7/31/2019 ASE_CH2_deLeon

1/2

NAME: Ciara de Leon

UF #: 8515-5051

A Splendid Exchange: Chapter 2, The Straits of Trade

1. Provide two reasons why the Athenians had to use the sea for trade.

Athenians were driven to have an empire that relied directly on sea commerce is because

Athens could not sustain one of the most basic commodities: grain. Greece had limited agricultural

opportunities because of its poor soil, complex topology, and low precipitation rate. The severefamine that occurred in this time worsened almost all of the soil in the city-states. Greece lacked

the rich alluvial valleys and only had a thin, limestone soil, which was not suitable to grow grain.

Athenians also used sea trade to allow an individual farmer to earn a sufficient income to afford the

resources and time to participate in assemble in the hoplite formation (the local military unit).

2. Briefly describe the pattern of trade between Athens and areas near the Black Sea.

The trade between Athens and areas near the Black Sea was very perilous. Greece began to

acquire grain in Pontus and Sicily. Athens and its Aegean island allies sent ships to Pontus formore grain supplies, while Sparta, Corinth, and Megara sailed west to Sicily. Both routes were

very vulnerable to great dangers. Piraeus, Athens port city was where the ships commuted to and

from waterways of the islands. This formed the outlet of the Saronic Gulf. The Athenians routerequired the colonists to sail through narrow passageways between the Aegean Sea and the Black

Sea. Athens supply route for grain was closed most of the year because of rough seas and cloud

cover. Their situation was worsened due to Atticas infertile valleys, which then cause the city-

state to need even more foreign grain. As competition for scarce grain supplies increased, tworival groups emerged : one group led by Athens and the other led by Sparta.

3. The Athenians desire to control the Hellspont and Bosphorus is similar to current U.S. policies

in what region of the world?

Athenians desire to control the Hellspont and Bosphorous is similar to the U.S. policy in

Iraq. U.S. wants to control oil as the Athenians wanted to control grain. Iraq contains the worlds

second largest oil reserves. According to oil industry experts, the extraction of Iraqs oil will beapproximately 220 billion barrels of oil. After the Sadam era, countries like France, Russia, and

China received major contracts for the oil. Negotiatiors came up with the Production Sharing

Agreements will. The Parliament must pass a new oil sector law which lets foreign companieshave a major role in Iraq. The US threatened to deny funding and financial and military support if

the law does not pass. Since the US invaded Iraq, US increased extraction of Iraqs oil reserves due

to the increase demand for oil.

7/31/2019 ASE_CH2_deLeon

2/2

4. Review the Wikipedia entry for Thucydides. What is his main accomplishment? Is there any

evidence that he may have been an early economist?

Thucydides is known for hisHistory of the Peloponnesian War. He wrote this in response

to the 27-year war between the Sparta and Athens. He took part in the war as a general and wasexiled and blamed for the capturing Amphipolis. Thucydides wrote theHistory of the

Peloponnesian Warwhile in exile.

When writing his book, he laid out the facts as they were and not based upon subjectivism.He placed high value in eyewitness testimony and first hand experience in the war. He wrote as if

he was recording an even, removing any frivolous information. His thinking method is like the

positive analysis found in economists. Positive Analysis relies on the what is and not on the

what should be. For example, evidence of his economist view point is when he writes, Thoughmany lay unburied, birds and beasts would not touch them, or died after tasting them [...]. The

bodies of dying men lay one upon another, and half-dead creatures reeled about the streets and

gathered round all the fountains in their longing for water. (Wikipedia,Thucydides. Retrieved

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thucydides) It is evident that Thucydides does not input hisown personal sentiments about the bodies of dying men. He simply states the situation as it is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thucydideshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thucydideshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thucydides