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Greek Archaic Age: The Age of the Polis
750 BC- 500 BC Greek Archaic Age: The Age of the Polis
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Dark Age 1200-750 BC Loss of writing and art
Colonization vs. migration Future population layout Ethos: kinship relations Villages and Demos State vs Urbanization Basileus Heroic reflection of the past Homer Mix of Mycenaean and Dark Age Writing was Linear B coped from the Minoans Art continued as well but in a much more simplified manner. Protogeometric, geometric, and Orientalizing…Trade is still continuing but not as much as in the age prior. Also referred to as the early Iron Age- as iron was imported from the Near East. There isn’t always this clean break in history. So certain things will continue just not as in great as detail. Life is not reduced to primitivism-it’s not the Paleolithic age- no hunting and gathering-agriculture still continues. But lost its “civilization” no surpluses that created specialization. Eventually, at the end of the DA, we have enough of a population increase that urbanization occurs and we can call the Greeks a civilization once again. Colonized: prior to the collapse. We tend to say that the Greeks migrated during the Dark Age because most of our resources are based on Classical sources which give a lot of detail about how the colonies were to be founded-the laws they followed, the oaths they took…etc However, a small amount of colonization was happening still during the Dark Age because the collapse also didn’t affect all of Greece the same way. Euboea?? Continued??? Lefkandi??? Future population layout Ethnos: those villages would coalesce into future political entities or leagues/federations-city states that would combine forces (ex Miletus and Ephesus) Villages and Demos State vs. Urbaniization: The people organized themselves into kinship states (ethnos) with eventual political leadership. So the idea of the state come slightly prior to the development of the city or polis in the archaic age. It continued with the Basileus from the Mycenaean period. The urban center, with the political administration, would eventually form and organize itself into what will be call the agora-located at the foot of the acropolis. The Basileus continued on based on the pasirau from the Mycenaean period and became a central administrator. After the collapse of the Mycenaean people, the ideas still carried into the continuing age but they just didn’t have a chieftain-they were killed. The idea of a centralized political authority continued. Homer: blind poet who lived probably in Ionia around BC Wrote heroic tales about the Mycenaean time-creating a past that mixes the present day politics, burial practices, and city settlements. Homer viewed the present as one that was lacking the beauty and structure of the past Mycenaean period. The section of Achillies Shield depicts a society that is structured and peaceful-a throwback to the mythological past. (If the epic refers to the chaos of the present than the “shield” section would be a throw back to the mycenaen “glory”. Unless the epic is a relection of the past and the shield refers to the present as one that is more structured??? However, more likely the epic is Mycenaean in the heat of battle and the shield reflects on the structure of peaceful Mycenaean life.) Homer describes settlements that have walls. We don’t know if the end of the DA settlements (poleis) had walls. People were aware of the Mycenaean settlements which had walls. Many of the DA may have had them as well..43%+ is the most recent analysis.
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Population drop 75% and mass migration
Near Eastern connection: Hittites gone, Aramean people, Phoenicia, Medes strengthen, Lydian… The map shows a spread of dialects or “ethnos”. Basically, large territories in which people shared common kinships which developed over the course of the Dark Age. The people were still Greeks in ethnicity (language, religion, shared common ideas) but dialects developed and some slightly different customs also developed-had there own ways of doing things. Greece developed this way because Greece is rocky. Dorians: All the orange on the map the “dorian” people (or an intermingling of people groups to form a collective memory of Dorians) to create a dialect of Doric Greek. The places that were largely untouched by the Dorians: Acadia, Attica, and the Ionic areas. Linguistically it is said that the ionic greeks were similar to the attic ones. Map for Exam: Athens, Attica, Boeotia, Delphi, Euboea, Achaea, Arcadia, Argolis, Messenia, Laconia, Sparta, Olympia, Aitolia, Thessaly, Ionia, Crete, Aeolia, Miletus, Ephesus, Macedonia, Mt. Olympus 1. Mycenaean people
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Major Highlights Writing returns Art returns Colonization Trade Polis
Population Increases
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End of the Dark Ages: “Greek Renaissance”
