Chapter 5
Review and Discussion
Persian Empire under Darius, 521486 B.C.E.
Ruling a large empire is a difficult task. How did
Darius organize the administration of the realm?
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How was the Political government organized?
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divided into twenty provinces
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What was the role of the Satrap?
each ruled by a Persian satrap or governor
 connected by marriage to the royal court
 primarily responsible for collecting and
forwarding the tribute to the king.
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How did Darius maintain control of
his empire?
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Persian control -
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building and patrolling the royal roads
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Postal system / trade routes
combining central organization with local
traditions and ordinances.
Adapted the use of secret agents (used formerly by
Assyrians)
Why were the Persians successful rulers?
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willing to adapt to local circumstances, to learn
from those with experience, and to utilize the
skills of non-Persians
Describe Persian religious beliefs during the
height of the Persian Empire.
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Explain Zoroastrianism –
Founder Zoroaster may have lived between (6001800BCE)
fostered the belief in one supreme deity
encouraged moral and ethical virtues
promised salvation
Saw the world as a struggle between good and evil
 Good will prevail
used by Persian leaders to portray the king as having
a mandate to bring order to a tumultuous world.
How did geography and the environment
affect Greek development?
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Environment
Lacking fertile river valleys, Greece depended
entirely on rainfall for agriculture
 rocky terrain small mountain ranges
 lack of navigable rivers made overland travel,
trading, and communication very difficult.
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Environment
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How did environmental constraints shaped
Greek political structures, commerce, and
society?
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Small city-states developed
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Lack of natural resources and the need for
agricultural supplies spurred the growth of
maritime commerce.
Contact with other peoples brought in new ideas
and technologies.
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Greek Gods
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People emulated the
Gods’ behavior
Anthropomorphic
Influenced peoples’
actions
Gods lived on Mt.
Olympus
Each God controlled a
specific part of the
universe.
The Parthenon
Dedicated to the Goddess Athena Parthenon.
Built between 447 BCE and 438 BCE.
The Olympic Games (776
BCE)
• Held to honor Zeus
• Trade and wars stopped
during games
• Only men who spoke Greek
were allowed to participate
later included Greek
colonies
• Individual events rather
than team
• Women were not
allowed
Governing the City-States
• Between 750 B.C.E and 500 B.C.E, the
Greeks evolved different forms of
government.
Review of Governments
1. monarchy: [‘single ruler'] A
government in which a king or queen
exercises central power (chosen by
birth; hereditary)
2. aristocracy: ['best-rule'] noble landholding families (hereditary distinction)
3. oligarchy: ['few-rule'] small group of
business elites like, merchants,
farmers and artisans (wealth
distinction)
New Technique: Phalanx
Each city-state had
citizen-soldiers
• A new method of
fighting emerged
called “phalanx”
• A massive formation
of heavily armed foot
soldiers that moved in
unison
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Sparta
• Military Society
• Gov: led by two kings and
20 counselors
• largest and most
sophisticated army in the
known world
• Forbade: trade, travel and
free speech!
• Needed army to control
slave (helot) population
• Outnumbered 20 to 1
• Control lasted over 250
years.
Spartan Military Life
Army governed life
What did it mean for a
man?
Trained in military
-Started at age 7
-Marry at 20 but live
in barracks
-Retire at 60
53 years of service!
•Males can vote at 30
Reading: Sparta, The
training of Youth
Athens
• It is the place
where democracy
was born.
Pericles
• Pericles was
crucial to the
expansion of
democracy
• Allowed the
freedom of
speech and
thought
Pericles’ Funeral Oration
“Our constitution is called a
democracy because power is in the
hands not of a minority but of the
whole people.
We alone regard a man who takes
no interest in public affairs not as
harmless, but as a useless
character.”
--Pericles’ 431 B.C.
Athenian Democracy
• Only those with both
parents born in Athens
could have citizenship
• Athens had a direct
democracy: all male
citizens had the right to
attend the Assembly and a
vote.
• met 40 times a year
• No elections, leaders
chosen by drawing lots
• Member of 500
Was Greek democracy
“democratic”?
Greek democracy was not truly
“democratic” by modern American
standards. Why?
 because a sizable portion of the
population (women, slaves 1/3 of the
population, and immigrants) were not
citizens
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Only 10 to 15 percent of the population
Women: Athens VS Sparta
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Athens
Seldom allowed in
public
No formal education
Could not own
property
Primarily responsible for
house and domestic
duties
No political power
Marriage
 Purpose was to create
male offspring
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Sparta
Taught to read and
write
Women were trained in
athletic events
 Produce strong
healthy babies
(prefer males)
Taught loyalty to the
state
Had Property Rights
No political power
The Persian Wars: Overview
The threat of the powerful
Persian empire united the
Greek city-states.
