AP World Unit II Classical Greece and Rome

1. AP World
Chapter 4: Greece and Rome
Greece: 1750 BCE -133 BCE (Ancient and
Classical)
Rome: 509 BCE – 476 CE (Classical)
The Classical Era is generally noted as
spanning from 1000 BCE – 500 CE

2. Geography Matters

3. The Minoan Civilization
 Isle of Crete
 King Minos
 Knossos Palace
 Trading w/Egypt
and Mesopotamia
 Poof! They’re
Gone.

4. Mycenaeans
 Spread all over Greece – named after
their largest city, Mycenae
 City-states with super thick fortresses
 Influenced by Egypt and Mesopotamia
 Linear B

5. The Trojan War
 The Political Side:
◦ Went down ~1250 BCE
◦ Mycenae v. Troy (Troy was in
Turkey)
◦ Troy controlled straits that
connected the Mediterranean
and Black seas
◦ Legend:
 Trojan Paris kidnaps Helen of
Mycenae, etc.
◦ Result?
 Greeks burn Troy to the ground
after 10 years of off and on fighting

6.  After the Trojan war, Mycenaean
Civilization crumbles
 Greece’s dark age
◦ People actually got dumber…okay not
quite
 Priorities changed
 Well, less skilled – they forgot how to write
 Epic Poems emerge
◦ Illiad and Odyssey (credited to you know
who) (750 BCE ish)
◦ Was it all a Myth? No! Heinrich
Schliemann

7. Homer

8. City-States
 Acropolis – the high city, that had a
marble temple for the gods and
goddesses
 Lower ground – walled main city
containing a
marketplace, theatre, public
buildings, and homes

9. Athens’ Acropolis

11. Warfare!
 Bronze out, Iron in
 Iron is cheaper, so
middle class can get
armed
 Iron
helmets, shields, and
swords
 Phalanx formation – lots
of practice

12. Sparta
 Spartan government had 2
kings + council of elders
who advised them
 Assembly of “approved”
citizens
 Citizens=male, native-born
Spartans who were 30+
 5 ephors – elected officials
who handled daily affairs
 Newborns examined
 Age 7: military training begins
◦ Move to military barracks
◦ Coarse diet, hard exercise, rigid
discipline
 Age 20: may marry, but must
remain in barracks until 30 and
eat there until 60
 Age 30: more special
training, but allowed to join the
Assembly

13. Women
 Should produce
healthy sons
 Expected to exercise
to strengthen
 Must obey fathers
 Could inherit property
 Often ran family
estates (b/c men were
off at war)
 Were educated

14.  Disliked trade and wealth
 No travel
 Didn’t bother with new ideas or the
arts
 Other Greek’s perceptions of the
Spartans:
◦ “Spartans are willing to die for their
city, because they have no reason to live”

15. Welcome to Athens

16. Developing a Democracy
 Athenians continually Limited Rights
demand better
government system  Male citizens only
 Will evolve into a
democracy  Citizenship
 Early beginnings restricted
include  Slaves restricted
 Council of 500
◦ All citizens eligible  BUT…Athenians
◦ Worked on laws had more say than
 Assembly
◦ Legislative body
anywhere else

17. Women
 Secluded existence
 Aristotle:
◦ Women are
imperfect beings
who lacked the
ability to reason as
well as men
 Poorer women

18. Education
(Raphael’s Renaissance Painting of the “School of Athens” – featured in the
Vatican)
 Girls – little to no school
 Boys – school if families had enough $
◦ Reading, writing, music, memorizing poetry, public speaking
◦ Military training
◦ Athens encouraged exploration of knowledge

19. Perception of Non-Greeks
 Greeks see non-Greeks as “barbaroi”
 Sense of prideful, defiant uniqueness
among the Greek people
 Phoenicians and Egyptians seen as
barbarians
◦ Despite the fact the Greeks borrowed
many inventions from them…

20. Persian War
 King Darius I – demands gifts of earth and
water from powerful Greek city-states
 Ionia and Athens
 “Master, remember Athens”
 Marathon and Themistocles
 Darius – Xerxes
 Thermopylae and K. Leonidas
 Salamis and Themosticles
 Athens emerges

21.  Athens and direct democracy
◦ Large number of citizens take direct part
in the day-to-day affairs of government
◦ Organizes Delian League
◦ Transfers treasury from Delos to Athens
 Uses other city-states’ $ to rebuild Athens

22. Pericles
 Aristocrat who ruled through wisdom
and negotiation
◦ Assembly (of 6,000+) met frequently
◦ All male citizens should take part in the
government
◦ Stipend given to men in public office
(enables poor men to hold public
positions)
◦ Jury – male citizens over 30, chosen to
serve for a year, receive stipend
 Urged expansion of empire to bolster
wealth and economy
 Funeral Oration – Athenian power
rests in the hands “not of a minority
but of the whole people”
 Hired architects to rebuild Acropolis
(Persians had destroyed it)

