Midterm Prep Greek History PDF

Early bronze age - 3000-2100 Middle Bronze Age - 2100-1600 Late Bronze Age – Mycenean Age – 1600-1150 1150 - 900 - Early Dark Age – protogeometric – 1050-900 - “Greek Dark Age,” the four centuries that lay hidden between the fall of Mycenae and the The “Dark Age” of Greece and the Eight...

Early bronze age - 3000-2100 Middle Bronze Age - 2100-1600 Late Bronze Age – Mycenean Age – 1600-1150 1150 - 900 - Early Dark Age – protogeometric – 1050-900 - “Greek Dark Age,” the four centuries that lay hidden between the fall of Mycenae and the The “Dark Age” of Greece and the Eighth-Century “Renaissance” birth of the city-state were a period of total obscurity coupled with utter poverty and stagnation 900-750/700 – Late Dark Age - early and middle geometric 900-850-750 Archaic Period 750/700-490 Study Sheet 1: Depictions of Mycenaean Greece Readings found in packet - Franchthi Cave - Cave in Peloponnesus shows that people hunted deer and smaller game, caught fish in the coastal waters, and gathered wild cereals, wild peas and beans, and nuts. - Heinrich Schliemann - Modern discoverer of prehistoric greece - Troy, mycenae, tiyrns - German 20th century - Schliemann’s excavations of the Bronze Age level uncovered a large fortified palace-complex, worthy of a mighty warrior king. - Linear A  - Undeciphered writing system used by minoans of crete - Developed 1800 bc by the cretans - Linear A writing, preserved on small clay tablets found not only on Crete but in other Aegean islands, - remains largely untranslated. - main purpose was for keeping economic and administrative records - Michael Ventris - Deciphered linear b – the ancient mycenaean greek script - We do know that it was Greeks who took over Crete in 1450 BC because of the work of Michael Ventris in the 1950s - Ventris demonstrated linear b tablets were an early form of Greek. Having more than four thousand tablets to work with, he and other linguists were able gradually to obtain the phonetic values of the signs. - Tholos tomb - Circa 1500 bc - Mycenaean vehicle - the noble families began to bury their dead in the more impressive tholos tomb, a very large stone chamber, shaped like a beehive. - With their high vaulted interiors and long stone entrance ways the tholoi (plural) were conspicuous signs of the ever increasing power and resources of the leaders - A type of monumental above-ground stone tomb (shaped like a beehive) favored by the elites of the Late Bronze Age. - In the Classical period, circular structures, also called tholoi, served as temples and public buildings - Pylos - Mycenaean palace found at plyos - Hundreds of bronze age settlements - Site of linear b tablets in mycenaean palace - Home of nestor - Chariot  - The Mycenaeans’ most impressive weapon was the chariot, adopted from the Near East around 1600 BC. - A lightweight platform set atop two high, spoked wheels, and pulled by two horses, the chariot could carry two men at a pace previously unknown in land travel. - Iliad - 75-675 composition date - Epic poems → tell the tale of the trojans vs the achaens, of achilles vs hector - Written by homer - Achaeans - “Achaeans,” the name given to the Greeks in the Iliad and Odyssey. - Nestor - aged warrior in iliad and odyssey Nestor, who, Homer tells us, lived in a magnificent many-roomed house in a town called Pylos, - from which he ruled over a large area of Messenia. - Super old dude – arete of wisdom - Homer - Epic poet? - Multiple persons? → possible - A oral poet – his works were likely transcribed by others - If he did live it was the 9th or 8th century bc - Minoans - For example, the Minoans frequently performed their rituals in caves and in sanctuaries built on mountain peaks, while the Mycenaean shrines are mainly confined to the palace-centers - The Minoans and Mycenaeans were no exception; they honored their gods with processions, music, and dance, and propitiated them with gifts and sacrifices. - 3000-1100 bc on the island of crete - Thera - Example of minoan cultural influence - 1967 at Akrotiri on the small island of Thera  - destroyed by a powerful volcanic eruption around 1630 BC, - remains show how extensively the Therans absorbed Cretan art, architecture, religion, dress, and lifestyles into their own island culture. - the distinctly “local” features on Thera and the other Cycladic islands suggest that they were trading partners, not colonial outposts of a Cretan empire - Mycenae - 1600 – late bronze age - Mycenae and other sites become power centers – small kingdoms emerge - City of king agamemnon - Discovered by henrich schliemann - Mycenae importance → late bronze age known as mycenaean age 1600-1100 est - Propagators of tholos tombs - By 1100, the Mycenaean kingdoms and the complex systems that had supported them no longer existed - WE AREN’T SURE WHAT CAUSED THIS DOWNFALL IT IS LITERALLY WHATEVER IS TRENDING AT THE TIME THAT IS BELIEVED TO BE IT - Megaron - A large rectangular hall typical of later mycenaean palaces in the 1400-1200 era - Late bronze age, late mycenaean age - Wanax - Ties into the administration of the mycenaean kingdom - Apex was the wanax – king - The wanax was, above all, a warrior-king, who took part in the fighting - Tiryns - Bronze age settlement of the early mycenaeans - Athens - One of two massive city states along with sparta - Established in 3000 bc but became particularly notable in the 8th century bce  - Reached its height in 5th century bce - Under pericles - Birthplace of democracy - synoecism of the towns and villages of Attica into a political unity under the leadership of Athens was probably gradual, only being completed around the middle of the eighth century. - ascribed the unification to Theseus - Theseus’ exploits, defeating the Minotaur in Crete and the Amazons in Athens, enshrined in Athenian art and literature. - Athenians followed the common Greek practice of attributing important events of the preliterate period to some great figure from the legendary past. - Odyssey - Journey home for odysseus - Another epic poem of homer - Hector - Warrior of the trojans, the achilles for the trojans - Prince of troy, son of king priam - Achilles - Demi god — thetis and peleus - Swift footed achilles - Star fighter of the achaeans - Basically just the creme de la creme - Indo-Europeans - 2100-1900 in middle bronze age - Incursions of indo-european speaker into greece - More certain is that the newcomers were part of a great and lengthy ancient migration of peoples, known collectively as the Indo-Europeans - close likenesses in vocabulary and grammar among these ancient languages → that they