Around 500B.C. Greeks
were attacked by the
Persians
Greeks joined together to
fight Persians
 3 Persian Wars (499-479
BCE)
The Impact of the Persian Wars
1. Athens emerged as the most powerful citystate.
2. Athens used the Delian League (alliance of
150 city states) to create an Athenian
empire.
3. With Pericles as its leader, Athens enters
into its Golden Age!
The Peloponnesian War:
The Alliance System Fails!
The Peloponnesian War: CAUSES
Many Greeks
outside of Athens
resented Athenian
domination.
Sparta formed the
Peloponnesian
League
Sparta and Athens
rivaling for
supremacy…
The Peloponnesian War
• 27 year war ensues
• Pericles brings all the
people into the city
• He depends on the navy,
high walls and food
supplies to string out the
war
A Mysterious Plague Hits Athens!
• Plague destroys 1/3 of
Athenian population
• Plague sweeps through a
total of 3 times during the
war
• Generals are dead,
Pericles is dead, no
leadership
The Peloponnesian War: Effects
1. Persia gained control of
many city-states
2. Defeated democracy in
Greece
3. Sparta would eventually
fall to Persia
4. Athen’s cultural
influence continues
Great Philosophers of Greece
What is philosophy?
 The word “philosophy” comes from the
Greeks.
 “Philosophy” by Greek definition means
“love of wisdom.”
 The Greeks believed that nature followed
general rules called “natural laws,” which
could be discovered by reason.
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The Three Great Greek Thinkers
Who are they?
Socrates
• No written records
•His student Plato wrote about him
•He believed the goal of education was to
improve peoples’ lives
“…the unexamined life is not worth living.”
-Socrates
Socrates
“Socratic Method”
 question & answer
approach; helped people
recognize they didn’t have
all the answers!
 “Know thy self”…
 Self-examination leads to
correct behavior and
ethical living.
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Socrates on Trial----WHY?
•Seen by many to not believe in the gods
•Feared that he was corrupting the minds of the youth!
•He is found guilty and put to death! A scapegoat…
Great Philosophers of Greece
“The Death of
Socrates” Painted in
France in 1787
• How does it depict
this famous man?
-Noble, dignified &
forceful.
-He is ready to meet
his death but not
before he speaks his
mind!
Plato
• Author of
The Republic
• No family or personal
property; common
good government
• Yet the government
should regulate every
aspect of its citizens
lives!
Started a school called
The Academy
Plato
• Rulers should be
unselfish.
• Believed that only the
most intelligent should
participate in gov’t.
• Believed in finding “truth”
through reason!
Aristotle
Did not agree with his
teacher…
• Knowledge should be
gained from all the
senses.
• Major influence in
Western European culture
• Believed women were just
“infertile men…” and
inadequate
Aristotle
Wrote Politics
 Supports family & personal
property
 A government that features
three social classes
 Favored a single, strong
ruler
 Able leaders that have a
respect for the law
 Responsibilities of citizens
to their government
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The Writing of History
Scientific Medicine Begins!
The Greeks applied reason, observation, and
logic to the study of history and medicine.
•Herodotus is called the “Father of History.”
• Herodotus stressed the importance of
research.
• Medicine
•Hippocrates & the Hippocratic Oath – all
patients must be treated regardless of class
Hippocratic Oath
Alexander the Great (336-323)
B.C.E.
Accomplishments
 Conquers Egypt, Mediterranean Sea region,
Persia, and far as Pakistan
 Declared
pharaoh in Egypt
Alexander had encouraged blending by
marrying a Persian woman and adopting
Persian customs.
 Builds capital of Alexandria and many other
“Alexandria's”! See map
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The Empire of Alexander the Great
The Legacy of Alexander
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327 B.C.E. attempts to
conquer India
Soldiers rebel from 11
years of exhaustion
Alexander dies in
Babylon of malaria
after 13 years as king
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Empire broken up into 3
Macedonian dynasties
Alexander’s most
lasting achievement
was the spread of
Greek culture
Explain what is meant by the Hellenistic
Age.
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The Hellenistic Age was a period that followed the
conquests of Alexander
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During the Hellenistic Age, Greek culture acted as the
dominant influence
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lasting from about 323 to 30 B.C.E.
northeastern Africa and western Asia
The Hellenistic Age boasted new forms of science, art,
and scholarship.
The city of Alexandria in Egypt epitomized the
Hellenistic Age through its art and architecture, its
great library, and its cosmopolitan culture.
Long after Greeks ceased to exert any direct political
control on those areas, their culture remained a
powerful influence.