Ancient Greece review

The Greek City-States

725 B.C. Sparta conquers Messenia. 

1. How did Sparta treat the Messenians? 

M's became helots (peasants forced to work). Each year, Spartans took half of their crops. Helots revolt.

2 What type of society did Sparta create in response to the revolt? 650 B.C. 

Spartans put down a revolt - by Messenians. 

They became a military state.The council of elders provided laws and kings ruled over Sparta's military.

3. How did Athenians avoid major political upheavals? 

621 B.C. 

Draco writes the first legal code. 

moving people to Democracy

4. What economic and political reforms did Solon initiate? 

594 B.C. 

Athenian aristocrats choose Solon to govern. 

Solon outlawed debt and slavery. He allowed any citizen to bring changes against wrong doers. He encouraged the export of grapes and olives.

5. What steps did Cleisthenes take to create a limited democracy in Athens? 

COM 

500 B.C. 

Cleisthenes introduces political reforms in Athens. 

had council of 500, divided into 10 groups depending on who you live not wealth and only males who owned land were considered citizens

6. What advantages did the Greek soldiers have over the Persians? 

490 B.C. 

Athenians defeat Persians in battle at Marathon. Greeks defeat remaining Persian army. 

Persians had light armor and lacked training and Greeks were disciplined and hard skillful strategies

479 B.C. 

7. What were the consequences of the Persian Wars?
Consequences of the Persian Wars With the Persian threat ended, all the Greek city-states felt a new sense of confidence and freedom. Athens, in particular, basked in the glory of the Persian defeat.




Crucible of Civilization


What was the situation in Athens in 508 BC?
pandamonium roamed the streets and ordinary people turned on their leaders in search of freedom and escaping repression.

What class did Cleisthenes come from and what kind of power did this group exercise over Athenians?
brought up to be a ruler
- born in 570 B.C., he was an aristocrat (the ruling class/elite)
- aristocracy ruled Athens

How did Aristotle describe life for most Athenians in the 6th century BC?
- the country was in the hands of a few people, which was better
- no reading and writing
- common people had no say
- often injustice

Where were the great civilizations in Cleisthenes day and how was Greece geographically different than these?
- had many mountains and small islands
- south and east to egypt and persia
- divided into independent "city-states"

What Greek city seemed the most likely to dominate all others politically during Cleisthenes lifetime?
- Sparta
- Spartans brought up to be soldiers; no comfort and lots of discipline

What specific stories inspired Cleisthenes and his fellow Greeks?
- ancient tales and myths
- Homer's the Iliad and the Odyssey; included heroes and struggles

Describe Arete, the Greek ideal or vision of a hero.
what specific stories inspired Cleisthenes and his fellow Greeks?
- ancient tales and myths
- Homer's the Iliad and the Odyssey; included heroes and struggles
describe Arete, the Greek ideal or vision of a hero.
- Cleisthenes brought up to be this
- pursuit a life of greatness and glory through strength and valor
- seize power for oneself and be a real-life hero

What surprising political move did the ruler Pisistratus make in order to consolidate power in Athens?
- he turned to the commoners for support rather than the elite
- lower taxes and free loans

What was Athens' most valuable trading commodity?
- olives for cooking oil
- moisturizer
- soap

What Athenian product that was almost worthless at the time now commonly fetches millions of dollars on the Antiquities market? What were the artisans who made these products main motivation in doing such good work?
- the vase
- their main motivation came from doing each other

How was Hippias a different ruler than his father Pisistratus? What did he do to his father's reforms?
He was a tyrant, He stripped away the citizens' reforms/freedoms

What did Cleisthenes do in 510 BC? How was Greek society in Athens changing at this time?
He tried to overthrow Hippias for power for himself and his family; he succeeded

How had the Olympics changed from their founding to the days of Cleisthenes and how did this festival influence ordinary Greeks?
Ordinary people could participate and get fame

Who did Isagoras turn to in 508 BC to help him overthrow Cleisthenes?
The Spartans

What happened in Athens while Cleisthenes was in exile? What did this do for Cleisthenes?
A revolution, They turned to him to lead them

What did Cleisthenes carve out from the hillside that was near the Acropolis and why did he do this? What was this the beginning of?

A meeting place for all the citizens, To give everyone a say in the government, Democracy



The Grece-Persian Wars

The Greco-Persian Wars (also often called the Persian Wars) were a series of conflicts between the Achaemenid Empire of Persia (modern day Iran) and Greek city-states that started in 499 BC and lasted until 449 BC. The collision between the fractious political world of the Greeks and the enormous empire of the Persians began when Cyrus the Great conquered the Greek-inhabited region of Ionia in 547 BC. Struggling to rule the independent-minded cities of Ionia, the Persians appointed tyrants to rule each of them. This would prove to be the source of much trouble for the Greeks and Persians alike.