had all sprung from a common linguistic ancestor, termed “Proto-Indo-European.” - Knossos - Destroyed 1375 bce - On crete - Been the center of a powerful naval state - Named this first aegean civilization minoan - After king minos of knossos - It is not known who destroyed Knossos and set off the irreversible decline of the Cretan economy and culture. - Linear B - The Minoans had devised a writing system made up of linear signs incised on clay tablets, which they used to keep palace records. - Knossos found 3,000 clay tablets inscribed with a more elaborate version of the linear script, which he named “Linear B” to differentiate it from the earlier “Linear A” script. - The decoding of Linear B has illuminated not only the historical relationship between Greece and Crete, but also the workings of the Mycenaean palace system. - Shaft Graves - Shaft graves are a type of burial feature found in ancient Greece, 1600-1100 BC - deep, vertical shafts, typically dug into the ground, which contain a burial chamber at the bottom. - Provide insight into mycenaean burial customs social hierarchy and the material culture of the period - Messenia - General broad area including pylos, mycenae, among others - Helots were original inhabitants of most of messenia - Qasireu - Original form of basileus in the Linear B tablets - Denotes minor official – mayor or headmen of a town or village within mycenaean kingdom - Agamemnon  - the leader of the Greek invasion of Troy - Troy - that the fall of Troy occurred (c. 1250–1200) - Odysseus - he most charismatic cultural hero of the ancient Greeks was Odysseu - Main character of the odyssey - Dorian Invasion - The modern “Dorian invasion” hypothesis is largely based on the legends of later Doric speakers. - Dorians claimed ancestry from the mythical hero Hercules, whose sons, so the story went, were expelled from the Peloponnesus after his death. - Several generations after the Trojan War, Heracles’ descendants returned south to reclaim by force their rightful ownership of their ancient homeland. - hypothesis was popular because it accounted well for both the initial destruction and the dominant presence of Doric speakers in the Peloponnesus during historical times. - corroborated by the words of the ancient Greeks themselves - About 1100 bc Study Sheet 2: The Dark Ages Hesoid’s Works and Days - Basileus - The official title borne by warrior-leaders like Thoas is basileus. - A Homeric basileus = “chief” – a leader with great authority and stature, limited in his power to coerce others into obeying him. - The term for the legitimate monarch, the “king.” - In Mycenaean society, the title qasireu denoted a village or district administrator;  - in the Dark Age basileis were the warrior-chiefs who ruled the villages and districts. - The hierarchy of basileis was replaced in the Archaic Age by oligarchies of landed aristocrats. - Protogeometric - the combination of several new techniques and small inventions produced a superior pottery that was well proportioned and finely decorated. - A faster potter’s wheel improved the shape of the vases. - New shapes and designs emerged, enhanced by more lustrous glaze achieved by firing at a higher temperature. - new style, called Protogeometric (c. 1050–900), seems to have originated in Attica - Around Protogeometric evolves into the Geometric style 900–700 - Boule - the “council,” which was one of the two primary governing institutions of the Greeks - Composed of the chiefs and other influential men in the Dark Age, - became the major organ of aristocratic power in the Archaic Age. - In Classical Athens, the boule consisted of five hundred men chosen by lot; - it prepared business for the assembly and also tried certain court cases. - Kakos - Bad guy, lacked time, didn’t have any arete in any respects - Hesiod - 8th century bc – between 800 and 700 bc - Works and days which offers insights into farming ethics and daily life - Valuable information about the mythology and culture of the time - Importance of dike - Just do good work - Oikos  - The oikos was the primary unit of production, consumption, and reproduction - center of a person’s existence - every member was preoccupied with its preservation, its economic well-being, and social standing. - not only the house itself but also the family, the land, livestock, and all other property and goods, including slaves. - Delphi - Oracle of Apollo at Delphi - Oikist - the “founder” and the leader of a colony sent out by a mother-city - had great authority in the new settlement and was often deified after his death. - responsible for leading out the colonists, laying out the city’s defenses, establishing the sanctuaries of the gods, and assigning the kleroi to the settlers. - Corinth - Another prominent greek city state - Epidamnus - Greek city state - Olympia - City state - Lefkandi - City state - Geometric - 1150 - 900 - Early Dark Age – protogeometric – 1050-900 - 900-750/700 – Late Dark Age - early and middle geometric 900-850-750 - 750-700 late geometric - Protogeometric and Geometric periods in ancient Greece are known for their distinctive pottery styles - reflect significant developments in art and culture following the collapse of the Mycenaean civilization. - These periods mark a time of recovery and cultural revival after the Dark Ages.  - Pottery played a crucial role in the re-establishment of trade and social structures, serving both practical and artistic functions. - The Protogeometric period - simple, geometric shapes and patterns, such as circles, triangles, and zigzags. - evolved into the Geometric geometric style, - more complex motifs, including figures and scenes, especially on larger vases. - Nichoria - Greek city state - Pithecusae - Greek city state - Cyrene - Greek city state - Metropolis - “Mother-city.” Term for a polis that founded a colony. - relationship between the mother-city and the new polis was normally very close, combining economic, political, and spiritual ties. - Kleros - An allotment of farmland sufficient to support a citizen-family; passed on in perpetuity in the male line. - In oligarchic states, full citizenship was frequently tied to the possession of a certain amount of land. - kleros (literally an “allotment”). Without a kleros a man could not marry. - Euboea - Greek city state - Syracuse - Greek city state in roman boot - Corfu - Greek city state - Time  - honor - Competing for time - Personal reputation along with social status respect from peers and accomplishments from battle - Increase time through arete - Traits / qualities - Sword play, cunningness, strength speed wisdom - Hetairoi - chief may raise his own following of hetairoi and go on raids against the villages of another demos, - “Companion” or “comrade.” - In the Dark Age, follower-bands of hetairoi formed the military and political support of the chiefs who recruited and rewarded them. - In Macedonia, an elite band of warriors and advisors and personal bodyguards of the kings. - Agathos - Good man, opposite of kakos - Had a lot of time, and subsequently a lot of arete - A man is called “good” (agathos) when he exhibits bravery and skill in fighting and athletic contest - Agon - contest of time, to get more time win agon, to show off time participate in agon - Thes - thetes , poor free men who worked as hired hands - Ascra - Hesiod's town - Pretty sure it was kinda just shit year round - A place bad in the winter worse in the summer never good - Perses - Hesoids brother  - Hesiod bids him to act different and in line with the way he outlines in works and days - Not a good person in hesiod's eye - Theogony - The Theogony is an epic poem by Hesiod (8th–7th century BC) describing the origins and genealogies of the Greek gods, composed c. 730–700 BC. It is one of the most important sources for the understanding of early Greek cosmology. - Works and Days - Didactic poetry - Centered around perses and is kind of a guide on how to live a good life with dike and through hard work Study Sheet 3: Spartans Readings: The constitution of the lacedaemonians, life of lycurgus, histories 1.65-.86, 6.52-.60 - Synoecism - Political unification - The process by which a demos became unified is called “synoecism,” - Crystalized 750 and 700. - For the most part it was voluntary and peaceful. - oligarchy - The powerful families divided up the spheres of authority created magistracies and boards - rule by the few - Kakoi v Agathoi - Aristocrats referred to themselves as Agathoi (the good) and to lower classes as Kakoi (the bad) - This trend was seen in Archaic Greece - Phalanx - By 650 BC polis armies were made up of heavily armored foot soldiers called hoplites,  - arranged in a tightly packed formation—the phalanx. - In the developed phalanx the soldiers lined up almost shoulder to shoulder with each rank almost treading on the heels of the one in front of it. - tactics: Opposing phalanxes formed up (normally eight rows deep), charged at one another, and collided. - Helot - semi-slavery - original inhabitants of parts of Laconia and most of Messenia who were conquered by the Spartans in war and made to work for the Spartan citizens as serfs on what had been their own land. - given some human rights—they could marry and raise a family and keep a portion of their production—but in all other respects they were chattel, - In essence slaves - bound to their land and obliged to work it for their Spartan masters with no consolation but the promise that they would not be sold out of Messenia. - Helots outnumbered the spartans 20 to 1. - Perpetual war between the helots and spartans that was renewed every year - Homoioi - The goal for men was economic equality, - a minimum income for all that would allow them to follow the Spartan way of life. - Spartans referred to themselves as homoioi – peers - Ephors (there were also 2 kings in sparta aside from the ephors and gerousia) - Magistrates called ephors (“overseers”) - The ephors exercised total control over the education of the young and enforced the iron discipline of Sparta. - They were in charge of the krypteia - Every year the Spartans elected five ephors by acclamation from candidates over the age of thirty. - supervised the kings and represented the principle of law,  - shared some of the kings’ executive powers; - but they were also empowered to depose them. - Ephors monitored the kings in Sparta, and two of them always accompanied a king who was on campaign. - The ephors presided over the gerousia and assembly, and dealt with foreign embassies. - They also exercised judicial powers in civic matters and in cases involving perioikoi - served for only one year, could not be reelected, subject to an audit by their successors. - the senior ephor gave his name to the year. - General control over the kings’ conduct - Peloponnesian League - With Peloponnesian states other than Messenia, Sparta adopted a policy of alliance, rather than conquest, and gradually assumed a position of leadership. - 510--500 league was established / organized - The League included all the states in the Peloponnesus except Argos and Achaea, - as well as key poleis that lay outside the Peloponnesus. - The purpose was mutual protection. - Each state pledged to contribute forces in case of war and swore an oath “to have the same friends and enemies, and to follow the Spartans wherever they lead.” - an alliance - The League remained in existence until the 360 - after spartan defeat by thebes - Artemis Orthia - Sanctuary to Artemis Orthia - Major temple was built in 8th century - Near Sparta Cult to Artemis was the center of Spartan religious life - Festival of artemis orthia - Younger kids try to steal cheese from statue of artemis orthia and are opposed by older kids who, if they catch the younger kids, whip them - Ethnos - In a number of large regions of the Peloponnesus and central and northern Greece the inhabitants opted for ethnos - Different form of political organization - consisted of a people and its territory (a demos) but without a capital polis, or a central government, or formal political union. - The separate towns and villages of an ethnos were independent and autonomous, yet they also had a strong sense of common identity - From the sixth century BC on, Greek ethne¯ acted as unified states by forming federations of local and regional segments of the ethnos. - Aristocracy - power in the hands of the best men – agathoi, was coined, - fifth century, possibly to describe the rule of the elite - Aristocratic power and exclusiveness were strongest in the early Archaic period - gradually weakened as strong democratic sentiments emerged in the city-states. - Eunomia - In their writings Sparta became a virtual utopia, a paradise of eunomia—a word meaning “governed by good laws.” - Spartan name for their Dogma, means "lawful order" - Lycurgus' reforms occurred in 7th century - Sparta - Law and organization were crucial to Spartan culture - Sparta - 650 “Lycurgan” technique Reforms at Sparta; the “Great Rhetra” - Eventually become the most powerful polis in greece - Laconia - Broader region that made up spartan polis - Tyrtaeus - Spartan poet – 650 bc - poems Tyrtaeus wrote celebrating Spartan courage in the war became Sparta’s classic  - As the poetry of