2.1-2.5, recap

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AGE 2. The Time of Greeks and Romans

2.1-2.5 Recap

2.1 Ancient Greece: the start of European civilisation.

The Greek city states

• What is a civilisation? > highly developed society
• Greek cities > really powerful that they also controlled surrounding lands > these cities became independent states, with their own government, coins and army. 
• Such a city is called a city-state. The Greek word for this is polis (plural: poleis). 
• These poleis would act as small countries.
• Not all poleis were exactly the same 

In China the priests wrote on turtle shells.

source 2.1.4

The Acropolis of Athens, painted by Leo von Klenze (1846)

source 2.1.5

Athens, 2018

Trading across the Mediterranean

• Merchants > people that sailed from harbour to harbour to buy goods cheap and sell these goods elsewhere for a lot of money. 

• The sea was the Greek highway and the main form of transporting goods

source 2.1.6

A trireme: a warship with three rows of rowers (present-day replica).

Classes in ancient Greece

In history we call groups of merchants the middle class. People who only work and do not have a lot of wealth are called the lower class. People with the most property, the rich and powerful, are called the upper class. This class owned land and made money by selling woods and crops from the land, or renting out land. Of course they did work with traders, but they said the land was their source of income.

source 2.1.7

Greek trading routes across the Mediterranean Sea

source 2.1.8

Terracotta neck-amphora (jar) 

ca. 540 B.C.

Free men and foreigners

• Not everyone is equal > social layers
• In Athens you have: citizens, foreigners (metoiks), free man and slaves

• Metoiks were the people born in a different polis > not allowed to own land or have a say in politics.

• Free man > allowed to own land or run a business, but not rich enough so no say in politics.

• The rights that women had depended on the polis where they lived: in Sparta they were allowed to own land and run a business, but in most city-states they were not.

source 2.1.9

Men discuss politics in the Athenian Agora (colour lithograph), Herget, Herbert M. (1885-1950), National Geographic Creative

source 2.1.10

Drinking cup (490-480 BC)

Women in the ancient Greek world had few rights in comparison to male citizens. Unable to vote, own land, or inherit, a woman's place was in the home and her purpose in life was the rearing of children. 

Slaves

• Bottom of the social pyramid
• Rights depended on the polis > some more important than others
• Teachers, advisors > well educated and expensive.
• Work hard in fields or mines 
• Both scenarios no freedom!

• How do you become a slave?
• Too much debt,
• Birth,
• War prisoners.

Slaves could always be sold again. Sometimes slaves could even buy their own freedom: in this case they became free men.

2.1.11

A painting of slaves working in a silver mine (5th century BC).

2.2 Ancient Democracy

Greek politics

Democracy started in ancient Athens.

Each polis had its own government.

The Greeks had different systems to govern a polis. They would name those systems by describing who had the power. 

Kration = power

People (demos) in power? > demokration

Elite (aristos) in power? > aristokration 

source 2.2.1

Greek politics was only for men. Women were not allowed to take part of elections or assemblies.

Modern illustration

source 2.2.2

The pillars of democracy. Four conditions for a good functionaing modern democracy. Modern illustration.

Assemblies

Every polis had a general assembly, where all citizens gathered. This general assembly was called the ecclesia. 

• In Athens, the ecclesia was the highest power. 
• At least 6,000 citizens were required to make a decision or it would not count. The idea of general assemblies is that everybody who is affected by the decision should be involved in it.

The boule > everyday governing by a council of 500 citizens. 

source 2.2.6

A bouleuterion was a building in ancient Greece which housed the council of citizens (boulē) of a democratic city state. These representatives assembled at the bouleuterion to confer and decide about public affairs. 

source 2.2.5

A scheme of ancient Athenian democracy.

Elections in Athens

Like in our modern democracy today, the Athenians had elections, for example: They thought jobs that required a special skill were different from political jobs. So ship captains and generals (called strategoi) would be elected.

• Voting system called ostracism after broken pottery shards > ostrakon

• Banned from Athens for 10 years
• When people do a bad job, are too powerful or cannot be trusted 
  

source 2.2.7

A bust of the famous Athenian general Pericles (Roman copy after a Greek original from the 5th century BC).

source 2.2.8

An ostrakon with Pericles’ name on it (5th century BC).

Pericles info

2.3 Greek Culture

Greek games

• The Olympic Games > in honour of Zeus
• Big sporting event > only men in the nude
• In some poleis only men were allowed to watch
• Started in 776 BC, once every four years
• Three other Pan-Hellenic games > big occasions for all of Greek
• All of them in honour of the gods

 

source 2.3.3

The Olympic flame lighting ceremony at Olympia, Greece, 2003

source 2.3.2

A sporting event on a Greek vase.

Greek architecture

• To honour the gods, the Greeks constructed temples > decorated with stories from victories or mythology. 

• Also constructed theatres: semicircles around a stage.

• Making it easier > building a theatre in a natural place

source 2.3.9

Greek theatre in Pargamon. The  rulers of Pergamon wanted to show they were very cultured (3rd century BC).

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The Parthenon, a temple on the Athenian Acropolis. Its construction began in 477 BC.

Greek theatricals

• Speech with a little flair > SUPER IMPORTANT!
• Lots of debates in politics > professional speakers
• Philosophers made a living with thinking an talking: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle
• Even have researchers! Like Eratosthenes who calculated the circumference of the Earth.
• Not everyone agrees with philosophers > debating or writing plays
• Euripides > plays that ridicule politics or philosophy: comedies.
• Tragedies > doesn't end well for humans

source 2.3.11

A play is being performed in a Greek theater. 19th century illustration

source 2.3.10

The Death of Socrates, by Jacques-Louis David (1787). Socrates was visited by friends in his last night at prison. His discussion with them gave rise to Plato's Crito and Phaedo.

