The Greek Roots of Democracy

Chapter #1 – Section #1

Ancient Greece• The Classical Age of Greece began around

500B.C., a period of great artistic and literary development.

• Greece’s geography greatly influenced its history.• The region’s mountainous terrain restricted

overland travel, and it limited farming.• The Greeks turned to the sea, becoming fishers,

sailors, and traders.• Many Greeks also became thinkers, writers and

artists which Western civilization would draw heavily on the ideas produced during this era.

The Rise of Greek City-StatesThe geography of Greece influenced how its centers of power

developed.The Greeks, isolated in mountain valleys or on islands, built small

independent city states.A city-state is a political unit made up of a city and the

surrounding lands,As their world expanded, the Greeks evolved a unique version of

the city-state, which they called the polis.A typical city was built on two levels:

1. On a hilltop stood the acropolis, or high city, with its great marble temples dedicated to different gods and goddesses.

2. On flatter ground below lay the walled main city with its marketplace, theater, public buildings and homes.

The population of each city-state was fairly small, which helped citizens share a sense of responsibility.

Greek Acropolis

Changes in WarfareChanges in military technology increased the power of

the middle class.By about 650B.C., iron weapons replaced bronze ones.

Because iron was cheaper, ordinary citizens could

afford iron helmets, shields and swords.A new method of fighting emerged called the,

phalanx, in which a massive formation of heavy armed foot soldiers, in which each soldier protected another soldier to his left using their shield.

This formation required hours of practice and intense training that created a sense of pride among citizen-soldiers.

Spartan Phalanx

Greek City-StatesSparta Athens

1.

2.

3.

1.

2.

3.

300 movie clip

Rulers of GreeceRulers Ideas

Solon 1. 2. 3.

Pisistratus 1.2.3.

Cleisthenes 1.2.3

Pericles 1.2.3.4.

Philosophers of GreecePhilosophers Ideas

Socrates 1.2.3.

Plato 1.2.3.4.5.

Aristotle 1.2.3.4.5.

Alexander and the Hellenistic AgeFollowing the death of Plato, Aristotle moved out of

Athens.In 345 B.C. he traveled to the place of his birth, the

kingdom Macedonia.There he began tutoring Alexander, the 13 year-old son

of King Phillip II of Macedonia.King Phillip II loved Greek culture and dreamed of

conquering the prosperous Greek city-states to the south.The Greek city-states of Athens and Thebes joined

forces, but were defeated by King Phillip II and Macedonia.

Phillip then brought all of Greece under his control.King Phillip’s next goal was to conquer the Persian

Empire, but he was assassinated.

Conquest of PersiaAt age 20 Alexander took the throne after his father’s murder.He was an experienced soldier, who shared his father’s

ambition of conquering Persia.In 334 B.C. he organized an army of Greek and Macedonian

soldiers and set out across the straight separating Europe from Asia Minor.

He moved rapidly from victory to victory, using brilliant tactics to overcome the Persian forces.

Alexander’s army marched through Asia Minor into Palestine and south into Egypt.

Turning back toward the east, he took Babylon and then seized the other Persian capitals.

By 327 B.C., he had conquered an empire that stretched more than 2,000 miles from the Mediterranean Sea across the Middle East to Central Asia and India, thus becoming Alexander the Great!

Macedonia

The Legacy of AlexanderFour years after the conquest

of Persia, Alexander the Great died from a sudden fever one month short of age 33.

Three generals divided up his empire.

For the next three hundred years, their descendants competed for power over the lands that Alexander had conquered.

Alexander’s LegacyAlexander had unleashed changes that would

ripple across the Mediterranean world and the Middle East for centuries.

Alexander had founded many new cities (Alexandria), as Greek soldiers, traders, and artisans settled these new cities.

Local people absorbed Greek ideas, and in turn, the Greek settlers adopted local customs.

Gradually, a blending of eastern and western cultures occurred, combining Greek, Persian, Egyptian, and Indian influences called the Hellenistic civilization.

Hellenistic WorldIn the Hellenistic world, only a few democratic

city-states survived.

For the most part, powerful individuals or groups ruled the cities, distant governors managed them, and a king held ultimate control.

In this changing political world, earlier Greek codes no longer seemed relevant.

The Rise of a New PhilosophyThese uncertain times contributed to the rise of

new schools of philosophy.The most influential philosophy was Stoicism,

founded by the Athenian, Zeno.Zeno urged people to avoid desires and

disappointment by calmly accepting whatever life brought.

Stoics preached high moral standards, such as the belief in the dignity and equality of all.

Stoics also preached that all people, including women and slaves, though unequal in society, were morally equal because all had the power of reason.

Witness History VideoAlexander the Great