Europian Civilization

EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION ANCIENT GREECE

(Southern Europe, Spain, Italy, Turkey, Northern Africa)

Introduction 

Creation myth- God sieved strained soil- stones Sea) & rocks (Greece)



Ancient Greece (Land of the Hellenes) consisted all the land touching Aegean sea  Mainland (Greece Today)  Western coast of Asia Minor  Island between to the south of Crete



Natural geography: Greece mainland and island was marked by:  Only ¼ of land could be cultivated  Made difficult to unite, transport and communication  City cut off form each other hence developed as

Early Economic Activities 



Early agriculture supported a meager lifestyle with most the land located in North (Thessaly & Boetia)  Crops grown: corn, grapes & olives in Valleys  Domesticated goats & sheep  Traded  Produced timber for ship building  Deposits of clay an limestone This products enabled Greece to build a selfsupporting civilization

ORIGIN OF CIVILIZATION 

Island of Crete (Knossos) -Minoan culture- 2200 – 1500 BC 





Early contacts associated with Minoantrade Linear A & Linear B writings- 3000BC

Egyptian

Characteristics of Minoan culture:  Access to sea, good water supply and fertile farmland  Skilled artisans: weaving, dyeing, shoemaking, pottery making and metal work  Great palaces  Skillful arts





Minoan culture destroyed:  Volcanic eruption and earthquakes  Mycenaean (mainland) invaded island Crete (1500BC)

of

Mycenaean culture: 

Declined due to internal wrangles between dynastic rivalries leading to chaotic wars

Early invasions 

1200-1100 BC Dorians (North Europe) invaded Greece from Southern Greece peninsula of Peloponnesus 



Dorians became the ancestors of the militaristic Spartans

The invasion marked -“Dark Age” in Greece No writing was developed until 750 BCHomer  Their invasion marked by decline in civilization (1300BC)  Depopulation of cities & declined to 

Early invasions 

The society was divided into classes:  The nobility, the commoners, Peasants, Landless laborers and slaves  Between the nobility and commoners wealth determined status  Landless laborers had to struggle for survival  Free laborers hired themselves to work in agricultural land belonging to aristocrats  Slaves were maintained theoretically



By 600 BC there was more emphasize on the military 

Resulted to change of role of commoners in the army due to the use of infantry



By 750-550 BC- Greece colonies:  Ionian coasts of Asia Minor, Black sea, Aegean Sea Islands, Libya, France, Southern City pf Italy, Sicily & Coast of Spain



Colonies established ties with mother colonies and maintained the tradition All Greeks spoke dialects similar languages  Worshipped same gods & goddesses  Gathered for athletic competitions in honor of their gods (Olympic Games)  With time a middle class of merchants emerged in the colonies & cities 

Evolution of Greek City-states 

Greece- Confederation of various city-states /Acropolis









Fortress where the Mycenaean king lived under protection of goddesses After the destruction of by Dorians,- center for religious life City-state/Polis- refuge for farmers in case of an attack, hence begun as agricultural villages – Farmland, market place (Agora), villages & seat of government

Government: 

Aristocratic republic- noble as decision makers & magistrates



Economy changes with time as city-states became powerful  

Agriculture to commerceOlive oil, wine, vases, clothes, metal artifacts & perfumes

SPARTA 

Started as an ordinary Polis in Laconia, southeastern Peloponnesus,  Founded by a descendants of mixed Aegean a branch of Dorians settled in 11th C BC  Land was fertile& participated in Greek polis colonization  Engaged in the Messianic wars in the West  Also population pressure cause conflict with neighbors over land of Messenia in the west  Messenians were turned into serfs- Helots  650BC – Helots slaves outnumber Sparta by 10:1  Resulted to a rebellion leading to the

SPARTA: Life 

Male child- belonged to state – from age 7  



Deformed children case determined by state Military camp  Physical endurance, poor feeding,  Married at 30 put remained in camp until 60  Discourage from having money & luxuries

Women: Gym- health babies  Replenish male children  Non-citizens 

Sparta Government 

Had five overseers who acted as guardians of the state  



Council of elders (28 men over 60yrs) 





Proposed laws, tried criminal cases, conducted foreign affairs

Assembly of all citizens 



Had unlimited power Enforced laws & watched over youths, citizens, perioeci & Helots

Approved the law proposed by councils

Sparta came center for admiration and envy coz of the commitment to discipline and subordination o individual interests Unable to contribute intellectually or artistically

Athens  



Developed in the Attica north of Peloponnesus Attica was poor, villages and towns begun to emerge by 7th C Govt- hierarchical 



 



Aristocrats (well born), commoners (laborers whose livelihood sharecropping) Contract between landlord & laborer- farm & give percentage to landlord Failure to submit- slave 700 BC- drought & poor harvest- increase in the number of slaves Athens- democracy- demo (rabble/mob/poor) & kratos (power)



Other challenges facing Athens: 





Overuse of agricultural land in planting wheat without rotation or use of fertilizers reduced the yield per unit Poor harvests lead to indebtedness as peasants borrowed from neighbors Persistent failure led debtors to mortagage self, wives, and children for security

Greek Philosophers: Plato  





427-347 BC Founded the great Athenian philosophical school, the Academy Disillusioned by democracy- atrocities of Peloponnesian war Dictator- ideal state, god father of tyranny & dictatorship 



