lecture 4- CLASSICAL GREECE NOTES

CYRUS THE GREAT: rose in Persis; r. $559-530\mathrm{BCE}$ ; founded a multi-lingual, multi-faith empire based on political loyalty rather than cultural homogeny; allowed Babylonians and Jews to flourish.
DARIUS I: r. $522-486\mathrm{BCE}$ ; expanded the empire; conquered Egypt; pushed east toward the Indus.
ACHAEMENID EMPIRE (c. 500 BCE): greatest extent around $c. 500\mathrm{BCE}$ ; satrapy system; Royal Road; key cities include Sardis, Susa, Babylon; centralized imperial administration.
PERSISTENT ORDER: empire based on loyalty and organization, not ethnic uniformity; facilitated communication and control across vast territories.

BATTLE OF MARATHON: $490\mathrm{BCE}$ ; Darius’ attempt to subdue Greece; small Athenian force under Miltiades defeats larger Persian force.
INVASION OF XERXES: $480\mathrm{BCE}$ ; massive Persian expedition; land and sea campaigns; followed by defense of Greece.
KEY ENGAGEMENTS (479 BCE): Thermopylae (Persian victory at a high cost to Spartans), Salamis (Greek naval victory), Plataea (Greek victory).
OUTCOME: Greek city-states united and repelled Persian invasion; Persian power in Greece diminished; Persian retreat continued into the following years.

TIMEFRAME: roughly the 5th century BCE.
RISE OF DEMOCRACY: Athens develops a robust democracy under Pericles.
CULTURE AND LEARNING: flourishing arts, philosophy, drama, architecture, and science.
ATHENIAN SOCIETY: openness to learning, public festivals, and a thriving harbors-based economy; substantial influence from the wider Greek world.

DATES: c. $495-429\mathrm{BCE}$ .
DEMOCRACY: entrenched, broad participation; administrative system favors merit and equality before the law; poverty is not a barrier to public life if able to serve.
PRIVATE LIFE: freedom in private affairs and open society; emphasis on education and culture; public life guided by citizen merit.
CULTURE AND CIVIL SOCIETY: support for arts, games, sacrifices, and intellectual life; Athens as a cultural and economic hub.

Political equality and rule of law; justice for all in private life and public service based on merit.
Freedom in private life paired with commitment to the state and magistrates/laws.
Emphasis on education, cultural life, and openness to foreigners; city as a cosmopolitan center.
Balance between private pleasure and civic responsibility; civic virtue as foundation of democracy.

Elevation of Athens as leader of the Delian League (later an Athenian empire).
Political and economic expansion through naval power and alliances.
Cultural flowering under a democratic framework; influence on law, education, arts, and public life.

TIMEFRAME: $431-404\mathrm{BCE}$ .
FIGHT: Athens (naval) vs Sparta (land); expansion of Athenian empire leads to prolonged conflict.
COURSE: mixed victories and strategic stalemates; Sparta ultimately defeats Athens (405 BCE).
AFTERMATH: collapse of Athenian hegemony; prolonged internal strife and weakening of Greek political unity.

PERIOD: $478-431\mathrm{BCE}$ ; Athens leads an alliance originally formed to deter Persia.
FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS: member cities contributed talents (e.g., max contributions around $3-30\mathrm{ talents}$ depending on state); some funds and ships funneled to Athenian use.
SIGNIFICANCE: transformed into an Athenian empire; centralized control and imperial projects funded by league members.

MAIN REGIONS: Attica (Athens), Peloponnesus (Sparta), Ionia (coast of Asia Minor), Aegean and Ionian seas; key city-states: Athens, Sparta, Thebes, Corinth, Argos, Megara.
MAJOR ALLIANCES: Delian League led by Athens; Peloponnesian League led by Sparta; Persian Empire as peripheral antagonist to Greek states.

ARCHITECTURE: civic-focused; monumental structures on the Acropolis; emphasis on proportion and mathematical design.
SCULPTURE: classical style emphasizing idealized human form and harmony.
THEATER: development of drama as a major cultural institution; public performance in large venues.

KEY FIGURES: Plato, Socrates, Aristotle.
FOCUS: philosophy, science, ethics, governance, and pedagogy that shaped later Western thought.

Importance: chroniclers and historians of the Greek world; provide essential accounts of Persian Wars, Peloponnesian War, and other events.

INFLUENCE: Greek political ideas, education systems, science, art, drama, and religious thought have shaped Western civilization.
SPARTA vs ATHENS: enduring tension between military oligarchy and democratic naval power; lessons on governance, merit, and civic duty.
LASTING LEGACY: Greco-Roman world and modern thought draw on these classical foundations.