3.4—Ancient Greece

1. 3.4—Ancient Greece

2. Vocabulary • City-state—a city or town that controls surrounding villages and farmland nearby. • Oligarchy—a government in which a small group of people rule. • Direct democracy—a government where citizens take part directly in the day-to-day affairs of government.

3. The Rise of City-States • In ancient times—around 700 B.C.—many towns in what is now called Greece began to develop into what are called city-states. They would control the farmlands and small villages nearby. • Each city-state was independent, meaning that they ruled themselves, like different countries. In fact, many of these city-states went to war with one another frequently.

4. The Rise of City-States

5. Government • Since each city-state was its own country, there were many different types of governments. Some were “tyrannies”, which is an authoritarian form of government. • Other city-states were oligarchies, where a few—more than one, that is—people ruled over everyone, but the majority of people had no say in the government. • One famous city in particular, called Athens, was a direct democracy, where all citizens voted on all laws passed. Not everyone was a citizen, but all citizens voted on all matters.

6. Vocabulary • Cultural hearth—a center of new practices and ideas that spread. • Philosophy—“love of wisdom”, or applying logic and reason to the study of the natural world.

7. Life and Culture of Ancient Greece • Greece is a peninsula, meaning a body of land surrounded on three sides by water. One of these bodies of water is the Mediterranean Sea, which borders Europe, Asia and Africa. • Ancient Greeks were very good sailors. Their skill, combined with their location, made trading with other peoples very easy. This made Greeks very wealthy, and also made Greece a cultural hearth from which cultural diffusion happened all around the Mediterranean Sea.

8. Life and Culture in Ancient Greece

9. Life and Culture in Ancient Greece • Wherever Ancient Greeks went, they founded new cities called “colonies” for Greeks to live in. This is one way their culture spread.

10. Life and Culture in Ancient Greece

11. Life and Culture in Ancient Greece • Ancient Greek culture is still famous for many things, notably its philosophy. Ancient Greek philosophy is a part of college coursework at many colleges to this day. • One important branch of philosophy the Greeks started was “history”. We’ve discussed history vs. prehistory, and while other cultures before the Greeks recorded events as they happened, the Greeks were the first to try to understand why things happened and what their effects were—a major part of studying history today. • Other notable Greek cultural achievements: religion, the Olympic Games, and art.

12. Life and Culture in Ancient Greece

13. Fall of the City-States • The Greek city-states frequently fought each other. Two of the most famous were Sparta and Athens, who frequently used allies to help fight the other. • After hundreds of years of fighting each other, many of the city-states became weaker. Wars with Persia, a large empire to the east, also made the city-states weaker. • Eventually, a kingdom to the north of Greece called Macedonia, ruled by a man named Philip, conquered much of Greece. His son, Alexander, would go on to conquer large parts of Asia and Africa, spreading Greek culture wherever he went.

14. Video Alexander the Great and the spread of Greek culture

15. Homework “Word Wise” worksheet, due tomorrow!