Set foundation for the Archaic Age BC Rapid population growth Colonization Trade Art Writing Panhellenic Festivals Polis Archaic Age Began the development of the city-state idea and government Basic structures and institutions were in place by 800 BC A evolution of change in response to changing conditions Rapid population growth: Period of population growth technological innovations and increasing political centralizations. Greek Renaissance Increase in population and wealth: how? Trade Colonization Art Urban Center Wealthy population/Rise of the Aristocracy In Greece land was often unproductive. The most productive land was being accumulated into the hands of the wealth but also as population grew, children were destined to receive land that wasn’t the most productive. This increased the desire to move to other areas. Fertile land decreased Colonization: Trade allowed access to more fertile land and the Greeks began to colonize. Southern Italy and Sicily in 750 + Trade with own products and those of old Greece More work for craftsmen, sailor, shipbuilders…etc. Lack of land drove them to: Cyrene (Libya): sent colonists from Thera Ionia, France, Spain, Sicily, Italy, Black sea area Trade links multiplied, communication with East intensified writing was reintroduced Greeks settled in Southern Italy and the coast of Syria. There they established a trading circuit expanding from Italy to Syria. Around 850 Euboeans settled or simply traded in Syria at Al Mina (with the Phoenicians) Around 800 at Pithecusae an island in southern Italy Trade: rediscovered the Near East. Always fascinated by what they had lost during the DA. Contact with the Lydian's and the minting of coins. Contact with Egypt and the copying of sculpture. Writing from Phoenicia Corinth: major trade post Euboea: by 800 Syria contacts. Island of Ischia in Bay of Naples (processed ore imported by the Etruscans) , Art developed from the geometric (depicted abstract linear designs which lasted from ish) to an Orientalizing potter featuring Mesopotamian animals and motifs. Circa reflected trade. Architecture Early dark age temples appeared around 800 BC and were small with mud-brick walls and wooden columns, thatched roofs…rectangular houses… The future Greek temple emerged in the 8th century Made clear distinctions between human and divine residences All made of the same materials as earlier but much larger Peristyles began to be added during the 8th century Temples replaced chief’s house as focal point Offerings begin at large temple sites. Reflecting the display of wealth of the aristocracy (flaunt) Writing: Greeks borrowed letters from the Phoenician alphabet (Semitic script using signs for consonants) Symbolic signs not pictographs. Also added vowels as well. Largely phonetic alphabet! Probably early in the 8th century. Why was it created at this time? Epic poetry? Or commercial purposes/trade? Taxes? Economy? First examples are on vases. They are epic poetry. Civic uses in pottery aren't’ seen until much later in 650 ish. Spread in local scripts and dialects. They didn’t all speak the same dialect. (Athens retained a much earlier form as did arcadia) Literacy didn’t become widespread even in the Classical and Hellenistic periods. Much was still aural. Panhellenic Festivals City-states became connected. Began meeting in competitions among athletes and bards and luxury items (pottery and tripods). And in building monuments PanHellenic festivals: festivals that attracted worshipers from all over the Greek world Olympia (Zeus and Hera) oracles and athletic contests for Zeus. Held 4 years, by 500’s contestants drawn from all over Greek world. Delos (Apollo and Artemis) Fostered identity: common heritage, language, and religion Heroic revival: Connection to heroic past Mycenaean tombs became to receive offerings and worshiped as heroes Special shrines set up Wealthy Greeks began to bury dead as warriors (resemble Achilles’ death in Iliad-burials during the end of the dark ages and reflect the burial at Lefkandi-dark ages burial…) Polis Which came first the Citizenship Rights or the Urbanized City?? Dark Age villages: the villages would eventually coalesce around the aristocracy and an aristocratic figure. Began as kinship relationships but as the population increased a urban center would be created- usually located in the agora at the base of an acropolis. Ethnos: formed the largest portion of a group of Greeks with a shared common heritage. Ex: Ionians, Acadians, Aeolians… This would come to refer to a region that did not have a polis. Demos: Democracy: all peoples. A city which would begin to incorporate all the surrounding villages. Eventually the issue of citizenship would be extended to all people. What was the origin of the equality? As the wealth began to increase in Greece, the poorer wanted more political say. This included: power in courts, protection in war, some political participation (i.e. the assembly-the aristocracy still maintained much of the positions: archons, polemarches…and only the men had any participation in government) Hoplite revolution: soldiers defended the country. All men were required to defend the country and thus even if you weren’t wealthy you still were required to defend the country. The increase in wealth, as depicted in the acquirement of armor for more soldiers, doesn’t explain why rights were extended to all people. Even though a more substantial portion of the population eventually had armor even those that were poor were still extended rights. Thus, the requirement of all people to participate in defense of the polis is a much better explanation. Tyrants: populist leaders who would support the poor. The extension of citizenship would be given and the people would extend support to the tyrant. The Polis: Slightly reversed from the Demos. The Demos was a large territory one identified with. The Polis was the city. The polis would become associated with the acropolis and the government assemblies would be located in the agora. They are very small sq. miles. Politai: members which surrounded the polis. “Athenians, or Megarians or Corinthians” What were the characteristics of citizenship? Why did the people want citizenship? Polis: city-state; Word coined in 1898 by a German man: Jacob Burckhardt… basically means a urban area that houses the political administration and has political connections to a larger territory. The Greek territory was rocky and city states developed rather than a unified Greek “country”. The Greeks