Rise of Greek Civilization
Chapter 7, Lesson 1
► Greece
Mountain and Seas
was the first civilization to develop in Europe
and the westernmost part of Asia.
► In other early civilizations people settled in river
valleys that had rich soil.
 Greek civilization began in an area dominated by
mountains and seas.
► Flying over Greece today would treat you to a view of
rugged landscapes and beautiful seas.
► Greece is located mainly on the Balkan Peninsula.
 A peninsula is a body of land with water on three
sides.
► Far to the east of the mainland is another peninsula
known as Anatolia and is part of present-day Turkey.
► Between
Mountains and Seas
these two areas is the Aegean Sea.
 It is actually a part of the much larger
Mediterranean Sea.
 Hundreds of islands are located within it and
appear to be small stepping stones between the
Greek mainland and Anatolia.
► Greeks traded goods and ideas along their coastline
and islands.
 Today, Fishing and trading are still huge.
► Other Greek areas settled into farming
communities.
 Narrow fertile plains ran along the coast and
between the mountains.
► In
Mountains and Seas
the areas mild climate, farmers grow
wheat, barley, olives, and grapes.
► They would also raise sheep and goat.
► Though some communities were by the
coast, many were far from the sea.
 They were separated from each other by
rugged mountains and deep valleys.
 This resulted in many areas becoming
independent and in some cases thought of
themselves as small separate countries.
► Greek
An Island Civilization
myth tells of an early civilization on the
island of Crete (KREET).
 Located to the southeast of the mainland.
► Around A.D. 1900, a British Archaeologist named
Arthur Evans discovered an area called Knossos
(NAH-suhs).
 Unearthed the palace of a legendary king
known as Minos (MY-nuhs).
 He concluded that Minos and his family lived in
the palace with numerous rooms connected by
twisting passageways.
 Some rooms may have been used to store oil,
wine, and grain.
► Other
An Island Civilization
rooms were used as workshops used to make
jewelry, vases, and statues.
► The palace even seemed to have bathrooms.
► It is believed this palace was built by the Minoans
(muh-NOH-uhnz).
 They were the first to develop in the area but
were not Greek.
 They lasted from about 2500 B.C. to 1450 B.C.
► Trade was important to the Minoans.
 Were able to build ships from the oak and cedar
trees.
 They sailed to Egypt and Syria to trade pottery
and stone vases for ivory and metals.
An Island Civilization
► Minoan
ships also sailed the eastern
Mediterranean Sea to protect Minoan trade
from pirates.
► Some time around 1450 B.C. the Minoan
civilization collapsed.
 Historians do not know why this happened but
theorize an underwater earthquake causing
waves that destroyed the cities.
 Other historians believe that they were invaded
by the Mycenaean (my-suh-NEE-uhns).
A Mainland Civilization
► Around
2000 B.C., the Mycenaean left their
homeland in central Asia and moved into
mainland Greece.
 They mixed with the local people and had even
set up several kingdoms
Mycenaean Kingdom
► Little
was known about the Mycenaeans
until the late 1800s.
 A German archaeologist named Heinrich
Schliemann (HYN-ryhk SHLEE-mahn) discovered
the ruins of a palace in Mycenae.
 This resulted in him calling them the
Mycenaeans.
► Each
Mycenaean king lived in a palace
constructed atop a hill.
 Thick stone walls were used to protect the king
and his people.
► Nobles
Mycenaean Kingdom
lived outside the walls on lands called
estates.
 The workers and enslaved people lived on that
estate.
► Mycenaean palaces were used as centers of
government.
► Artisans there made leather goods, clothes, and jars
for storing wine and olive oil.
 Other workers made swords and ox-hide shields.
► Government officials kept tabs on how rich the
kingdom’s residents were.
 Collected wheat, livesstock, and honey as taxes.
Traders and Warriors
The Minoan traders from Crete would visit the Greek
mainland.
► The Mycenaeans eventually took features of Minoan
culture.
 Building ships and working with bronze.
 Navigated using the sun and stars.
 The Mycenaeans also worshipped the Earth Mother,
the Minoans chief god.
► By the mid 1400s B.C, the Mycenaeans conquered the
Minoans and controlled the Aegean area.
 Brought new wealth to the Mycenaeans and was used
to expand their military strength.
 They were proud of their military successes in the
Trojan War.
►
► Mycenaean
A Dark Age
Kingdoms would fight one
another and earthquakes destroyed their
palace fortresses,
 By 1100 B.C., their civilization crumbled.
► Around
this time, groups of warring people
were moving throughout the Mediterranean
region.
 One of the groups were the Greek-speaking
people known as the Dorians (DOHR-ee-uhns)
who invaded most of the Greek mainland from
the north and took control of most of it.
► Historians
A Dark Age
call the next 300 years of Greek
History a Dark Age.
Trade slowed down.
People made fewer things to sell.
Most people were poor.
Farmers grew only enough food for their
families.
 Writing and record keeping decreased
dramatically.




►A
A Dark Age
few positive things did occur though.
 Dorian Warriors introduced iron weapons and
iron making.
