each polis had roughly same economic and
  demographic design
  
• Town of varying size, surrounded by farms,
  pasture, woods
  
• Artisans, traders, import-export merchants,
  intellectuals, artists etc.
  
• Most Greeks were peasants, workers

7
Athens and Sparta

• Two poleis dominated Greek life and politics
• These came into conflict
• Four types of government known to the Greeks
• Monarchy
• Aristocracy
• Oligarchy
• Democracy

8
Early Athens

• Original monarchy forced aside by aristocrats
• Aristocrats gave way to oligarchs
• Most important oligarch was Solon
• Oligarchs gave him supreme power to deal with
  discontent
  
• He established a constitution
• Pisistratus made himself sole ruler, gave
  concessions to common people
  
• Cleisthenes
• True founder of Athenian democracy
• Believed the people should have the last word in
  their government

9
Athenian Democracy

• Ekklesia town meeting
• All free male Athenians, met on ad hoc basis
• All could speak freely
• All could be elected
• Boule
• Council of 500 citizens, served 1-year terms
• Day-to-day legislature, executive
• Supervised civil and military affairs
• All male citizens would serve at least one term
• Deme
• Territorial unit
• Could select certain number of boule members

10
Athenian Democracy

• Ostracism
• Pushing out of citizen who did not conform to
  will of others
  
• Person had to go into exile, lost all rights of
  citizenship
  
• Democracy
• Was actually a very abnormal system of
  government
  
• Quite daring when introduced
• Not used again until 18th century
• Probably some poleis adopted similar governments
• There was resistance even within such poleis

11
Spartan Militarism

• Sparta differed from Athens in almost every way
• Messenian Wars Sparta fought with nearest
  neighbors, won
  
• Defeated people became near-slaves helotry
• Sparta became nation of soldiers and their
  helpers
  
• Economic needs largely met by captive helots
• Worked the fields, did all crafts, commerce
• Spartans devoted all their energies to military
  arts
  

12
Spartan Militarism

• Spartans held arts in contempt, rejected
  individualism
  
• Public life meant total obedience
• Government headed by ephors elected officers
• Most Greeks admired Spartan way of life
• Self-discipline, courage, rigid obedience,
  physical vigor
  
• Single-minded patriotism
• Sparta was conservative, non-aggressive state
• Army was so large, feared, that rarely had to be
  used
  
• Actually became peaceable polis

13
Persian Wars

• Through 5th century, Athens and Sparta were both
  concerned with keeping independent of foreign
  threat Persia
  
• First Persian War
• Athenian victory
• Athens went to aid of rebellious Persian
  colonies
  
• Persian emperor Darius sent army to Greece
• They were defeated at Marathon in 490 BCE

14
Persian Wars

• Second Persian War
• Even more decisive Greek victory
• Other poleis helped Athens
• Spartan troops defeated Persians at Thermopylae
  in 480
  
• Athenian navy defeated Persians at Salamis
• By end of these wars, Greece had decisively
  turned back Persia
  
• Crucial turning point for western civilization

15
Peloponnesian War431-404 BCE

• No harmony among Greeks after Persian Wars
• Athenians under Pericles in conflict with
  Corinth, a Spartan ally
  
• When Sparta defended them, Pericles responded
  with war
  
• Athens thought they could defend against Sparta
  indefinitely
  
• War was an intermittently fought deadlock
• In 404 Spartans defeated Athenian navy with
  Persian help
  
• War was actually a loss for all concerned

16
Final Act in Classical Greece

• Greeks continued to fight intermittently for two
  generations
  
• Macedonians took over from north
• Philip of Macedonia turned it into effective,
  aggressive state
  
• Took over most of mainland
• City states became provinces of Macedonian
  Empire
  
• From now on, Greece would almost always be under
  foreign rule