Huge and diverse, the Persian Empire was founded by Cyrus the Great (reigned 559–530 BCE). He overthrew the ruling Median dynasty to establish Persian control: his conquest of Lydia and Babylonia vastly increased Persian territory. The Kings of Persia descended from a very small group of families descended from Cyrus' family. Each one was called "the Great King" and was the supreme ruler of the Persian Empire. It is important to remember that the Great King was the central figure of the Persian Empire. His word was the source of religious, legal, and political life. Revolts against the King were ruthlessly suppressed, and the goals of the Great King were universalistic: like the Assyrian and Sumerian Kings before him, the Persian King believed that he was appointed by god to rule the world. During the reign of Darius the Persian royal family had adopted the Zoroastrian religion, according to which there was only one god, Ahuramazda, who controlled all fates.

While 6th and 5th Centuries BCE Persia was huge, Greece was small. Modern scholars estimate the population of the Persian Empire at 70 million people, spread over 1 million square miles of territory. Greece, with about 50 thousand miles of territory, had fewer than 2 million inhabitants. Furthermore, in contrast to the Persian Empire, Greece was not a unified nation or country, but a dispersed group of individual city states, each with its own government. At the time of the Persian Wars the two most powerful states were Athens and Sparta, and they were the ones offering the greatest resistance to Xerxes and leading a small coalition of other city states in resisting the invasion. The Athenians were the primary source of Greek naval power; the Spartans of their land forces.

Democracy and Greece's Golden Age

How did Pericles strengthen democracy?
He increased the number of public officials who were paid high salaries.Used direct democracy

What steps did Pericles take to strengthen the empire and glorify Athens
Pericles used money from the Delian league treasury to make the Athenian navy the strongest. To glorify Athens he also used money from the Delian league to buy gold, ivory, and marble. He higherd sculptors,architects,and artists to make beautiful sculptors surrounding Athens.

What themes were common in Greek tragedy
Love,hate,war,and betrayal were common in Greek tragedy.

What do themes of Greek comedies suggest about the men and women of Athens
Showed freedom of democratic Athens, made fun of politics,respected people and ideas of the time and that women had more power over men

What was Platos vision of the ideal society
Not a democracy,3 groups: farmers,artisans,Warriors and the ruling class

What is the philosophic legacy of AristotleThe introduction of direct democracy, a form of government in which citizens rule directly and not through representatives, was an important legacy of Periclean Athens.

Their values of harmony, order, balance, and proportion became the standard of what is called classical art.

A tragedy was a serious drama about common themes such as love, hate, war, or betrayal.

In contrast to Greek tragedies, a comedy contained scenes filled with slapstick situations and crude humor.

When the Peloponnesian War between the two city-states began, Athens had the stronger navy

The Greeks called such thinkers philosophers, meaning “lovers of wisdom.”

One critic of the Sophists was Socrates.

A student of Socrates, Plato , was in his late 20s when his teacher died.

The philosopher Aristotle questioned the nature of the world and of human belief, thought, and knowledge.

Which of Pericles’ goals do you think had the greatest impact on the modern world? Explain your choice.
He introduced direct democracy which allowed more people to be involved.

What steps did Pericles take to strengthen democracy in Athens?
He increased the number of paid public officials and he introduced direct democracy

What were the battle strategies of Athens and Sparta in the Peloponnesian war?
Athens -
- To avoid land battles with the Spartan army
- Wait to strike from the sea
Sparta -
- Strike from land
- To burn the Athenian food supply

Why do you think some Athenians found the ideas of Socrates so disturbing?
Because they had never been asked to question their own morals
questioned the nature of the world and human belief, scientific method


The Spread of Hellenistic Culture

Astronomy
-The circumference of the earth was determined
-It was revealed that the planets revolved around the sun, not the earth, as previously stated by Ptolemy, a Greek
-The sun was calculated to be 300 times the size of the earth

Math
-The value of pi was estimated
-Euclid made many contributions to geometry (Euclidian geometry)
-Pythagorean theory was established

Physics
-Archimedes designed a screw that was able to pump underground water
-Law of lever
-Lever and pulleys; heavy objects could now be lifted

Philosophy
-Stoicism and Epicureanism emerged; social unity promoted as well as virtuous behavior
-The influences of Socrates. Plato, and Aristotle continued in Hellenistic society

1.As a result of Alexander’s policies, a vibrant new culture emerged. Greek (also known as Hellenic) culture blended with Egyptian, Persian, and Indian influences. This blending became known as Hellenistic culture.

2.Trade and Cultural Diversity Among the many cities of the Hellenistic world, the Egyptian city of Alexandria became the foremost center of commerce and Hellenistic civilization.

3.Another important Hellenistic scientist, Archimedes of Syracuse, studied at Alexandria.

4.The largest known Hellenistic statue was created on the island of Rhodes. Known as the Colossus of Rhodes, this bronze statue stood more than 100 feet high.

5.which hellenistic achievement had the greatest impacts? why?
geometry because it helped in astronomy, architecture and still applies to us today

6.how did trade contribute to cultural diversity in the hellenistic city of Alexandria？
the trade was from all the countries and very diverse

7.how did euclid influence some of the developments in astronomy during the hellenistic period？
the geometry that he wrote about helped eratosthenes and aristarchus calculate the earth size.

8.what did stoicism and epicureanism have in common？
they both have the belief that people should live in peace