were similar in culture enough to be unified by ethnicity but the topography kept them distant enough that individual differences emerged. When did the polis actually begin? Archaeology typically will date the rise of the Polis to 750 with the creation of urban centers. However, the state mechanisms were already put into place by the vacuum left by the Mycenaean period. Formed around the villages and eventually created the urban state with the invested political authority. The urban center would eventually form and organize itself into what will be call the agora-located at the foot of the acropolis. Wealth increased in the hands of others promoting upward mobility. Physical Characteristics: By the 6th century, many had walls. Halai in Boeotia, pistyros in Abdera in thrace…and a few others had walls. Usually, separate from other poleis (pol a iss) Rocky land: Separated the cities Little fertile land per city-state Patron gods Population density Agora and Acropolis Political Characteristics: Extension of political “rights” to all free-born people and their children. Included men, women and their children. Excluded slaves and metics (foreigners which had some limited rights) Men: Access to courts, protection against kidnapping, participation in religious and cultural life, participation, hold public office (sometimes limited to wealth) Women: “necessary evil like Pandora” Access to courts in cases of property issues-with men representing, protection against kidnapping, participation in religious and cultural life, no participation in government All had to have a male guardian (kyrios) and became the ward of a husband upon marriage. Very important in religious life- dionysis and demeter-holding priesthoods. Salary paid by state and more freedom to move about independent. Worked at home and supported the oikos/oikonomia. Poorer women worked in the agora. Spartan women enjoyed athletics Monogamous relationships with a nuclear family (except Sparta) Men more freedom of sexual behavior. Spartan women could produce an heir with husband’s consent. Slaves: Both chattel (war) and dependents who live in a household and are more closely related to our concept of servant. The distinction between free and non-free probably increased chattel slavery. The increase in wealth as well. Most were taken in war-could be fellow Greeks of a different polis. Only owned a few at a time…uneconomical to own more due to the agricultural cycle. All kinds of labor: household, mining, public works, temple prostitutes and distasteful services such as executioner. Freed slaves mixed with the metics. Legal equality not based on wealth. Land was being gained by others not just those with aristocracy lineage-through trade and agriculture. So the origin of legal equality is not really known. Might be presupposing a post-enlightenment and Marxist anachronism but those with increasing wealth put pressure on the those with the important lineage so that equal rights might be had by all. Not to say that there wasn’t stratification based on wealth. Hoplite revolution: The residents of the polis were required to defend it even if they couldn’t afford armor. Because the number of poor outnumbered the wealthy, they would eventually put political pressure on the polis for rights. Also produced the common solidarity we see in Greek identity. Tyrants would eventually need the support of those that were repressed. A populist would garner support from those of whom he would advocate reforms. Promise citizenship to those who would support him. And the process was ongoing. Government is an ever changing and evolving entity. Economic functions Cultic Ethonos
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Colonization Increase in amount Reasons: Rules: Results: Land shortage
Trade Rules: Loyalty to metropolis Results: Art Writing Important to remember that colonies had been established during former times. The most complete records that we have are from classical authors giving examples of the rules of the colonization that began to occur around the 8th century. Also to differentiate between trading ventures and actual colonies. The Greeks traded with more intensity before that began to colonize with that same intensity during the AA. Impetus: The rise of the aristocracy made access to the more fertile land less accessible for those with less wealth. The little fertile land available to the citizens was exacerbated by the dividing of land between sons producing less and less land available for children. Opportunities in acquired wealth. Hesiod’s father emigrated in such a manner. Criminals Place examples: France, Spain, Sicily, Italy, North Africa, Black Sea area Rules: Set out from metropolis. Leader would bring fire to light the hearth. Women would be kidnapped from surrounding areas. Pledged support to metropolis-if colony failed could return as long as they wouldn’t revolte-ever. Death penalty for single men who wouldn’t colonize. Results: Increase in art on pottery (away from abstract-Orientalizing period). Sculptures from Egypt. Coins: learned from lydians c 6th cent. Writing from Phoenicia
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Archaic Age: Art 750-500 BC and precedes Classical Age Sources:
Herodotus, Aristotle, Plutarch “Old Art” Most of our information is gathered from Athens as it was the continually occupied city from the Mycenaean time onward. Named for Art period: Copied Egyptian art (trade resumes) Straight and rigid Clenched fists Stern expression Posture striding forward Differences: Depict details in an idealized manner Nude: can see the perfection of beauty Muscle lines (Renaissance utilized-Vitruvian man) Hard lines begin to melt and eventually will show motion. Colonization Household management.
