Classical Greece The Golden Age Classical Greece The

Classical Greece The Golden Age

Classical Greece • The end of the Persian Wars marked the dawn of the greatest age in ancient history • The single century from approximately 480 BCE to 380 BCE saw a phenomenon of achievements in the ancient Greek states • Many of these developments stemmed from Athens • This golden age – often refferred to as Classical Greece – developed partly because of contacts with the Egyptians and Persians that inspired a blossoming in the arts and sciences • This was the time of great thinkers, poets, artists

Pericles Leads Athens • Pericles lead Athens after Persian Wars • He was the strongest leader from 460 BCE until his death 31 years later • This time was called the Age of Pericles • He was elected one of the ten generals for 15 consecutive years and so he had more influence than the other strategos • Powerful public speaker and usually persuaded the Assembly to vote the way he wanted • Three goals: strengthen democracy, expand empire, beautify Athens

Pericles Democratic Reforms • Pericles supported democratic reforms • He wanted to change balance of power between rich and poor • In 430 BCE, Pericles gave speech honoring soldiers killed in war • -stated his view of democracy • -spoke out for equality in the law • Praised public service and individual ability over class • Introduced pay for serving on the Council of 500, on juries and in the various civic offices, allowing even the poorest citizen to take time away from his work • Paid civil service was a radical departure from earlier system of government

Expanding Empire • Pericles was a major architect of the Athenian empire • In 454 BCE, he moved treasury of the Delian League from Delos to Athens to increase Athenian naval development and foreign trade • He invited skilled foreigners to settle in Athens, adding to the wealth of the city

Beautifying Athens • In 480 BCE, Athens was in ruins from the Persian Wars • Pericles rebuilt, beautified city with funds from Delian League • Other city-states were angry he did not ask permission to use funds • Pericles spent money on sculptures, buildings, expensive materials • Materials included gold, ivory, and marble • Athens rebuilt Acropolis – “high city” that included Parthenon • Parthenon housed statue of goddess Athena, city’s protector • Parthenon architecture had graceful proportions, harmony, order • Other Acropolis temple dedicated to Athena Nike, goddess of victory • Acropolis’ Erechtheum is sacred site with beautiful architecture • Legendary site where Athena beat Poseidon to be city’s patron

Parthenon and Statue of Athena

Erectheum

Expanding Empire • To protect themselves, Greek city-states formed Delian League • Mutual protection group had center, treasury on island of Delos • Pericles used League money to build navvy of at least 300 warships • Athens had a superior navy, control of Delian League • Moved League treasury to Athens in 454 BCE • This move strengthened Athens • Other city-states eventually became part of Athenian empire

The Delian League • Formed in 478 BCE to provide protection against any further attacks from the Persians • The treasury and meetings were held at the great sanctuary of Apollo on the island of Delos, hence the name Delian League • Included 150 city-states at its peak • Each state signed a defence treaty with Athens • Members had to contribute men plus either ships or money to a common defence fund • Most city-states chose to contribute money, and Athens used the capital to build ships • Athens provided all the officials and commanders of the League and swore not to interfere in the internal affairs of its allies • Originally it was a voluntary association but soon became a forced union • Some states that did not want to join were compelled to enter the alliance while others that wanted to drop out when the Persian threat receded were forced to remain and pay their share • According to the rules of the league, a member could not withdraw without the consent of all • When Naxos and Thasos tried to break away, they were crushed by Athens and forced to pay a heavy tribute • In 454 BCE, Pericles moved the League’s treasury from the island of Delos back to Athens • This was taken as final proof that the League had now become an empire controlled by Athens

The Peloponnesian League • The other great city-state – and the rival of Athens – was Sparta • Sparta was the principal polis in the Peloponnese (the southern part of mainland Greece) • In the 6 th century BCE, Sparta made alliances with the peoples of the Peloponnese • This was known as the Peloponnesian League • Sparta’s allies remained independent, but they had to give Sparta military assistance when required

The Alliances Delian League (Athens) Peloponnesian League (Sparta) Neutral States

Rivalry between Sparta and Athens • During a Helot revolt in 462 BCE, Sparta asked Athens for help • Athenians sent soldiers to help Sparta, but when they arrived, Sparta refused their help and sent the Athenians home • This insulted the Athenians • Tensions between the two rival city-states increased when Athens tried to expand its empire in central Greece, threatening Sparta’s power base • Athens also blocked some cities from trading at Atheniancontrolled ports • States within the Delian League that opposed this oppression, and that resented Athenian interference in their affairs, sought an alternative • To ease tensions, Sparta and Athens signed a 30 -year peace treaty in 445 BCE

Differences between Sparta and Athens • Sparta was a land power with a conservative oligarchic government, backward in terms of trade, wealth and recent advances in Greek culture such as philosophy and literature. It sought leadership among Greek city states simply in order to protect itself and its narrow interests, rather than out of a desire for wealth, power or expansion. • Athens was a sea power governed by a democracy, Athens was at the forefront of advances in culture. It was a progressive, wealthy, trading nation. Athens maintained and tried to expand its empire for the sake of power and income it provided.

The Peloponnesian War • Corinth was a rich trading city like Athens, but belonged to Peloponnesian League • Athens kept Corinth’s merchants away from the profitable trade of the Aegean area and provoked other states by excluding them from ports of Athenian empire • When Athens began to interfere with Corinth’s colonies, it was accused of breaking its peace treaty with Sparta and provoked the so-called Peloponnesian War • This was the longest, most bitter and costly war the Greeks ever fought • Almost every city-state aligned itself with one side or the other • At the outset, Athens seemed the strongest of the combatants and best prepared for war

Pericles’ Strategy • Pericles knew that Athens could be invaded yearly by the more powerful land army of the Spartans • He devised a strategy to avoid fighting the Spartans on land • all his people would remain inside the long walls that surrounded the city • He planned that the Athenian navy would maintain the food supply through a protected port • The Athenian fleet was strong and could raid the coast of the Peloponnese at will

After the War • During the first half of the following century, various Greek city-states struggled for power • First Sparta prevailed as the chief polis in Greece • Then, for a time, Thebes was the strongest centre • But he most serious threat to the city-states was on the northern frontier of Macedonia

The Plague • Pericles could not have foreseen that a terrible plague would strike the city • Too many people lived in confined quarters, often in badly ventilated huts and hygiene deteriorated • A terrible plague struck the city in 430 BCE (the second year of the Peloponnesian War), killing 1/3 of the population, including Pericles himself • Athens had been dealt a severe blow

The end of the war • The war lasted 27 years • First one side gained a strategic victory, then the other • In 421 BCE, the two city-states agreed to a truce, but it was short lived • Athens at one point foolishly decided to try to conquer Syracuse, the most powerful city on the distant island of Sicily • This 2 -year campaign required huge quantities of ships, manpower and money to undertake • It was a disaster • The war lasted another 10 years, but Athens could not recover • By 408, the Persians had begun supporting the Spartans, providing ships to fight the Athenians • When a Spartan and Persian fleet defeated the Athenian fleet at Aegospotami in 405 BCE, the power of Athens crumbled

Punishment for Athens • Sparta’s allies wanted to destroy Athens and sell its citizens into slavery, because Athens had attacked and captured the island of Melos at one point during the war and put do death all men of military age and sold women and children into slavery • Sparta blocked the move, likely because of Athens service to the Greek states during the Persian Wars • Athens was forced to surrender its empire and all of its fleet, except 12 ships • Athens was also required to tear down the city’s long walls • Athens also had to acknowledge Spartan leadership in matters of peace and war • Athens was never again a great power