The Persian Wars and The Golden Age of Athens

The Golden Age of Athens
For centuries the Greek city-states fought over land and trade. Then, beginning early in the fifth century B.C., a common enemy brought the Greek people together.

The Golden Age of Athens

The Persian Wars
Beginning about 540 B.C., armies from Persia conquered Babylon, Assyria, Egypt, and other lands around the Mediterranean. They also captured the Greek cities in Asia Minor. Soon Persian armies crossed the narrow Aegean Sea separating Europe from Asia and invaded the northern Balkans. About 500 B.C. the Greeks of Asia Minor rebelled against the Persians. Although the Athenians sent help, the Greeks in Asia Minor could not defeat the Persians.

The Persian Wars

In 490 B.C. the Persian king, Darius I, turned his soldiers toward Athens because Athens had helped the colonies fight the Persians. The Athenians met the Persians on the plain of Marathon, not far from Athens. Although the Persians had more soldiers, the Athenians managed to defeat them in just one day of fighting. Later, people told a story of a messenger running all the way to Athens from Marathon to report the amazing victory. Athletes in today's Olympic Games re-create this action in the long-distance running event called the marathon.

Darius I died in 486 B.C. After his death, his son Xerxes (ZERK»seez) took control of the Persian kingdom. Xerxes never forgot his father's defeat at the hands of the Greeks. In 480 B.C. he sent soldiers in 800 ships to attack Greece. This time the Persians met Greek forces made up of armies and navies from many city-states, including Athens and Sparta. The Persians still had more soldiers and sailors than the Greeks. Yet in a sea battle near the island of Salamis (SAL»uh»muhs), the Greeks defeated the Persians. The Persians were forced to return home. Greek civilization was able to continue undisturbed.

The Golden Age of Athens

After the Persian Wars, the Greek city- states feared future attacks. They banded together to form leagues, or groups of allies, for protection. Sparta led city-states in the Peloponnesian League. Athens led the city-states of Asia Minor and the Aegean islands in the Delian League.

What caused the Greek city- states to band together?

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Ancient Greece Ancient Legends

Ancient Legends
Four centuries after the Mycenaean civilization lost its strength, the poet Homer created long story-poems, or epics, that kept its memory alive. His poems were based on old stories that had been retold through the centuries.

Homer built on these stories to give a powerful picture of a society in which honor and courage were everything.

Mycenaean civilization

Today, people around the world read Homer's works to find out more about the early Greeks. The Iliad is a story about people's actions during a great war. Homer's next epic, the Odyssey, follows the hero Odysseus (oh»DIH»see»uhs) as he returns from that war. During his ten-year journey home, Odysseus has many strange adventures, among them a fight with a one-eyed giant. At the same time, his wife, Penelope (puh»NEH»luh»pee), deals with problems caused by his absence.

Tradition says the war that Homer described in the Iliad was fought between the Mycenaeans and the Trojans. The Trojans lived in the city of Troy, in what is now north-western Turkey. The war has become known as the Trojan War.

According to legend the war began when a Trojan prince named Paris kidnapped Helen, the wife of a Mycenaean king. The king's brother, Agamemnon, took soldiers to Troy to get Helen back.

The conflict continued with no end in sight. Then the Mycenaeans came up with a plan to trick the Trojans. The legend tells how they built a huge, hollow wooden horse and dragged it to the gates of Troy during the night. The curious Trojans pulled the large horse into the city the next morning. Mycenaean soldiers hiding inside the hollow horse crawled out late at night. They opened the city gates to other Mycenaean soldiers waiting outside. By the following morning, the Mycenaeans had rescued Helen and set fire to the city of Troy.

The legend of the Trojan War, Homer's epics, and other stories left a lasting record of the early people of Greece. From this beginning, the Greek civilization continued to grow and change.

How did Homer keep alive the memory of Mycenae?

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Ancient Greece Cities and Sparta

Sparta
Sparta was located in the southern Peloponnesus. In this city-state soldiers marching and young boys and girls exercising were common sights. Spartan citizens led a simple life filled with physical activity.

Sparta Map

The Spartans were descendants of Dorian settlers. They conquered the earlier people of the area and made them helots slaves owned by the state, not by private citizens.
Spartan leaders used military strength to control their city-state. Historians believe that Sparta may have had ten times as many slaves as citizens. Fear that the slaves would rebel led the Spartans to protect themselves with a military way of life.

Spartan children went through long physical-training programs. Boys had to leave their families at age 7 to attend training camps. Girls stayed at home but received training in gymnastics and running. Boys continued training until age 18 and served in the Spartan army until age 30.

The army camps taught Spartans to obey their leaders without question. Spartans believed that they must never give up a battle, even when wounded. The Spartans believed that there was no greater honor than to die defending their city-state.

 The women of Sparta had fewer rights than men but more rights than women in other Greek city-states. Spartan women managed the household and often handled business matters. However, the main duty of women, according to Spartan leaders, was to raise strong children.