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The Evolution of the Polis:
Wanax and Pa-si-re-u Mycenaean Leaders Basileus Dark Age and Archaic administration official Dark Age villages and ethnos Demos Dark Age concept of a polis with surrounding territory Polis City-state. A city with a couple out-lying villages. Members called politai Which came first the Citizenship Rights or the Urbanized City?? Dark Age villages: the villages would eventually coalesce around the aristocracy and an aristocratic figure. Began as kinship relationships but as the population increased a urban center would be created- usually located in the agora at the base of an acropolis. Ethnos: formed the largest portion of a group of Greeks with a shared common heritage. Ex: Ionians, Acadians, Aeolians… This would come to refer to a region that did not have a polis. Demos: Democracy: all peoples. A city which would begin to incorporate all the surrounding villages. Eventually the issue of citizenship would be extended to all people. What was the origin of the equality? As the wealth began to increase in Greece, the poorer wanted more political say. This included: power in courts, protection in war, some political participation (i.e. the assembly-the aristocracy still maintained much of the positions: archons, polemarches…and only the men had any participation in government) Hoplite revolution: soldiers defended the country. All men were required to defend the country and thus even if you weren’t wealthy you still were required to defend the country. The increase in wealth, as depicted in the acquirement of armor for more soldiers, doesn’t explain why rights were extended to all people. Even though a more substantial portion of the population eventually had armor even those that were poor were still extended rights. Thus, the requirement of all people to participate in defense of the polis is a much better explanation. Tyrants: populist leaders who would support the poor. The extension of citizenship would be given and the people would extend support to the tyrant. The Polis: Slightly reversed from the Demos. The Demos was a large territory one identified with. The Polis was the city. The polis would become associated with the acropolis and the government assemblies would be located in the agora. Why and how did Greece move from villages to city-states? So how did Greece move from villages with a minor and major chiefs in charge to a unified (synoecism) city-state? Large population = little pieces of land Central government necessary to protect land The rich: Money for large pieces of land because they could colonize The Poor: Too poor to colonize=land divided among families They are very small sq. miles. Politai: members which surrounded the polis. “Athenians, or Megarians or Corinthians” This refers mainly to the POLEIS not the ETHNOS regions. A economically savvy way to preserve wealth and land. Centralized government necessary in order to protect land/wealth Trade, productivity and wealth increased on land that was owned (usually by aristocrats…those that didn’t have land colonized or became impoverished…the aristocrats were able to emigrate and so those with land holdings were able to hold onto decent sized portions) Land/resources became scarce (as population increased many people were to poor to emigrate: land was divided)
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Archaic Age: Characteristics of the Polis
City-State: Urban area with political authority which includes surrounding territory Origins Physical Characteristics Political Characteristics Men, Women, Metics, Slaves Origins of equality Polis: city-state; Word coined in 1898 by a German man: Jacob Burckhardt… basically means a urban area that houses the political administration and has political connections to a larger territory. The Greek territory was rocky and city states developed rather than a unified Greek “country”. The Greeks were similar in culture enough to be unified by ethnicity but the topography kept them distant enough that individual differences emerged. When did the polis actually begin? Archaeology typically will date the rise of the Polis to 750 with the creation of urban centers. However, the state mechanisms were already put into place by the vacuum left by the Mycenaean period. Formed around the villages and eventually created the urban state with the invested political authority. The urban center would eventually form and organize itself into what will be call the agora-located at the foot of the acropolis. Wealth increased in the hands of others promoting upward mobility. Physical Characteristics: By the 6th century, many had walls. Halai in Boeotia, pistyros in Abdera in thrace…and a few others had walls. Usually, separate from other poleis (pol a iss) Rocky land: Separated the cities Little fertile land per city-state Patron gods Population density Agora and Acropolis Political Characteristics: Extension of political “rights” to all free-born people and their children. Included men, women and their children. Excluded slaves and metics (foreigners which had some limited rights) Men: Access to courts, protection