23. Peloponnesian War
 Delian League – Athens and democracy
 Peloponnesian League – Sparta and
oligarchy
 27 year battle
 Pericles – lets rural people retreat within
city walls – plague and death of 1/3
 Sparta allies with Persia to capture Athens
– 404 BCE
 End of Athenian Domination

24. Socrates
 Athenian stonemason and philosopher
◦ Did not record his thoughts
◦ Challenged others with his Socratic Method
 Patient examination is a way of seeking truth and knowledge
 Methods of questioning seemed threatening to traditions of
Athens
◦ Seen as a threat, “corrupting Athenian youth”,
◦ Trial at 70, death by hemlock
◦ Men surpass women in mental and physical tasks, but
some talented women should be educated to serve the
state

25. Plato
 student of Socrates
◦ Socrates death makes
Plato distrust
democracy, flees city for
10 years
◦ Emphasized importance
of reason
◦ The Republic – describes
an ideal state
 Gvt should regulate every
aspect of its citizens’ lives
to provide for their best
interests
 Society in three classes
 Workers to produce
necessities of life
 Soldiers to defend the
state
 Philosophers to rule
 The wisest of them all
“Philosopher King” -
ultimate authority
◦ Men surpass women in
mental and physical
tasks, but some talented
women should be
educated to serve the

26.  Plato’s most famous student
Aristotle  Developed his own ideas about
government
 Suspicious of democracy – could
lead to mob rule
 Favored rule by
single, strong, virtuous leader
 People out to live with the
“golden mean”
◦ Balance between extremes
 Created the Lyceum
◦ Study of all branches of
knowledge
 Politics, ethics, logic, biology, literat
ure, and more
 The first European universities
based courses mainly on Aristotle

27. Art and Architecture
 Greek works reflect balance, order, and beauty
 Architecture
◦ Perfect balance and harmony
◦ Parthenon – temple dedicated to Athena
 Sculpture and Painting
◦ Transition from rigid poses to natural poses in their most peaceful, graceful
form

28. Historians
 Herodotus
◦ History should be researched and
recorded
◦ Persian War
 Thucydides
◦ History should be written with as little bias
as possible
◦ Peloponnesian War from Athenian
perspective

29. Macedonia
 Backward, half-civilized region in the N
 People of Greek origin
 Philip II of Macedonia
◦ Throne in 359 BCE
◦ Dreamed of conquering prosperous city-states to the south
◦ Built superb army
◦ Threats, bribery, and diplomacy – formed alliances with
many Grk city-states
◦ B. of Chaeronea in 338 – defeats Athens and Thebes
◦ Greece is under Philip’s control
◦ Intends to take over Persia
◦ Assassinated at his daughter’s wedding

30. Alexander the Great
 Tutored by Aristotle
 Took over at 20 years old
 Already experienced and
continues his father’s dream
 Conquers Asia
Minor, Palestine, Babylon, and
Egypt
 Crossed Hindu Kush into N. India
 Soldiers refuse to continue
 Returns to Babylon to continue
campaign
 Dies of a sudden fever
 Asks commanders to give the
empire “to the strongest”
◦ Macedonia and Greece
◦ Egypt
◦ Persia
◦ For 300 years, their descendants
competed for power over the lands
Alex had conquered

31. Legacy
 Spread Hellenistic Culture far and wide
 Alexandria, Alexandria, and hmm, Alexandria!!
◦ Alexandria, Egypt – sea lanes between Europe and Asia
◦ Greek architect constructed
◦ Center of learning
◦ Great Museum
◦ Library
 Blending of eastern and western cultures
◦ Persian wife and clothing
 Women
◦ Women no longer restricted to their homes
◦ Learned to read and write
 New Schools
◦ Stoicism – high moral standards, protecting the rights of fellow humans
◦ All people, including women and slaves, were morally equal because all
had the power of reason

32. Don’t forget…
 Pythagoras
 Euclid – The Elements
 Aristarchus (Earth rotates on its axis
and orbits the sun)
 Archimedes (lever and the world)
 Hippocrates

33. Rome!
 Geography
 Ancestors of Rome – “Latins” – arrived
around 800 BCE
 People in Italy – Etruscans (Greek
city-state)
◦ Adapt many things from the Etruscans
including their alphabet, arches, and
religion

34. Roman Republic
 Republic – “thing of the people” –
keeps any one person from having too
much power
 Patricians – landholding upper class
 Plebeians –
farmers, merchants, artisans, and
traders
 Consuls
 Senate
 Tribunes

35. Roman Society
 Family was the basic unit
 “Pater familias” - Male head of the
household had absolute power (was
an actual Roman law)
 Wife was subject to his authority and
was expected to be
loving, dutiful, dignified, and strong

