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Chapter 5.2 Reading Quiz: Warring CityStates
1. SPICE- Sparta
Social: Women had more rights in
Sparta…trained in wrestling, gymnastics,
married later…weak members of society were
weeded out…Messenians as helots
(serfs)…and there were slaves as well
Political: Assembly- all free adult males:
elected officials and voted on major
issues…Council of Elders…5 elected officials
called Ephors…2 kings ruled jointly over
Sparta’s military
Interactions: took control of land from the
Messenians and restricted their rights…joined
with Athens and other city-states to fight the
Persians during the Persian Wars…was the
leader of the Peloponnesian League…fought
against Athens (and won) during the
Peloponnesian War
Culture: polytheistic society…focused on
creating a military state…education was
military based…boys to barracks at age 7…did
not focus on the arts, etc…women were more
active
Economic: agricultural society…relied on
Messenians to produce the food for the citystate…limited trade
2. SPICE- Athens
Social: distinct social classes between citizens
and non-citizens…only adult male citizens
could vote. Did have slavery…women were
expected to stay in domestic roles
Political: went through 4 distinct styles of
government: monarchy, oligarchy, tyranny,
and direct democracy. Draco’s code: first
legal code of Athens (debt slavery)…reforms
of Solon
Interactions: extended trade and colonization,
due to limited arable land…Fought against the
Persians in Persian Wars…battles of
Marathon and Salamis…fought against the
Spartans in the Peloponnesian Wars
Culture: Rich cultural heritage…Golden Age of
Athens…focus on Theatre and philosophers
Economic: extended trade and colonization,
due to limited arable land…olives and grapes.
3. Summarize the causes, main events, and
outcomes of the Persian Wars.
Causes: Fought between the Greek City-States
(including Sparta and Athens) versus the
Persian Empire (Darius and Xerxes)…Greeks
defeated the Persians at Athens, Marathon,
Salamis, and Plateae…Persians won at
Thermopylae…outcome: Greeks won, Athens
became more powerful…used treasury of
Delian League to rebuild Athens
Chapter 5.2: Warring City-States
I. Rule and Order in Greek City-States
 By 750BCE, the city-state (polis) was the
fundamental political unit in ancient
Greece.
 Polis: city and its surrounding
countryside (numerous villages)…citystates controlled between 50 to 500
square miles of territory…home to fewer
than 20,000 inhabitants
 Agora: public center (agoraphobic)
 Acropolis: fortified hilltop…male citizens
gathered to conduct business
A.
Greek Political Structures
 Monarchy- rule by king or monarch
 Aristocracy- government ruled by a small
group of noble, land-owning
families…often from king’s cavalry
 Trade expanded: new class of wealthy
merchants and artisans emerged…either
took power or shared with aristocracy
 Oligarchy: rule by a small group of
wealthy people
 Most Greeks looked down on all nonGreek foreigners as “barbarians”
B.A New Kind of Army Emerges
 Dorian Age: only wealthy could afford
bronze weapons
 Iron replaced bronze, and was cheaper, so
some ordinary citizens could now afford
weapons
o New type of army composed of
merchants, artisans, and small
landowners…citizens were expected
to defend the polis
 Hoplites= foot soldiers
 Phalanx- fighting formation where
hoplites stood side by side, with their
shield covering half of their body, and half
of the body of the person next to them.
C. Tyrants Seize Power
 Citizen-soldiers gained power…rulers
could not ignore them
 Many city-states, unemployed farmers
and debt-ridden artisans joined in revolt
against the nobles
 Tyrants: an usurper who seizes
power…usually appealed to the poor and
discontented for support
 Power shifted between tyrants in some
city-states
II. Sparta Builds a Military State
 Located on the Peloponnesus (southern
part of Greece)…nearly cut off from the
rest of Greece by the Gulf of Corinth
 Sparta built a military state (unique)
A.
Sparta Dominates Messenians
 Sparta conquered Messenia around
725BCE and took over the land
 Messenians became helots (peasants
forced to stay on land that they worked)
o Each year helots had to pay half of
their yearly crop to the Spartans
 600BCE: Messenian Revolt (outnumbered
Spartans 8:1)
o Spartans just barely put down the
revolt, then focused on creating a
strong city-state, to prevent future
rebellions
B.Sparta’s Government and Society
 2 groups governed:
o Assembly- composed of all free adult
males (elected officials, voted on
major issues)
o Council of Elders- proposed laws on
which the assembly voted
o Ephors: 5 elected officials which
carried out the laws the council
passed…also controlled education and
prosecuted court cases
o Also, 2 Kings ruled over Sparta’s
military
 Population consisted of several social
groups
o Citizens- descended from original
inhabitants of the region…including
ruling families who owned the land
o Noncitizens, but free- worked in
commerce and industry
o Helots- Messenians, bound to the
land…or as household servants or
worked for citizen hoplite warriors
o Slaves
C. Spartan Education
 Men: daily life centered around military
training
o Age of 7: boys moved into army
barracks…no shoes…light
tunics…slept on hard
benches…meager rations…”Spartan
Lifestyle”
 Spartan Girls- ran, wrestled, and played
sports
 Both learned to put service to Sparta
above all else, even family
 Women managed the family estates while
their husbands served the polis
 Spartan Women didn’t have the right to
vote, but they did have greater rights than
women in other city-states (ex: Athens)
 600 to 371BCE: Sparta had the most
powerful army in Greece
o individual expression was
discouraged
o Spartans did not value the arts, little
time for artistic expression
o Spartans valued duty, strength, and
discipline over individuality, beauty,
and freedom
III. Athens Builds a Limited Democracy
 Danger of a helot revolt led to Sparta
becoming a military state
 Danger of revolution among povertystricken farmers led to Athens becoming a
democracy
 Sparta and Athens did unify against the
Persian armies
A.
