Chapter 2- Ancient Greece &
Rome
2.1- Ancient Greece
I. Early Greek Civilization
II. The Polis: Center of Greek Life
III. Sparta
IV. Athens
V. Classical Greece
VI. The Culture of Classical Greece
VII. Alexander the Great
Early Greek Civilization
The mountains
and the seas
were important
geographic
influences on
Greece
Early Greek
Civilization
Mycenaean
civilization
flourished
between
1600 and
1100 B.C.
Greece then
entered a
Dark Age
when
population
declined and
there was
less food.
Early Greek Civilization
The works of Homer
appeared at the end of the
Dark Age
– The Iliad and Odyssey are
epic poems
– The Greeks regarded the
Iliad and Odyssey as history
– Homer gave the Greeks an
ideal past peopled with
heroes
– Generations of Greek males
used these poems as
models of heroism and
honor
The Polis: Center of Greek Life
By 750 B.C., the
polis, or citystate, had
become the
central focus of
Greek life
– The polis was
the town, city,
or village and
its surrounding
countryside
– The people met
for political,
religious, social,
and economic
activities
The Polis: Center of Greek Life
City-states varied in
size
Most were between
a few hundred and
several thousand
people
Athens was one of
the largest, with a
population of more
than three hundred
thousand by 400
B.C.
The polis was a
community of
people who shared a
common identity
and common goals
The Polis: Center of Greek Life
Greek states
developed different
forms of government
– Some city-states
became democracies,
ruled by many
– Others became
oligarchies, ruled by
the few
– Two of the most
powerful city-states,
Athens and Sparta,
illustrate the differences
The Greeks felt that rights also meant
responsibilities. What might be some
responsibilities of a citizen in a Greek citystate?
Possible answers:
Some responsibilities of a citizen in a Greek
city-state include participating in
government, paying taxes, defending the
polis, and providing for others.
Sparta
Between 800 and 600 B.C.,
the lives of the Spartans
were rigidly controlled and
disciplined
– Boys learned military
discipline, entered the
military at age 20, and
lived in the barracks until
they were 30
– At 30, Spartan males were
allowed to vote in the
assembly and live at
home, but they remained
in the army until the age
of 60
– Spartan women lived at
home while their husbands
lived in the barracks
– Spartan women had more
power than women in
other Greek city-states
– Spartan women supported
Spartan values, expecting
their husbands and sons to
be brave in war
Sparta
Two kings who led the Spartan
army headed the oligarchy
Five men known as the ephors
were responsible for education
and the conduct of citizens
A council of elders, made up of
the two kings and 28 citizens
over 60 years of age, decided on
issues the assembly of male
citizens would vote on
– The assembly did not debate,
but only voted
Sparta closed itself off from the
outside world
– Foreigners and travel were
discouraged
– Spartans frowned upon new
ideas and the arts
– Only the art of war mattered
Athens
A king ruled early Athens
By the seventh century B.C.,
it was ruled by an oligarchy
of aristocrats who owned the
best land and controlled
political life
Near the end of the seventh
century B.C., economic
problems led to political
turmoil
– Many Athenian farmers were
sold into slavery for
nonpayment of their debts
to aristocrats
– Cries arose to cancel the
debts and give land to the
poor
– Civil war threatened
Athens
The aristocrats gave
power to Solon in 594
B.C.
– Solon favored reform
– He canceled the debts
but did not give land to
the poor
– This left the aristocrats
in power and the poor
unable to obtain land
Athens
In 508 B.C., Cleisthenes, another reformer, gained the
upper hand
– He created a new council of five hundred to supervise foreign
affairs, oversee the treasury, and propose laws
– He gave to the Athenian assembly, composed of male citizens,
authority to pass laws after free and open debate
– For this reason, Cleisthenes’ reforms laid the foundation for
Athenian democracy
Classical Greece
Classical Greece is
the name given to
the period from 500
to 338 B.C.
During this time, the
Greeks fought two
wars
– The first war was
against the Persians,
who were defeated by
the unified Greeks
– Athens took over the
leadership of the
Greek world after the
Persian War.