Sparta

 All Spartans followed a simple way of life. By law everyone ate "in common, of the same bread and same meat." Spartan leaders feared that new ideas would bring unwanted changes to their society. For this reason, citizens were rarely allowed to travel outside Sparta and were discouraged from trading with outsiders. This meant that the Spartans could use only their own resources. Because they kept to themselves, their way of life changed little over time.Sparta had two kings, each from a different royal family. Except in times of war, the kings had little authority. Both kings served as part of a 30-member senate. The other members of the senate all over the age of 60 were elected by an assembly of citizens. All male Spartans were allowed to be part of the assembly. The assembly elected five wealthy landowners called ephors (EH«ferz) to handle daily governing.

Only the senate or the ephors could suggest new laws in Sparta. The assembly of citizens voted for or against new laws, but their votes could be ignored by the ephors
and the senate. This meant that the ephors and the senators held most of the power in Sparta. Any small ruling group such as this is called an oligarchy.

Sparta

 Although strict, Spartan government was among the most admired governments in all of Greece. Many Greeks thought that the Spartan government's tight control over its citizens made it a strong city-state.

Why did Spartans believe they needed a strong army?

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City-States and Ancient Greek Culture

City-States and Greek Culture
Around 800 B.C. the people of Greece started building settlements once again. The settlements began as small farming villages, but some grew to become cities. Often, a city joined with small towns, villages, and nearby farms to form a kind of large community called a polis, or city-state. Sparta, Athens, Argos, and Aegina were all ancient Greek city-states.

 

Ancient Greek Culture

Rise of City-States

To protect themselves from invaders, most Greek communities built a fort on top of a large hill. Farmers from the countryside moved to this protected area for safety during enemy attacks. Later this secure place, called an acropolis (uh»KRAH»puh»luhs), also became a center of religion in many city-states.

Outside the acropolis stood houses, temples, and an open-air market and gathering place called an agora (A»guh«ruh). People met in the agora to trade and to discuss the news of the day.

At first a king or tyrant ruled each city-state. In ancient Greece a tyrant was someone who took control of a government by force or other means and ruled alone. Today the word tyrant refers to a cruel ruler.

Ancient Greek Arts

Over time each city-state formed its own way of governing. In some city-states the richest men shared authority with a king. This wealthy ruling class, or aristocracy, was made up of powerful landowners and merchants. In other city-states all free men took part in government. These men met in an assembly, or lawmaking group, to make decisions.


Most city-states had fewer than 5,000 people. As the population of a city-state grew, overcrowding forced some people to look for new places to live. Many city-states set up colonies in Asia Minor, northern Africa, and southern Europe.

Besides providing space for more people, the colonies brought the Greeks new natural resources and trade markets. This also helped spread Greek ideas and customs through the Mediterranean region.

Ancient Greek Culture

Soon the city-states began to compete for land and trade. Sparta and Argos both wanted control of the Peloponnesus. Athens and Thebes were rivals for control of the land northeast of the Peloponnesus. Sparta and Athens, while not rivals at first, had very different ways of life.

How were city-states alike?

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Early People of Greece and The Mycenaeans

The Mycenaeans
During the last years of their kingdom, Minoan merchants started trading with the people of Mycenae (my.SEE.nee), a city near the coast of the mountainous Peloponnesus. The Mycenaeans seem to have been a warlike people who measured their wealth by the number of weapons they owned.

The Mycenaeans

The Mycenaeans learned many Minoan customs and adapted Minoan ways to fit their own culture. The process by which a culture takes ideas from other cultures is known as cultural borrowing. The Mycenaeans borrowed Minoan religious beliefs. They changed Minoan art styles and pottery designs to make them more warlike. They also changed Minoan writing to match the Mycenaean language. Historians now know that the Mycenaean language is an early form of Greek.

In 1450 B.C., after the Minoan kingdom weakened, the Mycenaeans invaded Crete. Mycenae controlled Crete and much of the Peloponnesus from about 1450 B.C. to 1100 B.C.

The Mycenaeans

Like the Minoans, the Mycenaeans built large palaces. However, the Mycenaeans put up walls to protect their palaces. The Minoans had not seen a need to guard themselves with walls. The fact that the Mycenaeans built walls shows that they often fought with others.

For many years the Mycenaeans sailed the seas in search of new trade just as the Minoans had done. Mycenaean trade and travel led to the founding of colonies all along the Mediterranean coast. However, after several centuries of strength, the Mycenaean civilization weakened about 1100 B.C.

The Mycenaeans

 No one knows why Mycenaean control of Greece weakened. For many years historians believed that other Greek warriors called Dorians marched southward and burned palaces and villages in their path. Now some historians believe that invaders called the Sea Peoples attacked the Mycenaeans. They think that the Dorians had long lived side by side with the Mycenaeans or moved into the area after the attack. Other historians believe that disagreements among the Mycenaeans themselves weakened them.

