A Tale of Two Cities

A Tale of
Two Wars
Persian War
Athens & Sparta vs. Persian Empire

Peloponnesian War
Athens vs. Sparta
 Brief History of Greece

The first great civilization in Greece and Crete

was the Minoan (2000 BCE – 1400 BCE).

Around 1400 BCE, the Mycenaean civilization

supplanted the Minoan, and dominated Greece
until about 1100 BCE, when barbarians known as
Dorians invaded.
 The Hellenic Era

Founding of Mycenae on the Peloponnesus

(2000-1250 B.C.)

Mycenae (Greeks) battled for control of the

Aegean Sea with Troy

Trojan War
Emergence of the Polis, or Greek City-State

Starting around 800 BCE a new civilization, the

Hellenic, became dominant in Greece.
By 750 B.C. city-states began to form
The Hellenic civilization was composed of two
strands, the Dorian and the Ionian.
This civilization gave rise to a new form of
social/political organization: the polis.
The Polis

The polis was an independent, self-governing

city of between 50,000 and 300,000 people.

Several dozen polises (Greek “poleis”) dotted

the Greek countryside

In each polis, politics, religion, and social life

were closely intertwined.
Types of Government

Two types of government were used in the Greek Polises.

The Dorians generally had an oligarchic form of government.

The Greek word oligarchy means rule by the few.

The Ionians developed the first democratic form of

government.

Democracy means rule by the people.

Sparta and Athens

Generally speaking, the Dorians depended upon

agriculture, while the Ionians were seafarers and
merchants.
The two primary poleis were Sparta and Athens.
Sparta was Dorian, oligarchic, and had an
agriculture-based economy.
Athens was Ionian, democratic, and depended on
seafaring and trade.
 Background History

The Greek City-States under the leadership of

Athens defeated the Persian Empire
Athens is acknowledged as the leading Greek state
However, as Thucydides relates in his history,
Athenians increasingly fear Sparta as a competitor
and believe they must increase Athen’s power and
subjugate Sparta
 Athens and Sparta were both poleis
(plural of ‘polis.’)
• Both were city-states, independent, with their
own sub-culture and form of governance.
• No “capital city” of Greece
• While you were Greek--and proud of it--your
primary allegiance and loyalty were towards
your city-state
• Many city-states in Greece and elsewhere.
• Athens and Sparta mentioned the most because
they emerged as the most powerful ones.
 TERMS

1.Monarchy
• Rule by a king
2.Oligarchy
• Rule by a small group of people. Usually elites
bound together by interests and wealth.
3.Aristocracy
• Rule by a small group of people, but in the classical
definition, they’re chosen for their virtue and wise
rule (though this wasn’t always the case).
 TERMS
4. Tyranny
• Rule by a individual with absolute power who took
power by force, sometimes with popular support
5.Acropolis
• Center and citadel of city-state. Literally means
“high city” or “city at the top.”
• Usually refers to the one in Athens today
6.Agora
• An open public area acting as a center of public life
and also the marketplace
7.Helot
• Land-bound serfs that worked Spartan land

• From surrounding land of Laconia and Messenia that

were conquered.
• Owned by the state and not individual masters--
masters could not sell them.
• Sparta got half of the helot’s crops.
• Significantly outnumbered the citizens.
• The potential threat they presented was another
reason why the Spartans had such a potent army
• Spartans were reluctant to fight too far from Sparta
lest the helots act up
 Different Values

Spartan Values Athenian Values

Strength Individuality

Duty Beauty

Discipline Freedom
 Athens-A city of the Wise

City located on southern portion of the Greek

peninsula, not on the Peloponnesus
A city run by thinkers and known for both its
military might and wisdom in government and
battle
Appropriately named after Athena, goddess of
wisdom in battle and counsel
Ancient Greek Map
Athens
 Athens-Evolution of Democracy

Around 1300-700, Athens is ruled by kings.

Over time it changes to an aristocracy (a few

powerful, elite rule),

Then a tyranny (one person takes control)

Finally--by 450--a democracy (rule by many)

 Athens-Democratic Principles

New, democratic ideas emerge from Athenian culture

and society:

Direct Democracy: Citizens elect their

representatives

Public Debate: Becomes an art in Athens to discuss

and argue specifics of government

Duties of the Citizen: All citizens have

responsibilities such as voting, participating in the
government process
 Athens famous for being primary basis of
Western Civilization

• Its democracy wasn’t always constant, and

• Its form slightly different than what we’re familiar with.
• Athens originally a kingdom which morphed into more
of an aristocracy that became unstable, partially due to
laws being oral and arbitrary
• In 621 BC, Draco was appointed to codify the laws
• Unpopular move because the laws (both as they already
existed and were codified by Draco, but also most
especially as designed by Draco) were extremely harsh.
More on Draco…