Classical Greece
Athens took over the leadership of the Greek world after the Persian War
Under Pericles, the dominant figure in Athenian politics from 461 to 429
B.C., Athens expanded its empire, while democracy flourished at home
– Pericles created a direct democracy
– Every male citizen could participate in the general assembly and vote on major
issues
– This period was called the Age of Pericles
Classical Greece
The Greek world was divided between the
Athenian Empire and Sparta
– Athens and Sparta had built very different societies, and
they distrusted each other
After a series of disputes, the second war of
Classical Greece, the Great Peloponnesian War,
broke out in 431 B.C.
– The civil war lasted until 405 B.C.
– Athens surrendered when the Athenian fleet was
destroyed.
– The Great Peloponnesian War weakened the Greek citystates and ruined any hope of unity among them.
For the next 66 years, Sparta, Athens, and
Thebes struggled for domination
– These internal struggles caused the Greeks to ignore the
growing power of Macedonia, an oversight that cost the
Greeks their freedom
The Culture of Classical Greece
The standards of classical Greek art
dominated most of Western art history
– Classical Greek art was concerned with
expressing eternal ideals
– The style was based on reason, moderation,
balance, and harmony
– Art was meant to civilize the emotions
The most important architectural form was
the temple
– The greatest example is the Parthenon
built in the fifth century B.C.
dedicated to the patron goddess of Athens, Athena
– The Parthenon exemplifies the principles of
classical architecture: calm, clarity, and
freedom from unnecessary detail
The Culture of Classical Greece
The classical style of Greek sculpture
depicted idealized, yet lifelike, male
nudes
– Greek sculptors did not seek to achieve
realism
The Culture of Classical Greece
The dramas we see today are
the descendants of Greek
drama
– Plays were presented as part of
religious festivals
– The original Greek dramas were
tragedies, presented in trilogies
around a common theme
– Only one complete trilogy
survives today, the Oresteia by
Aeschylus
It tells the story of Agamemnon,
a Trojan War hero, and his
return home
Greek tragedies examined such
universal themes as:
–
–
–
–
the
the
the
the
nature of good and evil
rights of individuals
role of the gods in life
nature of human beings
The Culture of Classical Greece
Philosophy (“love of wisdom”) refers
to an organized system of rational
thought
– Early Greek philosophers were
concerned with the nature of the
universe
– Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle are
considered to be three of the greatest
philosophers of the Western world
The Culture of Classical Greece
Socrates developed the Socratic method
– a question-and-answer format to lead pupils to understand things for
themselves
– based on Socrates’ belief that knowledge is already present within each of us
– The task of philosophy is to call forth knowledge.
– Socrates said “the unexamined life is not worth living.”
– The belief in the individual’s ability to reason was an important contribution
of Greek thought
The Culture of Classical Greece
Plato was one of
Socrates’ students and
considered by many to be
the greatest Western
philosopher
– Plato explained his views
on government in a work
entitled The Republic
– Plato believed that
people could not achieve
a good life unless they
lived in a just and
rational state
– The ideal state has three
groups:
rulers
warriors
commoners
– Led by a philosopherking, men and women
would have the same
education and equal
access to all positions
Plato established a school in Athens
called the Academy
The Culture of Classical Greece
Plato’s most important pupil
was Aristotle, who studied
at the academy for 20 years
– Aristotle had wide-ranging
interests including ethics,
logic, politics, poetry,
astronomy, geology,
biology, and physics
• After studying and
observing existing
governments, Aristotle
found three forms of
government that would
rationally direct human
affairs:
• monarchy
• aristocracy
• constitutional government
• Aristotle preferred a
constitutional government
Philip II
The Greeks viewed the
Macedonians to the north
as barbarians
In 359 B.C., Philip II
became king of Macedonia
– He admired Greek culture
and wanted to unite all of
Greece under Macedonian
rule.
– At the Battle of Chaeronea
in 338 B.C., Philip’s army
crushed the Greeks
– He united the Greek citystates in a league under
his control and planned to
conquer Persia
– Philip was assassinated
before he could fulfill his
goal
Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great, Philip’s son, became king
of Macedonia at age 20.
– 334 B.C.- invaded the Persian Empire
– by 331 B.C.-conquered all of the Persian Empire.