Most historians do believe that some great change must have happened or the Mycenaeans would not have given up their writing, art, and trade. Between 1100 and 800 B.C., much Minoan and Mycenaean learning was lost. The ancient people of Greece returned to a simpler way of life.

The Mycenaeans

 The work of archaeologists has helped us learn about the Mycenaeans. In 1876 German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann found the first signs of Mycenaean civilization. He uncovered many Mycenaean riches, including golden cups, weapons, and masks.

From whom did the Mycenaeans borrow ideas about art, writing, and religion?

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Ancient Greece and A Land of Mountains

A Land of Mountains
Mountains cover nearly three-fourths of Greece. The Pindus Range runs north and south through the center of Greece. Between the mountains lie narrow valleys and small areas of plains.

The geography of Greece made inland travel difficult and trade nearly impossible for the ancient Greeks. Dirt paths provided the only way to travel on land. The rivers of Greece were of no use for travel because they often dried up.

Land of Mountains

Because it was so hard to travel and trade inland, the people of each village had to survive on only the food they raised. Since the villages had little direct contact with each other, each one formed its own government and became fiercely independent. The mountainous land kept the people of this area from uniting under one government for many centuries.

The rugged land greatly affected the way of life of the ancient Greeks. Mountains were even a part of the religion of the Greeks. Mount Olympus, Greece's highest and most famous mountain, was said to be the home of Zeus and the other gods the ancient Greeks believed in.

Land of Mountains

 Because Greece is so mountainous, the ancient people found few places suitable for farming. In fact, the rocky land provided very few natural resources.

What effect did the mountains of Greece have on the Greek people?

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Early People of Greece and The Minoans

Early People of Greece
Over the centuries, peoples of many cultures settled on the land now known as Greece. Among the earliest peoples were the Minoans (muh«NOH»uhnz), who settled on the island of Crete, and the Mycenaeans (my»suh»NEE»uhnz), who settled on the Greek mainland. For centuries legends have told about the first people to live in and around Greece. Some of the tales may be based on truth. Others, however, may have come from the imaginations of those who first told the stories years ago. Today most of what we know about the Minoans and the Mycenaeans comes from the work of archaeologists. Their studies are based on the actual remains of the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations.

Early People of Greece

The Minoans
The island of Crete lies about 60 miles (97 km) south of the Peloponnesus. The Greek poet Homer described Crete as "a rich and lovely land, washed by the waves on every side." Today Crete is still much as Homer described it so many years ago.

For centuries the people of Greece told stories of a long- lost civilization on the island of Crete. Experts, however, could find no proof of this ancient civilization.

The Minoans

 Then, at the beginning of the twentieth century, British archaeologist Arthur Evans announced an amazing discovery. He had found the ruins of an ancient kingdom. He called this kingdom the Minoan civilization, in honor of a legendary king of Crete called Minos (MY.nuhs). Today we still call the people of ancient Crete Minoans.

For many years Minoans lived in small farming communities. As the population grew, so did the communities.

Around 1900 B.C. the people of Crete began building palaces. These huge buildings were centers for governing and controlling the neighboring countryside. The palaces may also have been centers of religion. The palaces seemed like mazes, with many rooms and winding passages.

Many houses were built around the palaces. Beyond the palaces and houses were small towns, villages, and farmland.

The Minoans

 The remains of four Minoan palaces have been uncovered. The largest, called Knossos (NAHS»uhs), stood at least three stories high. Knossos probably covered 185 acres of land.

That is the size of 20 football fields. Archaeologists believe that as many as 12,000 people lived in and around this palace.

Beautiful paintings showing peaceful scenes decorated the walls of the ancient palaces. The paintings tell much about the Minoans. These works of art show that the Minoans loved dancing, music, and sports. In many of the paintings,both women and men have long, flowing hair and wear gold jewelry. The wall paintings also show that religion was an important part of Minoan life.

The paintings and other archaeological evidence also suggest that the Minoans were expert sailors and sea traders. They traded with peoples in ancient Africa, Asia, and Europe. Egypt, in Africa, and Syria, in southwestern Asia, were just two of their many trading partners. Minoan trading ships carried olive oil, wine, wool, pottery, and other goods from Crete to ports across the seas. The ships returned with supplies of copper, tin, and gold. The people of Crete mixed copper and tin to form the metal bronze. Using bronze, they crafted bowls, as    axes, and other objects.

The Minoans

The Minoans developed a system of writing as a way of keeping records. Unfortunately, some Minoan writings may have been destroyed by a fire that swept through the kingdom in about 1370 B.C. Only records that were written on clay tablets remain. So far, no one has been able to translate the writing on these tablets. Once experts learn how to read this early Minoan writing, we may learn more about the way of life of the ancient Minoans.

No one knows for sure what caused the decline of Minoan civilization. Some historians believe that a large fire burning out of control may have caused the civilization's end. Others believe that a powerful earthquake struck the island. Still others think that invaders from the Greek mainland stopped the growth of Minoan civilization.

What were Minoan palaces like?

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