1. Ancient Greece: History
Chapter 5

2. Early Greeks The Minoans Lived on the island of Crete
Major polis: Knossos
Sailors and traders
Advanced civilization
Plumbing
arts

3. Early Greeks Minoan civilization declined. Why? Natural disasters
Earthquakes, tidal waves
Volcanic eruption on Thera- changed weather and destroyed crops
Conquered by the Mycenaeans

4. Early Greeks Mycenaeans Warlike
Built a fortress at Mycenae (my-see-nee)
Constant warfare destroyed Mycenaean civilization

5. Other Polises Sparta Warlike
Conquered nearby peoples; these became slaves called helots
Helots were farmers and servants
Gave Spartans time to devote to military training
Spartans emphasized physical fitness and good health

6. Sparta Boys trained for warfare; girls trained to be strong mothers
At age 20 young men became hoplites, or foot soldiers

7. Athens Center of culture and learning Birthplace of democracy
Rival of Sparta

8. Athenian Democracy Democracy means “rule by the people”
Athenian rulers
Draco wrote laws that punished lawbreakers harshly
Gives us the word Draconian
Solon gave all Athenian men rights to sit on juries and participate in governing assemblies; only wealthy men could hold office
Cleisthenes reformed Athens’ gov’t
Divided Athens into 10 tribes; each tribe elected 50 men to serve on a Council of 500 who made laws

9. Athenian Democracy Who could participate in Athenian democracy?
Free men born in Athens who had finished military training – 10 % of population
No women, children, immigrants
In the assembly, all members voted directly – direct democracy

10. Other Greek Polises Thebes Corinth Thessaloniki Byzantium Miletus
Ephesus
Sardis

11. Persian Wars
400s B.C. – Persian Empire controls much of Western Asia

12. Persian Wars (490 B.C.)
Persian Empire controlled some Greek city-states, who had rebelled
Athens and other polises gave aid to Greek rebels, but Persia won
Persian king, Darius the Great, wanted to punish Athens for supporting the rebellion- he brought an army to invade Greece

13. Persian Wars (490 B.C.) Persians attacked at Marathon, near Athens
Athens won the battle
Legend of the Marathon runner- a soldier ran 26 miles from Marathon to Athens to announce the Greek victory
Basis for today’s marathon races
Battle of Marathon showed that the mighty Persian army could be defeated

14. Persian Wars (479 B.C.)
Darius’ son, Xerxes, wanted to finish what his father started
Athens called for help from other Greek city-states; Sparta came to their aid

15. Persian Wars (479 B.C.) Battle of Thermopylae
Greeks met the Persians at Thermopylae to give Athens time to evacuate and prepare defenses
300 Spartans, 900 helots, 1200 other Greeks fought to the death against 200,000 Persians
Thermopylae a symbol of courage against overwhelming odds

16. Persian Wars (479 B.C)
The Athenians later defeated Persians in naval battle at Salamis and land battle at Plataea
The first time Greeks had stopped fighting and worked together to defend each other
Persians never attacked Greece again

17. Peloponnesian War
After Persian Wars, Athens and Sparta most powerful city-states in Greece
Athens entered a Golden Age of arts and culture
Golden Age: a period of peace, prosperity, and great achievement

18. Peloponnesian War Golden Age of Athens
Athens had to rebuild after the war with Persia
New temples built on the Acropolis
Parthenon- temple to Athena
Beautiful sculptures and monuments
Rebuilding led by Pericles, one of Greece’s greatest statesmen

19. Peloponnesian War The Delian League
Greek city-states formed a defensive alliance against Persia called the Delian League
Athens was most powerful and important member
Athens controlled the League and would not allow other members to leave

20. Peloponnesian War Sparta led the rebellion against Athens
Sparta led its own alliance, the Peloponnesian League
war broke out in 431 B.C.

21. Peloponnesian War For many years, neither side could win
Athens had a strong navy
Sparta had a strong army
Plague in Athens led to a truce in 421 B.C.
415 B.C.- Athens attacked a Spartan ally
Sparta destroyed Athenian navy
Athens surrenders in 404 B.C.

22. Peloponnesian War

23. End of Greece’s Golden Age
Sparta couldn’t maintain control of Greece
City-states quarreled and fought
Eventually all of Greece was conquered by Macedonia