Greek History Final Study Guide

Polis

Greek city-state

structure of the polis

- urban center

- surrounding countryside

- outer walls

- public space (temples and government buildings)

- acropolis

acropolis

a hill where temples and government buildings were built

Responsibilities of Greek citizens

- government participation

- religious events

- defense

- economic welfare

- obeying sacred and customary laws

noncitizens

- women

- minors

- resident aliens

- slaves

Tyranny

rule by one person

- form of monarchy set up by usurpers in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE

- not a special form of constitution

- not necessarily a reign of terror

- benevolent or malevolent

Aristocracy

state rule by a noble family with property and political power

oligarchy

the rule of the few

- excluded the poor, even if they were citizens

democracy

the rule of the people

Dēmokratia

Democracy; the rule of the people

Demos

the whole body of citizens

Eleutheria

liberty

- political liberty to participate in the democratic institutions

- private liberty to live as one pleased.

Isonomia

all should have an equal opportunity to participate in politics

Ekklēsia

the assembly of adult male citizens which had the ultimate decisionmaking power in a Greek state.

- All male 18 and older

- Met on the Pnyx

- Election of the magistrates

- Decisions by vote (majority)

hēliaia

the ekklesia, when it performed a judicial function

Boule

council, which managed the day-to-day responsibility of state affairs.

- drafted the deliberations (probouleumata) for discussion and approval in the Ecclesia

- directed finances

- controlled the maintenance of the fleet and of the cavalry

- judged the fitness of the magistrates

- received foreign ambassadors

- advised the stratēgoi in military matters

- could be given special powers by the Ecclesia in an emergency

bouleuterion

housed the boule or council of a Greek polis in the form of a roofed meeting space.

Areopagus council

judicial court, which launched investigations into crimes on its own initiative or at the command of the assembly

- intentional homicide/wounding

- poisoning

- arson

- religious surveillance

Politeia

constitution, beginning form of government in Athens

draco

CA. 620 BCE

created the first written laws in Athens

- harsh: death penalty for all crimes

Solon

574 BCE

Archon of Athens who enacted a social, economic, and political reform

Eupatridae

"well born" citizens

- owned the best land

- monopolized the government

- were themselves split into rival factions.

Hectemoroi

- a system of share-cropping: poorer Athenians paid richer ones one-sixth of their produce in return for the right to cultivate a plot of land and protection

- Farmers were driven into debt, reduced to serfs on their own land, or sold into slavery abroad as compensation.

Horoi

mortgage stones, which served as symbols of land enserfment.

Seisachtheia

"shaking off of burdens"

- ended the practice of selling people into slavery for non-payment of debts

- it abolished hektemoroi ("sixth-parters") and horoi

- Banned the export of natural products, except olive oil

- Reform in weights and measures- easier to trade

- Solon broadened government to include families that had acquired wealth but were not nobility.

Medimnoi

a measure used for both dry and liquid goods and equivalent to about 38 kilograms or 50 litres of produced. This output would have been sufficient to feed about 40 to 50 people.

Pentakosiomedimnoi

class of those who produced 500 measures of crops (medimnoi) per year.

- Under Solon's constitution, the treasurers of Athena and perhaps also the archons were appointed exclusively from this class

Hippeis

knights; capable of supporting a horse and allegedly producing 300 measures of crops per year

Zeugitai

200/300 measures of crop per year. The name identifies them as those who served in the army in close ranks or men with a team of oxen

Thêtes

below 200 measures of crop per year.

- Hired labourers, the lowest class of free men in a Greek state

- Could not serve in office but could vote in the Assembly (Ekklesia) and lawcourts

timocratic system

Eligibility for all political offices is dependent on wealth

Pisitratus

546-527

- benevolent and law-abiding ruler

- Attic black figure becomes (from the 560s) the dominant exported pottery during his rule

- he remained in power for 36 years

- succeeded by his eldest sons, Hippias and Hipparchus.

510

Hippias is ousted from Athens- and becomes an advisro for the Persian's king

hipparchus and hippias

sons of Pisistratus, rulers of Athens

Lucretia

the virtuous wife of Collatinus

- was raped by a royal prince, Sextus Tarquinius

- killed herself after reporting the crime to her father and husband

- her husband Lucius Junius Brutus led the expulsion from Rome of the tyrannical Tarquinii, putting an end to monarchical rule, and founding the Roman Republic in 509 BCE

Panathenaea

Athens' most important festival and one of the grandest in the entire Greek world

- Except for slaves, all inhabitants of the city and suburbs could take part in the festival.

- observance of Athena's birthday and honored the goddess as the city's patron divinity: Athena Polias

- contests, procession, and sacrifices.

Metics

resident aliens

Athena Polias

Guardian of the City

Athena Polias

Virgin

Cleisthenes' Reforms

508 BCE

- reorganized the entire citizen body into 10 new tribes (phylai)

- consisted of 139 Demes in 3 regions (Trittyes)

(asty: city; mesogaea: inland; paralia: coast)

- each phylai was composed of i tryis from each region

- ostracism

- isonomia

Demes

small local administrative units

- allowed citizens to have a greater say in the affairs of their community

Trittyes

regions (city, inland, coast)

Asty

City

Mesogaea

inland

Paralia

coast

Phylai

tribes

Ostracism

a process that allowed citizens to vote for the exile of a public figure deemed a threat to the state.

