Greece & Persia, 800-30 B.C.E.

1. Greece & Persia, 800-30 B.C.E. Mr. Ermer World History AP Miami Beach Senior High School

2. Early Classical Era Empires • Connecting diverse, previously unfamiliar cultures • Cross-cultural exchanges, judgment • Persian & Greek commonalities: • Indo-European language • Common Cultural Traits • Social Organization

3. Persian Origins • Indo-Europeans from Iran (“land of the Aryans”) • Former Pastoral Nomads, Expert Horsemen • Settled in southwestern Iranian Plateau • Borrowed cultural elements from Babylonians & Assyrians • Very little Persian records found • Underground irrigation channels • Great Salt Desert • Tin, Copper, Iron, Gold, Silver

4. Persia’s Achaemenid Emperors • Cyrus the Great (559-529 BCE) • First emperor of Persia • Portrayed himself as a benevolent savior • Conquers from India to Ionian Coast of Anatolia • Darius I (521-486 BCE) • Conquers lands up to the Indus River in the east • Expands empire into eastern Europe, Libya • Controlled 70 different ethnicities • Established new bureaucratic system, fixed taxation • Made best use of local leaders and customs, built infrastructure • Semitic Aramaic becomes official language • Equality for all peoples in the empire • New Administrative system divided into satrapies

7. Persian Ideology • Persian kings enjoy absolute authority • Expected to behave and rule morally • Skilled warriors and horsemen • Social Structure = 4 groups • Priests • Nobles • Warriors • Administrative & Commercial class • Women have many rights, influential

8. Zoroastrianism • Monotheistic faith, taught by Zoroaster • Avesta: the holy book of Zoroastrians • AhuraMezda: the one creator God of all good • Ahiram: in struggle with AM for control of univ. • Reverence given to elements of nature • Rules of Behavior • Avoidance of intoxicants • Corpses exposed to be picked by animals • Influences on Judaism & Christianity • God vs. Devil, eternal reward/suffering, End of Time

10. Building An Empire • Infrastructure: • Roads (The Royal Road) • Way stations for travellers • Art • Uniquely Persian style promoted by Darius • Monumental Architecture • Grand columned halls/palaces • Paradayadam

12. Map of Greece

13. Moving & Shaking • Mediterranean basin = uniform ecological zone • Easy transfer of lifestyles across space • Second Generation Societies/Cultures • Assyrian defeat & Persian expansion= new cultural blending • Improved maritime navigation = colonization of Western Med. Sea • Hybrid communities combining new and old ideas • Phoenicians, Greeks, Lydians, Etruscans • New models of governments comprised of citizens, not kings

14. The Greek Dark Age • 1100-800 BCE: Greece suffers from loss of population and declining agriculture, Greece is isolated from Asia • Poverty, limited resources • Many Mycenaean Greeks leave Greece for Ionian Greece, coastal regions of “Asia Minor” (Anatolia) & Western Med. • Iron weapons replace Bronze as war between remaining city-states increases over scarce resources • 800: Phoenicians reestablish trade between Greece & Asia • Greeks adopt the Phoenician alphabet • Greece = plentiful clay for pottery, and stone for building material (marble) • Two new groups pastoral nomadic Indo-European Greeks begin to establish city-states in different regions of the Greek mainland: • Aeolian Greeks: settle in northern and central Greece; including Athens • Dorian Greeks: settle on the island of Crete, other Aegean islands and the Peloponnese; including Sparta

16. Archaic Greece & The Polis • Archaic Period: 800-480 BCE, Greece=urban society • Polis=The Greek City-State • Acropolis & Agora • Greek poleis reject Mycenaean monarchical system, choose self-government by citizens in various forms: • Tyrannis (Tyranny): rule by one leader elected by the citizens • Oligoi (Oligarchy): rule by a few chosen citizens • Dēmokratia (Democracy): rule by many citizens who vote on policy • Competition between city-states, rivalries bring frequent warfare and athletic competition • Hoplites: heavily armored, well trained infantrymen, phalanx • Olympic Games • Free Market & Money Based Economy • Chattel Slavery: humans bought and sold as property

