Matthew Gross History Questions
10/12/2010 9:02:00 PM
Topic: Ancient Greece- Introduction
Time: ca. 1750-133 BCE
Place: Greece (and her colonies)
Concepts: geography; civilization
Big Question: how did Greece’s geography determine its political and
economical stand?
Geography shapes Greek life:
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Ancient Greece was mostly mountains and peninsulas
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It contained about 1400 islands
The Greeks were indo European
The Sea:
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The Greeks lived basically on the water
They would never travel more than 85 miles to the coastline
The Aegean sea, Ionian sea, and black sea were very important to the
Greeks they provided transportation routes
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These water ways were good for trade and Greece needed trade in order
to succeed because they didn’t have much resources
Very maritime (connecting with the seas) it’s culture is maritime
Their main source of protein was fish
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The Land:
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¾ of the land was mountains
The Greeks made small communities based on their geographical location
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The distances were short to one another but because of the mountains it
was a very hard travel to go from place to place
Only 20% arable (suitable for farming); of the land was farmable
The fact that they didn’t have such good resource may have been the
cause that they got new colonies
A lot of little rivers running through Greece (very good for growing grapes
and olives.) and these are used as very important trading goods.
Very big sheppards
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City-states=poleis (politics come from this word)
The climate:
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They usually met outdoors to discuss public events and etc.
Thei invented the gymnasium
Very big in athletics
Mycenaean Civilization Develops:
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Around 2000 BCE people settle mainland Greece later called Mycenaean
The city Mycenae had a 20 foot thick wall surrounding it and almost
withstood any attack
The kings that ruled these people and neighboring villages rules from
1600-1200 BCE
Culture and Trade:
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The rich people lives in fortresses and lives perfect lives
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They would eat in dining halls 35 feet wide and 50 feet long
The warrior kings invaded Crete
These invasions prevented the Minoans to rebuild
The Trojan War:
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About 1200 BCE
They fought a ten year war with Greece because a youth had kidnapped
the kings wife
Greek Culture Declines under the Dorians:
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Around 1200 BCE sea raiders attacked Greece and destroyed them
According to legend the people to inhabit the land were the Dorians
When they took control the Greek empire basically stopped
Historians say that they forgot how to write in the period (1150-750 BCE)
because there are no written records
Epics of Homer:
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It is said that the best storyteller of the time was a blind man named
homer
He wrote poem based on heroic deed from 750-700 BCE
His to best epic poems were the Iliad and odyssey
The Iliad is about hector of troy fighting Achilles and when his wife asks
him not to fight him he says that then he would be a coward showing
about Greek life and values
The odyssey is about Odysseus and his travels on the sea and fighting the
Trojans
Greeks create Myths:
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Myth- traditional story
Through the myths the people would explain super natural powers
They gave their basic attributes to god
The gods lived forever
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Zeus the head of gods lived on mount Olympus
1. What were the influences of Greek geography on Greek political and
economic life?
Answer: economically it was everything. Mainland Greece didn’t have
such good resources so trade on the sea was very important. Politically it
kind of made them a little weaker, because they could be united into one
big kingdom. They couldn’t unite into one kingdom because of the
mountains.
2. Homer and Hesiod: What can mythology help us understand about
Greek societies’ understanding of order and stability?
Answer: the Greeks thought that they were very good people. They
thought this because they gave their basic attributes as gods. They were
very orderly and stable because these are good attributes to have and
they possessed them.
Rule and order in Greek City-States:
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Most city states controlled 50-500 miles of territory
Most of the time less than 20,000 residents
On the hilltop called the acropolis the people would make business
meetings
Greek Political Structures:
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In some city states their were monarchs or kings
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In some city states their were artistocracies which were whn a few noble
families were the head and would gain olitical power by working in the
king’s military cavalry
As trade expanded merchants became the political leaders
They made an oligarchy when a few powerful people rule the government
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A New Kind of Army Emerges:
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After the bronze age people started to use iron whichw as cheeper so the
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less wealthy people could afford weapons and defend themselves
Phalanx’s of fearsome formations was the most powerful fighting force in
the ancient world
Tyrants seize Power:
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In many city states lower classmen would join rebellions against the
nobles, these powerful individuals were called tyrants
In some CS it would go from tyrant to tyrant
Topic: Ancient Greece- Sparta
Time: 725-150 BCE
Place: Sparta
Concepts: militarism, totalitarism
Big Question: Why did Sparta develop a military state?
Sparta Builds A Military State:
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They were the only CS to build a military state
Nobles also need commoners to keep society together and fight helots
Sparta Dominates Messenians:
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Sparta conquered messenia in 725 BCE
They became helots or people who were forced to stay and do work on
the land
Every year the Spartans would demand half of the crops
Around 600 BCE the much bigger messenians revolted and just lost it
took the Spartans 20 years to put it down
After the revolt the Spartans made themselves a stronger nation
Sparta’s Government and Society:
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They were governed by 2 groups
1 group: aseemble- all free adult males- ones who were elected voted on
major issues
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2 group: council of elders- they proposed laws
five elected officials called ephors carried out the laws council passed
2 kings ruled over sparta’s military and als checked eachother and if one
dies
there were different social classes the rich ones were the people who
were indigenous to the land the other were the non native people
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Spartan Education:
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for men army was everything
serve reserve until 60
once a boy turned 7 he started training for the army
Spartan girls would play sports instead of military service
You couldn’t marry until 20 and men couldn’t live with women until 30
The women couldn’t vote but got a lot of rights
In places like Athens the women weren’t expected to come out of their
house
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600-371 BCE the Spartans had the most powerful army in Greece
Topic: Ancient Greece- Athens
Time: 621-508 BCE
Place: Athens
Concepts: government; democracy; rights
Big Question: How does Athens evolve intoa democracy.
Athens Builds a Limited Democracy:
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Athens was north of Sparta
Compared to Spartans because they complete each other
Political Development in Athens:
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Athens tried to make a democracy
Only free adult males were counted as citizens
Solon’s Political and Economic Reforms:
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Peseants destroyed the attempt of a rich man named cylon to make it a
tyranny
621 BCE first code of laws are written by draco
to prevent civil war in 594 BCE solon is chosen to rule the government
he allowed al citizens to debate policies in the assembly
he was the first to say that someone can press charges against someone
else for doing something wrong
he ignored land reforms so when he finished the wealthy and poor
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landowners would fight
546 BCE pisustratus becames athens’ first tyrant
he gave jobs to the poor and got their support
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10/12/2010 9:02:00 PM
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10/12/2010 9:02:00 PM
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