Periods of Greek History:
Bronze Age: 3000-1100 BC
Use of copper and bronze tools and weapons. Mycenian kingdoms and the world of
Homer.
Dark ages (or Iron Age): 1100-700 BC
No writing but high quality Geometric art. Iron becomes widely available
Archaic Period: 700-500 BC
The era of lyric poetry (Sappho, Archilochos, Pindar et al.), the fall of aristocracy and the
rise of tyrants.
Classical Period: 500-323 BC
Both Greece and Achaemenid Persia reach their peak and come into conflict. By the end
of the period Persia has been subdued, and a vast Greek empire has been created.
Hellenistic Period: 323-146 BC
The kingdoms of the successors of Alexander. The rise of Rome and final subjugation of
the Greek world to Rome.
Republican Period: 146-31 BC
The period when Greece is part of the Roman Republic
Imperial Era: 31 BC-330 AD
Greece as part of the Roman Empire
Byzantine Period: 330 –1453 AD
A Greek speaking, Christian empire is given the name Byzantium by later scholars. This
long-lived unit is separated into periods according to the dynasties which ruled it.
The Ottoman period: 1453-1821 AD
The Greek world is under Ottoman rule
The Modern Period: 1821-today
The Greek cities in the archaic period:
The Archaic period politically is characterized by the waning rule of the aristocracy.
The Greek states were generally ruled by an elite of birth and wealth. However, social
unrest is created by the power abuses of the aristocracy, the economic problems created
through the concentration of wealth in a few hands and increasing poor populations, and
the new challenges of an ever changing world. Laws are introduced in many Greek states
for the first time, in an attempt to redress the extremes of aristocratic rule and calm the
spirits. These often are not far-reaching enough to deal with the source of the problem.
Tyrants (dictators) take advantage of the popular unrest in several city states and seize
control from the aristocracy. Greek Lyric poetry has encapsulated the restless spirit of the
time.
Two examples of Archaic cities:
Sparta
The Spartan Constitution in the 7th C. BC
Athens
The Athenian Constitution in the 7th c. BC
2 kings
9 archons
influential but powerless in Sparta
Absolute power outside Sparta as
leaders of the army
Extensive executive responsibilities
(Social policy, religion, judicial system)
5 ephors
The most powerful body in Sparta
gerousia
Legal Responsibilities
Areopagos Council
Legal Responsibilities, extensive power
Assembly (Apella)
Very limited powers
Assembly
Very limited powers
In the archaic period both Athens and Sparta have similar constitutions. However, while
the Athenian constitution constantly evolves to meet the changing needs of an ever
growing state, the Spartan constitution stands still and inflexible through the centuries.
Ancient authors often praise the stability of the Spartan system and criticize the constant
changes in the Athenian system, but in reality, this inflexibility proves to be the downfall
of Sparta.
The evolution towards the Classical Period
In Athens the tyrant Peisistratos enfranchises all free Athenian born males and makes
them citizens, regardless of land ownership, wealth or social status. Kleisthenes takes it
one step further and introduces the Moderate Democracy in 509. The archons lose some
of their power which goes to the Assembly, and the Assembly becomes the sovereign
body. However, the highest offices of the state are still closed to the lower classes. They
can elect people for these offices but not be elected.
A further reform in 462 by Ephialtes removes the last vestiges of the aristocratic
state, strips the Areopagos of its powers to oversee the state and interfere at will into
public matters, and opens all offices to all Athenians. Now every citizen has an equal
right of speech (isegoria), and treatment before the law (isonomia). Scholars call this
final phase in the evolution of the democratic constitution 'The Radical Democracy'.
In Sparta very little changes throughout the classical period. The reverence towards the
laws of Sparta, beaten into its citizens from a very young age, is far stronger than any
practical considerations. By the beginning of the 4th century, when Spartan power
reaches its peak, the Archaic system of Sparta looks really archaic, like an anomaly in
time, and eventually proves to be a great impediment. Citizenship remains tied to land
ownership, and citizens who cannot afford to pay their way lose their status as fully
enfranchised Spartan citizens and become inferiors (hypomeiones). Over time this results
to a low birth rate and reduction of the citizen body. By the middle of the 4th century this
demographic problem becomes critical. Sparta still refuses to change its constitution, and
fades into insignificance.