Early Western Civilizations
9/9/2011 4:31:00 AM
Near East and Early Greece : The Greek Polis
City state: 140 city states before the dark ages/ 40 during the dark ages
 they are pastoral, impoverished
 rely on the labor of every single individual
 this lead to the idea of individual rights
Polis: new form of city state
 There is no king, the Greek citizens are ruling themselves
 Each polis competes against each other
 Birth status and other things don’t matter, it’s al about merit
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Trade:
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Encouraged recognition of the poor as citizens
geography of Greece is hard to travel
Trade is based on private enterprise
Leads the Greeks to establish settlements
580 BCE Greeks have settled Spain, France, Italy, Sicily, and
northern Africa.
Colonization: Colonization is mostly directed western
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Not modern colonies, these colonies are not controlled by the
modern country.
When the colonies get big enough, than they are claimed by a city
state
Citizenship: most innovative feature
 Poor men were extended citizenship
 Much of life for an average citizens is centered on community rituals
 What does citizenship mean:
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o Equal treatment under the law regardless of social status
o All free adult males can share in governance
o Citizenship is passed on by the father
Hoplite: Hoplite Revolution, Hoplite are the infantry men
o Men are armed, they demand the right to vote
o Hoplite still have to buy their armor
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o Poor men could not buy their citizenship, but they rowed
boats, and were still considered light infantry, their
contribution is still acknowledged by the city state.
o Not an overnight process, it took time to evolved
o Ironavailable weaponsmen use their weapons to demand
rights
Freedom: (looked over)
Slavery: (looked Over)
Woman: (looked over)
Marriage: (looked over)
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Religion: (looked over)
o Cult
Redirecting the Polis: three forms of government
 Sparta and Oligarchy: Oligarchy means ruled by a few
o In Sparta there are (3) ruling bodies
 2 kings served together (1)
 Council of elders (+65years to be on council) (2)
 5 elected magistrates (3)
 al free men who were part of a large assembly called
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“alike”
o Military readiness was stressed in Sparta.
Helot: slaves in Sparta, all work was done one them
o Slaves were acquired by raiding neighboring regions
o Slaves outnumber the alike.
o Alike declare pen warfare on the Helot. You can hunt and kill
as many as you like
o Helot must ware hats that identify them
Communal Life: boys are taken from the family at the age of 7
and live in communal homes until the age of 30.
o You are denied Alike status if you fail the test that are put on
you
o Younger boys tend to take an older mentor to help them
move up socially, there was a sexual relationship, but it
wasn’t frowned upon.
o The boys are always submissive in the relationship
o Spartan women have their own system.
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o Spartan women have the most legal freedom in Greece.
 At one time 40% of property is Sparta is claimed by
women
Corinth: Tyranny
o Domination of politics by a single family over other families
o Tyrannies rise and fall according to popular support
 Because regular men can vote on who rules
Democratic Athens: the development of the middle class is very
important
o 800-700 BCE trade flourishes, and populating increases very
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quickly
60 BCE Athens has created an assembly where all free men
discuss affairs, elect magistrates
 only the elite can become archons (magistrates)
Athens has an economic crisis, they elect Draco as their
leader
Enacts harsh laws
 If you go into debt you can be sold into slavery
People are scared of becoming slaves
o Solon: 594 BCE salon is elected leader, replaces Draco.
 The beginning of changes towards Democracy
 Solon end the sale of citizens
 Frees all debtors that had been sold into slavery
 Cancels all the debts of the poor
 Poor demand redistribution of wealth
 Solon doesn’t go that far to keep the wealthy
happy
 Divides the citizens according to wealth (4 groups)
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Political office is determined by wealth
 If you increase your wealth you can obtain higher
offices
Creates a council of 400, sets discussion and voting
agenda for the assembly.
Laws apply equally to all men
 A male citizen can go to court on behalf of a poor
person
Wealthy citizens can go through an appeals
process if justice isn’t served the first time.
 Creates an elite council, they get to hear all the serious
cases. (think of supreme court)
 The poor don’t have the education that’s
necessary to make the right decisions
 Larger Greece sends Sparta to help Athens regain
stability
o Cleisthenes: the father of Athenian democracy
 Increases the size of the assembly to 500ppl
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Divides the city states into units called “deems”
 Each deem can chose council members
proportional to its populating.
