Ancient Greece Spring 2020

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FEBRUARY 13, 2020

The Archaic Period

Key Development #1: The Polis (City State)

The polis is generally said to have been created during the Archaic Period, but there is a lot of debate on which period it originated. The general consensus is that the polis was created around the 8th century BC. The polis is the method of political organization and the center of life in Greece. The first caveat is the undefined origin, and the city states are very diverse and is very dependent on time and space. Athens and Sparta are two examples of city states that evolve heavily. City state does not equal static. A city state is not just a city, it encompasses both urban and rural areas. For example, Athens was the city center for a broader city state known as Attica. Most city states revolve around an elevated area, a plateau or big hill, known as an Acropolis, typically at the heart of the urban area. These geographic features are central elements as to why the areas were settled in the first place. Poli were also self-governing and independent from each other. Greece was not a united nation at all during its Ancient times. The Greek poli also varied in population and geographic size. Greek city states also expanded as far as Anatolia, the Black Sea, the Italian peninsula, and into modern-day Spain. The residents of Greek city states also had citizenship in almost all cases, which was rare for the time. All Greek citizens theoretically had legal equality, even though there wasn't social equality. Citizenship differed substantially from place to place. Citizenship can be defined by birth, land ownership, wealth and social status, etc. In most poli, there was a definitive social structure: free male citizens, free female citizens (the main difference being males could participate in the military and in politics), free non-citizens, non-free slaves. There were several different kinds of slavery used in the Archaic period, including chattel slavery, where a slave is owned by an independent master. Most poli also centered around a central religious cult or one patron deity. Greek religious life is highly polytheistic. Each polis adopted a patron deity. Athens, for instance, adopted Athena as their patron goddess, and Argos adopted Hera. Geography was also very important to the development of the poli. Greece is unique in it's geography because there is no major river system at the heart of society, instead Greece is identified by its rocky, mountainous terrain that become borders between poli. Another geographic feature is that the sea is central to Greek life. No polis is further than 80 miles from the sea. The Greek city states are also known for their longevity as the key political structure.

Key Development #2: Diversity in Government

Governing institutions also varied between city states and time periods; it's never universal or uniform. One common type of government, and one of the most predominant, was aristocracy. Aristocracy=ruled by elite. Everything was orchestrated by wealthy, elite families throughout Ancient Greece. Wealth typically meant land ownership over money, and many wealthy used their land ownership to gain power. Most aristocrats were a part of the minority population as an elite. In an aristocracy, the only thing that matters is the family you were born into, not so much how good of a leader you were. There's an interconnectedness between the aristocracy form of government and the creation of a city state. Aristocrats not only had wealth, political power, and land, but they also claimed a fair amount of esteem and prestige. They called themselves the aristoi, or "best men", and they view themselves as natural leaders. Some aristoi band together and form an oligarchy, which is still rule by elite, but it's a select few aristocrats who combine their political power and use it to govern their city state. One example of this is the Bacchiads in Corinth. This family was made up of about 200 individuals and had an emphasis of intermarrying to maintain their elite status. They collectively ruled Corinth until 657 BC and dominated political life. Another common type of government was tyranny, largely an outgrowth of the aristocracy. 650-510 BC was known as the Age of Tyrants. The term "tyrant" typically has some pretty negative connotations and associations, but at this point in the Archaic Period, a tyrant effectively meant a king. Tyrannies were viewed as a pretty positive thing at this time among the Greek city states because of the ineptitude of the aristocracies and oligarchies. It's possible that the first Greek tyrant was Pheidon of Argos. The tyrant who overthrew the Bacchiads in Corinth was Cypselus and appears to have been quite popular because of it. It's not really until the time of the Athenian democracy that tyrants are viewed negatively.

Key Development #3: Art and Intellectual Development

This really began because of the re-discovery of literacy around 800 BC after the Dark Ages, considered a significant step back in art and intellectual development. Right before the Archaic Period, most Greeks were illiterate. The Greek alphabet was loosely based on the old Phoenician alphabet. Early Archaic writing was used for record keeping, maker's marks (like an advertisement or a modern "made in/by stamp", putting names on tombstones, religious tradition and practice, and inscribing laws. Inscribing laws became a huge part of Greek society. Before this, the laws were typically given orally. Around the 6th century BC was when writing became used more for personal correspondence.