36. Women
 Roman women had a greater role than Greek women
 Ran businesses (small shops to major shipyards)
 Most worked at home, raised families, spinning, and
weaving
 Gained freedom over centuries – patrician women
went to public baths, dined out, attended theatre, and
entertainment with husbands

37. Education
 Boys and girls were educated
 Most Romans learned to write
◦ Archaeologists even found graffiti on Roman walls
 Wealthy Romans often hired Greek tutors to
supervise and educate their kids
◦ Memorize major events and developments in Roman
history
 Rhetoric important (again the public speaking
thing)

38. Expansion in Italy
 Romans conquered the Etruscans to the
north and Grk city-states to the south
 By ~270 BCE Romans controlled Italian
peninsula
 How?
◦ Skillful diplomacy + loyal, well-trained army
◦ Legion – military unit of about 5,000 men
◦ All Roman citizens-soldiers who fought without pay
and supplied their own weapons
◦ System of rewards and punishments

39. Conquered Lands
 Treated defeated enemies
with justice
 Those conquered had to
acknowledge Roman
leadership, pay taxes, and
supply soldiers for Roman
army
◦ Sounds tough, but allowed to
keep their own
customs, money, and local
government
 Partial citizenship to
some, full citizenship to very
few
**Generous policies kept
conquered lands loyal**

40.  Soldiers were posted in each
conquered area
 Network of military roads to link
territories
 Latin spreads through
trade, travel, etc.
 Italy slowly unites under Roman rule

41. WARS WITH
CARTHAGE
Recap – Rome’s taken the Italian peninsula
As Rome spreads they brush elbows with the Phoenician city of Carthage
Carthage ruled trading in N. Africa and W. Mediterranean

42. PUNIC WARS
•264 BCE – 146 BCE
•Punic Wars b/c “Punic” is Latin for
Phoenician
•First Punic War
• Rome defeats Carthage and wins
Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia
•Second Punic War –
• Carthage seeks revenge
• Hannibal is very sneaky
• 218 BCE, Pyrenees, French
Alps, and elephants
• Results?
• Hannibal loses half his army, all but one
elephant
• Nevertheless, SURPRISE!
• 15 years of Hannibal and
Carthaginian foolery
• But, Rome isn’t captured
• And then, Rome gets sneaky too

43.  Hannibal is tromping around Rome
 SO, Scipio Africanas and the Romans go
tromp around N. Africa and Carthaginian
territory
 Hannibal flees Italy and goes home to
defend

44. So the Punic Wars are
over, Right?
 Not quite.
 Romans Hold a
Grudge
 Senator Cato
“Carthage Must Be
Destroyed”
 Third Punic War –
◦ Rome completely
destroys Carthage
 Survivors are killed or
enslaved
 Salt is plowed into the
earth
 Romans now in
charge of Western
Mediterranean

45. Roman Imperialism
 Mare Nostrum “Our Sea”
 Romans continue imperializing – further
establishing control over foreign lands and
peoples
 Rome expanded into the eastern
Mediterranean as well
 Romans fight to take over some of Alex the
Great’s old holdings
◦ Macedonia
◦ Greece
◦ Asia Minor (Turkey)
◦ Egypt allies with Rome

46. Republic to Empire
 Julius Caesar
◦ Crosses the Rubicon
◦ Becomes first dictator of Rome
◦ Killed 44 BCE
 Octavian – 1st official emperor
 33 CE – Crucifixion of Jesus
 70 CE – Jewish temple
destroyed, Jewish Diaspora
begins
 Pax Romana “Roman Peace”
◦ 96-180 CE (The 5 good emperors)
http://www.coins-auctioned.com/themes/coins/images/roman-empire.jpg
◦ Time of tremendous
intellectual, technological, and
architectural developments
 Extensive Empire
◦ N
Africa, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, Fra
nce, all the way up to Hadrian’s
Wall (border for Scotland)

47. Once the Pax Romana
ends…
 The next 100 yrs are full of turmoil and
power struggles
 High taxes placed heavy burdens on
the people
 Farmland was overused and lost its
productivity

48. Diocletian
 Divided empire into 2
to make it easier to
govern
 Wanted to increase
emperor’s prestige
(purple
robes, gold, jewels, “kn
eel and kiss”, etc.)
 Fixed prices to slow
inflation

49. Constantine
 Granted toleration to
Christianity
◦ Ensured Christianity’s
success
 Built a new capital –
Constantinople on the
Bosporus Strait (Black
and Med. Sea)
 Rome in the West was
declining, but
Constantinople in the
East was flourishing

50. Social Causes
•Erosion of traditional
values
•Self-serving upper class
•Bread and Circuses
Military Causes Economic Causes
The Decline and
•Germanic Invasions •Heavy Taxes
•Weakened Roman Legions Fall of Rome •Population Decline
Political Causes
•Oppressive Government
•Corrupt Officials
•Divided Empire