1. Geography Shaped Greece
Mountains divide the peninsula into isolated valleys
Islands lie beyond the rugged coast
Early Greeks formed small independent city-states isolated from surrounding areas by mountains or water

2. Greek City-States Ancient Greece was a collection of Greek city-states
The ancient Greeks referred to themselves as citizens of their individual city-states
Each polis (Greek word for city-state) had its own personality, goals, laws and customs
The city-states had many things in common:
All were polytheistic and believed in the same gods
Spoke the same language
All Greeks viewed those who were not Greek as barbaroi (“barbarians;” non-Greeks) and felt that any Greek was superior to an outsider

3. Greek City-States (cont’d)
Ancient Greeks were extremely loyal to their city-state:
Greeks would not say, "I live in Greece" 
They would say, "I am a Spartan” or "I am Athenian"
The city-states might band together to fight a common foe, but they also went to war with each other
Because Greece was not yet one country, there was no central government in ancient Greece.
Each city-state had its own form of government:
Corinth were ruled by kings
Sparta were ruled by a small group of men
Athens experimented with new forms of government

4. Types of Government Four Forms of Government:
Monarchy – rule by a king
Oligarchy – rule by a small group
Tyranny – rule by a dictator
Democracy – rule by the citizens, voting in an assembly

5. The Polis Greek word for city-state
Made up of major city or town and surrounding countryside
Built on two levels:
Top level: At top of a hill stood the acropolis (“high city;” “edge of the city”); fort
Bottom level: Main city developed on flatter ground with marketplace, public buildings, homes, etc.

6. The Polis (cont’d)
Only free male adults were considered to be citizens:
Political rights
Responsibility to participate in the government
Women and foreigners had no political rights
Slaves had no political rights

7. Read “Athens” handout and answer the questions
STOP!
Read “Athens” handout and answer the questions

8. Athens
Athenians thought of themselves as the shining star of the Greek city-states
They were intellectuals and famed for their literature, poetry, drama, theatre, schools, buildings, and government 

9. Athens (cont’d)
Athens started as a small village, home to a tribe of Ionian people
It grew rapidly until Athens was one of the two most powerful city-states in the ancient Greek world

10. Athens (cont’d)
The Greeks believed that each city-state in ancient Greece had a god or a goddess in charge of it, their special patron:
For Athens, the patron was Athena, goddess of wisdom
Therefore, Athenians put a great deal of emphasis on education  

11. Athens (cont’d) Most Greek city-states were ruled by kings
The men of Athens experimented with different types of government, such as monarchy, aristocracy (rule by the upper class), tyranny, and finally democracy.
For about 100 years, Athens was a direct democracy, a government in which people vote to make their own rules and laws
This is different from a modern day representative democracy, a government in which people vote for representatives; The representatives make rules and laws that govern themselves and the people

12. Read “Democracy” handout and answer the questions
STOP!
Read “Democracy” handout and answer the questions

13. Sparta Sparta began as a small village of Dorian people
The Dorians were warriors, just like the Spartans
Sparta’s patron was Aries, the god of war
The government was run by two kings and a small assembly (oligarchy)
The members of the assembly were known as ephors
Spartans spoke Greek, wrote Greek, thought of themselves as Greeks, but they were very different from the other Greek city-states due to isolation, and proud of it 

14. Sparta (cont’d) There were three classes of people in Sparta: Citizens
Non-citizens
Slaves
The city-state was surrounded by land farmed by the slaves or helots

15. Spartan Classes
For the first class, 0nly men born in Sparta were citizens
Women were not allowed to become citizens, however, they were allowed to own land and businesses, which gave them more freedom than other Greek city-states
The second class in Sparta was people who came from other city-states or civilizations
They could own businesses, but not become citizens
The third class was the helots

16. Spartan Education
Sparta’s educational system was certainly very different than Athens’
The goal of Spartan education was to create a strong warrior
Spartans endured unbelievable pain and hardship to become a superior Spartan soldier and citizen:
Boys were taken away from their parents at age seven
They lived a harsh and often brutal life in the soldiers barracks
Younger children were beaten by older children to help make the younger boys  tough and strong
Children were often whipped in front of groups of other Spartans, including their parents, but they were not allowed to cry out in pain

17. Spartan Education (cont’d)
As adults, men did not live with their families
They visited, but lived in the barracks
Women, unlike women in the rest of Greek world, had a great deal of freedom
Women were educated to be fighters and strong child bearers
Some women became warriors
Many ran businesses
They were free to move about
No great works of art came out of Sparta, but the Spartans, both men and women, were tough and the other Greeks admired them

18. Exit Ticket:
Imagine you were living in Ancient Greece… From what you have learned so far, would you like to live in Athens or Sparta? Why?