Ancient Greece Study Guide
Ancient Greece – Geography
Greece is a peninsula, which means that it is surrounded on three sides by
water. Greece has a lot of smaller peninsulas sticking out from it, which means
Greece enjoys many natural harbors.
Greece is also covered with mountains. They are not huge mountains but if you
are trying to go from place to place in Greece, you'll find the mountains a bit of
a hindrance.
Three thousand years ago, it was very difficult to get from place to place in
ancient Greece by walking. But it was easy to get from place to place in Greece
by boat.
In the ancient world that grew up around the Mediterranean Sea, the Greeks became known as great sailors. CITY STATES:
Athens and Sparta were the two most important city-states in ancient Greece,
or so they believed. But they were not the only city-states. There were many
city-states in the ancient Greek world. Each was important in its own way. The
Greeks who lived in each city-state were proud of their hometown. They were
also proud to be Greek. All Greeks, wherever they made their home, had things
in common.
TO BE GREEK:
The ancient Greeks spoke the same language. They believed in the same gods.
They shared a common heritage. They perceived themselves as Greeks.
TO BE A CITIZEN OF A CITY-STATE:
The ancient Greeks referred to themselves, however, as citizens of their
hometown - their city-state. Each city-state (polis) had its own personality,
goals, laws and customs. Ancient Greeks were very loyal to their city-state.
There were three main forms of government in ancient Greece:
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Monarchy: Rule by a king. One city-state whose government was a
monarchy was the city-state of Corinth.
Oligarchy: Rule by a small group. One city-state whose government
was an oligarchy was the city-state of Sparta.
Democracy: Rule by the citizens, voting in an assembly. One city-state
whose government experimented for about a hundred years with
democracy was the ancient city-state of Athens.
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Around 510 BCE - The Ancient Athenians
Invented Democracy
Over 2400 years ago, the famous Greek general, Pericles, said, "It is true that
we (Athenians) are called a democracy, for the administration is in the hands of
the many and not the few, with equal justice to all alike in their private
disputes."
Only in Athens, and only for a short time, "rule by many" meant that all
citizens had to be willing to take an active part in government. That was the
law.
Each year, 500 names were drawn from all the citizens of Athens. Those 500
citizens had to serve for one year as the law makers of ancient Athens.
All citizens of Athens were required to vote on any new law that this body of
500 citizens created. One man, one vote, majority ruled. Women, children, and
slaves were not citizens, and thus could not vote.
A Direct Democracy: A government in which people vote to make their
own rules and laws
A Representative Democracy: A government in which people vote for
representatives. The representatives make rules and laws that govern
themselves and the people.
Greek Men
Men ran the government, and spent a great deal of their time away
from home. When not involved in politics, the men spent time in the
fields, overseeing or working the crops, sailing, hunting, in
manufacturing or in trade.
For fun, in addition to drinking parties, the men enjoyed wrestling,
horseback riding, and the famous Olympic Games. When the men
entertained their male friends, at the popular drinking parties, their
wives and daughters were not allowed to attend.
Greek Women
With the exception of women in ancient Sparta, Greek women had very
limited freedom outside the home. If they had their husband's permission,
they could attend weddings, funerals, some religious festivals, and visit
female neighbors for brief periods of time. But without their husband's
permission, they could do none of these things. They could not leave the
house, not even go to a temple to honor their gods, without their husband's
permission.
In their home, however, Greek women were in charge! Their job was to
run the house, make the clothes, and bear children.
Most Greek women did not do housework themselves. Most Greek
households had slaves. Female slaves cooked, cleaned, and worked in the
fields. Male slaves watched the door, to make sure no one came in when
the man of the house was away, except for female neighbors, and acted as
tutors to the young male children.
Wives and daughters were not allowed to watch the Olympic Games as
the participants in the games did not wear clothes. Chariot racing was the
only game women could win, and only if they owned the horse. If that
horse won, they received the prize.
Children in Ancient Greece
GREEK BABIES:
The ancient Greeks considered their children to be "youths" until they reached the
age of 30! When a child was born to ancient Greek family, the father carried his
child in a ritual dance around the household. Friends and relatives sent gifts. The
family decorated the doorway of their home with a wreath of olives (for a boy) or a
wreath of wool (for a girl).
GREEK GIRLS:
In Athens, as in most Greek city-states, with the exception of Sparta, girls stayed at
home until they were married. Like their mother, they could attend certain festivals,
funerals, and visit neighbors for brief periods of time. Their job was to help their
mother, and to help in the fields, if necessary.
GREEK BOYS:
In most Greek city-states, when young, the boys stayed at home, helping in the
fields, sailing, and fishing. At age 6 or 7, they went to school.
Slaves in Ancient Greece
Slaves were very important to the ancient Greek way of life.
Slaves cleaned and cooked, worked in the fields, factories,
shops, in the mines, and on ships. Even the police force in
ancient Athens was made up of slaves! Most slaves lives were
not that different from a poor Greek citizen's life.
