Ohne Titel

Ancient Greece Sec 1

• Geography
• ·
• Geography helped shape early Greek civilizations.
• ·
• Greece is a peninsula in southern Europe
• ·
• Surrounded by three bodies of water:
• o
• Mediterranean Sea
• o
• Ionian Sea
• o
• Aegean Sea
• ·
• Contains rugged mountains and rocky coastlines
• which make farming and travel difficult.
• ·
• People settled in flat areas along the coast and
• in river valleys for farmland.
• ·
• Because travel was difficult, comminutes were
• isolated from each other.
• ·
• Early Greeks used the sea as a source for food
• and a way of trading with other communities.
• ·
• They became skilled shipbuilders and sailors.

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• Oligarch
• Tyranny
• Democracy
• “Rule by
• few!”
• ·
• A government in which only a few people have
• power—aristocrats.
• ·
• Aristocrats are rich landowners.
• ·
• Early Athens was governed by a small group of
• powerful aristocrats.
• ·
• Aristocrats were the richest men in town, ran
• the city’s economy, and served as generals & judges.
• “Rule by
• tyrant!”
• ·
• Athenians were not pleased with the
• aristocrats so Peisistratus overthrew the oligarchy in 546 BC.
• ·
• Athens became a tyranny.
• ·
• Tyranny means “rule by a tyrant”—a strong
• leader who has power.
• ·
• Today the word tyrant means a ruler who is
• harsh, but the word had a different meaning in Ancient Greece.
• ·
• Tyrants were able to stay in power because of
• the support of the people & the strong armies.
• ·
• Peisistratus brought peace & prosperity to
• the city.
• ·
• He increased the strength of the navy.
• ·
• He made Athens beautiful by creating the
• Parthenon and the temple of Athena.
• ·
• After Peisteatus died, his son took over, but
• many aristocrats who upset because their power was gone—some of these angry
• aristocrats convinced a rival city-state to attack Athens.
• “Rule by
• the people!”
• ·
• The people of Athens tried many different
• forms of government before creating democracy.
• ·
• By 500 BC Athens became a democracy when Cleisthenes
• gained power & didn’t want aristocrats ruling—with the help of the people
• he overthrew the aristocrats
• ·
• Democracy means rule by the people.
• ·
• This government is based on the votes of its
• free citizens.
• ·
• Cleisthenes is considered the “father of democracy”.
• Democracy under
• Cleisthenes:
• ·
• Citizen had the right to participate in
• assembly and speak their opinions.
• ·
• Only free male citizens were members of the
• assembly with the right to vote—women, slaves, & foreigners could not
• participate.
• ·
• For major decisions, 6,000 people were needed
• to vote & it was difficult to get that many people together.
• ·
• Major votes required everyone—slaves would be
• sent to gather the people in the market with a red painted rope—if you had
• red on you, you had to vote or pay a large fine.
• ·
• Officials helped decide which laws the
• assembly should discuss & they helped the government run more smoothly.
• ·
• Citizens gained powers such as serving on
• juries (usually 500 people)
• Pericles:
• ·
• Pericles encouraged involvement in government.
• ·
• He began to pay people who served in public
• offices or on juries.
• ·
• He encouraged democracy to spread to other
• parts of Greece.
• ·
• 330s BC Athens was conquered by
• Macedonians—ruled by a king (monarchy) who held all the power ruled like a
• dictator.
• ·
• Democracy in Athens came to an end.
• Direct Democracy:
• ·
• All citizens participate & their decisions
• directly affect the outcome of the vote.
• ·
• Each person’s vote counted and the majority
• ruled.
• Representative
• Democracy:
• ·
• Also known as a republic
• ·
• Citizens elect officials to represent them in
• the government.
• ·
• Officials meet to create laws & enforce
• them.