Tyrtaeus made plain, the Spartan ideal for a man was to be skilled and courageous in battle, stand his ground and give up his life for his city - Krypteia - Secret police - a force designed to control the helots. - unique to Sparta among Greek poleis. - Young men were sent out for a year to spy on the helots and were encouraged to kill any helots they caught, especially the best of them who might be most prone to rebel. - Xenophon - 4th century historian - Wrote the constitution of the lacedaemonians - Xenophon states that the laws of Lycurgus were no longer enforced in his own time, - Athenian historian who wrote Spartan Constitution - 5th century - Lived in Athens, was exiled because he favored Spartans - Great Rhetra - Great statement" issued by oracle of Delphi to Lycurgus that told him how to reform sparta, also refers to Spartan consitution as a whole - 650 bc - Lays out the Spartan dogma and gives divine credence to reforms - Politai, polites - all members of the demos, whether they lived in the capital or the countryside, were called politai (members of the polis) - all free-born members of the polis were citizens - Bacchiads - Aristocratic family that ruled Corinth, "royal clan" - 7th&8th centuries - Corinth  - Family that claimed descendance from legendary king, took control of Corinthian government, distributed magistrate positions amongst themselves - Hoplite - Heavily armed foot soldiers - long heavy spear, a short slashing sword for close in fighting. - For protection he wore a helmet, breastplate, and greaves - all made of bronze and covering as much of the body as possible. - The most important piece of equipment was a new type of shield called the hoplon, different from the shields carried by the Homeric warriors. - gave cover to the man on the left, allowing hoplites to fight close together with half of their bodies protected by the adjacent man’s shield. - Seen from the front, a phalanx presented nearly a solid wall of shields, helmeted heads, and spears - Battles were brief seldom lasting more than an hour - hoplites had to furnish their own arms and armor, which were fairly expensive, - 650 bc - Lycurgus - creation of spartan system to Lycurgus, a shadowy figure who may or may not really have lived. - Lycurgus → equality, men’s dining groups, organization of the population by age cohorts, and the use of iron money - practices survived at Sparta because their place in Spartan life had been redefined to aid in the production of the ideal Spartan hoplite - Implementer of the great rhetra - The educational system, like much else that was unique to Sparta, received legitimacy from the insistence that it was created by Lycurgus. - Pretty much the foundation of the entire spartan way of life - If he did live lived around 700-650 bc - Traveled everywhere - Messenian Wars  - third quarter of the eighth century they invaded Messenia, beginning what modern historians call the First Messenian War ended about 720 BC. - Messenia became subject to Sparta, and like the Laconians, - Some become peroikoi, most became helots - The Second messenian war highlighted the risks of the helot system. - The Spartans were forced to find a way to preserve their domination over their helots. - The solution they found was drastic, and its implementation gradually transformed Sparta and eventually created the unique regimented society - Spartans realized that if all potential hoplites could be trained to the highest degree of skill possible, Sparta would enjoy an overwhelming military advantage over its helots and other enemies. - reformed their institutions with a view toward achieving 2 goals: freeing male citizens from all but military obligations, and socializing them to accept the regimentation and discipline required of a Spartan soldier. - The Spartans were the only real professional soldiers. - gerousia - In addition to the two kings, the gerousia was composed of twenty-eight men over the age of sixty who served for the rest of their lives. - Election to the gerousia was the highest honor to which a Spartan could aspire. - No bill could be brought before the assembly until it had first been discussed by the gerousia, - the gerousia could decline to accept a decision of the assembly by summarily declaring an adjournment. - It also served as a criminal court for cases of homicide, treason, and other serious offenses that carried the penalty of disenfranchisement, exile, or death. - citizens listened to a proposal made by the gerousia and simply voted to accept or reject it, without discussion  - Power lay predominantly with the gerousia - perioikoi - The rest of the inhabitants of Laconia, who occupied the area surrounding the city of Sparta, became perioikoi (“those who dwell around [Sparta],” or “neighbors”) - Required to serve in the army but were not permited to participate in the government - Worked as farmers craftsmen etc – essential part of spartan economic system - plutarch - biographer Plutarch (46–120 AD). - From boeotia - Wrote comprehensive historys of Sparta; Sayings of Spartans and biography of Lycurgus - Wrote parallel lives - That of solon, of lycurgus - syssition - Acceptance into a syssition (“dining group,” “mess”) was an essential stage in reaching adulthood. - The Spartan man ate his meals with about fifteen members of his army group, - Each member of the syssition was obliged to contribute a fixed quantity of food and drink. - Brought about with the reforms of lycurgus Study Sheet 4: Solon Readings: Life of solon, constitution of athens, additional poems, histories 1.29-.33,.59-.64 - Tyrant - first serious challenge to oligarchic rule came not from below, but from within the elite group itself, called tyranny - The “age of tyrants” lasted from about 670–500 BC, affecting a great many of the Greek states.  - Their subsequent ill-repute stemmed partly from propaganda spread by the aristocrats themselves, who naturally resented the domination of a single man, and partly from the popular sentiment that dictatorial rule posed a threat to the freedom of all. - Yet the early tyrants were probably viewed more favorably by their non aristocratic contemporaries - Firstly, most tyrants arose from the elite group, though not necessarily from the top-ranked families. - Cypselus - Cypselus of Corinth (c. 657–627), - marginalized within the prominent “clan” of the Bacchiads, because his mother, a Bacchiad, had married outside the clan. - noble birth, personal achievements → distinguishing factors - Was polemarch prior to tyrant - During reign corinth became the leading commercial center of Greece especially in pottery - archon - Limited terms - later eighth century the chiefs of Attica replaced the paramount basileus with three civic officials called collectively archons - who divided the leadership roles among themselves. - One of the archons, called the basileus, administered the city’s cults of the polis and judged lawsuits pertaining to cult property and other religious matters. - The polemarch (war archon) commanded the army and judged disputes involving noncitizens. - The most prestigious office was that of the archon, who had overall supervision of public affairs, including presiding over the council and the assembly and judging nonreligious cases. - eponymous archon, gave his name to the year.  - archons elected annually from candidates drawn from the small circle of aristocratic families known as the Eupatrids - hippeis - Below them came the hippeis (“horsemen,” since they were the men who could afford to keep a horse for the cavalry) - Social class made in solon’s constitution - Thesmothetai - Six judicial officials called thesmothetai (“layers down of the rules”) were added later, making up the governing body of the “nine archons.” - - Heliaia - Citizen men from all classes could serve in the heliaia, a body of prospective jurors. - Solon’s most revolutionary contribution to the Athenian political system probably was his insistence that any male citizen whatever his rank—not just the victim or the victim’s relatives—could bring an indictment if he believed a crime had been committed and serve as a juror in a trial. - Once the concern of families, justice was now the business of the community of male citizens as a whole - Basically a pool of potential jurors, free men over the age of 30 I’d imagine - Genos - A category of families claiming descent from a single male ancestor. - led by its most prominent family and played a prominent part as a political group in the Archaic Age - Each faction was associated with a preeminent lineage (genos) that extended an umbrella of fictive kinship over less prestigious families, who supported the leader-family in its political ambitions. - Phyle - tribe (phyle) - hektemoroi  - A term used in Solonian Athens meaning “sixth-parters,” referring, presumably, to poor farmers who had fallen into debt to wealthy landowners and had to hand over to them a sixth of their produce under penalty of enslavement for their debt. - pentakosiomedimnoi - The new class solon made - highest of the four property classes in the Solonic system. To qualify for membership, the pentakosiomedimnoi or “500-measure men” each needed an estate that produced at least 500 bushels - stasis - Act of taking sides - In the city-states stasis (civil strife) occurred between oligarchical factions and between the rich and the poor - At its worst, stasis entailed bloodshed - zeugitae - The zeugitai, men who could afford to own a team of oxen, with 200 to 299 medimnoi, were next - 3rd from the top class - zeugitai could hold lower state offices; - Zeugetae often chosen for service on the βουλη - seisachtheia - Solon not only made it illegal for loans to be secured by anyone’s property or person; - freed those who had been enslaved for debt and canceled the obligations of the hektemoroi. - This bold measure was known as the seisachtheia, the “shaking off of burdens, - Alcmaeonids - 632 BC, an Olympic victor named Cylon took advantage of his marriage connection with Theagenes, the tyrant of nearby Megara, to seize the Acropolis and attempt to become tyrant of Athens, only to find himself and his supporters besieged by the Athenians.  - supporters, who had taken refuge at the altar of Athena, surrendered to the nine archons on condition that their lives would be spared. - tied a thread to the statue of Athena, and descended while holding onto it, hoping the goddess would protect them. When the thread snapped, however, the archon Megacles and his supporters killed them. - People believed that Megacles had committed sacrilege, and soon his family was exiled, including dead relatives whose bodies were exhumed and cast beyond the Attic frontier. - Although Cylon’s coup failed, it played an interesting role in future Athenian history because of the prominent family to which Megacles belonged. - The Alcmaeonid genos would contribute important politicians to Athens, including Cleisthenes and Pericles, two of the most prominent Athenian statesmen of the sixth and fifth centuries. - Politically motivated demands for the expulsion of the “accursed” repeatedly sent shock waves through the body politic because people believed that the family’s shared responsibility for its members’ impious actions might call the wrath of the gods down on the state. - Solon - 600 who is our earliest source for Athenian society – lawgiver - Solon’s legislation in the 590s provides the best evidence for the nature of these problems. Solon tried to strengthen the fragile agricultural base of the Athenian economy by grafting onto it a thriving commerce. - Although the Athens of 600 had great potential for economic development, many poor sharecroppers were losing the struggle to survive. - empowered Solon, an aristocratic war hero and moralizing poet, to draw up a new law code that would ease the sufferings of the poor and avoid a tyranny.  - The poor wanted the abolition of their debts and redistribution of land; what they got was the abolition of debt slavery. - Solon’s reforms mitigated the risk of Attica’s being divided into haves and have-nots by creating a sliding scale of privilege that contained something for everyone - Decrying both the selfishness of the rich and the revolutionary demands of the poor, - identified wealth as an unstable and problematic force in human affairs - committed to defending the rights of the elite both to their land and to a preeminent role in government: - also redeemed and brought home Athenians who had been sold as slaves outside Attica. None of this should be construed as an attack on slavery per se. Solon had no problem with Athenians enslaving non-Athenians. - Solon’s other economic measures were less dramatic but equally important. He revised Athenian weights and measures to facilitate trade with other states. He also encouraged live cultivation and prohibited the export of grain, because it was needed at home. - empowered the Council of the Areopagus to inquire into every man’s means of supporting himself and to punish those who could show none, a dramatic contrast to the Spartan ethos that soldiering was the only appropriate work for a citizen. - By establishing a constitution in which political privilege was allotted in accord with income Solon also tried to deal with the grievances of the hoplite middle class, - Solon did not alter Draco’s homicide laws, - he reduced the penalties for other crimes and decreed an amnesty for persons exiled for crimes other than homicide or attempted tyranny. - feared the concentration of power in the hands of a few great families - established the notion of citizenship itself. - theseus - The Athenians ascribed the unification to Theseus, whom myth linked with his companion, the Dorian hero Heracles.  - Theseus’ exploits, such as defeating the Minotaur in Crete and the Amazons in Athens, were enshrined in Athenian art and literature. - a legendary hero and king of Athens – BASICALLY THEIR FOUNDER - areopagus - The archons governed Athens in concert with the council that met on the hill sacred to the war god Ares and was called for that reason the Council of the Areopagus - Council of the Areopagus, which was composed of former archons - Cylon - 632 fails in attempt of tyranny at athens - had won fame as a victor in the Olympic games. - 632 BC, an Olympic victor named Cylon took advantage of his marriage connection with Theagenes, the tyrant of nearby Megara, to seize the Acropolis and attempt to become tyrant of Athens, only to find himself and his supporters besieged by the Athenians. Cylon and his brother escaped - MIASMA - Draco - 620 Law code of Draco in Athens - The best known of Draco’s laws is that concerning homicide, which replaced the family and kin with the state as the arbiter of justice in cases of both intentional and unintentional killings. - transformed such disputes into trials in which the next of kin, - Little is known about Draco’s other laws except that they were severe, naming death as the penalty even for minor offenses. - The fourth-century Athenian orator Demades quipped that Draco’s laws were written not in ink but in blood. - What was significant about Draco’s laws was their role in the process of developing the authority of the state at the expense of that of the family, and, it should be noted, of the magistrates also.  - The establishment of fixed principles of justice limited the magistrates’ ability to shape their decisions in accord with their social and professional ties to particular litigants. - Polemarch - War archon/leader - specified term, usually a year, and subject to the policy of the aristocratic council, the polemarch was limited in his power. - Circa 500 BC, the military functions of the Athenian polemarch were transferred to the board of ten strategoi - After 487 BC, when the polemarch became appointed by lot, his functions became mainly legal and ceremonial. - Phratry - Every citizen family belonged to one of four phylai (“tribes”) and to another smaller group within their tribe, called a phratry (“brotherhood”) - Originally a brotherhood of warriors in homeric age but by the seventh century, however, the phratries were concerned with matters of family and of descent. - A subdivision of the tribe, a kin group. - Every citizen family in Athens belonged to a phratry - eupatrids - The nine archons were elected annually from candidates drawn from the small circle of aristocratic families known as the Eupatrids (“people with good fathers”). - Eupatrid monopoly on privilege. - Thetes - thetes, poor farmers and landless workers, who produced fewer than 200 medimnoi. - could attend the assembly which was to meet regularly. - Manned the trireme - Peisistratus’ - 560–514 Peisistratus and Peisistratus expands his sons tyrants of Athens religious festivals at Athens - The inhabitants of sixth-century Attica were loosely divided into three factions known as the Men of the Plain, the Men of the Coast, and the Men of the Hill. - Around 560, a distant relative of Solon from northern Attica named Peisistratus successfully carried out a coup. - Peisistratus’ backers included not only the Men of the Hill but also some of the city dwellers. - Peisistratus wounded himself and his mules and then appeared in the agora demanding a bodyguard to protect himself from his alleged enemies. - assembly voted Peisistratus a bodyguard, whereupon Peisistratus seized the Acropolis and with it the reins of government. - After about five years, the parties of the plain and the coast united against Peisistratus and drove him out, - but when Megacles, the leader of the coastal party, quarreled not only with the party of the plain but also with his own faction, he decided to ally with Peisistratus and agreed to reestablish him in Athens provided he married his daughter. - Peisistratus’ alliance with his father-in-law Megacles did not endure. - had intercourse with his wife ou kata nomon—“not according to the accepted norm.” - Megacles joined with Peisistratus’ enemies, and they drove him out a second time. - During his exile, which lasted from about 555 to 546 BC, Peisistratus gathered a force of mercenary soldiers - He then governed Athens for over ten years until he died of natural causes in 527. - Peisistratus gave his tyranny legitimacy by maintaining Solon’s system in force but manipulating the laws so that his friends and relatives were elected archons, while mercenaries held in check potential opponents, whose children he used as hostages. - Strengthening the economy was a major focus of Peisistratus’ program. - Offered lands and loans to the needy  - began a temple to Olympian Zeus so large that it was completed only seven centuries later by the Roman emperor Hadrian. - megacles - the archon Megacles and his supporters killed them (cylons supporters). - People believed that Megacles had committed sacrilege, and soon his family was exiled, including dead relatives whose bodies were exhumed and cast beyond the Attic frontier. - prominent family to which Megacles belonged. - alcmeonidae - Hippias - Peistratus’ son – ruled alone? Or co tyrant with brother - After assasination of hipparchus by the hands of harmodius and aristogeiton, the results were devastating for Athens: the paranoid autocracy of Hippias replaced the benign government of two aristocrats. - Hippias’ tyranny lasted another four years until 510, when he was driven into exile thanks to the efforts of the exiled Alcmaeonids. - The key to their success was good relations with Delphi. - the Alcmaeonids subsidized reconstruction of delphian temple, - In return, the priests made sure that whenever the Spartans went to Delphi for advice about future projects they always received the response: “First free Athens.” - hipparchus - In 514, Hipparchus, spurned by a young man named Harmodius, insulted Harmodius’ sister by forbidding her to carry a basket in the Panathenaic