- This process served as a safeguard against the rise of tyrants and the abuse of power.

- Any citizen entitled to vote in the assembly (ekklesia) could write another citizen's name down, and, when a sufficiently large number wrote the same name (at least 6000) , the ostracized man had to:

- leave Attica within 10 days and

- stay away for 10 years.

- He remained owner of his property.

Pericles

(c. 495-429 B.C.)

- proposed that state revenues be used to pay a daily stipend to men who served in public offices. these men were supposed to have the personal wealth to serve without financial compensation.

- introduced a law stating that citizenship would be given to children whose mother and father both were Athenians

Messina

was conquered by Sparta in the 1st (c. 730-710 B.C.) and 2nd (c. 640-630 B.C.) wars, which expanded Sparta's size to that of Athens and Thebes

- amounted to 40% of the Peloponnese

- reduced the inhabitants to the status of helots

Lycurgus

laid the foundation for the entire Spartan way of life, including:

- the state laws

- the military institutions

- the communal dining practices

They were not committed to writing

Agoge

Spartan military program

- Boys entered at 7 and graduated at 30

- Boys and youths were organized in 'packs' and 'herds' and placed under the supervision of young adult Spartans.

- emphasis on endurance events, athletic competitions, military prowess, survival, and outwitting others.

suskania

A common tent that Spartan men were elected into when they turned 30

Krypteia

a lengthy test of individual endurance without equipment or prepared rations used for military preparation or a transitional period of 'opposition' to adult hoplite life

syssitia

dining groups

perioikoi

in ancient Sparta, free inhabitants but not citizens who were required to pay taxes and perform military service

- second class citizens

homoioi or Spartiates

citizens of Sparta

- accorded only to sons of Spartiates who had been trained in the brutal Spartan upbringing (Agoge)

- to maintain their citizenship, all up to the age of 60 had to serve in the army.

- required to dine together each night in communal mess groups and provide monthly contributions of barley, wine, olive oil, cheese, and pork from the produce of their estates.

Lacedaemonians

term used to designate both periokoi and spartiates, periokoi were subordinate to spartiates though

Helots

servile laborers

- descendants of the original Greek inhabitants of Laconia and Messenia who had been enslaved by the Spartans

'mixed' constitution

blended kingship, oligarchy, and democracy

Dyarchy

rule by 2 kings from different royal houses

- dated back to the 11th century BCE when their first king, Aristomachus, died before his wife gave birth to twin sons, Eurysthenes and Procles.

- The Spartans did not know which boy should be the rightful king because their mother refused to reveal which was the eldest, so they made them both kings.

Spartan Kings

- were not absolute monarchs.

- their main role was as military commanders.

- could not declare war or even muster an army on their own;

- could be fined, exiled, and deposed

Gerousia

'the Elders'

small ruling council of thirty members:

- 28 men aged over 60 who were elected for life

- two kings regardless of their age.

Five Ephors

'overseers'

job was to 'oversee' the behaviour of the Spartans and ensure they obeyed the laws.

Cyrus the Great

(559-529 BCE)

deposes the Median monarch and establishes the Achaemenid Empire in Persia and takes the title shah, or king.

- The Empire's territory is, for the most part, peaceful and well governed.

- One of his principal conquests is the city of Babylon in MESOPOTAMIA

mesopotamia

"the land between two rivers"

- gave birth to the splendid city of Babylon

Babylon

gateway of the gods

- located between the waters of the Euphrates and the Tigris

Nabucco

opera following the plight of enslaved Jews as they are assaulted, conquered, and subsequently exiled from their homeland by the Babylonian king Nabucco

7 wonders of the world

Around 225 B.C. a Greek engineer, Philo, produced a list of seven temata—"things to be seen":

1.the Pyramids at Giza;

2.the Statue of Zeus at Olympia;

3.the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus;

4.the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus;

5.the Colossus of Rhodes

6.the Pharos of Alexandria;

7.the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

satrapies

provinces of the persian empire created by Darius I

Royal Road

a road created by Darius I for improved communication and trade within the empire that stretched more than 1,500 miles, from Ephesus on the Aegean Sea to Susa in western Iran, the empire's administrative center.

Darius I

(522-486 BCE):

•expands and reestablishes the empire,

• divided the large territory into twenty provinces (satrapies), administered by functionaries (satraps).

•Sets the amount of annual tax due from each province and sent agents to watch his distant satraps and ensure they weren't overtaxing their subjects. Those "eyes and ears of the king" kept sedition to a minimum.

•creates public works—irrigation canals, and public buildings

•builds good roads for the improved communication and trade between parts of the empire. (Royal Road)

•establishes one single currency, a postal system, and standardized weights and measurements to be used throughout the empire.

