City States of Greece

Geography of Greece

• Peninsula jutting into the Mediterranean Sea

• Made up of over 4000 islands

• Surrounded by three seas– Mediterranean Sea– Ionian Sea– Aegean Sea

• The Greeks became great sailors and colonized many lands

The Land of Greece• Rugged mountains,

deep valleys• Terrain shaped

politics of Grecians– Mountains divided

cities from each other = ISOLATION!

– Led to many different forms of government

– Made communication & overland trade difficult

• Only about 20% of land was good for farming

• Trade was lifeline

Central Greece – very ruggedterrain, not good for agriculture

Rise of City States• City states =

independent cities (like who?)

• Polis = “City”• Center of polis = Acropolis • Acropolis = fortified hill

Acropolis ofAthens

Greek Politics: Different strokes for different folks

• Because of physical isolation, many different government forms were invented– Tyranny: one person w/

absolute power to rule– Monarchy / Aristocracy:

king w/ advisor nobles– Oligarchy: small group

rules– Democracy: people rule

• Citizen soldiers protected polis

Armies of the City States• Iron weapons were cheap &

very common; owned by virtually all Greeks– Bronze armor though (lighter,

better metallurgy)

• Led to the rise of the citizen-soldier

• Called “hoplite”– Armed with long (6-8’) spear & a

short sword (used only in emergency)

– Armored with bronze breast plate, helmet, shield

– Fought together with friends from young age (lower chance to run away)

Phalanx: Fact . . .

• Group of hoplites fighting in formation

• Formation a solid block of spears, men

• Each man protected the man to his left with his shield (tended to drift right)

• Relatively few casualties (too tired to pursue)

Phalanx: . . . and Fiction

The historical phalanx

The 300 phalanx

The City State of Sparta• Located in Southern

Peloponnese peninsula, made up of five villages

• Spartans conquered neighboring Messenians, enslaving them

• Around 600 BC, Messenians revolted– Spartans almost defeated– Changed government to

make state supreme: Purpose?

– Purpose: survival of Sparta

Original territory of Sparta; by500 BC, they controlled up toRed line across middle of pic

The City State Sparta• Education (“Agoge”)

– Male education dedicated to developing physical, mental, moral, social Spartan

– Brutal training lasted 11 years, from age 7 years

– Taught how to fight, steal, live off land, endure terrible hardship

– They were simply the best in Greece

– Spartiates = full citizens

– Women were treated = to men, but could not be citizens

The City State Sparta• Class structure: three

classes– Helots = Messenians

• Conquered people were essentially slaves

• Subject to cruel, brutal treatment by all

– Spartans (“Spartiates”)• Any resident of original five

villages who completed agoge• Their life was dedicated to

protecting the state

– Perioikoi (Honors!)• Non citizen resident of Sparta• Farmers, merchants who were

not citizens

The City State Sparta• Government

– Monarchy: Two kings (hereditary rulers; agoge; military, political, religious leaders)

– Oligarchy: Council of Elders (Senate)• 28 spartiates, 60+ years• Day to day decisions

– Democracy: Assembly• All spartiates, 18+ • Vote yes or no only

– Five Ephors• Any spartiate• Responsible for best interests

of state• Indep. of king, senate, assembly (beat king)

2 SpartanKings

Ephors(Overseers)

Assembly of Spartiates

Council of Elders(Senate)

Non Spartans (Periokoi, Helots) – no political rights

Perspective: Spartan Military Success

• The Spartan army was defeated only 6 times in battle, in almost 250 years– Athenians (2x)– Thebans (2x)– Argives (1x)– Persians (1x)

• Simply the finest Greek land force, ever – but at what cost?

The City State Athens

• Located on European mainland, near coast– Oldest continuously

inhabited city in Europe (3000+ years)

• City was a port, only 8 km from sea Artist’s rendition of Athens, ca. 400 BC

The City State Athens• Law code first written

around 621 BC– Unfair law written by

Draco (“Draconian”)• Most punishments =

death• Can’t pay debt =

slavery to creditor– People rejected &

threatened civil war• New code written in

594 BC, by Solon– Allowed more land to

poor farmers– No more debt slavery – Encouraged trade,

commerce (middle class)

Draco - Lawgiver

Solon – lawgiver

Athenian Democracy• Athenian democracy

(“demos” = people; “cratia” = rule) arose about 510 BC– All citizens split into ten artificial

“tribes”; citizens attended assembly to hear debate and vote

– Assembly was both a legislature and a supreme court

– Offices filled by lot (random chance)

– Ten Strategos (generals) elected for 1 year term

– Assembly had power to ostracize, or banish, citizens for 10 years

Athenian Democracy• Who were citizens?

– Males who completed their military training

– Disallowed majority of Athenians• Slaves, women, debtors

• Direct democracy– Citizens heard debate and

voted directly on issues– Citizens expected to serve

as government officials, if chosen

– Absolute majority rule (50% +1)

Legacy of Athenian Democracy

• Most stable democracy in Greece

• Gave people voice in government

• Rule of law (all subject to rules of society)

• Democracy spread throughout Mediterranean world, including Rome

• Huge influence on USA, too

Other City States

• Thebes– Often fought with Athens– “Sacred Band” = core of

army• 150 homosexual couples

(bravest soldiers on battlefield)

• Professional soldiers• Beat Spartans twice!

• Corinth– Strategic location astride

isthmus– Often allied with Sparta