procession. Outraged at the suggestion that his sister was not a virgin, Harmodius and his lover Aristogiton plotted to assassinate the tyrants at the procession. When one of the conspirators was observed chatting with Hippias, the others panicked and immediately killed Hipparchus. - Harmodius and aristogeiton  - The Athenians understandably, however, chose to remember the heroism of Harmodius and Aristogiton rather than the Spartan intervention, as illustrated, for example, by drinking songs like the following: - See hipparchus - cleomenes - and in 510 King Cleomenes blockaded Hippias on the Acropolis. When Hippias’ children were captured, the tyrant capitulated and departed with his family to Sigeum - Spartan king who ended the reign of the tyrant hippias - renewed factional strife followed the exile of Hippias. - An aristocrat named Isagoras was elected archon in 508 BC - Supported Isagoras but failed in helping him set up an oligarchy - Athenians blockaded the Spartans on the Acropolis - forced the surrender of Cleomenes and Isagoras, and invited Cleisthenes and his followers back to Athens Study Sheet 5: Herodotus Assorted parts of Herodotus’ histories - Black figure - A popular form of pottery in archaic greece – 700-500 bc which allowed for the rendition of minute details - Enormously popular but eventually led to a decline in quality - Precise and rigid - Κορη - Form of archaic greek statue meaning young girl - kouros - Form of archaic greek statue meaning young male - The rigidity of the statues is taken from the egyptians who taught the techniques of making large free standing sculptures to greeks - Archilochus  - Of paros, early seventh century - Lyric poet - Writes about drinking bouts, sex life,comrades and enemies - Spartans forbade the recitation of archilochus’ poetry at sparta - Προξενος - Developed from the earlier system of xenia – guest friendship, stranger – - Highly honored by the foreign state he represented - A hotel of sorts for an assigned polis. - An even better way of demonstrating wealth than xenia - Takes care of people from x town they are the proxenos for - Cleisthenes – 570-508 bc - From the alcmaeonidae - Civil war between him and isagoras for eponymous archon - Cleisthenes wins by taking people into companionship - Promises reforms etc - Uses such people to expel isagoras from city - Hetairos – comrades - And after a brief scuffle with cleomenes king of sparta, clienstenes and cleomenes come to an agreement essentially giving cleisthenes carte blanche over all of athens - With this power he reforms the entire athenian constitution from that of solon - His reforms essentially neutered the power of the other rich families by gerrymandering away their power with the institution of geo-political reforms. - deme  - Basically villages - Solon constitution 140, cleisthenes constitution 139 - A part of a trityes - Στρατηγος - Under the reforms of cleisthenes, each tribe electing its officers including a general Could be reelected repeatedly Became the most prestigious executive body in athens Eventually wasn’t a limit of one strategos per tribe Could come from wherever - Hippocleides - Suitor for cleisthenes daughter in marriage - Did very well - From athens - Contemporary with cleisthenes’ father – (the cleisthenes that gave the athenians their tribes and democracy) and alcmeon - Got super drunk and asked the flute player to play a tune and he danced - Son of tisandrus you have dicked away your marriage - It does not matter to hippocleides - Eventually loses to megacles son of alcmeon - Red Figure - Developed around 530 bc with athenian black figure pottery having driven corinthian vases from export market - Reverse of the black figure pottery - More subtle and refined than the preciseness of black figure - Αγορα - “the gathering place,” a large open space at or near the center of the city. The agora became the marketplace and public space of the city and therefore of the whole polis. It was the place where male citizens congregated to do business, gossip, and make political deals. - Alcaeus  - Sappho’s fellow aristocrats, Alcaeus, also achieved lasting fame as a poet. Like the other symposiastic poets, he wrote of love and wine and the myths of old, but he was most famous for his political poems. – contemporary with sapho - Symposiastic poetry and also political works - Stadion – stade - Length of short sprint in olympic games – 210 yards - τριττυς - A sub divided part of the 3 main areas of athens – the city coast and plain - Each area was subdivided into ten of these composed of demes - Each tribe contained one trittys from each geographical area – i.e., city, plain, coast - Εκκλησια - The assembly - Voted on the biggest of matters → going to war etc… - All men over 30 - More trusted under cleisthenes than under solon - Aegina - island - Herodotus - the fifth-century Herodotus - Famous for his histories - Often called the father of history - provide us with much valuable information about the development of the early city-states, especially Athens and Sparta - why did Greeks and non-Greeks go to war - Herodotus is our primary source for the Persian wars from the Greek perspective, - Symposion - Drinking party where its attendees again competed for time through various games which displayed their arete and sophrosyne.  - Factional plotting like the hetaireiai - Theogenis - Mid 6th century - Greatest chunk of symposiastic poetry attributed to him - Theognis vilifies the base-born kakoi while singing the praises of the high-born agathoi. - contempt for nonnoble citizens—whom he deems innately incapable of achieving excellence— - the frustration of the minority elite as they watched their power and privilege being eroded while the non-elite were making political and economic gains - Isagoras - Rival of cleisthenes for eponymous archon in 508/7 bc. - Eventually sent losing the civil war with cleomenes back to sparta - Council of 500 - The boule’s chief functions were to prepare business for the ekklesia - to manage financial and foreign affairs. - Pre chew any matter for the ekklesia - Became 500 under cleisthenes – was originally 400 under solon - prytaneis - During a tribe’s period of service serving as the 50 for the council of 500, the members are called prytaneis - Lasted for a period of time akin to a month and each tribe did it so there were 10 prytaneis - Formed the permanent government of the city - First responders - Croesus - 5th generation of gyges’ family - The one destined to suffer a great tragedy - Lived from 595 – > 546 - 6th century bc  - Lydian king - Sardis (turkey) - Halicarnassus - Herodotus’ birth place Study Sheet 6: - Cyrus the Great - Ruled persia from 559-530 bc - During his long reign Cyrus extended Persia to include all Western Asia, but it was his conquest in 546 of the Lydian king Croesus that brought the Greeks of Asia Minor into the empire and - led ultimately to the confrontation between the Persians and the European Greeks – defined greek history - Wise and well respected - Darius I - (522–486 BC), the founder of the dynasty that ruled the empire until its conquest by Alexander the Great, seized power and reorganized the empire - King of persia - Marathon - Battle of marathon 490 bc - What modern historians call the Classical period of Greece begins in 490 with the victory of the Greeks over the Persians in the Battle of Marathon - - Aristagoras - - Ionian Revolt - - Mardonius - Son-in-law of Darius I  - In 492 BC an expedition led by his son-in-law Mardonius failed when the fleet was wrecked rounding the Chalcidic peninsula, although it did restore Persian prestige in northern Greece, conquering Thrace, Thasos, and Macedonia. - Less than a year later, in the spring of 479, Xerxes’ forces were led by Mardonius was totally destroyed at Plataea by the largest Greek army ever mobilized - Lade - Six years after it began the Ionian Revolt ended in a major naval defeat off the island of Lade near Miletus in 494 BC - Satrap - A provincial governor in the ancient persian empire - Themistocles - In this situation, a rising politician named Themistocles, who had just been elected archon, persuaded the Athenians to convert the three rocky harbors of Piraeus into a fortified naval and commercial base - Served greece well - In any event, it is probably no coincidence that the first man ostracized was related to former tyrant Hippias, and that all but one of the other men ostracized in the 480s—Themistocles’ great rival Aristides—were members of the Alcmaeonid family that had been accused of trying to betray Athens to the Persians in 490. Themistocles’ role in the first three ostracisms is unclear, but his dispute with Aristides over how best to face a renewed Persian threat was the central issue in the ostracism of 482. Darius, in fact, began preparations for a new invasion of Greece soon after the Persian defeat at Marathon, but revolts in Babylon and Egypt and Darius’ death in the fall of 486 delayed it for almost six years. Meanwhile, the Athenians had made a spectacular silver strike at Laurium in southeastern Attica that yielded over two tons in the first year. In the bitter debate over its use Aristides advocated sharing it among the citizens, while Themistocles argued for building two hundred triremes (light, fast, maneuverable warships with three banks of oars). They were allegedly to be used against Athens’ old enemy, Aegina, but were really for defense against the Persians. The ostracism of 482 decided the issue; Aristides left Athens, and the fleet that would save Greece was  built. It is difficult to imagine how history might have turned out had the vote in that ostracism been different. - Basically won the battle of salamis for the greeks circa 480 - Leonidas - Thus, the courage and self-sacrifice of King Leonidas and his troops, who obeyed the command of the Spartans to fight at Thermopylae in 480 BC against all odds in the war against the Persians, became legendary, although many other Greeks fought bravely at the same battle. - Movie 300 based on this - Medize - Μηδιζω – to side with the medes – to be loyal to the persians rather than the greeks - Xerxes - Son of darius I - Reigned from 486 to 465 - Invasion of greece in 480 - Hellespont - Xerxes tried to bridge the hellespont → eventually led to his own defeat - Thermopylae - Leonidas - 300 - Laurium - Silver mines and themistocles spending the money on new ships instead of giving it to everyone - Circa 486 silver struck - Ostracism - Every spring the Athenians had the option of voting to send one of their fellow citizens into exile for ten years. The process took its name from the ostraka—broken pieces of pottery—on which voters scratched the name of the man they wanted to banish. Ostracized stood accused of no crime and remained  citizens, but they had to live in exile for ten years simply because they had received a plurality of six thousand votes cast by their fellow citizens - 487 bc - Eretria - Darius’ primary goal was to punish Athens and Eretria for their role in the Ionian rebellion. In the summer of 490 his fleet arrived in Greece, commanded by his nephew Artaphernes and Datis, a Mede, who brought with them the aging former Athenian tyrant Hippias. Eretria quickly fell, its temples being burned in revenge for the sack of Sardis and its people exiled to central Asia - 490 bc - Plataea - In 479 there were eight thousand male citizens, five thousand of whom served at the battle of Plataea - And so, early one morning in late September of 490, the Athenians and their Plataean allies attacked, shouting, covering the mile or so dividing them from the Persians at double speed despite their heavy hoplite armor. Knowing they were outnumbered, they concentrated their forces, even though it meant leaving the center thin. The Persians, who were caught by surprise, broke under the attack of the determined hoplites fighting in defense of their freedom and fled in confusion to their ships. - Less than a year later, in the spring of 479, Xerxes’ forces were led by Mardonius was totally destroyed at Plataea by the largest Greek army ever mobilized. - Mycale - Almost at the same time the Greek fleet that had pursued the Persians eastward defeated their navy at the Battle of Mycale near Miletus, finally liberating the Ionians and ending the Persian threat to Greece forever - 479 spring - Artemisium - the Hellenic League decided to make a stand in central Greece, placing a land force at the pass of Thermopylae on the Malian Gulf while the fleet settled in at nearby Artemisium off northern Euboea  - while the oracle may partly explain King Leonidas’ tenacity in holding Thermopylae, hard calculation also called for a land operation, however unpromising, to buy time for Greece while the fleet off Artemisium could cripple the Persian navy. As luck would have it, a storm fortuitously intervened so that even before the indecisive fighting at Artemisium the Persians had lost many ships. - Trireme - light, fast, maneuverable warships with three banks of oars - —Term for the standard form of Greek warship (trieres) in the Classical period. Propelled by three banks of oars, and attaining speeds of nine knots, the trireme used its bronze ram to disable enemy ships. - Demartus