unit 3: ancient greece

study guide and extra questions from the quiz

balkan peninsula

a large peninsula in southeastern Europe containing the Balkan Mountain Range, surrounded by the aegean, Adriatic and ionian seas

cephissus river

on athens, where they get their resources

euratos river

on sparta, where they get their resources

Minoans

first identifiable greek people

mycenaeans

replaced the Minoans

military culture

Mycenaeans had a sophisticated... we know this from homeric epics

800 BCE

beginning of the greek archaic age

greek literature

greek archaic age produced the first...

a city, a city's walls, and the farmland around a city

a city state refers to...

justice

abstract concepts such as... first arose in the greek polis

sparta

due to the scarcity of resources few cities could afford to maintain a standing army except....

oligarchs

group of people that rose to power during the social and political changes in 8th and 7th century Greece

Lycurgus

created the spartan constitution

Draco created which famous document

the draconian constitution

harsh

draconian constitution was knows for being execptionally...

archaic Greece

population grows, more food production, trade flourishes, building ships, greek literature, Homer's epics

polis

city-state, also the sense of community and government

pan-hellenism

shared sense of greekness; displayed in the olympics and the oracle at Delphi

hoplites

"shield warriors"; wealthy peasants/citizen farmers, creates the expectation that everyone fights

pesistratus

athens first tyrant, earns enough money from silver mines to feed all of athens

hippias

last tyrant of all of Greece, son of pesistratus, brother was murdered so he became paranoid and ruled very harshly and then was assassinated

Athenian oligarchy

60 aristocratic families, 3 archons elected annually, council of areopagus

spartan oligarchy

5 ephors annually elected, assembly of citizens, gerousia (old people), king

checks and balances (in the spartan oligarchy)

assembly of citizens: can pass laws, wage war, raise taxes
gerousia: can only suggest ideas for laws
king (and gerousia): can veto anything and its final

621 BCE

Draco was appointed to write down the athenian constitution

3 laws (draconian c.)

1: have to have money to be considered a citizen and own property, have a wife and kids to become an archon
2: if someone murders someone else, they apologize to the family and the family accepts it, they aren't banished
3: if you murder a murderer, you 1) are banned from politics, religious and sporting activities and 2) lose your citizenship

594 BCE

Solon appointed as the only archon

what did Solon do

made slavery illegal, tries to help the poor while keeping the support of the aristocrats, expands citizenship, limits archon position specifically to the 60 aristocratic families

anarchy (anarchia)

when no archons are appointed, no government formed in athens

cleisthenes

tried to balance the laws for the favor of both the aristocrats and the peasants, advocates for a sense of community, levels the political playing field because it allows peasants to have a role on government, creates a period of peace for athens and seems to have diminished their socioeconomic problems

Persian wars

wars between Greece and Persia

ionia

where the Persian wars begin, not ethnically greek but linguistically

darius i

king of Persia who expanded the Persian Empire and invaded Greece but was defeated at the battle of Marathon

xerxes i

king of Persia who led a vast army against Greece and won the battle of Thermopylae but was eventually defeated, son of darius I, insulted by his father's life and his goal in life is to destroy Athens, has a plan to massacre athens and reminds them every month for 6 years

battle of marathon

battle between persia and Athens, persia was trapped because of the rivers on either side and the ocean was behind them, only place to go was forward into Athens line of defense

delian league

cities that came to Athen's aid, loyal to Athens

Pericles

overthrows the oligarchy by leading a coup d'etat which ruins the government of Athens with military charges

peloponnesian war

a war in which Athens and its allies were defeated by the league centered on Sparta

431-404

span of the Peloponnesian war

corinth

the modern Greek port near the site of the ancient city that was second only to Athens

demagogues

people who manipulate voters emotions for personal advantage

Alcibiades

general in the Peloponnesian War, told the athenians that they would lose if they didn't elect him, a demagogue

battle of Thermopylae

Xerxes was trying to gain more territory, Persians won, Leonidas and 300 spartans died

battle of salamis

naval battle between a greek alliance under themistocles and the Persians lead by Xerxes, greeks won

battle of mantinea

athens loses, athenians don't really care, they blame their loss on Alcibiades for leading them into battle knowing their army was not strong enough to fight the spartans

Themistocles

Athenian statesman who persuaded Athens to build a navy and then led it to victory over the Persians

Syracuse

city in Italy that the athenians conquer; in 411 Sparta beats athens in a battle and takes this place from them (establish an oligarchy)

Athenian resistance

group of 70 people (non-athenian democrats and mercenaries) that self- exile into the mountains between athens and Thebes and build a fortress with the goal of bringing democracy back into Greece

3 phases of the Peloponnesian war

1: (429- 418 BCE) stalemate
2: (418-411 BCE) major spartan victories
3: (411-404 BCE) stalemate

Corinth and Thebes

the two cities that passed their own laws in regards to the spartan declaration stating that all greek exiles must be refused and sent back to athens

great spartan betrayal

spartans ask the Persians for help during the peloponnesian war; the persians give them a navy in return for ionia (from the spartans once they win)

in what ways does sparta betray greece?

1: betray the idea of Pan-Hellenism because they invite a non-greek power to fight with them
2: betray their own political ideology (oligarchy) because they have to invite an empire to help them win

the thirty

powerful group of that Sparta establishes as an oligarchy for athens

what did the thirty do?

killed their political opponents to take their wealth, killed around 1500 people in a few months, spartans told the athenians that they were liberating them from tyranny to justify their actions

democratic snowstorm

when the spartans decided to go and massacre the athenian resistance; unexpected blizzard happened though so the spartans began to retreat down the mountain so they could wait it out; the resistance attacks them in the middle of the blizzard; spartans lose because they cannot see or hear or communicate to others that they are being attacked

401 BCE

battle for athens, the spartans win, but a new king is appointed and removes the thirty from power and establishes a democracy in athens only (athens is now independent), resistance agrees not to persecute the oligarchs

the academy

founded by plato, place where people can come listen to lectures for free, supported by tutoring and wealthy families

plato

ancient Athenian philosopher; student of Socrates; teacher of Aristotle

aristotle

ancient Athenian philosopher; student of Plato;

"the republic"

written by Aristotle, discusses equality in citizens, claims that all people can be equal if they share the same public education; believes that if one is educated they should be able to put into a position of power

"politics"

written by plato, discusses greek citizens being either philosophers or non-philosophers, believes that philosophers are classified as people who can see truth and beauty along with other qualities; advocates for putting philosophers in power, thus giving the impression that only people with a certain level of knowledge should be put in power.