Greece
and
Iran
1000
– 30 B.C.E
State-building, Expansion and
Conflict

Medes


Priests
Assyrians
Cyrus 550 BCE


Warriors
Social Class distinctions
Cambyses 530 BCE

Further expansion
Peasants

Which of the following should we consider
as a more important Persian step in
Empire Building?


Expansion
Administration
Darius I - 522 BCE
Satrapy System

Twenty total



Directly connected to royal family
Decentralized
Collect and send tribute
Successes









Royal roads
Postal service
Codifying of laws
Incorporation of local laws into justice
system
Royal judges
Relatively peaceful
Government supplied food for workers
Building of Persepolis as a cultural centre
Susa (Elam) established as Admin. centre
Issues







Royal tribute hoarding
Leads to a economic collapse across much
of Empire by 4th BCE
Medians pushed out of power positions
King as aloof; people as “my slaves”
Strong connection of practices to
Mesopotamia
High cost of King’s entourage
Huge tracks of land owned by king

Based on the successes and
issues of Darius’ rule and the
negative attitude of the
Greeks towards the Persians,
why don’t we see more
revolts taking place across
the Empire?
Persepolis
Development and Interaction of
Cultures

Religion



Zoroastrianism
Mandate from Heaven
Philosophies


Water, fire, earth
Polytheism


Persian culture under Darius I borrows
heavily from conquered peoples. To what
extent is this true in regard to religion?
It is said that Zorastriaism had a profound
influence on Judaism and Christianity.
Explain this connection.
Greeks





Resource poor –
needed trade
Ecological zone –
migration
Isolated polis
Phoenicians (800
BCE) = new ideas
(alphabet)
Rising population –
urban centers
Structures




Acropolis/agora
Hoplites – farmers
Colonists
Coins
Tyrant
Oligarchy
Democracy
King
Aristocracy
Free Peasants/Merchants/Craftsmen
Peasants
Debt - Slaves
Compare and contrast Greek and Persian
civilizations politically. (What was
necessary for each system to succeed?)
Culture (Beliefs)






Anthropomorphic
gods
Public sacrifice
Family
Individual
Pre – Socratic
philosophers
Logographers
Herodotus (485 – 425
BCE)

What social and intellectual factors
contributed to the evolution of the
heightened importance of the individual?
Make a case for one of the following
statements:
Herodotus was the first real historian.
Herodotus was NOT the first real historian.







7th c. BCE
No colonists –
invasion of
Messenia
Helots
Military
preparedness
Time warp
Peloponnesian
League
Sparta



Big territory,
population
594 BCE – Solon:
wealth linked to
democracy –
expanded
460s – 450s –
Pericles:
Assembly, Council
of 500, People’s
Courts
Athens


Why were the two polis of Sparta and
Athens so different from one another?
What accounted for those differences?
Can a case be made that ancient Sparta
was just as democratic as ancient Athens
in the 7th – 5th centuries BCE? Why or
why not?