Ancient Greece Social Studies 8 Who are they

Ancient Greece Social Studies 8

Who are they? • • 2500 years ago, Greece was one of the most important places in the ancient world. They were known as the “Helenese’ and their lands was called “Hellas” The name “Greeks” was given to the people of Greece by the Romans They lived in mainland “Greece” and the “Greek Islands” but also in colonies scattered around the Mediterranean Sea There were “Greeks” from Italy, Sicily, Turkey, North Africa, and as far West as France. The sailed to sea to trade and find new lands. Where ever they went they took their ideas and started a way of live.

Historically Ancient Greece • • Are known to have been living in Greece for 40, 000 years. The Minoans were the first Greek civilization. Not directly on Greece but nearby Island of Crete. This was between 2200 BC -1450 BC Known as Minoans after their legendary King Minos. Later came the Mycenaean civilization from mainland Greece The Mycenaean’s were fine builders and traders, and great soldiers. E. g. they famously fought in the battle of Troy. Around 1100 BC when the Mycenaean age ended, they entered what was known as the Dark Ages.

Dark Ages • • • This is known as the “Darks Ages” because no one knows about what happened, other than all the written languages and art disappeared. Almost 300 years this continued, until about 800 BC. Greece slowly began to emerge, started trading more with the outside world The Olympics games was established for the firs time. They fought off the Persian Army This lead into the “Archaic” period, where many of the cities were ruled by a King like figure.

Golden Age began • • • Which brings the Greeks to around 480 BC and lasted for about 200 years. During that time the people built fantastic temples, made scientific discoveries, wrote plays, and developed a proper democracy. Democracy means: a system of government by the whole population or all eligible members of a state, typically y through elected representatives.

Greece and their final historical period • • • Hellenistic period which is during 323 BC to 30 BC. This is the time when the Romans took control of Greece. Although the Romans did not destroy Greek life, they did respect their way of life and copied many things about their culture including their buildings, beliefs, and clothing.

Greece was not just Greece • • • It was divided up into small “citystates” E. g. Athens, Sparta, Corinth, and Olympia Each city-state ruled itself They had their own government, laws, and army. Sparta saw themselves as Sparta first and Greeks second. Often the city-states people did not get along very well and would fight amongst one another. When it came to fight other, they would come together and fight them off the bigger enemies e. g. Persian Empire. Only one powerful ruler could control all Greece. E. g. Alexander the Great was one man who did. In 300 BC he conquered an empire that stretched as far as Afghanistan and India. https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v= Hd. Nn 5 TZu 6 R 8

Alexander the Great • From Macedonia founded over 70 cities and created an Empire that stretched across three continents, covering 2 million square miles