Ancient+Greece

Ancient Greece, (2000 BC - 133 BC) By: Jordan Beck and Reed Cronin =__Terms__= __Democracy:__ A form of government by the people either directly or through their elected representatives. __Oligarchy:__ A form of government in which a small group of people exercise controls. __Helots:__ Captive peoples who were forced to work for their conquerers, the Spartans. __Ephors:__ One of the five men elected each year in ancient Sparta who were responsible for the ecucation of youth and conduct of citizens. __Stoic:__ A member or adherent of stoic school of philosophy.

=__People__= __1. Cyrus 2__: Lived in 546 BC and was a Persian King. While under power he conquered the Ionian Greek city-states. __2. Homer__: Lived in 750 BC and was a blind poet. He wrote two very famous stories named the Odyssey and the Illiad, both were epic poems about Greek warriors. __3. Draco__: During the foundations of democracy he was the first King. Draco wrote a code of laws and lived in 621 BC. __4. Pisistratus__: Lived in 560 BC and was a tyrant who seized power. He was called "Champolion of People" and gave land to the poor. __5. Aspasia__: "1st Lady of Athens" she fought for education and greater freedom for the Athenian women.

__Quote__
"Even were sleep is conserned, too much is a bad thing." Homer

The geography of ancient Greece consisted of the Balkan peninsula, Peloponnesus (peninsula of S. Greece), Attica (N. peninsula), the Aegean Sea, and Mediterranean Sea (worlds largest inland sea). 1/4 of the land in ancient Greece was farmland, the main crops were olives and grapes. The Greeks also had good harbors and no one lived farther than 50 miles away from sea. Mountains covered the remaining 3/4 of the land and had an overall negative impact on Greek society and expansion. Transportaion and communication were limited and hard to accomplish because of the rough terrain the mountains gave most of ancient Greece. The mountains also isolated the city-states and caused the city-states to be at war with each other throughout history.

During the existence of ancient Greece there were several eras or time periods. The first was the Minoan civilization from 2000 BC to 1450 BC, it is thought that in 1400 BC the Minoan civilization completely collapsed from a volcanic explosion. Next was the Mycenyaen civilization from 1600 BC through 1100 BC. The Mycenyaen people were Indo-European who conquered the Minoan civilization in Crete. Following that was the Dark Age which lasted from 1100 BC to 750 BC. The people were known as the Dorians who evolved into the Spartans. Aristocracies were rule by the best and ruled briefly from 700 BC to 650 BC, they owned most of the land and consisted of the upper class. Tyranny followed and existed from 650 BC to 600 BC, the tryants seized power by force and led military revolts. The Persian Wars were a very influential part of history to ancient Greece. They occured from 492 BC to 479 BC and in the end the Persian king Cyrus 2 conquered the Ionian Greek city-states. Last but not least was the age of Pericles from 461 BC through 421 BC. The leader was Pericles and was known as the greatest leader of Athens and this age was known as the Golden Age of Athens.

There were several different important battles during the existence of Greece. The Trojan war is thought to have happened in 1250 BC when the Mycenyaens fought Troy. The war finally ended after 10 years when the Mycenyaen soldiers destroyed Troy by hiding in a horse that was brought into the city after the Mycenyaens thought they had won. Next was the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC when Darius 1 of Persia invaded Greece. The Athenians were outnumber by 20,000 men but managed to win the battle and it was considered the finest hour for Athens. The Battle of Thermopylae was in 480 BC when the Persians defeated a Spartan force that was outnumbered 300 men to 100,000 men. During the Battle of Platea in 479 BC the united Greeks defeated the Persians, if the Persians would've won it may have become the basis of Western civilization. The Peloponnesian War was between Athens and Sparta and lasted from 431 BC through 404 BC. Athens tried to remain hidden in their walls but the Plague of Athens killed 1/3 of the population and Sparta captured Athens in 404 BC.

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[|Thermoplylae] In this site you will learn more about the battle of Thermopylae, and how if the greeks didn't win there might not be any democracy today. [|Olympics] This website shows all of the events of the olympics in detail. It also shows how the olympic games were in ancient times. This website shows many of the winners of the olympics. [|Two faces of Greece] This website talks about Sparta and Athens, and shows the differences between the two. [|Ancient Greece] This website writes about everything you would want to know about Ancient Greece including geography, people, mythology. It also shows many good quotes from people from greece. [|Greek Gods for kids] In this website it shows all of the Greek gods, and explains what the greeks thought they did. It also tells many intersting stories about the Gods. Many links, kid friendly, easy to move throughout the website.

**__Timeline-__**
__1. 2800 B.C.-__ Bronze Age is established on Crete. __2. 1900 B.C.-__ Minoan civilization on Crete peaks. __3. 1300 B.C.-__ Mycenaean civilization reaches its height. __4. 1250 B.C.-__ According to Homer, Greeks sack Troy. __5. 750 B.C.-__ Dark Age of Greece ends. __6. 700 B.C.-__ Athens becomes a unified polis. __7. 500 B.C.-__ Classical Greece flourishes. __8. 431 B.C.-__ Great Peloponnesian War begins. __9. 405 B.C.-__ Athenian Empire is destroyed. __10. 323 B.C.-__ Alexander the Great dies at age 32.