Ancient Societies - Athenian Society in the Time of Pericles

Vocabulary flashcards covering the historical background, geography, architecture, resources, and social and political structures of Athens in the time of Pericles.

Autochthony

The Athenian belief that their ancestors were directly born of the land and remained its original inhabitants throughout periods of mass migration and upheaval.

Polis

The basic political unit of ancient Greece, translated as 'city-state,' comprising an urban centre, surrounding territory, and an independent community of citizens with shared laws and institutions.

Attica

A peninsula in south-eastern mainland Greece surrounded by the Aegean Sea on three sides, containing the territory of the Athenian polis.

Piraeus

The principal harbour and naval base of Athens, located on a rocky peninsula southwest of the urban centre on the coast of Attica.

The Acropolis

A prominent rocky hill and citadel that served as Athens' naturally defensible religious centre, featuring the Parthenon, Propylaea, Erechtheion, and Temple of Athena Nike.

The Agora

The civic, commercial, and social heart of Athens containing the Bouleuterion, tholos, law courts, and stoas, as well as serving as a venue for religious festivals.

The Pnyx

The hill in Athens where the Ekklesia gathered to debate and vote on political affairs, forming the centre of Athenian democracy.

The Areopagus

A rocky outcrop used for homicide trials and early meetings of the aristocratic council, which retained ritual and judicial importance during the time of Pericles.

The Kerameikos

The potters' quarter and location of a major public cemetery in Athens, housing the Dipylon Gate as one of the city's main entrances.

Laurion

A district in southern Attica containing silver mines that functioned as an exceptionally vital source of wealth for Athens.

Mount Pentelikon

A mountain range in Attica that yielded high-grade marble used extensively in Athenian architectural monuments and sculpture, including the Acropolis.

Mount Hymettos

A mountain range that defined the territory of Attica and supplied Athens with abundant spring water.

Long Walls

Fortified corridors linking Athens directly to its port at Piraeus, completed under Pericles' influence to guarantee maritime access during sieges.

Hippodamian town planning

A rational grid system of urban layout devised by Hippodamus of Miletus, applied to the organization of Piraeus.

Kantharos

The largest of the three natural harbours at Piraeus, primarily serving commercial shipping and maritime trade.

Zea

A natural harbour at Piraeus dedicated principally to the Athenian navy and its trireme fleet.

Mounichia

A smaller natural naval harbour located at Piraeus alongside Zea.

The Emporion

A designated trading and commercial quarter in Piraeus where imported goods, particularly grain, were bought and sold.

Delian League

A union of Greek city-states led by Athens as its hegemon following the Persian Wars.

Peloponnesian League

An alliance of Greek poleis led by Sparta, which refused to join Athens' Delian League.

Eupatridae

The aristocratic class that initially dominated Athenian government, occupying the archonships and controlling the Council of Areopagus.

Seisachtheia

Meaning 'shaking off of burdens,' a reform introduced by Solon in 594 BCE that cancelled outstanding debts and abolished enslavement for debt.

Heliaia

The Athenian people's court to which Solon granted citizens the right of legal appeal.

Isonomia

The political ideal of equality before the law, established in Athens through the democratic reforms of Cleisthenes.

Ostracism

A democratic mechanism introduced by Cleisthenes, first employed in 487 BCE, used to vote an individual into temporary exile.

Pentakosiomedimnoi

The highest Athenian citizen property class, whose estates yielded at least 500 medimnoi of wet or dry goods annually, qualifying them for the top offices such as archons and treasurers.

Hippeis

The second citizen class in Athens, producing at least 300 medimnoi per year, also known as 'knights' who could afford to maintain a horse.

Zeugitae

The third Athenian citizen class, yielding at least 200 medimnoi per year, who could afford hoplite armour to fight in the phalanx and gained access to the archonship in 457–456 BC.

Thetes

The lowest Athenian citizen class, possessing an income under 200 medimnoi per year or working for wages, who served as rowers in the navy and gained eligibility for public office around 460–450 BC.

Metics

Resident foreigners living in Athens who engaged in commerce, crafts, and maritime trade, adding to the city's cosmopolitan character but lacking political rights.