Ancient Greece Flashcards

  • Polis 

an independent city-state consisted of a

walled city that controlled and protected the farmland around it. Historians estimate that close to

1,500 of these city-states dotted the ancient Greek landscape. Each possessed its form of government, law code,

army, cults of patron gods, and overall culture that set it apart from the other city-states

  • Delian League

In 478 BCE, barely a year after the end of the Persian Wars, a group of Greek city-states,

mainly those located in Ionia and on the island between mainland Greece and Ionia, founded the

Delian League, to continue to protect the Greeks in Ionia from Persian attacks. The league first met on the tiny island of Delos, led by Athens. 

  • Helots

The Spartans annexed the Messenian territory to their own and made the Messenians helots. While the helots could not be bought or sold, they were permanently tied to the land in a status akin to medieval European serfs. Enslaved people were used for agricultural labor in Sparta. 

  • Mycenaean and Minoan Civilizations

These civilizations were present during the Bronze Age. The Minoans lived on Crete and had many myths centered around the island. Most famously about their mythical King Minos, the Minotaur, Theseus, etc. They did not need many fortifications because they were on an island. The Mycenaens lived on the mainland of Greece, and they had fortified walls. Their civilization occurred after the Minoans, towards the end of the Bronze Age. They were a Monarchy

  • Oligarchy

Sparta was a true oligarchy, in which the power rested in its gerousia, a council of thirty elders, whose number

included the two kings. Overall this is a form of government in which power is in the hands of small elite groups of individuals and/or individual families.

  • Monarchy

A form of government in which one person(monarch) is the leader, and is often from a line of kings, most prominent during the Mycenaen Age. 

  • Democracy

Democracy is a form of government that gives power to the people and allows them to vote for their leaders. Democracy first started in ancient Athens. The Athenians ruled using direct democracy, which meant that a random lottery of citizens chose some of their leaders. Representative democracy, where you vote for your leader/representative, is more commonly practiced today. 

  • Acropolis

Acropolis’s were high points in ancient Athens. Many temples and/or citadels were built on them. Sometimes they were just high up fortified cities rather than just a temple. Most famously, the Parthenon is on top of an Acropolis. 

  • Agora

Agoras were open spaces that were used as meeting grounds for citizens or places for citizens' assemblies to meet. These were found in ancient Greek city-states. 

  • Parthenon

The Parthenon is a temple built on an Acropolis in ancient Athens that was dedicated to the goddess Athena. It is one of the most famous structures that is attributed to ancient Athens. 

  • Hoplites

Hoplites were the citizen soldiers in ancient Greece who were famous for their warfare with spears and shields. They are also known for their famous military formation the hopilite phalanx.

  • Phalanx

phalanx, a new way of fighting that spread around the Greek world in the early Archaic Age and that coincided with the rise of another key institution for subsequent Greek history: the polis, or city-state. It was with hoplites tightly packed together and heavily armed/protected.  

  • Trireme 

A trireme is an oar-powered warship that was used in ancient Greek navies such as the Athenian navy. These dominated in the Mediterranean. 

  • The Iliad

Homer’s Iliad, is an epic about the Trojan War. This epic is focused on the events that took place during the Trojan War, specifically on the events surrounding the Greek war hero Achilles.

  • The Odyssey

The Odyssey is the second of Homer’s epic which focuses on Odysseus’s journey home after the Trojan War, as he faced many challenges along the way.

  • Direct Democracy

Direct democracy, which was first used in ancient Athens, is a form of democracy in which citizens were elected as government officials via a process of random selection. This way Athenians/citizens directly served in the government. 

  • Representative Democracy

Representative democracy is more commonly used today and is a form of democracy in which citizens elect representatives to serve in the government. 

  • Ionic, Corinthian, and Doric columns

Ionic: a more slender column with a slight swirl design at the top, is sometimes regarded a more feminine. 

Corinthian: A fancier column that has an elegant feathery design at the top 

Doric: a more basic column that is wider than the others and has a basic flat top w/out a special design at the top.

  • Council of Elders

The council of elders, which was a primary part of the spartan oligarchy government, consisted of thirty elders, 2 kings, and 28 men over the age of 60. This was also known as the gerousia. 

