Lesson 1: Rise of Greek Civilization
A Mainland Civilization: Greece was the first civilization to develop in Europe and some parts of Asia. People first began in river valleys but they started in an area dominated by mountains and seas which forced Greeks to settle in isolated communities and Greece is a peninsula. A peninsula is a body of land surrounded by water. So about 2000 B.C The Mycenaeans also know after the first civilization named after the Minoans, left there homeland and decided to move into mainland Greece. Little to nothing was known about the Mycenaean kingdom until the late 1800's. There was a German archeologist named Heinrich Schliemann discovered the ruins of a place in Myceanae, and each Mycenaean king lived in a palace built on a hill. Thick stone walls surrounded the palace to protect the people and Nobles lived outside the walls on farms called estates. The workers and enslaved people who worked outside the walls lived in villages on these estates. Mycenaean palaces were the centers of the government and Artisans there made leather goods, clothes, and jars of wine and oil. They also collected wheat, livestock, and honey as taxes, and the Mycenaeans learned how to work with bronze, building ships, use of the sun and stars for navigation at sea, and religious practices and they got all that from the Minoans.
Dark Age: The Mycenaean civilization declined over time and the kingdoms fought one another and earthquakes destroyed palaces. By 1100 B.C the Mycenaean kingdom crumbled and people started moving from place to place and a lot of people traveled in groups. One of these groups were called the Dorians. The invaded the Greek mainland from the north and took control of most of the region.During the Dark age trade slowed down people sold fewer things and everyone was relatively poor and farmers only grew food to feed their families. Also many people stoped keeping track of records, and while the Dorians pushed into Greece a ton of people fled Greece.
Colonies and trade: As Greece was recovering from the Dark Age its population started to increase at a rapid pace. By 700 B.C local farmers couldn't produce enough food or grain to feed the population, so to solve this problem, Greek communities began to send people outside the Aegean area to establish colonies. A colony is a settlement in a new territory that has close ties to its homeland. The Greeks found many of these colonies along the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, and Ancient Greece spread into Italy, Sicily, France, Spain, North Africa, and Western Asia. The colonies traded grains, metals, fish, timber, and even enslaved people. So the mainland sent wine, olive oil, and pottery in return. After that started the Greeks started making coins out of the metal. So the trade expanded as merchants traded money for goods and al the colonies increased in wealth, and each city state or polis was like an independent country, and on each city state they built temples on the acropolis to honor gods. Outside the acropolis was an open area called an agora, and in Greece wars were fought by wealthy nobles riding horse and chariots. Each soldier were havily armed with armor and shields and when they raise their shields above themselves to protect themselves this is called a phalanx.
Lesson 2: Sparta and Athens city-state rivals
Political changes: As Greek city states grew nobles started to seize powers from kings, but they didn't rule for very long tho. Owners of farms resented the nobles' power because they borrowed money from them to buy land. But when the farmers couldn't repay their loans the nobles either took their land, work for them, move into the city to find jobs, or they sometimes had to sell themselves into slavery. Then the farmers wanted a political change and Merchants and artisans agreed with them so in a little while this led to the rise of tyrants. A tyrant is someone who seizes power and rules with authority. The common people supported them and also gained support from hoplites and citizen soldiers. The tyrant also built temples, fortresses, and marketplaces, but then there were more protests where the people wanted a government where all citizens could participate. Then after that most city states developed into oligarchies or democracies. And an oligarchy are a few people who hold power over the larger group of citizens and in a democracy all citizens share in running the government.
