ANCIENT GREECE What was Greece Greece was not

ANCIENT GREECE

What was Greece? ■ Greece was not one country. No central government ■ It was a big collection of city states with many things in common: belief in the same gods, spoke the same language ■ Each city state had its own government. Corinth, ruled by kings, Sparta, ruled by a small group of men, Athens, democracy

City States ■ Can be defined as a central city and its surrounding villages, which together follow the same ways of life ■ First City State was a monarchy, ruled by kings and queens ■ Over time City States became democracies, a government ruled by the people ■ If you asked a Greek where they were from they wouldn’t say, “I’m from Greece” ■ City States often went to war with each other ■ But if someone attacked Greece, they would unite

Athens ■ Intellectual hub of Ancient Greece ■ Government: Democracy ■ Men over 18 could vote. Women and slaves could not. ■ Could get rid of a tyrant with a vote ■ Strong Navy ■ Interacted well with other City States ■ Encouraged art and philosophy

Sparta ■ Strong military ■ Government: Oligarchy, but had a King. Citizens would still vote ■ Spartan men over 30 could vote ■ Didn’t trade much. Either grew what they needed or took it. ■ Produced warriors, all males were trained

Macedonia ■ Home of Alexander the Great ■ Rise to power comes after Athens and Sparta had their time at the top ■ Rules from Greece, to Egypt, to the Middle East, to India ■ Spread Greek culture throughout the world.

Troy ■ Greece’s opponent in the Trojan War ■ War started because a Trojan Prince “stole” the wife of the King of Sparta ■ War lasted 10 years ■ War ends using the Trojan Horse. Troy was burnt to the ground.

Mount Olympus ■ Is an actual mountain in Greece! ■ Greeks believed that the mountain was the home to the Greek Gods. ■ Zeus- King of the Gods, Lord of the Sky ■ Poseidon- Lord of the Sea ■ Hades- Lord of the Underworld ■ Hera- Queen of the Gods, Goddess of Women ■ Ares- Lord of War

Olympics ■ Held in Olympia ■ Footrace, javelin, archery, and wrestling ■ Held in the honor of Zeus ■ First Olympics in 776 BC ■ Olympic Truce- athletes and citizens could travel in peace between different city states on the way to the games ■ Used as a political tool to assert dominance between city states

Vocabulary these! Make sure you have ■ City State- an independent city that governed itself ■ Democracy- The citizens rule ■ Monarchy- Kings and Queens rule ■ Oligarchy- A few people rule ■ Monotheistic- One God ■ Polytheistic- Many Gods ■ Tyrant- a cruel and oppressive ruler

Athenian Democracy ■ Let’s figure out who can vote ■ We need a ruling council (two volunteers) ■ Citizens Assembly is the rest of the class ■ If you are in favor of the law being put into place, raise your hand. ■ If you are opposed to the law, keep your

■Come up with 3 potential laws. (Write on the board) ■Could relate to life in Athens or life at Roosevelt ■Ruling Council will decide what laws to bring to a vote.

■We are desperate to beat Sparta at the next Olympic games. Everyone has to do five hours of sports practice a week.

■People need to spend more time worshipping our goddess Athena, so everyone has to go to the temple and pray four times a day.

■To celebrate our recent victory in war against the Spartans, well will have a four day feast, with free wine and food for everybody.

■Any other laws we should vote on?

Questions 1. Was Ancient Greece all one country? 2. What is an independent city state? 3. What is a tyrant? 4. Which form of government that we mentioned today would you like to be a part of? Why? 5. How did Democracy work in Athens? 6. What are some similarities and differences between Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece?