Greek Civilisation

1. UNIT 3.
ANCIENT GREECE
https://youtu.be/cyvNgDMZEdw

2. BEFORE STARTING…
 In this unit, we will focus in one of the Classic
Civilisation: Greek Civilisation.
 You have to take into account that the History of
Ancient Greek is divided into three important
periods of time:
 The Archaic period (800-500 BC)
 The Classical period (500-336 BC)
 The Hellenistic period (336-30 BC)
 However, Ancient Greek civilisation was
preceded by two important cultures, also called
civilisations:
 Minoan (cultura Minoica): 2.500-1300 BC
 Mycenaean (cultura Micénica): 1600-1200 BC

3. GREEK CIVILISATION: ORIGINS
 Ancient Greek
civilisation began in
the the
Mediterranean, betwee
n the Ionian Sea and the
Aegean Sea.
 The Ancient Greeks
referred to this area
as Hellas (Hélade).

4. HELLAS
 The terrain of Hellas was mountainous and
formed of narrow valleys surrounded by steep
mountains.
 This terrain influenced the way this civilisation
developed in a number of ways:
 It was difficult to travel from one settlement to
another. It was easier to travel by sea. The Ancient
Greeks were very good sailors.
 The terrain was not very suitable for agriculture. This
meant that people had to trade more.
 The terrain did not favour the development of large
kingdoms. This meant that small city-states, known
as poleis, formed.

5. ORIGINES OF GREEK CIVILISATION:
EARLY GREEK CIVILISATIONS
 Ancient Greek
civilisation was
preceded by two other
civilisations:
 Minoan civilisation:
Crete
 Mycenaean civilisation:
Peloponnese peninsula.

6. MINOAN CIVILIZATION (2500-1300 BC) MYCENAEAN CIVILISATION (1600-1200 BC)
 Because of its location
on trade routes between Africa, Asia
and Europe, craftwork developed.
This economic development led to
the emergence of the Minoan
civilisation.
 We have evidence of the Minoan
civilisation from about 2600 BC. The
ruins of its cities suggest that it had a
high standard of living. In cities
such as Knossos (the capital of
Minoan civilisation), the palace was
the centre of power.
 Around 1450 BC, the Minoan culture
had been destroyed.
 The Mycenaean civilisation emerg
ed on the Peloponnese peninsula
1700 and 1500 BC. This civilisation
was divided
into small kingdoms ruled by kings.
 Mycenaean palaces were royal
residences. They were protected by
massive walls. The most important
palace was in Mycenae.
 The Mycenaean civilisation
experienced a crisis between the
years 1200 and 1150 BC which
marked its decline. Following its
decline, Greece entered a Dark Age
(1200-800 BC)

7. PERIODS OF GREEK CIVILISATION
1. Archaic period
2. Classical period
3. Hellenistic period

8. 1. ARCHAIC PERIOD (800-500 BC)
 After the fall of Mycenae, Greece entered a Dark Age
(1200-800 BC): This period was characterized by
economic decline and migration to Ionia, on the coast
of Anatolia.
 Ionia was extremely important because it was where
the first Greek polis (or city-state). It became the
model for political organisation in Greece.
 A polis was made up of two main areas:
 A dependent territory located outside the city walls, which
was used for farming.
 An urban area, which was usually protected by defensive
walls. The acropolis was an elevated port of the urban
area where the most important buildings were located
(TEMPLES). One of the most well-known acropolis is the Acropolis
of Athens, where the Parthenon is located

9. ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS

10. THE STRUCTURE OF A POLIS

11. TERRITORIAL EXPANSION: COLONISATION.
 One of the most important phenomena of the
Archaic period was colonisation: a process by
which Greek settlements were
established throughout the Mediterranean.
As a result of
colonisation:
Trade was
stimulated.
Colonies were set up
by colonisers from
Greek city-states.
The colonisers helped
spread Greek culture:
Hellenisation.

12. 2. THE CLASSICAL PERIOD (500-336 BC)
 Greece consisted of many different poleis,
the most important being Athens and
Sparta. Athens was democracy and Sparta
was oligarchy.
 In the Classical Age, Greece took part in
several wars: Persian Wars against the
Persians, and Peloponnesian Wars where
Sparta won and imposed and oligarchy on
Athens.

14. GRECO-PERSIAN WARS
 The Persian Empire, tried to gain control of Greece,
starting in the 5th century BC.
 A coalition of Greek cities fought the Persian forces in a
conflict known as the Greco-Persian Wars, which took
place between 490 and 480–479 BC.
 At the battles of Marathon and Salamis, the Greek
armies defeated the powerful Persian forces.
 Greece’s victory over the Persians liberated city-states
which had been conquered, reinforced common Greek
values in all city-states and strengthened the leadership
of the city-states of Athens and Sparta.
 After serving as leaders in the Greco-Persian Wars,
Athens and Sparta became rivals, forming leagues of
cities around them. These leagues were alliances
created for political and military purposes.

15. ATHENS
 After the Greco-Persian Wars, Athens achieved a
dominant position in Ancient Greece
through hegemony.
 THE ACROPOLIS OF ATHENS

16. DEMOCRACY
 Democracy. The basis of democracy was the
participation of citizens in government.
 Athenian democracy was based on:
 Obedience of the law.
 Citizenship: Being a citizen meant having political rights
and obligations, as well as taking part in government.
Athenian citizens participated directly in government
through institutions, such as the main assembly
(Ecclesia) and the Boule, a council made up of 500
citizens.
 Only a minority of Athenians were citizens (free
men who were all born in Athens). Women, foreigners
and slaves were excluded from citizenship. Because
of this, Athenian democracy is considered a limited

17. SPARTA
 Sparta had an aristocratic government known
as a diarchy, because it was led by two kings.
Spartan kings came from the aristocracy, which
controlled power through the Council of
Elders, or Gerousia.
The Peloponnesian War
 Between 431 and 404 BC, Athens and Sparta,
fought in the Peloponnesian War. Sparta won.
 This war weakened all Greek cities and led to
social and economic decline. Despite its victory,
not long afterwards, Sparta was forced to give
way to the leadership of Thebes, and later, to
kingdoms such as Macedonia.

18. 3. HELLENISTIC PERIOD
 In 337 BC Philip II established the League of
Corinth. It united all of the cities of Greece,
except for Sparta, under Macedonian control.
When Philip ii died in 336 BC, his
son Alexander the Great became king and
consolidated Macedonian control over
Greece.

19. THE EMPIRE OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT
 He was a cultured man, educated by the most important
intellectual of the period: philosopher Aristotle.
 He was very skilled in politics and war. Over a period of
13 years, he made many conquests, forming
an empire that united East and West.

20. THE HELLENISTIC KINGDOMS
 The premature death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC at
the age of 33, before he had named a successor,
caused his empire to break up into a number of kingdoms
known as the Hellenistic kingdoms.
 The most important of these kingdoms were Macedonia,
Pergamon, Egypt and the Seleucid Empire.