PERSIAN EMPIRE The Persian Empire Largest empire in

PERSIAN EMPIRE

The Persian Empire ■ Largest empire in the eastern Mediterranean and Mesopotamia ■ Conquered all earlier ancient civilizations in Mesopotamia – The Babylonians, the Lydians, the Phoenicians, and the Egyptians ■ Delegated local administration to important people in the provinces – Governors paid taxes and contributed soldiers to the Great King – Wide range of self government at local level vs micromanaging – Tolerance towards different ethnic groups ■ Construction of roads communication and transportation

GREEK CIVILIZATION

Greek Geography ■ Located on a peninsular between the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea ■ Mountainous land limited the possibility of large scale agricultural development ■ Natural harbors and mild weather commercial activity via boats

Social Structure: Polis ■ Greece wasn’t a country like today but a collection of city-states. ■ A city-state is known as a polis – Each was part of a broader civilization: shared a common culture and identity – Each polis was independent from one another – Each polis was often in conflicts with others ■ Two main city-states were Athens and Sparta ■ Acropolis: A fortified hilltop where citizens gathered to discuss city government

Political Structure ■ Tyrants: powerful individuals who seized control of the gov’t by appealing to the common people for support. (different from tyrant in today’s understanding)

Athens ■ aristocracy – Assembly of landowners elected 9 officials for one-year terms – Drought farmers unable to pay debts were enslaved rebellions power struggles among aristocrats demand for reforms in the government ■ Draco – In 621 B. C. Athenians chose Judge Draco to reform traditional laws concerning murder and revenge – Harsh punishment—draconian laws – Failed to restore political order

Athens ■ Solon (r. 594 B. C -500 B. C) – Outlawed debt slavery (the practice of enslaving people who could not pay back their debts) – Set limits to the amount of land that one could own – Weaken the power of the aristocrats by dividing the society into four groups and distributing political power according to the wealth of members wealthy landowners and merchants played a larger part in government

Democracy ■ – – – Cleisthenes Created the world’s first democracy All citizens can submit laws for debate and passage Freedom of speech and equality before law was guaranteed for citizens ■ – – – Limitations of democracy Only free adult males were granted citizenship Women, slaves, and foreigners were excluded Slave labor enabled Greek citizens to have time to meet, vote, and create great works of art and philosophy

Sparta—a military state ■ Acquired territories by conquering other city-states ■ Government existed not for the benefits of its citizens but for the state ■ Males were trained to fight in defense of Sparta from early age ■ Age 7, boys were placed in military training camps ■ Age 12, began training for combat and learned survival skills ■ Men stayed in the military until age 60 ■ Emphasis on military education resulted in few contribution to the Greek culture ■ Other Greeks admired Spartan discipline and patriotism, but few wished to follow

Perspective Writing ■ Choose a gender, age (range), level of literacy, occupation ■ Answer the following question: Given your chosen character, and based on what you have learned about Athens and Sparta, which citystate would you want to live in and WHY?

The Persian Wars ■ Cyrus the Great conquered Ionia, a Greek colony along the eastern Aegean coast – Persian did not interfere with Ionian’s culture but limited their political freedom ■ In 499 B. C. during the reign of Persian king Darius, the Athenians helped the Ionians to rebel Darius turned his army against Athens ■ In 490 B. C. , Athenians army defeated the Persians at Marathon – A messenger ran 26 miles from Marathon to Athens to report the victory – Victory at Marathon forced Darius to withdraw from Greece ■ In 480 B. C. , Persian king Xerxes defeated city-states including Sparta and Athens ■ Battle of Salamis: Athenians fought back at sea and defeated the Persian fleet at Salamis the Persians left for home

The Age of Pericles (480 -- 404 B. C. E) Watch a video clip of Secrets of the Parthenon from NOVA (15: 00 - 18: 20) to get an introduction to the Golden Age of Athens, then answer the questions that follow.

■ Watch a video clip of Deconstructing History: The Acropolis from History. com

The Peloponnesian War (431404 B. C. ) Delian League ■ – An alliances with Athens and other city-states, formed during the Persian wars – Athens as the leader: ships and sailors, – Under Pericles, Athenians tried to use the league to build an empire ■ Peloponnesian League – Alliances with Sparta and other city-states, against Athenian dominance ■ Conflict over the Peloponnesian peninsula ■ With Persian aid, Sparta defeated Athens ■ Soon, with Persian aid, Thebes defeated Sparta wars among

HELLENISTIC CIVILIZATION

Philip II of Macedonia ■ Macedonia, a mountainous country located north of Greece ■ Under Philip II of Macedonia, Macedonia became a strong military power ■ Conquered many Greek city-states Hellenic League ■ Admired advanced culture of the Greeks ■ Philip’s great dream was to conquer the Persian Empire but he was assassinated

Alexander the Great ■ Son of Philip II ■ Studied under Aristotle ■ led an army of Greeks to conquer an area that stretched from Athens to India and included Persia, the Middle East, and Egypt. ■ His dream of conquering the known world ended with his death in 323 B. C. , at age 33 ■ His generals fought and divided his empire among themselves.

Encouraged the Greeks and Macedonians in the empire to marry Persians, Egyptians, Syrians and others of the native populations

Hellenistic Age (324 – 100 B. C. ) ■ 1. Philosophy – Cynicism: criticism of materialism and social conventions, distrust in human virtue – Epicureanism: search for pleasure and happiness while maintaining a sense of moderation – Stoicism: freedom from passion and desires, detachment from the outside world ■ 2. Science and Mathematics – Aristarchus (astronomy): concluded that the earth revolved around the sun – Euclid (geometry): organized the study of geometry into Elements

■ 3. Art and Literature ■ Hellenistic art and literature were more realistic than earlier Greek art and literature. ■ Painting and sculpture emphasized people’s individuality and emotions. ■ Literature become more personal. – Instead of describing the fate of heroes, plays and poetry focused on the lives and feelings of everyday people.

Colossus of Rhodes