Ancient Greece

Greek City-States
Society & Government
Mycenaean Society
 The Mycenaeans
established a
society on the
Greek peninsula
beginning with
migrations in 2200
B.C.
 From 1500 to
1100 B.C., they
expanded their
influence beyond
the Greek
peninsula,
overpowering
Minoan society in
Crete
The collapse of the
Mycenaeans
 About 1200 B.C., the Mycenaeans fought a
war with the city of Troy in Anatolia. There
are still today discussions on whether or
not this battle was the one described by
Homer in The Illiad.
 At the same time, foreigners invaded the
Mycenaean homeland
 From 1100 to 800 B.C., chaos reigned
throughout the eastern Mediterranean
 In the absence of a centralized state or
empire, local institutions took the lead in
restoring political order to Greece
Greek City-States
 In about 700 BC, there was no single ruler of
Greece. Instead, the country was divided into a
number of city-states which traded with one
another, and sometimes fought one another.
 As one city became large or powerful it might try
to take over more of the countryside around it.
But no city-state was strong enough to control
the whole Greece.
 The center of each city-state was one town or
city known as polis (Greek name: π ο λ ι ς )
Greek Cities: The Polis
 The city-state or polis was originally a
fortified site that provided refuge in
war or other emergencies
 Gradually they attracted increasing
populations, took on an urban character,
and began to exert authority over the
surrounding regions
 Levied taxes on their hinterlands and
appropriated a portion of the agriculture
surplus to support the urban population
Greek City-States
 Poleis were different because they developed
independently of each other
 Different traditions, economies, political
systems, etc
 Athens and Sparta are the best known
examples of Greek poleis.
 The city-states began to expand by setting up
colonies on islands or parts of the coast around
the Mediterranean Sea.
 By the fifth century BC, small groups of states
began to join together to defend themselves.
They would form a league of alliance, such as the
Delian League (478 BC)
The Polis
 Every Greek polis had basically the same geographical
structure: they all had an acropolis, the agora, and the
surrounding lands destined to agriculture.
The Polis (I)
 Acropolis means 'high city' in Greek. Most city-
states in ancient Greece had at their centre a
rocky mound or hill where they built their
important temples and where the people could
retreat to if under attack. The most famous
acropolis is the one in Athens.
 The Athenian Acropolis is home to one of the
most famous buildings in the world: the
Parthenon. This temple was built for the
goddess Athena. It was decorated with beautiful
sculptures which represent the greatest
achievement of Greek artists.
The Polis (II)
 The Agora was central to the life of the polis, it was
a marketplace and meeting place.
 In some cities, local councils met in nearby
buildings; other buildings were used to store public
records and important political documents. Public
spectators could watch criminals being placed on trial
in the agora.
 Farmers, craftsmen and merchants had their stalls,
workshops or shops where the could exchange their
products.
 Men seeking employment would mix with employers
looking for labourers. Some of those seeking work
could be professionals or tradesmen, or they could
have no skills.
 Slave trade also took place in the agora
Society – Citizens & non-
citizens
 Greek Society was mainly broken up between
Free people and Slaves, who were owned by
the free people.
 Slaves were used as servants and labourers, without
any legal rights. Sometimes the slaves were prisoners of
war or bought from foreign slave traders. Although
many slaves lived closely with their owners, few were
skilled craftsmen and even fewer were paid.
 Among the free people, it existed the division
between citizens and non-citizens. If somebody
was born outside Greece, he lack the rights all
the citizens had.
 Citizens could vote (if there existed a democracy), fight
in army, hold office, speak for themselves in court.
Society – The importance of
the army
 About 650 BC, Greek generals in various different
city-states came up with a new way of fighting
battles that gave Greek soldiers of the Archaic
period a big advantage over the soldiers of other
countries: the hoplite phalanx.
 Greek generals trained their soldiers to fight in
lines, shoulder to shoulder. In this way each man
(women were not allowed to be soldiers) was
protected by the shield of the man standing next
to him. When they all marched forward together,
no enemy spears or arrows could get through
their wall of shields.
 A soldier who fought this way was called a hoplite.
Hoplites were middle-class freemen who had to
pay for their own weapon and shield. Therefore
this kept a lot of poor citizens from being in the
army.
Government in Greek City-
States (I)
 c.800 BC: The majority of Greek states were
governed by groups of rich landowners, called
aristocrats; this word is derived from aristoi,
meaning best people. This was a system known as
oligarchy, the rule by the few.
 These early oligarchies were mostly overthrown by
tyrants who took total control of the city. The
tyranny was a form of governing very unstable,
with the tyrant's power relying on their control of
armies and holding the citizens in fear. Tyrannies
most often began when a city was faced with a
crisis, and this opportunity was seized by a
political figure to take control of the city,
frequently with the support of the people.
Government in Greek City-
States (II)
 c.500 BC: in Athens democracy was
introduced by an aristocrat, Cleisthenes. Who
was from family of the Alcmaeonids in 508 BC,
after 2 years of civil war, they used the help of
Spartans to secure power.
 Male citizens in Athens could vote on all the
decisions that affected the city and serve on
juries. However, democracy was not open to
everyone. Citizen women and children were not
allowed to vote. Slaves and foreigners living in
Athens (known as metics) were banned from
participating in government.