Sparta: A Military Society: The city state of Sparta was located on the Peloponnesus Peninsula in southern Greece. The Spartans descended from the Dorians who invaded Greece in the Dark age and Sparta did not set up colonies overseas instead they invaded neighboring city states and enslaved the local people, and they called their enslaved laborers helots or another word for capture or enslaved person. Spartan leaders wanted to prevent future revolts so they decided to make a military society. They also believed in simplicity, and strength through self denial. The leaders thought this would create more obedient and loyal citizens. Sparta's government prepared all boys to prepare for war so at the age of seven the boys had to join the military. In the military they thought them how to read, write, and use weapons. They were also treated harshly. And the military leaders thought harsh treatment would turn the boys into adults, so they can survive the pain of the battle. Sparta was governed differently their government was an oligarchy which two kings ruled and their only duty was to lead the army, and each year the council elected five people to be ephors. Which they enforced the law and collected taxes
Athens: A young Democracy: Athens was another great greek city state. Athens was founded by the descendants of the Mycenaeans. Athenians received an education much differently than Sparta. In Athens they studied arithmetic, geometry, drawing, music, and public speaking. And the Athenians also participated in sports. They believed that this type of education would make the boys have a strong mind and bodies, and at the age of 18 boys were expected to participate in public affairs. The girls were educated differently, they were educated at home by their mothers by doing spinning, weaving, and other household duties, and for the most part they were not active in business and government.
Lesson 3: Greece and Persia
Persian empire: About the time that the government in Athens was undergoing political changes while the Persians ere building a powerful empire. Persia is the homeland of the Persians which is located in what is today is Iran. In the 500 B.C a talented king of the name of Cyrus the Great built a strong Persian army and it became the largest empire in the ancient world. During the 540 B.C's Persian troops swept into neighboring lands. They brought Mesopotamia, Syria, Judah, and the Greek city states in the area of Anatolia, and king Cyrus treated the captured people fairly he let them keep their beliefs and laws. After Cyrus other Persian rulers continued to expand the empire, they took over Egypt, western India and some parts of Greece, and the empire was the distance of the United states. As the empire expanded its size made it difficult to manage. Darius the first who ruled Persia from 522 B.C to 486 B.C. He divided the empire into satrapies. Each satrapy was ruled by a governor called a satrap. The satrap collected taxes, judged legal cases, managed the police, and recruited soldiers for the army. Persia maintained a professional army that had 10,00 or more soldiers that were trained to guard the king. They were known as immortal cause when one soldier died one other soldier would immediately take his place. Then there was this change in belief at first the Persians worshipped many gods then came a religious teacher named Zoroaster and he taught a new religion and most Persians accepted this and this religion was called Zoroastrianism. Zoaraster taught about that there was only one god and he was the creator of everything and he also believed that there was evil in the world and you can choose between good and evil, and all of the teaching, prayers, and hymns were written down in a holy book.
Persian wars: As the 400's began the Persians were ready to expand into Europe, but however they clashed with Greece who had colonies all over the Mediterranean area. Greece and Persia were two very different civilizations the Persians obeyed the king while Greece's citizens could pick their leaders. In 499 B.C the Greeks revolted against the Persian rulers. The Athenians sent warships to help the rebels. The Persian king Darius got angry cause the Athenians interfered, so he decided to push the mainland Greeks for meddling in his empire. In 490 B.C Darius sent a fleet of 600 ships and an army to invade Greece. The Persians landed at Marathon which was about 25 miles away from Athens. The Persians waited there for several days, and they expected the Greeks to come and fight them, however they didn't come. The Persians had double the amount of soldiers. So the Athenians refused to fight the Persians so the Persians had decided to attack Athens by sea. So the Persians loaded their boats and as soon as the horsemen got on the ship the Athenians charged down the hill onto the plain of Marathon. The Athenians caught the Persian soldiers standing in water out of formation and they couldn't do anything about it and they had a terrible defeat, and according to a Greek legend a young messenger ran 25 miles from marathon to Athens with news of victory and when he reached Athens he cried out victory and collapsed and died out of exhaustion. Today's marathons races are named for that famous run. After that defeat at Marathon Persians would get there revenge against the Athenians and a new Persian king named Xerxes who invaded Greece with about 200,00 troops and a thousand warships. The Greek city states banded together to fight the Persians, and King Leonidas of Sparta supplied most of the soldiers. Themistocles of Athens directed the Greek naval forces and devised a plan. So there were some Persian ships that brought supplies for them and Greece had to act fast. SO king Leonidas brought 7,000 soldiers into battle which lasted for three days. The Spartan bravery at Thermopolae was much celebrated. However a Spartan traitor showed the Persians the way, so they attacked from behind leading almost 200,000 soldiers versus 300 soldiers. Then in a year time Athens had formed there biggest army yet joining forces again with Sparta and they beat Persia. After Persia's loss they were weak people were unhappy the kings taxed the people really heavily and each day Persia got weaker and weaker and around 300 B.C and new Greek ruler named Alexander the Great captured Persia.