 Iron tools and weapons were much stronger
and cheaper to make than bronze ones.
► As
the Dorians pushed into Greece,
thousands of Greeks fled from the mainland
and settled on the Aegean Islands and the
western shore of Anatolia.
► By
The Hellenes
750 B.C. many descendants of those who ran
away returned.
 Brought back new ideas, crafts, and skills.
 Developed small independent communities
under local leaders who eventually became
kings.
► These people called themselves Hellenes, or
Greeks.
► Farmers in these communities grew more food
than their family could use.
 They would then trade their surplus with
neighboring people such as the Egyptians or
Phoenicians.
► As
The Hellenes
trade increased, a new need for writing
developed.
► They would adopt the alphabet of the
Phoenicians who would sailed from the
Mediterranean coast.
 This alphabet consisted on 24 letters
representing different sounds.
 Greatly simplified reading and writing in the
Greek language.
 Record keeping in turn, became easier.
 People even started writing down stories that
had been told by bards, or storytellers orally.
► As
Colonies and Trade
Greece left the Dark Ages, its population
increased.
 By 700 B.C., local farmers could not produce
enough to feed the growing population.
► They began to send people outside the Aegean
area to create colonies.
 A settlement in a new territory that has close
ties to its homeland.
 Many colonies were established along the coast
of the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea
between 750 B.C. and 550 B.C.
 Greek culture would spread into Italy, Sicily,
France, Spain, North Africa, and western Asia.
Colonies and Trade
►
►
►
The colonies traded with their “parent” cities in the Greek
mainland.
 They shipped grains, metals, fish, timber and enslaved
people to Greece.
 In return, Greece sent wine, olive oil, and pottery to the
colonies.
The Greeks soon began to make coins out of metal.
 People now traded money for goods rather than
bartered for goods.
 It helped increase the colonies wealth.
 As demand grew colonies made more goods to meet
that demand.
Certain colonies specialized in making certain goods.
 Colonies that raised sheep began to make clothes from
their wool.
► Most
The Greek City-State
of the communities were separated by
mountain and seas.
 Created loyalty to the community they lived in.
 Communities became independent.
► Nobles who had owned large estates eventually
overthrew Greek kings by the end of the Dark Ages.
 Across Greece nobles ruled numerous city-states.
► Just like in Mesopotamia, city-states were made up
of a town or city and it’s surrounding areas.
 Each city-state or polis acted like its own
independent country.
 English words such as police and politics have
their roots in polis.
What did a Polis Look Like?
► The
polis was the basic political unit of Greek
Civilization.
► In the center a fort was built on a hilltop known as
an acropolis.
 Local people would take shelter during an
attack here.
 Also had temples used to worship local gods on
the acropolis.
► Outside the acropolis was an open area called an
agora.
 It was usually a market place, but also used as
a place to gather and discuss issues, choose
officials, pass laws, and carry out business.
What did a Polis Look Like?
► City
neighborhoods surrounded the agora,
 Beyond the city were villages and farmland that
were apart of the polis.
► The general size of a city-state was usually small
since it was surrounded by seas and mountains.
 Some were only a few square miles in areas.
 Other covered several hundred square miles in
an area.
► By
500 B.C., nearly 300,000 people lived in
the city-state of Athens.
 But most city-states were smaller than this.
What Did Citizenship Mean to the
Greeks?
► We
owe many ideas of citizenship to the
Greeks.
► Greek citizens were members of a political
community with rights and responsibilities.
 Male citizens had the right to vote, hold public
office, own property, and defend themselves in
court.
 In return, they had the responsibility to serve in
government and to fight for their polis as citizen
soldiers.
What Did Citizenship Mean to the
Greeks?
Ancient Greek citizenship was different from places
like Egypt or Mesopotamia.
 In Egypt and Mesopotamia you were just subjects.
 No rights, no voice in government, and no choice
but to obey their rulers.
► In Greece city-states only free men who owned
property and were born in the polis could be citizens.
 Believed that the responsibility to run the city-state
was their since it was made up of their property.
 Later the requirement of holding land was removed.
 Women and children might qualify for citizenship,
but had none of the rights that went with it.
►
► In
Citizen Soldiers
Greece, wars were fought by wealthy
nobles riding horses and driving chariots.
► By 700 B.C., citizens called hoplites (HAHPlyts) made up the armies of a city-state.
 Often fought on foot with heavy round shields,
a short sword, and a spear.
► They
fought by marching forward shoulder
to shoulder in rows.
 They raised their shields above them to protect
from enemy arrows, and the formation was
known as a phalanx (FAY-langks).
Citizen Soldiers
They were proud to fight as brave warriors.
 They took an oath to saying they would not
disgrace themselves, abandon their posts, follow all
current and future laws, oppose any who does not
follow the law, and follow the religion of their
fathers.
► The polis gave many Greeks a sense of belonging.
 Similar to how people feel about their home states
today.
► Citizens place the needs of the polis above
themselves.
 However, this caused a division amongst Greek
city-states, and were not unified as a country,
weakening them and making it easier to conquer.
►