19. Sparta • Oligarchical Government • Two “king” system: one for domestic rule, one for battlefield • The Ephors: five elected to oversee education and regulate conduct • The Council of 30: men over sixty debate policy to present for vote • Presented policies were voted on by all men over 30 years of age • Non-Spartans denied entry into the polis • Conquered polis of Messenia, Messenians to work as helots • Fear of a helot revolt creates military state, cautious foreign policy • The Spartan Military State • Tight government control of behavior • Young men educated in military discipline, enlist at 20 • Men under 30 live in army barracks, eat together • Men over 30 live at home, gain right to vote, discharged at 60 • Women expected to exercise, given more freedom than elsewhere • Art, literature, money, and commerce are forbidden • Foreign policy is isolationist

20. Athens • Archaic Athens is largest polis in Greece, trade-based economy • Athens experiences transition from monarchy to oligarchy to tyranny to democracy • Threat of war resulting from debt peonage brings elected tyrants • Salon, Pisistratus, and Cleisthenes expand democratic participation • Council of 500 male citizens supervises the rule Cleisthenes • Tyrant Pericles expands democracy • Athenian men experience great amount of freedom • Women stay home to cook, clean, supervise servants, raise children • Must have male escort to leave home, excluded from public life • Married at 14-15 years of age, to older and established men • Women expected to be literate and trained in music

21. The Greco-Persian War • 546 BCE: Cyrus the Great conquers Ionian Coast of Anatolia • 499: Ionian city-states revolt, Athens sends naval support • 490: Darius sends forces to Greece, repelled by Athens at Marathon • 486: Xerxes, son of Darius, invades from the north • Many northern and central Greek poleis accept Persian control • Sparta assembles the Hellenic League (coalition of southern poleis) • Battle of Thermopylae • Sacking of Athens & Battle of Salamis • Battle of Plataea • Athenian navy controls the Aegean Sea—Delian League • Athenian trireme

22. The Athenian Trireme

23. The Peloponnesian War • Athens exercises hegemony over Delian League • Sparta forms Peloponnesian League to protect itself • Rivalry between the two leagues’ interests leads to conflict • Athenians threaten Spartan interests by trading with Sparta’s allies • 431: Sparta marches on Athens, Athens holds out behind walls • Plague (Typhoid Fever) sweeps across Athens • Athens holds out for generation • Extended contact with outsiders erodes Spartan integrity • Peloponnesian forces are victorious, but at a cost • No polis enjoys large amounts of control after the war • Sparta declines, Athens rebounds, Thebes rises as commercial power

24. Greek Society • Polytheistic Religion • Temples to patron gods and goddess dominate the polis • Non-institutionalized, no doctrine or moral code • Oracles provide access to will of the gods • Ritual sacrifice & festivals important to well-being of state and self • Popular Entertainment • Dramas performed at the amphitheater • Tragedies & Comedies • Aeschylus (Oresteia) • Sophocles (Oedipus Rex, Antigone)

25. The Oracle at Delphi

27. Greek Thought • Greek art idealizes the natural world, human body • Gods take human form, not anthropomorphic gods of Asia • Nudity is admired, not shunned as in the traditional Asian societies • Artists sign works, become known as individuals • Greek philosophy (“love of wisdom”) • Pythagoras studies numbers in search of a unifying principle • Democritus discovers the atom (atoma) • Sophists travel and teach rhetoric and relativity for self-betterment • The “Big Three”: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle • Socrates: questioned authority, held conversations with public • Plato: Platonic Forms, natural world is an imperfect copy • Aristotle: By studying nature, one can arrive at a better understanding of the true world, rules for successful societies

29. Alexander the Great • By 400 BCE, Macedonia develops from a fringe state to a powerful, united, and ethnic Greek state • Wealth comes from gold mines and slave trade • Finances new military technologies • Philip II conquers Greek city-states, including Athens • Assassinated, succeeded by son—Alexander • Alexander conquers the Persian Empire, enters India • Alexander continues cross-cultural integration • Exposes southwest Asia to money and Med. Goods • Spread of Greek language and philosophy • Redistribution of Persian wealth • 323 BCE: Alexander dies of wounds and alcohol poisoning

30. Alexander’s Empire

31. Hellenistic Kingdoms • After his death, Alexander’s generals (Ptolomy, Seleucus, Antigonus, Lysimachus) split the empire into four kingdoms: • Macedonia, Syria, Egypt, and Pergamum • Absolute rulers, modeled after Persian satraps • Women, especially queens, exercise great influence • Conquered people were equal to Greeks • Greeks move throughout the Hellenistic world • Greek art, architecture, ideas, and language become common throughout • Alexandria, Egypt becomes the model city

32. Hellenistic Kingdoms

33. Alexandria