Chapter 5, Section 2 Warring City-States
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After 1200 BCE when the sea peoples invaded mainland Greece the Dorians moved into the area
Dorians and Mycenaean identified less with culture of their ansscetors and more with their local
city-state
By 750 there was the rise of powerful city-states
Rule and Order in Greek City-States
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By 750 BCE the city-state (polis) was the main political unit of Greece
Most city states controlled between 50-5000 square miles of territory
At public center or on a hilltop called an acropolis male citizens gathered to conduct business
Greek Political Structures
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Variety of political forms
o Monarchy- kings or monarchs rule
o Aristocracy- government ruled by small land-owning elite
o Oligarchy- government ruled by a few people
New kind of Army Emerges
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When iron replaces bronze as material of weapons, ordinary citizens could arm and defend
themselves (because iron was cheaper)
Citizens were expected to defend the polis
Phalanx- fearsome formation of foot soldiers, with spears and swords
Tyrants Seize Power
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No ruler could effectively deal with citizen soldiers
Tyrants- powerful individuals who gained control of the government, usually by appealing to the
poor and discontented for support
Sparta Builds a Military State
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Sparta built a military state
Cut off from the rest of Greece by the Gulf of Corinth
Sparta Dominates Messenians
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Sparta takes over the Messenia around 725 BCE and makes the Messenians helots, peasants
forced to stay on the land they worked
600 BCE Messenians revolted
Spartans put down the revolt but just barely
Sparta’s Government and Society
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Two groups governed Sparta
o Assembly – all free adult males who voted on major issues
o Council of elders – proposed laws on which the assembly voted
Two kings ruled Sparta’s military
Social groups
o Citizens – original inhabitants of the region- land-owning people
o Non-citizens – commerce and industry workers
o Helots
o Slaves
Spartan Education
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For men- military training
o Boys began at age 7
Spartan girls wrestled and engaged in sports
Women managed family estates when men were gone- although they didn’t have the right to
vote
600-371 BCE Sparta had the most powerful military in Greece
Did not value arts
Valued strength, discipline, duty above all else
Athens Build a Democracy
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Athens lay to north of Sparta
Culturally the opposite of Sparta
Political Developments in Athens
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Athens tried to create a democracy, or rule by the people
Only citizens could vote
o Adult free males
Non-citizens were women, slaves, and foreigners and were excluded from citizenship and rights
Women focused their attention on the household and had little to do with intellectual life
Solon’s Political and Economic Reforms
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Clashes between the aristocrats and commoners led to the development of a legal code
Draco wrote first legal code in 621 BCE
However, conflicts between aristocrats and poor continued
594 BCE Solon given power to make reforms
o Outlawed debt slavery
o Allowed all citizens to participate and debate politics in the Athenian assembly
o Legal concept- any citizen could bring charges against wrongdoing
Solon neglected land reform
Nobleman and military leader Pisistratus took power and became one of Athens’ first tyrants
Reforms of Cleisthenes
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508 BCE reorganized assembly to break up the power of the nobility
Allowed all citizens to submit laws for debate and passage
Created the Council of Five Hundred
The Persian Wars
Battle at Marathon
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War between Greeks and Persians began in Anatolia
Greeks had long lived there but the Persians conquered it in 520
When the Ionian Greeks revolted Athens sent help but Darius defeated them and vowed
revenge
490 BCE a Persian fleet attacked a plain northeast of Athens called Marathon
They were no match for the well-trained phalanx and the Persians suffered great loss
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Thermopylae and Salamis
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480 BCE Darius the Great’s son Xerxes tried to crush Greece
At this point Greeks were divided and could not unite to stop Xerxes