2.4 Greece at war

Modern armies

An army consists of several branches:

• infantry: common soldiers (foot soldiers)
• cavalry: soldiers on horseback (nowadays tanks and armored vehicles)
• artillery: soldiers who operate large cannons (formerly catapults and archers)
• navy: soldiers at sea on warships
• air force: soldiers in airplanes

Modern soldiers are often professional soldiers. This means that being a soldier is their job, 365 days a year.

modern Chinese army on parade. The soldiers belong to the infantry.

In the background are armoured vehicles.

Ancient warfare

• Soldiers were not professional soldiers > citizens with a regular job, in wartimes soldiers.
• They paid for their own weapons and equipment and went to battle. 

• The Greek soldiers are called hoplites, named after their large round shield, the hoplon.

• Only citizens who had enough money to buy their own equipment could be a hoplite. So poor people and slaves were never hoplites.

Who were the Persians?

The Persian Empire >  largest and most powerful empire in the world at the time of the Persian Wars. 

Darius I ruled as king of Persia. People later called him Darius the Great because he strengthened and expanded the Persian Empire. 

Darius put down many uprisings (opstanden) and fought several foreign wars. He also organized the empire and ordered many building projects. 

Darius I, king of Persia, is shown in a carving from Persepolis. Persepolis was a city in the ancient Persian Empire.

Why did the Persians attack Greece?

-The Ionian Revolt

The Ionians were Greeks that lived along the west coast of Turkey (the Ionian Coast). 

The Persians conquered these Greek colonies and the Ionians revolted (opstand komen) against king Darius.  

They asked Athens and other Greek cities for help. 

Several Greek cities sent ships and weapons, but they were defeated by the Persians.

King Darius wanted to take revenge and attacked Greece

The burning of Sardis during the Ionian Revolt of 498 BC. From the book: Hutchinson's History of the Nations, published 1915.

Which battles were fought?

1. The battle of Marathon (490 BC)

The Persians had a large army and fleet'

The Persian fleet landed at the Bay of Marathon, close to Athens

The Persians had a lot more soldiers, but they underestimated the fighting capability of the Greeks. 

The army of Athens routed the Persian army killing around 6,000 Persians and only losing 192 Greeks.

The Persians fled back to Persia > 

Persia = lost

The burning of Sardis during the Ionian Revolt of 498 BC. From the book: Hutchinson's History of the Nations, published 1915.

Which battles were fought?

2. Battle of Thermopylae (480 BC)

The son of Darius I, King Xerxes, decided to get his revenge on the Greeks 10 years later. This was the second Persian invasion.

The Greeks put together a small force, led by the Spartan King Leonidas and 300 Spartans. 

They met the Persians at a narrow pass in the mountains called Thermopylae. 

The Greeks were winning until the Persians ambushed them from behind.

The Greek army could flee, because of the Spartans and Leonidas > They fought to the death, killing as many Persians as they could.

Greece = lost

modern illustration of the Battle of Thermopylae

Which battles were fought?

3. Battle of Salamis (479 BC)

The Athenian fleet, was waiting off the coast near the island of Salamis, while Athens was deserted (verlaten)

The much larger Persian fleet attacked the small Athenian ships. 

The Athenian ships, called triremes, were fast and maneuverable. 

They rammed into the sides of the large Persian ships and sunk them. They soundly defeated the Persians causing Xerxes to retreat back to Persia.

Persia = lost

The Battle of Salamis, modern illustration

The effects of the Persian Wars

As a result of the Persian wars, most of the Persian fleet was destroyed.

The Persian army retreated from Greece.

Greek poleis fought against each other > but not if they had a common enemy (Persians)

Persia was defeated, so the poleis fought amongst each other again > no peace after the Persian war!

The Battle of Salamis, modern illustration

2.5 Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great

• The Greek philosopher Aristotle gave him lessons > But his interest was war. 

• His father conquered all city states except Sparta

• King at 19 years old > won the trust of nearly all Greek city states.

• He brought together a large army and invaded the Persian Empire

• He freed the Ionians from Persian rule and made them his allies.

Alexander conquers the Persian Empire

Here is the order of his conquests:

• First he moved through Asia Minor and what is today Turkey. 
• He took over Syria defeating the Persian Army at Issus and then laying siege to Tyre.
• Next, he conquered Egypt. Near the Nile River he founded the city of Alexandria.
• After Egypt came Babylonia and Persia, including the city of Susa.
• Then he moved through Persia and began to prepare for a campaign in India.

Alexander leads his army into the battle at the Granicus river. Modern illustration

 Alexander had  one of the largest empires in history > He became "king of Asia". 

However, his soldiers were ready to revolt. > They wanted to return home to see their wives and children. Alexander agreed and his army turned back.

Death of Alexander

• He made it back to Babylon where he became suddenly sick and died > many suspect from poison. 
• He didn't have children so his empire was divided amongst his generals.
• They ended up fighting each other as the empire fell apart.

The Hellenistic Period and the end of Greece.

• Alexander built colonies and cities modelled after Greek cities in Asia > He left behind Greeks to rule these cities. 

• Many Persians adopted the Greek way of living. They learned the Greek language, worshipped Greek gods and read Greek literature.

• Alexander also adopted Persian things. For instance, he began to wear Persian clothing and he brought Persian soldiers into his army.

• Hellenistic Period  = The Period of Alexanders' rule, because the Greek culture spread so widely 
• Hellenistic means “Greek-like”. 
• Mix of both Persian culture and Greek culture

In 146 BC this period ended. A new power had emerged in Italy; Rome. The Romans conquered Greece in 146 BC.

Persian warriors, as seen on a part of the wall of Babylon, from before the 4th century BC.