Golden Age
in Athens
DO NOW
What comes to mind when you hear
“Golden Age”?
•
•
•
•
Wealth
Glory
Advances in arts
Advances in technology
How Athens ….
•Citizens still voted
•Still gathered at
acropolis and agora
•Each summer held
festival to honor
Athena
•Used Navy to become leader
in Greek affairs
•gained wealth through trade
•Acropolis had new buildings to
show increased wealth and
power
•Built a marble temple to
Athena called Parthenon-ruins
still there today
•By 460 B.C. Athens is the
leading city-state in Greece
Parthenon-ruins
Government
• Athens was a democracy
• An assembly of citizens voted on issues
that concerned the city
• citizens- some men; no women or slaves
• Assembly- lawmaking body of government
• Athens one of the first do have this
Key People
PERICLESSOCRATES-
PLATOPHILIP II-
Pericles
• leader of Athens around 450 B.C.
• made sure all citizens could take part in
government
• Any citizen could be in assembly or serve on
a jury- arranged for them to be paid
• This allowed even
poor people to take
part in government
SOCRATES
•Teacher of philosophy in
the middle 400’s B.C.
•Angered some by
questioning laws,
customs, and religion
•Brought to trial in 399
B.C. for “urging Athens’
young people to revolt”
•Sentenced to death
PLATO
Greek philosopher and student of Socrates
PHILIP II• King of Macedonia
• Father of Alexander the
Great
• Conquered Greece in 338
B.C
• Developed idea of
phalanxes- small fighting
units
• His armies used 18 ft
spears and depended on
soldiers on horseback
more than on foot soldiers
in combat
phalanxes
Effects of the Golden Age
• Creation of the
Peloponnesian
League(Sparta and its’ allies)
Effects of the Golden Age
• Sparta- Jealous and fearful of the power of
Athens
• Sparta and allies attack Athens in 431
B.C.,
• Start of The Peloponnesian War
The Peloponnesian War
Major Events
• Pericles orders Athenians inside the city
walls- acropolis
• Spartans destroy farmland to try to starve
out Athenians, but Navy keeps bringing
grain to city
• Nobody can gain an advantage--- leads to
great loss of life on both sides
The War Ends
• Athens wins sea battles and Sparta wins
land battles
• Plague breaks out in Athens-1/3 of
population dies, including Pericles= no
strong leader for Athens
• New leaders make mistakes-attack island of
Sicily= big loss of life and weakening of Navy
• Spartans cut off food supply from Black Sea
farmers and Athens faced starvation
• Allies left them and defeat was near--surrendered in 404 B.C.
End of Golden Age
• Other Greek city-states jealous and fearful
of Athen’s power
• After 27 years of fighting…
Athens surrenders to Sparta
The Greek Times
www.dailynews.com
THE WORLD’S FAVORITE NEWSPAPER
-338 B.C.
Greece gets taken over by Macedonia!
Constant warfare among the Greek citystates left them open to attack!
Philip II organized a powerful army and
made some changes in battle tactics!
-Gave soldiers 18 ft. spears
-Organized army into phalanxes, or
small units
-Used cavalry- soldiers on
horseback
Democracy
• citizens vote
• First developed in Athens
• Developed because poorer Athenian citizens began to demand a
voice in their government.
• In first democracy every citizen was allowed to vote
• Held large meetings to discuss and vote on important issues
• Pay given to those participating in the government
• Had assembly and juries
• Citizens= men who were at least 18 years old
• Not citizens= women, men under 18, and slaves
FAIR
• Included rich and
poor
• People could
speak their minds
• All citizens could
participate
• Peacefully settled
disputes
• Age restrictions
• Paid for service
UNFAIR
•
•
•
•
•
Only some men could vote
No women’s rights
Limited citizenship
Slavery
Money and power still had
advantages