There were things slaves could not do. They could not go to
school, or enter politics, or use their own name. They were given
a name by the citizen who owned them. They were the property
of their owner, not citizens of ancient Greece.
People became slaves in many ways. Some people became
slaves when captured in battle. Some were the children of slaves.
Some were Greek infants, abandoned on a hill or at the gates of
a town, left to die, or to be rescued by someone passing by.
Some children were sold into slavery by poor families, and some
children were kidnapped.
Slaves were so important to the culture of ancient Greece, that
some historians believe there were as many slaves as citizens!
Aristotle
The Great Philosopher
Aristotle was born in ancient Macedonia. Unlike ancient
Greece, which was a collection of city-states, Macedonia was a
county, located to the north of Greece.
Aristotle was a philosopher who lived over 2000 years ago.
Aristotle was proud of being a Macedonian, but Aristotle
admired the Greeks and the Greek way of life. He spent much
of his time in ancient Greece.
Aristotle had a huge influence on the prince of Macedonia,
young Alexander. The prince had many teachers, but Aristotle
was one of his favorites. Aristotle shared his admiration of the
Greek way of doing things with the young prince.
As it turned out, this was incredibly lucky for the world. The
young prince would one day be known as Alexander the
Great. Thanks to his teacher, Aristotle, as Alexander
conquered pretty much all of the known ancient world, he also
spread Greek culture wherever he went. The Greeks never
liked Alexander, but it was thanks to Alexander that the many
gifts the Greeks gave the world survived.
Aristotle is also famous for his many sayings, many of which
are still quoted today. Here are just a few of them.
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"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is a
habit."
"We must reduce everything to the simplest form
possible, but no simpler."
"We think in pictures. If you wish to change what you
think, change the picture."
Socrates, the Great Teacher
Socrates was a famous teacher in ancient Athens. He wanted
his students to question things. "Is our government good? If
gods exist, where do they live?"
This angered some of the wealthy nobles in ancient Athens,
not many, but a few. They accused Socrates of mocking the
gods. They demanded a trial. If found guilty, anyone who
mocked the gods would be killed. This was a severe charge.
In ancient Athens, anyone could demand a trial. Whichever
side lost the trial paid for the whole trial. You did not bring
charges unless you had lots of proof or lots of wealth. These
men had wealth.
Socrates thought it was ridiculous. He could not believe that
anyone would find him guilty. He refused to defend himself.
If he had presented a defense, the jury most probably would
have found him innocent. But, since he said nothing, the jury
had no choice but to find him guilty.
If you were found guilty in ancient Athens, the punishment
was death. Rather than have the citizens of Athens kill him,
Socrates took poison and died. He was seventy years old at
the time.
The Court of Athens
(Justice System)
Juries in Athens started around 500 BCE
There was no public prosecutor. Anybody could bring charges against another person or
persons and start a trial. But there were rules. Here’s how it worked:
TO OPEN OR BEGIN A TRIAL:
Tell the person. You had to have witnesses. If you wanted to start a trial, you could go
to someone’s house, bring along some witnesses, tell the person involved the charges you
were bringing.
Then, you had to give them a date and a time to appear in court where they would then
have a chance to defend themselves.
Post a written notice. You had to write down all the information – the person’s name,
your name, the charges, and the date when and location where you are going to trial –
and post it near the courthouse.
FIRST TRIP TO COURT: The judge would ask both sides questions. If the judge felt
there was enough evidence to have a trial, a date would be set.
JURY SELECTION: Juries were paid, not much, but they were paid. To be on a jury,
you had to be a citizen over age 30.
Juries were selected from volunteers. Some juries had as many as 500 people on them to
make sure the jury could not be bribed. (Even if someone had a lot of money and tried to
bribe the jury, no one could be sure of buying the silence of so many different people.)
Jurors had to swear that they would be fair and would listen to both sides equally.
Nobody was guilty until they were voted guilty by the jury.
COURT TRIAL:
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PROSECUTION: The prosecution presented its side first, including all
witnesses. Witnesses were not cross-examined.
DEFENSE: Once the prosecution had their say, the defense had a
chance to have theirs.
JURORS VOTED. Jurors did not discuss the case (deliberate.) They
voted. Majority ruled. If less than 100 jurors voted guilty, the prosecutor
(the person bringing charges) had to pay all jury fees and court costs.
PUNISHMENT: If a person was found guilty, there was one more step
to take. Both could suggest a punishment. Those were the only two
punishment choices that jurors could choose. The jury voted on which
punishment to accept.
Example: When Socrates was tried, the prosecution’s suggested punishment
was death. Socrates suggested punishment was free meals for life. The court
gave him another chance to choose a punishment. Socrates suggested his
punishment be a cash fine of one piece of silver. Socrates did not leave the jury
a lot of choice. Out of the two choices facing the jury – punishment by death or
punishment by payment of one piece of silver, the jury voted overwhelming
for death. If Socrates had suggested something more severe, the jury probably
would have voted for it.