 Candidates for public office have to balanced between
rural and urban areas
Literature: expresses individualism
o Paintings and sculptures become more vivid and realistic
o Poetry begins to express individual feelings: “lyrics”
 Sappho: writes poetry about her love
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Personal individual feelings, not so much about
Gods
Ideology: Philosophy and science are more individual
o Its no longer about how the gods relate to everything.
o Greeks separate Gods from science and philosophy
 Rationalism: the notion that one should support an
argument through evidence, instead of established
beliefs.
 The universe is based on natural laws rather then
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Gods and Goddesses
 Pythagoras teaches that numbers explain the
world.
The first scientist to separate science from myth and
religion
 Leads to the positive belief that people can control
their own future.
The Greek Golden Age
 “How did war influence Athens?”
o When Persia attacks Greece all the Greeks unite (some
of them). The unity is a result of a war threat. After the
war Athens and Sparta become competitors. They
compete against each other. They are driven to keep
their military edge against Sparta Athens builds
monuments, expand the Athenian navy, which also
expands rights (more soldiers are needed, poor men
sign up, then they seek legal equality). As Athens tries
to keep its edge, it gives its citizens more right to keep
them happy. As they begin to spread, they begin to put
limits on who can become a citizen. Persian war
creates good things for Athens, Delian league and the
rise of Athens leads to its own downfall. As it gains
power it alienates other city states
Persian VS Greek Wars: 499 BCE -479 BCE
 Persian invasion of Greek mainland unify many of the city states
 Ionian Revolt: Greeks settle Ionia. They revolt against the Persian
government that rules them. Athens takes the side of the Ionians
and defends them. Persia invades Greece.
o Themistocles: Athenian leader.
 Convinces the Athenian assembly to double the size of
the navy in order to defend against foreign attack
 Athens had discovered new silver mines, this money is
put into building the navy
 Helps strategies during the war
 At the end of the war he is voted “the best general”
o Battle of Marathon: runner runs 26.2 miles to announce the
victory. When he gets there he falls over dead.
 Darius 1st (Persian) sends forces in 490 BCE to take
over Athens
 Athens won because of its heavily armed infantry
(hoplites)
 Athenian pride soars, they were better than the
Spartans.
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 10 years later Persia retaliates and invades Athens.
Persian Invasion
o Hellenic League: 31 city states band together after the
Persian invasion (out of hundred city sates)
o Led by Sparta because of their military upper hand
o Sparta is defeated at the battle of Thermopylae, Athens
comes to the rescue with its Navy and defeats the Persians at
the battle of Salamis.
o The victory wasn’t just a military success, it was an act of
dedication to the independence and political freedom of
Greece.
Athenian Empire
 Delian League: After the Persian wars the Spartans and Athenians
create their own leagues. The Athenians create the Delian League.
o A league of city states that all pay into the common defense
o Dominated by Athens
o Each participating city state has a role
 Each have to pay for warships
 All warships are built by the Athenians
States that can’t afford to send men or supplies for
warships send money
 Athens decides how to use the money
 They use the money to pay oarsmen’s
 Athens rises among the city states
 Triremes: Boats.
Democracy: 460 BCE- 450 BCE balance of democracy
 The oarsmen that power the boats start making demands
o Even handling of criminal justice
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Judicial power of the elite is reduced
Juries are chosen by lottery
Jurors are paid for their service
Voting of the Jury is secret
Council members have term limits
The top 10 general are still unpaid (restricts to the elite)
 Pericles: leads Athens all the way through the
democratic reform and wars
The Great Orator
 Persuades assembly to pay for public
services like juries
 Begins restricting citizenship
 In order for a child to be citizens both the
child’s parents have to be Athenian citizens.
Constant campaign against the
Palepanisians, keeps the oarsmen occupied,
and paid.
Radical Democracy: democracy from the ground up
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The theme of Athenian democracy
Gives direct power to the assembly
Direct participation in the court to all adult male
citizens
 Majority Rule: can step on the right of
individuals for the good of the majority.
o Individual rights can be overruled
 Ostracism: once a year, a
public official that is the biggest
threat to democracy, they have
to leave for 20 years
Urbanites: as the wealth came in there was a conscious decision to spend
the income publicly, to better the public.
