Ancient Greek History, Culture, and Warfare

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering ancient Greek social classes, hoplite warfare, pottery styles, poetry, coinage, and regional geography.

Yeoman

A class of free land-owning Greek farmers ranging from subsistence level to average polis landholders ($20\,\text{to}\,22\,\text{acres}$ or $30\,\text{to}\,40\,\text{acres}$) who served as the backbone of polis military defense.

Hoplon

The Greek infantry shield used by hoplites, measuring approximately $3\,\text{feet}$ in diameter.

Panoply

The complete military equipment carried by a hoplite, weighing a total of about $50\,\text{to}\,70\,\text{pounds}$, including a helmet, corselet, greaves, spear (often $8\,\text{to}\,9\,\text{feet}$ long), short sword, and shield.

Hoplite Warfare

Seasonal Greek infantry combat conducted in between sowing and harvesting that involved massed shock tactics and settled disputes in an afternoon or a few days, without sieges, ambushes, or night attacks.

Geometric Style

A style of Dark Age Greek pottery dating around $900\,\text{BC}$ in which vases were entirely covered with geometric designs.

Orientalizing Style

An early Archaic period style of Greek pottery characterized by small vases decorated with narrative scenes.

Black-Figure Style

A style of Archaic Greek vase painting where figures were painted in solid black against the natural red clay background, with details incised or highlighted using white and red paint.

Symposium

An elite Greek drinking party, frequently depicted on drinking cups alongside scenes of revelry.

Lyric Poetry

A genre of Greek poetry that emerged around $600\,\text{BC}$ featuring a wide variety of individual voices reflecting life centered on the polis.

Electrum

A natural alloy of gold and silver used by the Lydian kingdom in Sardis to produce early coins with stamped obverse and reverse designs.

Sardis

The capital city of the non-Greek Lydian kingdom, known for its dynastic family and early creation of electrum coinage.

Laconia

The region surrounding Sparta located in the Eurotas river valley between Mt. Taygetos and Mt. Parnon.

Messenia

The region located on the opposite side of Mt. Taygetos from Laconia.

Synoecism

The central political process of uniting separate small villages under a single central government.