Ancient Greece Origins - What we call Greece, they called Hellas - Not a likely place for a dominant civilization to take hold Origins - Persia & Egypt were both centered on rivers & on great plains - Greece had too many mountains, too many islands - Too fragmented Origins •Divided into hundreds of tiny poleis, or city-states •Each polis was a unique entity - Same language, same religion, different customs - Very competitive & quarrelsome with each other Origins •Athens started as a village • Built around the Acropolis - a rocky, steep sided plateau •Akron = Summit. Polis = City. •Used as a military stronghold •Easy to defend their city from there Origins •Life was dirty, tough, short. •Life expectancy at birth was 15 years •(Aristotle wrote that it was injustice & serfdom) Solon •594 BCE: Solon (politician, poet) fought against moral decline in Athens •Wrote the groundwork for democracy, even though it was not adopted in his time •Solon changed the boule (council of 400 citizens) from being aristocrat-only, to being anyone not in the poorest class peisistratos •560 BCE: Peisistratos came to Athens with a tall woman he said was Athena •Just a particularly tall girl from the neighboring village •Demanded control of Athens because he had the protection of a goddess •They agreed & welcomed him peisistratos •Became a tyrant, but the majority surprisingly liked him •Turned to the commoners for support, ignoring the aristocrats •Reduced taxes, introduced interest-free loans peisistratos •527 BCE: Peisistratos died & his son, Hippias, took over •Ruled jointly with his brother, Hipparchus •Tried to take after his father, but were not liked •514 BCE: Hipparchus was assassinated •After this murder, Hippias started slipping into madness, ordering more frequent executions, suspicious of everyone. peisistratos •Hippias had the murderers executed, but even also had one murderer’s wife tortured to death •Stripped away all of Athenians’ new freedoms Cleisthenes •510 BCE: Cleisthenes lead a revolt against Hippias •Cleisthenes had been born into nobility in Athens •Grew up knowing he was an aristocrat •Aristokratia: “Excellent Power.” Ancient Greek term for a member of the ruling class •Aristrocrats controlled every aspect of life Cleisthenes •The revolt was successful •Cleisthenes was put in charge •Right away there was a conspiracy to overthrow him •Greek politics was all about proving that you could seize power. •If you could maintain control, then you deserved to have control. Cleisthenes •508 BCE: Isagoras was an ambitious aristocrat that emerged as a major contender. •Turned to Spartans for support •(Never happened before.) •Rumor was that Isagoras had shared his wife with the Spartan king. Cleisthenes •Spartans sent a battalion of troops to support Isagoras •Athenians felt that his ties to Sparta were going to make them subjects to Spartans •Isagoras won & took control •Ruled from the Acropolis •Targeted other aristocrats, most especially Cleisthenes Cleisthenes •Cleisthenes + 700 other families were exiled from Athens •508 BCE: Citizens revolted against the rulers, demanding freedom Cleisthenes •First time in history there was a civilian uprising against rulers •Isagoras & Spartans held out for 2 nights against the revolution on top of the Acropolis •3rd day - he surrendered Cleisthenes •507 BCE: The people asked Cleisthenes to return & build a new government •He was appointed archon (ruler) •He knew he had to think of something revolutionary •In a moment of inspiration, he realized that these people should have freedom & a chance to govern themselves Cleisthenes •Cleisthenes’ contributions to Athenian Government: •Enacted the first democracy •Changed the boule to be 500 citizens (Athenian-born free males) •50 from each phyle (clan) •Boule was chosen by lottery •At least 30 years old •Can’t serve more than twice Cleisthenes •The Boule would meet every 9 days to discuss & vote on daily affairs (from building roads to going to war) •Built the pnyx: democratic assembly •A public meeting place carved out of the side of a mountain for the boule to meet •Institute a voting system •White pebble - yes •Black pebble - no Cleisthenes •Ostraka: Broken pieces of pottery on which citizens could etch the name of someone they felt was a threat to democracy •These were dropped into a pot & counted •>6,000 votes needed •The person whose name appeared the most would be exiled from Athens for 10 years, or ostracized..