2000 B.C.–300 B.C. Summary CHAPTER OVERVIEW a Rugged Greek Landscape Causes Creation of Independent City-States

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CHAPTER CHAPTERS IN BRIEF Classical Greece, 5 2000 B.C.–300 B.C. Summary CHAPTER OVERVIEW A rugged Greek landscape causes creation of independent city-states. They ﬁght one another but unite to defeat invaders from Persia. Athens becomes the home of culture, but its empire collapses after years of war with Sparta. Alexander conquers Greece, the Persian Empire, and Egypt. After his death, a new culture blends inﬂuences from territory he conquered.

1 Cultures of the Mountains tells of the war with Troy. The Greeks also created and the Sea a rich set of myths. Many of them tried to explain KEY IDEA The shape of the land caused separate the world in terms of the actions of the Greek gods. groups of Greek-speaking peoples to develop societies in isolation from one another. 2 Warring City-States he lives of the ancient Greeks were shaped by KEY IDEA Greek culture produced many city-states. Tthe geography of their land. Greece is a rocky They had different forms of government, one of which is land with high mountains and deep valleys. It was democracy. difficult to move over this land. So, Greeks living in y 750 B.C., the center of Greek life was the different areas could not easily be united. Good Bpolis, or city-state. This name was given to farmland covered only a small part of Greece and Greek cities and the countryside villages surround- could not support many people. The Greeks had ing them. Each city-state was independent. The easy access to the sea, however. They became people who lived in them were fiercely proud of excellent sailors, and trade became important. The their homes. These city-states had different kinds climate is mild, which allowed Greek men to spend of government. A monarch or king might rule some. much time outdoors. They attended public events A family of nobles might rule a few. A few wealthy and were active in civic life. merchants might rule others. Also, the idea of a The first culture to arise in Greece was that of government made of representatives chosen by the the Mycenaeans. They were among the Indo- people took hold in some city-states. The most Europeans who invaded many areas around 2000 prominent of these city-states was Athens. B.C. The Mycenaeans were ruled by powerful In Athens, as in other city-states, the wealthy warrior-kings in their main city, Mycenae. Other and poor clashed in a contest for power. Athens, rulers lived in palace-forts in other cities. however, avoided major political upheaval by intro- The Mycenaeans came in contact with the ducing reforms. Solon, an Athenian leader who Minoan culture of Crete. They adopted many parts came to power in 594 B.C., removed some of the of this culture, including the form of writing and laws that the poor did not like, such as debt slavery. some religious beliefs. Because of this contact, the He also opened the assembly, where laws were dis- Mycenaeans also became interested in trade. cussed and approved, to all Athenian citizens. Some According to ancient legend, Mycenaeans also had 90 years later, the Athenian leader Cleisthenes a long war with the people of Troy, a city in introduced further reforms. The most important of Anatolia. The famous Trojan Horse—a gigantic, these was the setting up of the Council of Five hollow wooden horse hiding Greek soldiers—is Hundred. This body proposed laws and advised the part of that legend. assembly. Council members were chosen by lot. The culture of the Mycenaeans fell about The reforms of Solon and Cleisthenes allowed McDougal Littell Inc. All rights reserved. 1200 B.C. Sea raiders destroyed their palaces. For Athenian citizens to take part in a limited democ- © the next 400 years, Greece went into decline—a racy. But citizenship was limited to a small group of decline so deep that no written records exist from Athenians. Only free adult male property owners this period. However, through spoken word, Greeks were considered citizens. Women, foreigners, and of this time continued to relate epic stories of the slaves were denied citizenship and played no role earlier age of heroes. One long poem, the Iliad, in Athenian political life.

