Ancient Greece

1. Ancient Greece How did a cultured and influential civilization arise in Greece?

2. Spartan Military Society Sparta was a powerful ancient Greek city-state devoted to war. • Spartan girls and women were expected to be tough; girls education focused on physical strength and athletic skills and they learned to defend themselves • Sparta was located in the Eurotas river valley, protected by mountains and separated from other city-states • Spartan society was divided into three groups: the upper class consisted of wealthy and powerful and owning families • The second class included free non-citizen farmers and traders • The lowest class was made up of the helots- the state owned slaves • Fear of a helot uprising (as helots outnumbered the Spartans) was the main reason for Sparta’s military society

3. The Helots of Sparta

4. Daily Lifein Sparta • Spartan soldiers considered it an honor to die in battle • Boys were taken at age 7 to be raised by the state to be soldiers; the intense training was brutal and created obedient soldiers • At 20, the boys joined a mess or regiment • Women’s primary role was to produce future soldiers • Men and women were often separated by war and lived their lives independent of men. They could own property • This commitment to war made Sparta a great power but they had few cultural achievements because of this focus

5. Athens’s Democratic SocietyExplore the culture and society of ancient Athens. The culturally rich city-state of Athens developed democracy. • Daily Life • Citizenship was open to adult men who had been born in Athens, foreign born men could live in Athens but did not generally become citizens, vote or won property; but they paid taxes and fought in the army • Slaves were at the bottom of society • Athenian women were controlled by their husbands • Wealthy women ran the household but could not go out alone • Poorer women had more freedom but had to work for wages • Athenian boys attended school if they could afford it • After and education, boys spent two years in military training • Athenian girls did not attend school, they learned household skills • Poor children worked

6. Daily Life in Athens

7. Athens’s Democratic SocietyExplore the culture and society of ancient Athens. The culturally rich city-state of Athens developed democracy. • Beginnings of Democracy • The aristocratic families that replaced the monarchy in ruling Athens, began to fight each other for poor • At the same time, farmers protested decreasing wealth and land and increasing strife • Solon was granted special powers to stabilize Athens • He limited the power of the aristocracy and allowed free citizens to assemble and pass laws • In 508 BC, Athens established a democracy- a form of government in which citizens have a direct role in governing • Athens had capable soldiers but did not have a professional army so they joined forces with other city states to defend themselves

8. Uniting Against the PersiansCity-states in ancient Greece united to drive back invasions by the Persian Empire. • Ionian Revolt • The Persians conquered the Greek colony of Ionia in 546 BCE; they rebelled in 499 BC with help from Athens but the revolt was crushed in 494 BC. The Persians vowed revenge on Athens • In 490, the Persians landed in Marathon, about 24 miles from Athens • The Athenian general ordered his troops to advance at full run, surprising the Persians and forcing them back to their ships • Athens claimed victory

9. Uniting Against the PersiansCity-states in ancient Greece united to drive back invasions by the Persian Empire. • Defeat of the Persian Empire • In 480 BC, the Persians invaded Athens with hundreds of ships and 150,000 soldiers • Athens used the strong alliance forged with Sparta to buy time to prepare for battle • King Leonidas of Sparta occupied the important mountain pass of Thermopylae giving the Athenians more time • At the battle of Salamis, Greek warships called triremes faced the Persian army • A third of the Persians fleet was destroyed after the Greeks lured them into a trap • In 479 BC, a large an united Greek army defeated the Persians for good • Athens and Sparta emerged as the most powerful city -states in Greece.

10. Pericles and DemocracyIdentify the process by which Athens became a democracy.Athens established the world’s first democracy. • Seeds of Democracy • Solon made life better for the poor by – cancelling their debts, freeing enslaved farmers, reduced the power of the aristocracy • Solon organized citizens into four classes based on wealth- rich men had more power, but all male citizens could join the assembly • He also created a council chosen by lottery from the assembly making government more fair but not yet a true democracy • Under the rule of Cleisthenes, around 500 BC, assembly member debated openly and heard court cases and citizens were organized into groups based on where they lived • Each group sent 50 representatives a year to the council of 500. The council proposed laws and debated policies and the assembly voted, engaging the citizens in government • This was a limited democracy because only male property owners born in Athens could participate- women; foreigners and slaves had no political rights.

11. Pericles and Democracy

12. Pericles and DemocracyIdentify the process by which Athens became a democracy.Athens established the world’s first democracy. • Athens Greatest Leader • Pericles expanded this limited democracy • He allowed all males citizens to participate in government • He transferred the remaining powers of the aristocrats to the assembly • He paid jurors and public officials and opened p powerful political jobs to the middle classes so that social class nor poverty was not longer a barrier to power • Athens now had a direct democracy • Pericles encourages learning, creativity and beauty by supporting the work of great thinkers and artists, ushering Athens into a cultural “golden age”