Political Developments in Athens
 Went through a power struggle between
rich and poor…made reforms to avoid
civil war
 Attempted to create a democracy, (rule by
the people)
 Direct Democracy (all adult male citizens)
 Women, slaves, and foreigners were
excluded from citizenship and had few
rights
 Slaves formed about 1/3 of the Athenian
population: worked in mines, farmed
fields, and did housework
B.Solon’s Political and Economic Reforms
 Repeated clashes occurred between the
aristocrats who governed Athens and the
common people.
 621 BCE, Greek lawmaker Draco wrote
the first legal code (contracts and
property ownership)
o Included debt slavery
 594 BCE aristocrats chose Solon to head
the government, and gave him full power
to reform the law
 Solon outlawed debt slavery
 Allowed all citizens to participate and
debate policies in the Athenian assembly
 Solon also introduced legal concept that
any citizen could bring charges against
wrongdoers
 Solon’s economic policies benefited many
o Encouraged export of grapes and
olives, initiated profitable overseas
trade and demand for these products
 However, Solon neglected land reforms
o Fighting erupted between wealthy
landowners and farmers
 546BCE- Pisistratus (nobleman and
military leader) seized power as one of
Athen’s first tyrants…seeking power at
the expense of the nobles, provided funds
to help peasants buy farm equipment…tax
on agricultural production…also launched
massive building program that gave jobs
to the poor and earned him their support
C. Reforms of Cleisthenes
 508BCE- Cleisthenes, an Athenian leader,
introduced further reforms…worked to
make Athens a full democracy,
reorganized the assembly to break up the
power of the nobility…increased the
power of the assembly by allowing all
citizens to submit laws for debate and
passage…created the Council of Five
Hundred, which proposed laws and
counseled the assembly…council
members chosen by lot…reforms allowed
Athenian citizens to participate in a
limited democracy…only 1/5 of Athenian
residents were actual citizens
IV. The Persian Wars
A.
Battle of Marathon
 Persian Wars- between Greece and the
Persian Empire
o Began in Ionia on the coast of Anatolia
o Greek colony there: 520BCE- Persians
conquered the area




o Ionian Greeks revolted, Athens sent
ships and soldiers to their aid
o Persian King Darius defeated the
rebels and vowed to destroy Athens
in retaliation
490BCE: Persian fleet carried 25,000 men
across the Aegean Sea…landed northeast
of Athens on a plain called Marathon
10,000 Athenians, arranged in
phalanxes…Greeks were outnumbered,
charged
Persians lacked training in land combat
were no match for the phalanx…Persians
fled after several hours…casualties 6,400
Persians and 192 Athenians
Athenians won the land battle, city was
defenseless…
o Tradition: army leaders chose a young
runner, Pheidippides to race back to
Athens…brought news of Persian
defeat, so Athenians would not give
up the city without a fight
 Pheidippides sprinted from
Marathon to Athens, delivered his
message, collapsed, and died.
 Greeks were waiting for the
Persians when they sailed into the
harbor, and Persians retreated
B.Thermopylae and Salamis
 480BCE: Darius the Great was dead, his
son and successor Xerxes tried to crush
Greece.
 Xerxes assembled an enormous invasion
force of ships and men
 Greeks were badly divided…some citystates agreed to fight the Persians…others
wanted to let Xerxes destroy Athens
 Some Greeks even fought on the Persian
side...Xerxes’ army met no resistance as it
marched down the eastern coast of
Greece
 Xerxes came to a narrow mountain pass
at Thermopylae…7,000 Greeks (300
Spartans) blocked his way
o Held back the Persians for 3 days,
until a traitor told the Persians about
a secret path around the cliffs
o Fearing defeat, the Spartans held the
pass while the other Greeks retreated
o All 300 Spartans were killed
 Athens debated about how to defend the
city
o Themistocles: convinced Athenians to
evacuate the city and fight at the sea
o Positioned the Greek fleet in a narrow
channel near the island of Salamis
o Xerxes set fire to Athens and then sent
his warships to block both ends of the
channel, but the Persians couldn’t
maneuver well
o Greek ships used battering rams into
the Persian’s wooden hulls
o 1/3 of the Persian fleet sank
o Spartans defeated the rest of the
Persian army at a 3rd battle on the
plain of Plataea 479BCE
C. Consequences of the Persian Wars
 With the end of the Persian Wars, all the
Greek city-states felt a new sense of
confidence and freedom.
 Athens basked in glory of Persian defeat
 Athens became the leader of alliance of
140 city-states called the Delian
League…Athens began using its powerful
navy to control the other league
members…prestige and wealth led to a
Golden Age in Athens