Classical Greece 17 0018-wh10a-CIB-02 11/13/200312:05PMPage18 18 Name A sights onconqueringthe from theeast.ThepowerfulPersianEmpiresetits citizen armyproveditselfinfendingoffanattack weapons andreadytodefendtheirhomes.Thisnew soldiers werefromallwalksoflife—armedwithiron them. Sooneachcity-statehaditsownarmy. The weapons madeofbronze,morepeoplecouldafford to makeironweapons.Becausethesecostlessthan approved byavoteofallSpartancitizens. Council ofElderssuggestedlawsthathadtobe freeing theirhusbandstoserveinthearmy. Asmall Spartan womenranthefarmsandotherbusinesses, through alongperiodoftrainingassoldiers. Boys joinedthearmyatagesevenandwent leaders ofSpartamadetheircityamilitarystate. Greece, developedinaverydifferentway. The ideas andGreekcultureflourished. KEY IDEA victory onland.ThethreatfromPersiawasover. sea battle.TheSpartansfolloweditwithanother Athens. However, theshipsofAthenswonagreat small bandofSpartans.ThePersiansalsoburned lost abattleonland,despitetheheroiceffortsof tremendous victorythatsavedAthens. At theBattleofMarathon,Greekswona ships landed25,000soldiersonthecoastofGreece. skilled playwrights.Somewrote tragedies,plays 3. HewantedtomakeAthensbeautiful.Sohe 2. He wantedtomakeAthensstronger. Thecitywas 1. HewantedtomakeAthensmoredemocratic.So better. Hehadthreemaingoals: In thattime,hetookmanystepstomakeAthens 3 strongest navyintheMediterranean. league’s moneytomakesurethatAthenshadthe states calledtheDelianLeague.Periclesused the headofagroupmorethan200Greekcity- building programinhiscity. again usedDelianLeaguemoneytofundagreat paid asalary. Poorpeoplecouldholdthesejobs. he createdmorepositionsingovernmentthat Golden Age Democracy andGreece’s Over theyears,Greeksdevelopedability Sparta, averystrongcity-stateinthesouthof The Persiansreturnedtenyearslater. TheGreeks Athens alsobecamehome to agroupofvery Unit served inthatroleformorethanthreedecades. thens chosePericlesasitsleader, andhe During Greece’s GoldenAge,democratic 2 , Chapter 5 Greeks. In490 B . C ., Persian N many centuries. thinking logically. Hisworkwasveryinfluentialfor Greeks atthetime.Healsoinventedawayof books thatsummarizedall in hisownright.Athird many ofhisideasandbecameanimportantthinker forced todrinkpoison.Hispupil,Plato,recorded not trusthim.Hewasconvictedoftreasonand deeply intruthandjustice,butmanypeopledid understand humanlife.One,Socrates,believed several greatphilosophersappeared.Theytriedto far asIndia.Hewonanother battleandmoved Persian resistance.Theempirewasnowhis. and wonanothergreatbattle,whichendedall self—Alexandria. HethenturnedbacktoPersia pharaoh andfoundedacitythathenamedforhim- moved southtoenterEgypt.Hewascrowned Persia. Hewontwostunningvictoriesandthen northwest India. Egypt. ThenhemovedasfareasttheIndusRiverin KEY IDEA conflict endedbadlyforAthens.In430 Persian Empire.In334 to carryouthisfather’s dreamofconquering the father. Hehadbeentaughtwell, and heprepared Alexander becamekingatage20. though. Hediedjusttwoyearslater, andhisson now over. Philipdidnotenjoyhisvictoryforlong, Macedonians won,andGreekindependencewas states unitedtoolatetosavethemselves.The to usehisarmyinvadeGreece.TheGreekcity- had astrongleaderinKingPhilipII.Hedecided The Macedoniansweretoughfighters,though,and because theylackedthegreatcultureofGreece. Athens finallywenttowarbeginningin431 that Athenswasafreeandopensociety. ideas. SomeplayswerecriticalofAthenians,proof wrote comedies,whichoftenincludedimportant about thepainandsufferingofhumanlife.Others finally gaveupin404 After severalbattles,thewardraggedonuntilAthens ble plaguekilledalargeportionofAthens’people. 4 In thetimeofuncertaintyafterAthens’defeat, Alexander’s Empire The youngkingpushedeast,takinghisarmyas Alexander wasabrilliantgeneral,justlikehis After beingrivalsformanyyears,Spartaand The Greekslookeddownonthepeoplethere orth ofGreecewasthekingdomMacedonia. Alexander theGreatconqueredPersiaand B . C . B was Athens hadlostitsempire. . C things ., Alexanderinvaded Classical Greece Aristotle. Hewrote known tothe B . C .a B continued . horri- C . The

Name Classical Greece continued

deeper into India. However, after many years of The thinkers in Alexandria also made advances marching and fighting, the soldiers wanted to return in mathematics. Euclid wrote a book with the basic home. Alexander agreed, and turned back. On the ideas of geometry; his approach is still used today. way back, he began to make plans for how to gov- Archimedes was another important scientist and ern his new empire. Then he suddenly fell ill and mathematician. He invented many clever machines, died. He was just 32 years old. including the Archimedes screw, which could be Three of Alexander’s generals divided his empire. used to bring water from a low level to a higher One ruled Macedonia and Greece. Another took one. It was used to bring water to fields being control of Egypt. The third became ruler of the lands farmed. that used to be in the Persian Empire. Alexander’s Two new schools of philosophy arose in these empire was not long-lasting, but it had important times. The Stoics argued that people should live a effects. After Alexander, the people of Greece and moral life to keep them in harmony with natural Persia and all the lands between mixed together laws. Desire, power, and wealth, they thought, could and shared ideas and culture. hurt a person’s moral well-being. The Epicureans said that people could rely only on what they 5 The Spread of Hellenistic learned from their five senses. They urged everyone to live moral lives. People should try to do things in Culture moderate ways, rather than taking anything to an KEY IDEA Hellenistic culture was formed of ideas from extreme. Greece and other lands. It flourished throughout Greece, Egypt, and Asia. The arts flourished in the Hellenistic age as well. Sculpture, in particular, had several notable achieve- new culture arose—the Hellenistic culture. It ments. The sculpture of this time differed from that Ablended Greek with Egyptian, Persian, and of the earlier Greek style. In the past, figures had Indian influences. The center of this culture was been idealized, as sculptors tried to show a perfect Alexandria, Egypt. Located in the delta of the Nile form. In the Hellenistic age, figures were more River on the Mediterranean Sea, it had a ship har- realistic and emotional. bor. Trade was lively and Alexandria had a large population from many different countries. Alexandria was also a beautiful city. Its huge Review lighthouse towered over the harbor to show a light 1. Recognizing Effects What effect did geography to incoming ships. Its famous museum had rooms have on the way Greece developed? with works of art, a zoo, and a garden. Its 2. Summarizing What were the different forms of magnificent library held half a million scrolls of government of the Greek city-states? papyrus that contained everything known in the 3. Comparing and Contrasting Compare and Hellenistic world. It was the first true research contrast Athens and Sparta. library, and scholars read through the scrolls. 4. Drawing Conclusions What happened to These scholars kept alive what was known about Alexander’s empire, and why? science. Some used an observatory to look at the 5. Synthesizing What was the long-lasting effect stars and the planets. One of these astronomers of Alexander’s empire? developed two important ideas. He argued that the sun was actually larger than the earth, which no one had thought to be the case before. He also sug- gested that the earth and other planets revolved around the sun. Other astronomers rejected these ideas, though, and their views remained common

McDougal Littell Inc. All rights reserved. for many centuries. Another scientist tried to esti- © mate the size of the earth. He came extremely close, ﬁguring the earth to be about 16 percent larger than its actual size.

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