WORLD CIV Classical Greece (Athens and Sparta) Pt.1

Polis:

- The idea of the city-state in Ancient Greece, ex: Indianapolis, Athens

Synokism

The idea that smaller villages or demis come together to form city states

Forms of Government before Democracy in Greece: 

 Basilues

- Aristocracy 

- Oligarchy 

- Greek society evolved to rule by oligarchy over monarchs

Greek Governments leading to Democracy: 

Tyranny- Rule seized by an individual usually through overthrow 

Democracy- ”rule by mob” democracy is not always defined as the modern world defines it, democracy can also include the "tyranny of the majority”

Polity- (rule of many; could also be known as a republic form of government)

Evolution of Greek Government: 

 Greek government evolved in the following way: Kingship>oligarchy>tyranny>democracy

- Kingship (Monarchy) gives way to oligarchy (usually by powerful, privileged clans), oligarchy gives way to tyranny (tyrants usually come from outside the oligarchy and overthrow oligarchy through revolution), tyranny gives way to democracy (a more inclusive form of government)

Greek Tyranny: 

- Note that the term “tyrant” or “tyranny” has bad connotations in today societies, but did not necessarily mean something bad in Ancient Greece

- Tyrants are self-made monarchs whose supporters are usually previously politically marginalized peoples

- in addition the term "democracy" did not always mean good things, in ANcent Greece democracy could also mean “rule by mob”

Examples of Tyrants:

In the city-state of Argos, the tyrant Pheidon in the city-state of Corinth, the tyrant Kypselos; in the city-state of Athens, the tyrant Peisistratidai and his sons (later in Notes)

- As an example of tyrant rule, Kypselos overthrow the ruling oligarchy in Corinth and gave more rights to people 

- While Kypslos was loved for this, his son Periandros replaced Kypselos and banished all dissenters from the polis

Greek Government: 

- Most Greek cities divide authority between multiple officials 

- See powerpoint for chart that shows the divisions of government authority in the two most powerful Classical Greek Polesis

Greek Social Classes:

. Citizens - Males that could vote and hold office, owning land, Born in Athens, Age 18-20 you could start

Citizen = The right to vote and be part of the government

2. Residents - Free persons protected by local laws, but could not vote or hold office, similar to modern idea of “resident aliens”, Do have rights, Made up of women and Foreigners 

3. Underclass - Slaves, often people in debt or prisoners of war, there is not racial/ethnic component to slavery in Ancient Greece

Athens Government: 

Arkhons = “Governors” serve one year terms 

Council = 

- Two different councils, the Boule who wield the most power an the Areopagas (comprised of former Arkhons, the elite members of society)

- Areopagos eventually evolve into a role similar to the Supreme Court 

Areopagos- Former presidents that are now members of this council due to political experience

Assembly = 

- All of the citizens eligible to vote (Thus excluding women) 

- In Athens, the assembly has collective power and can vote on policies and propose policies

Draco:

During the infancy of the Athenian legal system Fraco composed the cities first written law code with the aim of reducing arbitrary decisions of punishment and blood feuds between parties

- Ultimately, though, the laws aided and legitimized the political power of the aristocracy and allowed them to consolidate their control of the land and poor

- Famously harsh, the law were ultimately replaced by Solon in 594 BCE

Solon

 A modestly wealthy Athenian trader

- Given “free hand” to make reforms to Draco's code 

- Did not attempt land reform due to mainly to length of time it takes to grow olive trees: 8 to 10 years

- Solon Bought reforms in order to prevent future attempts at tyrants overthrowing the government 

- These reforms included a one-time elimination of individual debts and freeing those enslaved for unpaid debts 

- Solon divided the populace into 4 tribes or classes, with 100 representatives of each tribe elected as members of the Boule

- These tribes are divided by wealth and suggest the possibility of social mobility 

- Ultimately his reform did not work, however, he is considered to have laid the Groundwork for the development of Athenian democracy

Biggest problem in Athenian society is wealth distribution

- Solon refuses to redistribute land and olive trees because the people have waited 16 years to get the fruit from these trees

- Eventually gets tired of people asking him questions and he leaves Athens

Tyranny of Persistratidai: 

 Pisistratus took control of Athens after Solon left

- After his death his sons took control of Athens

- Marginalized groups overthrow the tyrannical government of Pisistratus sons, who ultimately ruled as despots 

- The tyranny gave way to another overthrow of government, this time by aristocracy aided by Sparta

- Leads to a power struggle which will be won by Kleisthenes 

Kleisthenes:

- Considered father of Democracy

- He was an aristocrat and reformer 

- The Athenians turn to him to re-establish order 

- He returned from exile and sided with common people

- He created a new constitution with the following criteria

1. 10 new tribes representing all classes

2. All adult males became Assembly members

3. Introduced ostracism; removed discredited leaders

4. Equality of laws and freedom of Speech

- Kleisthenes expands the Boule to 500 members

- The new Boule is comprised of 50 members from each of 10 tribes

- Klistechnes hoped to reduce factionalism, which drove apart the last several ruling bodies

- The new tubes were also divided geographically so that no faction dominated any one geographic area

Ostracism

- Invented as a method to prevent Tyranny, by getting rid of people who are gaining too much power

ostracism=Introduced by Kelisthenes it was a practice employed to get rid of potential tyrants

- Done as a way to prevent one individual from gaining too much power

- During annual elections, citizens got to cast votes via pottery shards with names of potential tyrants 

- If a person got enough votes, they would be expelled for 10 years 

- This was a way to remove potentially dangerous politicians

- These pottery shards show the names of famous Athenians who received votes for ostracism (That does not mean they were actually ostracized)

Athenian Democracy:

- The basic government form instituted by Kleisthenes held for centuries in Athens 

- It contained two important basic principles:

1. No professional bureaucrats!!

       - Nobody served on council more than twice

2. Each citizen could hold office!

       - What did we say a citizen is?