  • Ephors

The Ephors were another key part of the Spartan government. They were the five annually selected senior magistrates who had more power than the rest of the gov apart from the kings. 

  • Assembly 

Assemblies of citizens occurred in ancient Greek city-states. Most notably they were a critical part of ancient Athenian democracy. 

  • Sophists

Sophists were teachers in ancient Greece.

  • Characteristics of Greek geography

Some of the main features included the peninsula, Mediterranean Sea, Peloponnesus, isthmus, islands, mountains, and lack of rivers.

  • Why did small city-states form in Greece?

City-states formed because of the natural separation created by the mountains, so each area semi-closed off to itself would become a city-state. 

  • characteristics of a Greek polis

an independent city-state consisted of a walled city that controlled and protected the farmland around it. Each of these poleis (plural form of the polis) possessed its form of government, law code, army, cults of patron gods, and overall culture that set it apart from the other city-states. 

  • Structure of Spartan Government

Sparta had a military oligarchy for their government. They had a unique government in which they had two hereditary kings from separate families. One of them would lead a military campaign. They were both on the council of elders and were priests of Zeus. This council was known as the Gerousia, which consisted of 28 60+ year old men. This council held the citizen's assembly in which all citizens were able to vote. To be a citizen you had to be a descendant of the original inhabitant of the region

  • Structure of Athenian Government 

 Athens’ government was the first democracy. Their democracy was centered around the participation of the citizens in the government. Citizens were able to voice their opinions on the government in two ways: one, the ekklesia, which is a citizens assembly, and two, each year nine eligible citizens are appointed into political office. Athens took a lot of pride in their democracy and the fact that they believed that all of their citizens were capable of ruling the city-state.

  • Persian Wars (Causes, Key Events, Key outcomes)

Causes:  (1)Ionians rebel against Persian rule, (2) Athens sends ships to help Ionians (499 BCE). They even destroyed the Persian city of Sardis., (3) Persians crushed the Ionians and wanted to punish Athens

Key Events: The Battle of Marathon, The Battle of Thermopylae, the Battle of Platea, the Battle of Salamis

Key outcomes: Athens united with other city-states to create the Delian League. Athens remains free and they continue to make numerous advancements in their government and their culture. Athens dominates control of the Aegean Sea. Begins the Golden Age in Athens. 

  • Peloponnesian Wars (Causes, Key Events, Key outcomes)

Causes: (1) the democratic reforms of Cleisthenes (2) Athens’s control of the Delian League (3) Athens’ signing of the treaty of mutual protection with Corcya (4) Athens’ treating their allies as their subjects (5) Sparta took control of Potidea and imprisoned people. 

Key events: (not an event but..) in general: Siege warfare and the improvements made to the hoplite and phalanx formations, the plague breaking out in Athens and destroying their people and lifestyles.

Key outcomes: The Thirty Tyrants government was forced upon Athens. Athenians were deprived of citizenship and could be condemned without a trial. Athenian leaders of the democracy were executed. Critias was the leader of the new Spartan-led government(and of the Thirty Tyrants). The Thirty Tyrants were overthrown after Critias was killed. Eventually, democracy was restored to Athens but it wasn’t the same. 

  • Dorian invasion / Greek Dark Ages

The first Greeks are the Minoans and the Mycenaneans. They both conquered territory until they ran into each other and it is suspected that conflict ensued because after this the Minoan civilization disappeared. After this at around 1200 BC, the Dorians invaded and wiped out the Mycenaen civilization. This ushered in the Greek Dark Ages which lasted from about 1150-800 BC, and during this time economic activity and literacy disappeared and not much is known about this time. 

  • Macedonian Conquest

Phillip II was the king of Macedonia, which was just north of Greece. He was able to transform the Macedonian army into a fighting force. The Greeks had always looked down on the Macedonians. Phillip wanted to invade Greece and take over. Demosthenes, an ancient Athenian, tried to warn the Greeks about King Phillip’s strong army but they didn’t listen and they weren't prepared for their invasion. So, the Macedonians defeated the Greeks at the battle of Chaeronea and ended Greek independence.