•builds a new capital, on plans laid down by his predecessor, Cyrus, PERSEPOLIS

Zoroastrianism

belief created by Darius I that there is one God called Ahura Mazda-Wise Lord, and He created the world, this became the state religion

Herodotus

Wrote "The Histories" which describes the persian wars

ionian revolt

In 500-499 BCE- political movement to oust all tyrants from the city-states of Ionia began from one of the reigning tyrants himself, Aristagoras of Miletus—ousted himself from power by abdicating his throne. Then he began preaching democratic ideals. In 499 BC, the poleis of Ionia, led by Miletus, rebel; inferior to Darius' army, they call for help from Greece but it is only forthcoming from Athens and Eretria. The Ionian League marched north in 498 BCE and, against all odds, captured Sardis, now the capital of Darius' Lydian satrapy, which brought them into direct conflict with the Persian Empire. In 494 BCE, the Persian army sacked Miletus with savage vengeance in return for the burning of Sardis.

Battle of Marathon

In 490 BC, to punish Athens and conquer Greece, Darius crosses the Aegean with his fleet. Without Sparta's assistance, Athens finds itself defending Greece alone. the Athenian army, led by Miltiades overcomes the Persian army and brings the war to an end.

Hippias supported the war.

Aristides

leader of the aristocrats after the Battle of Marathon, when Athens developed economically, and how this development should be managed is being debated: wants to make a deal with the Persians because their wealth is based on agriculture

Themistocles

leader of the democrats after the Battle of Marathon, when Athens developed economically, and how this development should be managed is being debated: supports an economy based on commerce and want to strengthen the fleet, even if this would lead to new clashes with the Persians

Thermopylae

480 BCE

(THE HOT GATES)

- where the Spartan Leonidas sacrifices himself and 300 soldiers to slow the enemy's advance.

island of Salamis

where Themistocles confronts the Persian fleet, the Greeks know the currents better and the Persian ships are almost all destroyed

479 BC

the Greek army defeats the Persians once more at the plain of Platea, while the Athenian fleet beats its enemy at the cape of Mycale.

449 BCE

massive building program on the Acropolis and elsewhere in Athens directed by the Athenian statesman Pericles, following the sack of the Acropolis

Mimesis

"the image both resembles the object it is imitating and can evoke a response in the viewer akin to seeing the real thing"

Stoa Poikile

Important public space for the display of sculpture and painting. It was the namesake of the Stoic philosophical school. Athenian art Gallery.

Tyrannicides

Harmodius and Aristogeiton

Two lovers in Classical Athens who assassinated Hipparchus.

Athena Promachos

'foremost fighter'

statue in front of the temple of Athena Polias made in bronze by Pheidias, using spoils taken from the Persians at Marathon.

parthenon

Designed by Iktinos and Kallikrates between 447 and 438. Pedimental sculptures were finished in 437-432. 8 x 17, ratio 4:9 (width, length, height colonnade, diameter columns.

First built entirely out of marble.

Exterior: Doric (92 metopes): Amazomachy , Gigantomachy, Sack of Troy, Centauromachy.

Interior: Ionic: procession of the Panathenaea

The themes celebrate the vistiry of civilazation over barbarians

Pheidias/Phidias

Athenian sculptor, the artistic director of the construction of the Parthenon

- Athena Promachos

- Athena Parthenos

- Zeus

The Elgin Marbles

the marble sculptures that adorned the Parthenon created by Phidias

Athena parthenos

Phidias made for the Parthenon, was completed and dedicated in 438. The original work was made of gold and ivory and stood some 38 feet (12 m) high. The goddess stood erect, wearing a tunic, aegis, and helmet and holding a Nike (goddess of victory) in her extended right hand and a spear in her left. A decorated shield and a serpent were by her side.

Family

the basic element of the household in ancient Greece, parents and children together

homes

- only a single street entrance

- The central court acted as a distributive space, channelling communication between the different rooms.

- flexible pattern of usage for rooms

- small-scale workshops

- food preparation facilities

- bathing facility furnished with waterproof plaster and sometimes a terracotta bath-tub

Andron

setting for symposia

specialized drinking room

- decorated floor and/or walls

- decorated anteroom

- marked border for couches

- an off-centre doorway to allow for positioning of couches around the walls.

- showed off wealth

- the existence of a water supply, drainage and a washable floor

gunaikon

female version of the andron

Greek womens rights

no political rights of any kind and were controlled by men at nearly every stage of their lives

duties of city-dwelling women

bear children--preferably male--and to run the household

duties of rural women

some of the agricultural work: the harvesting of olives and fruit was their responsibility, as may have been the gathering of vegetables.

wives responsibilities

raising the children, spinning, weaving, and sewing the family´s clothes. She supervised the daily running of the household.

greek garments

Most were uncut and unsewn, preserving the rectangular shape of the textile as it came off the loom.

Given the general simplicity of Greek garments, they were primarily distinguished by color and decoration, as well as their arrangement on the body.

Peplos

dress-like piece of clothing worn by Athenian women, secured with pins and a waist tie

Chiton

new kind of clothing that came after the peplos which did not use pins and tied at the waist