Early Greeks and the Rise of City-States Chapter 5 – Section 1

The Sea and the Land  Mainland Greece is located on the Balkan Peninsula.  The peninsula is at the northeastern end of the Mediterranean Sea.  The Aegean Sea to the east separates Greece from Asia Minor.

 The Ionian Sea to the west separates Greece from Italy.  Many islands dot both of these seas – most are also part of Greece.  Greece’s long, uneven coastline brought most of its mainland to the sea.  Many Greeks became fishers, sailors and traders.

 People from Egypt and the Fertile Crescent traveled to Greece, bringing with them many goods and ideas. This concept is known as CULTURAL DIFFUSION!!!  Short mountain ranges in Greece’s mainland separated many of its villages and allowed invaders to enter from the north.  Instead of a large kingdom or empire forming in Greece, separate City-States arose.

Early Greek Peoples  People first lived in Greece as early as 55,000 years ago. But the earliest evidence of Greek civilization dated back to about 2000 B.C. and was found on the island of Crete.  Around that same time, Indo-European people entered Greece from the north.

The Minoans  The Minoan civilization was named after a legendary king of Crete, King Minos.  Minos had his palace built in the city of Knossos.  Artists covered palace walls with colorful frescoes, which were paintings made on wet plaster walls.  Some carved figures show Minoans worshipping a bull and an Earth goddess.

 Minoans traded for food because Crete’s soil was poor.  The kings of Crete maintained strong navies to support Minoan trade.  In about 1628 B.C., a volcano erupted causing strong tidal waves that wiped out many of Crete’s coastal towns. From that point, Minoan civilization declined.  In about 1400 B.C., Mycenaeans conquered central Crete.

The Mycenaeans  The Mycenaeans were a warring people that controlled Greece from around 1600 B.C. to about 1200 B.C..  Several related families formed a clan, several clans formed a tribe, and tribes were led by a chief.  The Mycenaeans built fort-like structures in the Peloponnesus, located in the southern part of Greece, as well as in northern Greece.

 By 1200 B.C., most of the Mycenaean cities had been destroyed by earthquakes and wars.  The Mycenaeans used adopted the Minoan system of writing, called linear B.  They kept their records in linear B.

The City-States of Greece  The Greek word for city-state is polis.  The polis usually developed around the fort, and came to include the fort, its city and all the surrounding farming villages.  The concept of the polis was based on three basic ideas: the geographical territory of the city-state; the community that it represented; and the political and economic independence that it produced.

 Over time, the polis came to represent the center of Greek identity and its inhabitants became intensely loyal to it.  Frequently, economic and political competition separated one polis from another.  City-states covered a small area of land. Athens was smaller than the state of Rhode Island, and Sparta was smaller than Connecticut.

 Most city-states had a population of fewer than 10,000 people.  In most city-states, the original fort was built on an acropolis.  Each city-state contained a market, or agora. This also served as the public meeting place.

 Each city-state developed its own system of government and laws, as well as its own calendar, money, and system of weights and measures.  However, Greeks spoke a common language, and shared many religious ideas, cultural characteristics and social patterns.  Great festivals also brought the Greeks together.