  • Battle of Marathon

The Persians had 10 times as many soldiers as the Greeks did. The Athenians elected to fight at the plain of Marathon which meant that the Persians were not able to use their calvary. The battle was a blood bath for the Persians and the Greeks won. They sent the Persians running for their lives. At the end of the battle, the Greeks sent Pheidippides to announce the news of the Greek victory. So he ran 26.2 miles to deliver the news and then died of exhaustion. Darius never set foot on Greek soil again. 

  • Battle of Thermopylae 

The Spartans got involved in this battle. Thermopylae was a mountainous pass along the coast. Sparta’s Leonidas led the few thousand Greeks up against the Persian army. The Persians won the battle and after their victory, they went to burn down Athens for their loyalty to the Ionains. 

  • Battle of Salamis

The Greeks sank Xeres’ fleets in the straights of Salamis and the greeks Won. 

  • Battle of Plataea

This was the last Battle of the Persian wars, and the Greeks won because the Persian army was not able to recover after its loses at the battle of Salamis.

  • Cleisthenes 

Immediately following the expulsion of Hippias, Athens underwent a second round of democratic reforms, led by Cleisthenes. The Cleisthenic constitution remained in effect, with

few changes, until the Macedonian conquest of Athens in the fourth century BCE and is considered to be the Classical Athenian democracy

  • Draco

An ancient Athenian lawgiver who wrote the first legal code the Dracanion Consitution which is known for its harsh and severe punishments which sometimes included the death penalty.

  • Solon

Widespread debt- slavery, however, caused significant civic strife in the city and led to the appointment of Solon as

lawgiver for the year 594/3 BCE, specifically to reform the laws. Solon created a more democratic constitution and also left poetry documenting justifications for his reforms—and

different citizens’ reactions to them. Most controversial of all, Solon instituted a one-time debt- forgiveness, Seisachtheia, which means “shaking off.” He proceeded to divide all citizens into five classes based on income, assigning a level of political participation and responsibility commensurate with each class. 

  • Philip II 

Circa 364 BCE, the prince returned to Macedon, and, in 359 BCE, he ascended to the throne as King Philip II. As soon as he came to the throne, Philip began transforming the Macedonian military into a more successful image of what he had seen at Thebes. Philip further lengthened the already longer spears used by the Thebans, creating the Macedonian sarissa, a spear of about eighteen feet in length, double that of the traditional Greek hoplite spear. Philip systematically conquered all of mainland Greece, except for Sparta, which he chose to leave alone. Philip’s final great victory, which he

shared with his teenage son Alexander, at the Battle of Chaeronea.

  • Pericles

A member of a prominent aristocratic family, Pericles was a predominant politician for forty years, from the early 460s BCE to his death in 429 BCE, and was instrumental in the development of a more popular democracy in Athens. Pericles however, refused to enter into battle against the Spartans, and instead ordered all inhabitants of Attica to retreat within the city. Pericles’ decision was wise, as the Athenians would likely have lost a land battle against the Spartans.

  • Thucydides

Thucydides, an Athenian general in the Peloponnesian War wrote a history of the Peloponnesian War throughout the war

  • Peisistratus

He was a tyrant who ruled in ancient Greece and unified Attica and who also laid the groundwork for Athens's later prosperity.

  • Socrates

A famous Athenian scholar is known for his way of teaching/questioning known as the Socratic Method. He taught his students to ask informed questions rather than just lecturing them. He was found guilty of corrupting the youth of Athens and for not acknowledging certain Greek gods, and he was put to death. He taught Plato.  

  • Plato 

Plato is another famous Athenian scholar, he was taught by Socrates and he taught Aristotle. He provided crucial insights for the ancient Athenians and made many advancements in philosophy. 

  • Aristotle

Aristotle is another famous Athenian scholar who was taught by Plato and who taught Alexander the Great. He also provided crucial insights for Athens and made many advancements in philosophy as well. 

  • Homer

The supposed author of the Illiad and the Odyssey, it is possible that Homer never existed.

  • Herodotus 

Herodotus, dubbed the Father of History, wrote the

Histories about the Persian Wars in the mid-fifth century BCE began their respective

histories with the Trojan War, each treating it as a historical event.

  • Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great was the Macedonian/Ancient Greek king who was known for his incredible military conquests and his vast empire.