Classical Greece: 

Polis, 

- Literally “city” in the classical Greek contest, the polis is a citystate

- Polis is the root for the names many of American cities such as Minneapolis and Indianapolis

- The polis is the core of the classical Greece political system 

- A polis operated as an independent state, such as Athens, to which a citizen owed allegiance and identity 

- Classical Greece is not a unified nation in the modern sense, it is composed of many smaller independent city-states

- Sometimes city-states banded together in federations of more than one city-state in order to exert greater influence (an example is the Delian league, discussed later in these notes)

Formation of Polis: 

Structure of the Polis: 

Synoikism, Loosely meaning “to dwell together,” Synoikism is the process by which smaller villages come together to form a large city or federation, politically fusing several poleis together

Polis city-planning, Two important structures are found in most polesis

Acropolis, 

 Inner fortress, usually contained the treasury and located in a fortified hill

Agora

- The center of public and economic activity

- Where people came to trade, attend religious ceremonies, vote, etc

Hoplite: 

Hoplities, 

- Heavily armored fighters 

- Hoplities were typically middle-class farmers who thus had a vested interest in protecting teh city-state

- Hoplities became the backbone for the later Greek military

- Hoplities fought together in a formation called a phalanx

Phalanx: 

 A large body of closely packed hoplities with long spears extending outward

- The “Phalanx” was a closed linear formation method for war

- Groups of Hoplites stood in close quarters with overlapping shields, thus forming an armored wall of soldiers

- This was a major military developments that required order and discipline in the soldiers 

- The downside to fighting in a phalanx was that it was difficult to do on uneven terrain 

Athenian Education: 

- Boys ages 7 to 18 were educated in private schools 

- Girls were not educated, exemplifying the role of women in Greek society 

- A woman's place was in the home or in entertainment

Athens wealth

Athens is a city whose wealth is based on trade, through their trade on ships they are a naval based city 

Sparta=

Laikadomion

Why is it important that Spartans are violent 

 They were outnumbered 10 to 1 so they had to have a warrior good enough to stop the slave uprising from Messenians

- The slaves ran everything so that the Spartans can train all day and they needed to be in power in order to keep their slaves

- Would do raids every year to keep others in line and show their military power 

Lykourgos: 

- Lykourgos is credited with setting up the Spartan form of government

- This included Rhetra, the militarized form of Spartan citizenship that cultivated a warrior society

- Making warriors of kids at young ages 

- Rherta which is the general system/lifestyle of the Spartans, defined by upholding the codes of their militaristic society 

- The strict adherence to the Rhetra allowed Sparta to become powerful city-state who often “bullied” other city-states into submission 

- Lykourgus needed to develop a warrior class to contain the helots, who outnumbered the spartans 10 to 1 

- He created the Spartan constitution 

- Laws were not written down: discipline will maintain order

Spartan society:

 Remade over time 

- Spartiates or Homioi, 8000 adult males dedicated to warfare, held all political and military power, Full Spartan citizen, gotta by living through school system at age 20 

- Perioki, the residents, the ¨dwellers around¨

- Helots, the slaves 

Spartan Life: 

 A very militaristic society, male Spartan children were inspected by elders at birth; those deemed unfit were killed or cast off

- At an early age, Spartan boys were taught hunting and military skills 

- Agoge=Spartan training system starting at age 7

- Food was rationed so boys were expected to steal but don't get caught 

- At age 20, accepted into army or rejected

- Men could marry but still lived in barracks

- At age 30, take place in the assembly

- Spartans viewed art, trade, and the written word as pursuits unbecoming of warriors

- Sparta was isolated from its neighbors (no trade, no wealth, no arts)

- Done in order to maintain stability of system 

- Very few non-Spartan Greeks were allowed in Sparta 

- Iron bars were currency

Spartan Women: 

While the militarized society of Sparta created a powerful military, it also had negative effects for the conceit at large

- Men and women were often kept separated, which made reproduction rates lower than in other Greek cities

- Thus, heavy losses in a Spartan battle severely weakened Sparta as a whole 

- Spartan women enjoyed more freedom than most other ancient Greek women, but freedom is a relative to their role as encouraging the Spartan military system 

- Women were encouraged to remain physically fit on the belief that fit women bore fit children 

- Spartan women also helped to indoctrinate their children and husbands in the Spartan military system 

- had the right to inherit property

Spartan Government: 

- Sparta is essentially and oligarchy 

- 2 kings and 5 ephors in power (served under the king made up old retired soldiers) , council=Gerousia (28 retired soldiers and the 2 kings), Assembly, all men (different from Athenian assembly because they could only vote on what they were given, could not create things)

Kings=Ruled by two kings were ceremonial power

- Kingships are hereditary 

- Kings are military and religious leaders in Sparta 

Ephors=More powerful than kings, they are the administrators of the city 

Gerousia= An advisory council of 28 elders

Assembly = All of the citizens eligible to vote (thus excluding women) 

- In Sparta, the assembly can vote on policies but cannot propose policies

Spartan Society: 

- Full Spartan citizens were called Spartiates or Homoioi

- Residentes were called perioikoi = the “dwellers around” 

Slaves=Helots, similar to serfs, slave-like but not quite slaves

- Helots are legally tied to a piece of land they work for someone else 

- They must work that particular piece of land regardless of who owns the land