Chapter 6 - Section 2 - The Greek City-States

What is a polis and when was it created?

A polis is a governing city, independent country. These were created by the Greeks after the dark ages

What are the 2 major components of a polis?

Agora and Acropolis

What is an Agora?

a marketplace where free-born citizens could gather to hear civic announcements, where merchants had shop and where craftsmen sold goods.

What is an acropolis?

was a place for safe refuge and a religious center

How were each polis different?

each polis was different in the way the conducted political business (form of government). Monarchies to direct democracies. Some individuals formed a tyranny in a polis

What were 2 of the most powerful city-states?

Athens and Sparta

Who ran the city-states?

the citizens

Who was the first to develop the idea of citizenship?

the greeks

Who could own land and be citizens?

In most city-states, only free native-born men

What were some rights of Greek citizens?

1. Gather in the agora to choose officials and pass laws

2. Right to vote

3. Hold office

4. Own property

5. Defend themselves in court

What were Hoplites?

armies of ordinary citizens in city-states

How did the Hoplites go into battle?

they could not afford horses, they fought on foot and went into battle heavily armed. They would carry a 9 foot shield. They marched shoulder to shoulder in battle creating a protective wall called a phalanx

Who founded Sparta?

the Dorians

What did Sparta do to their neighbors?

They would enslave their neighbors, the were forced to hand over half of their crops

Who were the Helots?

The were captive workers. The Helots revolted but spartan suppressed the revolt

What kind of society did Sparta set up?

A militaristic society

What is an oligarchy?

a form of government in which few people had power. (2 kings)

Who made up Spartas council of elders?

men over the age of 60 - power is to form laws

Who belonged to the the assembly?

All spartan men over the age of 30 belonged to the assembly. They voted on laws and 5 people to be ephors (enforced laws and managed for collection)

What did the Spartan government discourage?

The government discouraged foreign visitors and traveling (only military expeditions) to keep anyone from questioning the Spartan system.

Who is the top of society in the class divisions of Sparta?

ruling families and citizens that descended from the original habitants of the region (Dorians)

Who makes up the middle class in Sparta?

non-citizens who were free, worked in commerce

Who made up the lowest class in Sparta?

Helots, worked in fields or as house servants

What is one reason Sparta was a militaristic society?

they feared that the helots might someday rebel

At what age did the boys leave home to live in barracks and train to be a warrior in Sparta?

age 7

Where did the 7 year old boys go to train to be warriors?

agoge, state run military school. At the age of 20, spartan men entered the regular army

At what age were the Spartan men expected to serve in the army until?

60

What did women in Sparta do?

they trained for sports, were offered an education, could own property and go where they wanted, lived at home when husbands lived in barracks

Who is the city of Athens named for?

the goddess Athena (goddess of wisdom, arts, and literature)

Where did the idea of a representative government take root in?

Athens

Athens started to build to a democracy under a nobleman named -

Draco

What did Draco develop?

Draco developed a legal code to gain support from common people. Legal code was based on the idea that all Athenians were under equal law. They also upheld the practices such as debt slavery

Who was Solon?

a nobleman that came to power. He outlawed debt slavery and organized Athens into 4 social classes

Who is Cleithenes?

A nobleman the too power and introduced a new form of government called democracy. He gave more power to the assembly and created a council of 500 citizens.

How were the 500 citizens chosen ?

they were chosen by lottery each year. Non-citizens were all women, foreign-born men and slaves in Athens

What is Athenian democracy known as?

Direct democracy

What is direct democracy?

People gather at a mass meeting to decide on government matters (every citizen)

What did Athenians do at the meetings?

they passed laws, elected officials and made decision on war and foreign affairs

Who were Ten Officials?

they were known as generals (magistrates) that carried out the assembly's. laws and policies.

What was one important idea that took root in Athens?

education

When did schooling in Athens begin?

around 7 years old. Only boys were educated, they studied reading, grammar, poetry, history, math, music and rhetoric (public speaking)

What did Athenian girls do?

they did not attend school. The girls were educated in their home