against kidnapping, participation in religious and cultural life, participation, hold public office (sometimes limited to wealth) Women: “necessary evil like Pandora” Access to courts in cases of property issues-with men representing, protection against kidnapping, participation in religious and cultural life, no participation in government All had to have a male guardian (kyrios) and became the ward of a husband upon marriage. Very important in religious life- dionysis and demeter-holding priesthoods. Salary paid by state and more freedom to move about independent. Worked at home and supported the oikos/oikonomia. Poorer women worked in the agora. Spartan women enjoyed athletics Monogamous relationships with a nuclear family (except Sparta) Men more freedom of sexual behavior. Spartan women could produce an heir with husband’s consent. Slaves: Both chattel (war) and dependents who live in a household and are more closely related to our concept of servant. The distinction between free and non-free probably increased chattel slavery. The increase in wealth as well. Most were taken in war-could be fellow Greeks of a different polis. Only owned a few at a time…uneconomical to own more due to the agricultural cycle. All kinds of labor: household, mining, public works, temple prostitutes and distasteful services such as executioner. Freed slaves mixed with the metics. Legal equality not based on wealth. Land was being gained by others not just those with aristocracy lineage-through trade and agriculture. So the origin of legal equality is not really known. Might be presupposing a post-enlightenment and Marxist anachronism but those with increasing wealth put pressure on the those with the important lineage so that equal rights might be had by all. Not to say that there wasn’t stratification based on wealth. Hoplite revolution: The residents of the polis were required to defend it even if they couldn’t afford armor. Because the number of poor outnumbered the wealthy, they would eventually put political pressure on the polis for rights. Also produced the common solidarity we see in Greek identity. Tyrants would eventually need the support of those that were repressed. A populist would garner support from those of whom he would advocate reforms. Promise citizenship to those who would support him. And the process was ongoing. Government is an ever changing and evolving entity. Economic functions Cultic Ethonos
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Development of Early Greek Government
Major sources: Aristotle, Herodotus, Thucydides, Pausanias, Plutarch Oligarchy Rule by the few Archon: chief officer Polemarch: lesser officials (military commander) Boule: Council of Elders (Athens called Areopagus) Popular Assembly Major sources of A.A. political reform: Aristotle, Herodotus, Thucydides, Pausanias, Plutarch Oligarchy: rule by the few vs Monarchy The local basileis with the aristocracy (the privileged village families or those with landed wealth) overthrew the main basileus. The government was distributed among several officials rather than in one person. Prior to Draco, participation in government was largely based on birth which would include wealth. After Draco, government participation was based on wealth to include those in the Middle Class who did manage some upward mobility. Archon: main leader Based on birth. After Draco, according to Aristotle, they needed to own not less than 10 minas. Polemarch: According to Aristotle they were originally created in case the King (baselius) was weak in war. These officials played supporting roles in government. Strategi and Hipparchi: Military officials who needed to own the most wealth (100 minas). These would be the less likely to get killed in battle… Areopagus: The importance of the council of “elders” increased. These councils derived from the DA. Homer has elders advising the chief/basileus. Now they would be composed of former magistrates rather than followers of the basileus. Legislative and judicial? Assembly of people decreased as the aristocrats sought to curtail it’s power. Put property limitations on members. Limited the laws and meetings to be given to them. As time passed, it would increase in power as the poorer citizens yearned for more participation in government. Now citizenship was extended to all free-born males but the interactions of the lower classes in government was limited. Again how citizenship was granted is unknown because the lower classes were barred from most of government interactions. Citizenship was probably to pacify the poor hoplites who were still require to participate in battle even in light skirmishes. Prior to Draco, those who were Middle Class and had some wealth were excluded from government even though they could afford to have weaponry for battle and were participating right next to the upper class in battle. With Draco, he began to include into government those who could afford to have armor into lesser positions but generally they still have no upward mobility into high government positions because there wasn’t any upward mobility to switch classes. The upper class still was largely based on birth.