 Agora: an outdoor market built by a general, was decorated with
his family images
o Parthenon: One billion dollars (how much money was spent
on it) meant to house the deity Athena.
 People can go here to feel closer to the gods
o Sculpture: Athenian confidence come out, sculptures are
more dynamic and energetic.
 Perfect bodies portray confidence in the human
potential
The Greek Golden Age
Athens Golden Age: More festivals than any other City States
 Reaffirmed their ties to the Devine
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This was the only chance that the poor would get to eat meat
o Ideology: collective worship of a god or goddesses
 Mystery cults: bound together by a secret knowledge
 The most famous was of Demeter and her
daughter Persephone.
o Women: women didn’t participate in politics but they did
participate in cults and religion
 Upper class women gain status through their devotion
 Poor women worked, managed stalls or produced good
 Primary role of women in to produce a male heir
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Law: allowed women to inherit land
 Women kept their dowry
 For a woman to inherit the land, she has to
marry her husbands closest male heir so
that the land will always belong to the same
bloodline.
Marriage: women are to bear sons within
marriage
 Having males in household was important
because it offers protection
Hetaira: a small number of women that serve as
companions
 Not always prostitutes
 Well educated women, would go to
symposia
 Sold sexual favors to men for a really HIGH
price
 They got to choose who they have sex with
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The law allows men to purchase sex
o Slaves: slaves cannot refuse sex to their masters
 40% of the population is enslaved
 parents who decide not to keep children would give
them up for slavery
o Metics: foreigners that were granted permanent residence
 30-40% of Athens could be Metics
 they bring in knowledge and ideas with them
o Education: private education
 Provides the most tension in Athens
 Considered a private manner
 Elite boys go to private tutors
 They would go to the gymnasia.
 Girls are educated at home by educated slaves
 Were tough enough to run a household
 Poor boys and girls would learn a trade, or serve as an
apprentice
Boys could attach themselves to mentors and learn
public service from their mentors.
o Philosophy: Greek philosopher pioneer intellectual options
that don’t depend on gods or accepted ideologies
 Focus on ethics, logic, observation, political analysis
 Development of competitive redirect and persuasive
speech
 To get votes you have to convince people to vote
for you
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It becomes necessary to learn redirect,
persuasive speech based on logic.
 Sophists: itinerant speakers, charge fees for
instructions. Not philosophers.
o Wont take a stand, they only develop
logic arguments for all point
o Real threat to tradition
o Redirect threatens Athenian
democracy
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Socrates: not a sophist.
o He didn’t hire himself out to teach
redirect, he questioned things, it
becomes the basis for a new view of
knowledge.
o Knowledge and virtue are one
o Happiness comes from a life of just
behavior
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o Shared sophist techniques
 Socratic Method: the method of
questioning things. Why? Why?
Historical Writing: base their accounts on
reliable evidence and critical thinking
o Herodotus: Wrote Histories which
describes the Persian wars as a clash
between east and west.
 Chronicles Greek freedom over
Persian despotism.
o Thucydides: Writes about the
Peloponnesian war.
 Argues that it’s all about power
politics
 Gets vanished for 20 years from
Athens
 His account comes from many
different point of views
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Scientific Method; corner stone of the
scientific method
o Used reason to advance it
o Did not develop the full scientific
method (they only used study and
gather information, no experimenting)
 Hippocrates: challenged
traditional practices
 Careful observation of
patients is how you learn
how to treat a patient.
 Tragedy: the purpose was to remind citizens of the obligations that
they had to the community. It would teach the lesson that in a
democracy you have to behave yourself.
 Comedy: a way to criticize the politicians indirectly. Brutal comedy.
A free form of public criticism that kept politicians in check.
Decline: Athenian aggression becomes to much. Triggers wars.
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Sparta demands that Athens backs down from attacking its allies
o Peloponnesian War: 431 BCE- 403 BCE
 Paraplese dies of the plague, Athens looses its planner
 Sparta defeats Athens
o Athens’s Civil War: Sparta installs tyrants in Athens
 30 tyrants, rules for a few months.
 Athens creates a resistance movement, defeats the
tyrants, Athens is not able to recover.
9/9/2011 4:31:00 AM
9/9/2011 4:31:00 AM