Lesson 4:Glory, War, and Decline
The rule of Pericles: As the Persian wars ended, Athens became a powerful and self-confident city state. Then the Athenians found a new leader of the name Pericles, and he ruled for about 30 years. Pericles made Athens a more democratic city state, and they took pride in their democratic system. The form of government practiced by them was called direct democracy. In a direct democracy all citizens meet and debate and vote on government democracy, and in a representative democracy people elect s smaller group of people. He appointed people there positions of what there ability is. Pericles brought more ordinary Athenians into government. As a result even shopkeepers and laborers could have a sayin the government. Under Pericles rule Athens became a center of learning. The Persians during the war had burnt most of the city down but they rebuilt it during Pericles rule. He made new temples, monuments, and statues throughout the city. Pericles also supported artists, teachers, sculptors, and architects. Athens became a great center for knowledge and Pericles called Athens the school of Greece.
Athenian life: At its height in 400 B.C Athens was the largest Greek city state, its population was close up to 300,000 people. Athenian men worked as farmers, artisans, and merchants and they usually finished their work in the morning and in the afternoon they spent their time in the gym. The upper class men in the evening they gathered up and ate and drank, or discussed politics. Athenian women focused on their homes and families and they married at a young age, often in their mid teens. Their duties were having children and taking care of them and doing household duties. Women were not able to attend school but they still learned how to read and write. Women also weren't able to participate in political activities, and the husbaand were responsible for there wives and unmarried daughters. A few women had more freedom than others like this one women named Aspasia she was known for her intelligence, and she taught public speaking and her ideas were popular among Athens and a few famous philosophers and Pericles himself were inspire by her.
War Between Athens and Sparta: As time passed the Greek city states learned that their survival depended on cooperation. Even after the Persian wars ended the Persian threat against Greece still remained. Athens when it fought Persia they joined with other city states called the Delian League and they helped and provided one another. Then the Delian League failed and Athens was now the strongest city state. and Pericles leadership helped Athens dominate the Delian League. As Athens grew other city states especially Sparta became alarmed, politically and socially. Now neither trusted each other. Both wanted to be the head of Greece. In 433 B.C Athen began interfering with some of Sparta's allies. These allies pressured Sparta to attack Athens, and 2 years later in 431 B.C a war broke out and continued until 404 B.C. So they battled for 27 years, and all the city states pretty much disapeared cause of this war and this is called the Peloponessian war because this war was located in Peloponnesus. The battle at first wasn't good for Athens when they got surrounded, but Pericles knew their weaknesses and attacked them by sea and for two years Athens remained safe and then a nasty disease broke out and more than a third of Athens population died, including Pericles, and in the next 25 years it was back and forth until Sparta had an agreement with the Persian empire and Persia gave them some gold so Sparta could rebuild their navy. Sparta was able to defeat their naval fleet and blockaded the city and soonthe Athenians surrendered and Athens collapsed. The Peloponnesian War brought disaster to all city states. The governments were weak many people had died farms had been destroyed the Greeks have joined Persia. During the next 30 years Sparta tried to fight Persia again. The city state of Thebes captured Sparta and 10 years later Thebes collapsed. As the city states fought they failed to notice the growing threat of Macedonia, and Macedonia's strength and desire cost Greek city states their independence.