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Impetus for Democracy Reforms: Social Conflict
Aristocrats: 20% of population controlled most land Middle Class 50% Poor famers: 33% Thetes Status: those working for another man The people in Greece wanted more equality Redistribution of land More government participation Hoplites, the Phalanx and light-armed troops Aristocrats: Aristocrats: upper in the upper but subject to shifts…intermarriage…called themselves “the good: hoi agathoi Most of the good land and also controlled many cash crops as well (oil and wine). Middle Class: Greater wealth divisions..some very wealthy, some not so much. The differences were so great that they had a hard time seeing themselves as a middle class: to organize These farmers had few opportunities to acquire good land..aristocrats held onto the best land. Many turned to trade and emigration. They also chafed at being shut out of government positions of power. Many still could be cheated in courts and had little protection against the aristocrats. The assembly carried little weight. Lower Class: As the population increased, more people became impoverished. The lower classes become more powerful as the number increased. Thetes Status: Poor famers paid debt mortgaged their keroi to the rich became sharecroppers on lands (DISPISED practice in Greece…no good man works for another) Endured the stigmas of thetes status The class division were not monolithic and within each there were gradation of wealth and social rank. More Equality Please! Two major causes for more equality: poverty and the hoplites. How was this seen in Greece? Redistribution of land Middle and Lower class had few opportunities to acquire good land..aristocrats held onto the best land. Many middle class turned to trade and emigration. More government participation The power of government rested in aristocrats Both Middle and lower classes could be cheated in courts and had little protection against the aristocrats. Hoplites: During the Dark Age, as seen in Homer, it was the aristocrats who defended the Demos or state. That changed by the end of the Dark Age and all fought. All those that could afford armor participated in the phalanx. This would include any class: middle and upper. No divisions within the actual phalanx. All (the aristocrats and the wealthier middle class) participated side by side. The fighting of the whole was now more important than individual courage and helped to cement “community”. Even if one had wealth and could afford armor, prior to Draco’s reforms (in Athens) this still excluded the middle class from government. Those that couldn’t were light-armed troops-still participating (20 or 30 %) However those that were the wealthiest: were cavalry…not a hoplite Written laws for equality purposes The call for more equality by the poor and hoplites would result in tyrants.
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Hoplites and Phalanx Had it’s origins in the DA as described in the Iliad. It was a much loser formation and the phalanx itself didn’t completely come together until the 5- 4 centuries. Weapons: Long heavy spear: for thrusting and jabbing Short slashing sword for close in fighting Helmet Breastplate Greaves All made of bronze and covering as much of the body as possible 8 rows deep Hoplon: shield…different than Homeric ones! Round made of wood and covered with a thin sheet of bronze Three feet in diameter gave cover to the man on the left as well They never broke ranks. Pushing: those in behind pushing at the enemies lines through those in front. Took a LOT of courage as to not break rank as all around was the sight and sound of death Casualties light 15% Not usually a massacre as no one usually pursued the broken enemy lines Campaigns brief: farmers needed to farm Battles brief: 1 hour
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Tyranny: Steps to democracy
BC Tyrant: Greek dictator Aristocrat who champions the poor Charismatic leaders who championed the causes of the poor Major cultural and economic reforms Never lasted long The freedom the poor gained under tyranny took power away from the Oligarchy The time from 650 BC until 510 BC is referred to by Modern Historians as the Age of Tyrants. Tyrants existed until the 2nd century but at this time many of the leading city-states (not just Athens) were ruled by a tyrant. During this time the tyrants were taking power away from the aristocratic order and laying down the foundations for later Majority of our historical sources come from Herodotus, Ephorus of Cyme, Plato/Aristotle (who analyze the government) and a few other poets who wrote about contemporary happenings. Aristotle is great at describing tyrant characteristics. Tyrant: The title came from the aristocrats who resented the domination by a single person. The aristocrats had overthrown the basileus and needed the cooperation of the circle of aristocrats to protect THEIR property. They also may have opposed the tyrant for fear the a dictator might pose a threat to the freedom of all. Came from the aristocratic ranks. Lasted from 670 BC -500 BC. Tyrants were not for the aristocrats but championed the cause of the lower classes. Champions of the demos against the oligarchs Confiscating the land of the wealthy and redistributing it to the poor Making laws that limited aristocratic privilege Usually held a high rank prior (Cylon of Athens) Sometimes a leader could put a stop to the violence of the aristocratic feuding clans as well Needed armed followers Disaffected aristocrats within the polis or mercenary force from outside Citizens i.e. the hoplites…not actively help just refuse to defend the aristocrats… Not many are known in great detail Culture thrived New religious cults and festivals were established Devised competition for artists, architects, poets, thinkers Initiated construction of temples, harbors, fortifications, improvements in water supply, and sewage Encouraged trade and commerce=work for the poor Usually the 2/3rd generation of tyrants were overthrown=became to tyrannical Oligarchy again
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Sparta
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