All human beings had different abilities & lifestyles should reflect calling- farmers stick to farming Philosopher King- dictator who interest of state at heart

Greek Philosophers: Aristotle 



Student of Plato & later became a tutor of Alexander the Great (384-322BC) Founded the Lyceum school, Athens, Studied 158 constitutions  Three types of governments determined by the number of political actors in the government  1- Good (Monarchy), Bad (Tyranny)  Few – Aristocracy (good), Oligarchy (Bad)  Many – Polity (good), democracy (bad) 





Ideal state – run by polity (middle class)- with moderate & adequate property Rotation of office to safeguard interests of the state

Greek Philosophers: Socrates 

(469-399BC)  Famous- the only thing I know is that I know nothing  Hated democracy- blamed it for the fall of Athens & Peloponnesian wars  Condemned to death for misleading the youth- 399BC

The Failed City-States  

Result of a series of wars Wars fought:  Persian wars  The Athenian Wars (Age of Pericles)  Peloponnesian wars  Phillip of Macedonia and Alexander the Great

Persian wars 











In 546 –Cyrus the Great (founder of the Persian Empire) begun expand to the coast of Asia Minor Tolerant of Greek culture , traditions-resented barbarian rule 488-Aided by Athens and other city states started a rebellion Rebellion was crushed by Emperor of Persia ( Darius II)- Believed all western part of Persia would secure the and conquer whole of Greece 490 BC- Darius attacked Greece city-state (Athens) though outnumber Athens won Prestige of Athens rose as a result of the win



 



At Thermopylae (hot Gate) traitor showed the Persians a different route Athens taken and burnt Athens attacked again at Salami destroyed Persian vessels 498BC- joint army (Sparta and Athens) located Platea northwest defeated the Persians at home

Athenian Wars (Pericles Age) 







Rejoiced in their victory Athenians feared that the Persians would retaliate Developed a political system to ensure protection Kings were replaced by Aristocratic council in 7th C Solon- Magistrate (member of the city’s chief elected council (law giver) 





His laws freed the poor farmers from debts,, slavery Open public offices for citizens of less than aristocratic birth

6th c- Piristratus (tyrant) destroyed the clan





End of 6th C- Cleisthenes- introduced participatory democracy Instituted council of 500 citizens chosen by lot   



Assembly of the citizens:  







Power guide foreign and domestic affairs Controlled the government finances Prepared crucial agendas & assembly meetings Passed all new laws Voted all questions of peace and war

Indication of the simplest form of Demokratiarule of citizens Pericles- completed the democratic constitution of Athens Conversion of Athens’ victory over the Persian empire inot an Athenian Empire





Delian League initially voluntary but under l/ship of Pericles became compulsory 468- The League defeated the Persiand and liberate the Greek cities on the coast of Asia Minor 





Achievements:  



After win the allies refused to pay tributes to the League as require The League moved capital to Athens (from Belos-Aegean) Athens flourished and trade boomed Plenty of work in the city

Pericles dominated united Greece under Athenian Leadership

Poleponnesian War 



Growing power of Athens alarmed many citystates- yet only Sparta could check the Athenian ambitions 453 BC- Greek world was divide into camps 

 







Athenian empire- Greece cities in the Aegean and coast Asia Minor (Supreme Sea) Mainland- under the leadership of Greece Sparta dominated the Peloponnesian league making alliance with Southern Peninsular

431 BC- Peloponnesian war broke ours and pitted Athenian against Sparta and its allies Athenian government fell in the hands of lesser men who kept the futile conflicts for years 415- badly planned Athenian expedition against





404- Battle between Sparta and Athens lost completely Sparta- imposed notorious 30 tyrants – A council of Athenian collaborators

Phillip of Macedonia 











Defeat of Athens upset the balance of power in Greece Sparta was unable to maintain order in other city-states 371 BC- in a series of wars, Sparta was defeated at Thebes- setting the stage for the rise of Macedonia Macedonia was a small kingdom North of Thessaly- subjects were half barbarian and Greek Under leadership of Phillip II the areas was unified Phillip built a powerful army and was involved





Based on his admiration of Greek culture and cities- in his ambition invaded Persia as a punishment for invading Greece Assassinated in 336 BC- by his own officials

Alexander the Great  

 



Tutored by Aristotle-Greek Philosopher Interest in war, politics, poetry, science, arts and philosophy 1st – destroyed Thebes for rebellion 334 BC- crossed Asia minor and defeated Persians and captured Tyre From Syria- matched South to Egypt where he proclaimed himself Pharaoh by Egyptian people 





Founded Alexandria –western delta of Nile

Back to Asia Minor crushed Persians empire Darius II 327 BC crossed to the Northern India defeated Indian forces







Greek administrators, way of life, traders thinkers became part of half of Asia Purpose of building the empire-Mix Greek and Persian culture Died in 323 BC-took 13yrs to extend the Greece to India

Contributions 



Literature: Great dramatic tragedies & comedies Philosophy-Love of wisdom 







Mathematics: Pythagorean theory, geometry and value of Pi Medicine: Study of diseases 



Socrates-admitted that ignorance is the first step to dscover knowledge Socrates method-asking questions

Hippocratic Oath

History-systematic study of history