Unit 7 – Ancient Greece

Geography and Early History

Warm-Up

• 1. Silently enter class and find assigned seat.

• 2. Quietly use the restroom/water and copy homework into your agenda.

• 3. Create a new section in your binder – Unit 7 – Ancient Greece….include a table of contents page.

How did the physical features of ancient Greece influence the growth of its civilization?

Geography City-States

Colonies Trade

GeographyFacts About the Geography of

Greece1.Greece has no major rivers.2.Greece is surrounded on three sides by seas – peninsula.3.Greece is mostly mountainous.4.Greece includes hundreds of islands.

How do you think the physical geography of Greece influences where people settled and how they lived?

Geography

• Ancient Greece had a very different geography from the river valley civilizations of Mesopotamia, India, China, and Egypt. As a result, it developed much differently as a civilization than the river valley civilizations.

Land and Sea• The Greek Peninsula is mountainous. The mountains that

reached down to the sea discouraged farming and made travel by land difficult for early settlers. Most of the rocky land also contains poor soil and few large trees, but settlers were able to cultivate the soil to grow olives and grapes.

• The greatest natural resource of the peninsula is the water that surrounds it. Greece’s islands and coasts created many natural ports. The Greeks built ships and sailed throughout the Mediterranean Sea. They proved to be good sailors and merchants. They made money by trading products as olive oil for wheat.

City-States• As the ancient Greek population grew, people created city-states.

A city-state included a central city, called a polis, and surrounding villages. Each ancient Greek city-state had its own laws and form of government. The city-states were united by a common language, shared religious beliefs, and a similar way of life.

• Greek city-states developed in isolation (remained independent) from one another due to the geography of the region. The mountains, peninsulas, and islands forced each city to create its own identity, including government, military, and culture.

• People thought of themselves as residents of a city, not as Greeks. The city-states became the foundations for civilization. It gave the people security and identity in the world.

City-States’ Life• A Greek city was usually built around a strong fortress

which often stood on top of a high hill called the acropolis. The town around the acropolis was surrounded by walls for added protection.

• Farmers usually lived near their fields outside the walls. In time of war, however, people gathered inside the city walls for protections, while the men fought on the outside.

• Life focused on the marketplace, or agora in Greek. Farmers brought their crops to trade for goods made by craftsmen. Because it was a large open space, people often used it as a meeting place for shops, political and religions meetings.

Colonies

• By the mid 800s BCE, the Greeks were leaving the peninsula in search of better land and greater opportunities for trade.

• During the next 200 years, they built dozens of communities on the islands and coastline of the Aegean Sea. Some Greeks settled as far away as modern-day Spain and North Africa.

Colonies Provide Resources

Once established, these distant Greek communities traded with each other and with those communities on the Greek Peninsula.

This made a great variety of goods available to the ancient Greeks, including wheat for bread, timber for building boats, and iron ore for making strong tools and weapons.

Trade Brings New Ideas

• As they traded, the ancient Greeks learned and shared ideas.

• From the Phoenicians, another trading people in the Mediterranean, the Greeks adopted an alphabet and learned to use coins and money.

• They brought home ideas from other places about government, religion, and nature.

Effects of Trade

• Trade made the city-states much richer. Because of their locations, some city-states became great trading centers. By 550 BCE, the Greeks had become the greatest traders in the whole Aegean regions. Greek ships sailed to Egypt and cities around the Black Sea.

• With great wealth, individual city-states began to build grand buildings, design advanced technologies and generally enjoy their money with “pretty items”……think Egypt.

How did the physical features of ancient Greece influence the growth of its civilization?

Geography City-States___

ColoniesTrade_______

PEAK Activity

• Think – Pair - Share

Thinking About Geographical Features as Characters

• Have you ever thought about physical features as having personalities? For example, you might describe a strong, blustery wind as angry.

• Think about the physical features of Greece and how they influence ancient Greek development. What kinds of personalities might they have?