• Death was the penalty for even minor crimes, like

stealing vegetables.
• Draco claimed that this was an appropriate
punishment and if something even worse were
found, he would have applied to greater crimes.
• Different classes were also treated differently –
debtors could be sold into slavery if in debt to a
higher class.
• An upside is that murder was punished by the state
instead of by blood-feud vendettas.
• It is from Draco that the term ‘draconian’ derives.
Solon
The Athenian lawmaker that first established the
basis of civil democracy

• Draco’s constitution wasn’t working out too well and in

594 BC, Solon revised it (almost completely).
• He threw out all of Draco’s laws except those
concerning homicide.
• He had to strike a balance between the concerns of the
aristocracy and those of the poor.
• The poor were disgruntled at the possibility of they
and their families being sold into slavery if they were
in debt to an aristocrat.
• The aristocrats wanted to prevent a revolution and
keep their wealth (and their skin).
Some reforms:

• Debt-slavery was abolished. Anybody who had been

sold into slavery due to debt was liberated.
• All outstanding debts were abolished.
• Death penalty only for murder.
• Classes were based on income, not birth
1. Pentakosiomedimnoi: Those whose land produced 500
bushels per annum
2. Hippeis: Those who were worth 300 bushels
3. Zeugitai: Those who were worth 200 bushels
4. Thetes: Manual laborers.

• Move was important because it helped break the

power of hereditary aristocracy
Some reforms cont.

• Introduced trial by jury

• Set up new system of government
• Included a third class in the Boule (council of 400 –
100 from each of the four tribes)
• After the new laws published and official, he left Athens
for 10 years to avoid temptation to become a tyrant
though he was
effectively one in making the laws
• Went touring.
• Neither the poor nor the rich of Athens happy about
new laws at first
• the aristocrats had debts to them abolished and the poor
Peisistratus (Hippocrates’s son)

• Mentee of Solon
• Became leader of Athens’ poor in 565 BC
• Initial attempts at seizing control of Athens failed
• Seized power in 560 BC, Tyrant by 546 BC.
• Made popular reforms.
• Reduced taxation
• Introduced festivals
• Increased trade and commerce
• Produced coin money
• Beautified the city
Peisistratus cont.

• Had official copies of the Iliad & Odyssey written.

• Helped the poor, gave them jobs through public works,
• Poor were satisfied & supported him.
• Preserved the democratic institutions, but loaded upper
bodies with family & cronies.
• When he first took power in 560 BC, it was through
cunning deception. Did it again later.
• Solon urged the Athenians to resist Peisistratus, but
they were too cowardly and Peisistratus too powerful.
• Solon himself openly opposed Peisistratus.
Cleisthenes
Took power with Spartan help after Peisistratus’s
son Hippias was exiled

• Reformed the government

• Previously, there were multiple tribes and there was
conflict among the city folk, hill folk, and plain folk.
• Cleisthenes organized ten entirely new tribes each
composed of people from the three regions and of
different family tribes.
• Broke old tribal or class loyalties & reoriented people
towards the state.
• Solon’s council of 400 became the Council of 500,
50 people from each new tribe.
Cleisthenes cont.

• Assembly became main governing body of Athens and

dealt with day to day affairs.
• Anybody was eligible to serve for one year and it was
expected that all male citizens would serve eventually.
• Also served as a supreme court / jury, except for
murder cases and religious matters
• --those remained to the Areopagus)
• With the establishment of the assembly, Athens became
a representative democracy.
• The citizens themselves ran it.
 Four Reformers
Draco (621 B.C.)
Written code of laws
Solon (594 B.C.)
Eliminated debt slavery
Peisistratus (546 B.C.)
Caters to peasants
Cleisthenes (508 B.C.)
Council of 500
Six Steps to Democracy

Outlawed Slavery

Reduce nobility

Redistribute land

Assembly

Council of 500

Ostracism
Women

Women didn’t have the same rights as in Sparta

• Expected to take care of the home

• Boys were taught reading and writing and
• Girls were taught domestic skills by slaves: like
spinning and sewing
• Not allowed out of the house except nearby travels
• Main purpose was to produce healthy children
• Unusual considering that women played an important
role in some religious rites and the city’s patron
goddess was Athena
Women cont.

Women could be educated if they were Hetaerae

• A bit like Japanese geishas
• Educated to entertain men with good conversations
at parties
• Learned physical talents, like dancing
• Some forced into prostitution
• Despite public social discrimination, their opinions
were often respected by men
• Pericles’s mistress Aspasia was a hetaera
Slavery

Practiced throughout Greece and in Athens

• Rules governing it differed from city-state to city-state.

• Slaves usually barbarians, typically captured in war.
• Others were born slaves or their free parents sold them
into slavery for money.
• Considered by some an abomination to enslave a fellow
Greek.
• Greeks could be slaves, but many free Greeks didn’t like
the idea.

• Treatment different than that associated with American

slavery.
Slavery cont.

• Relatively well-treated in Athens when compared with

other places.
• Couldn’t slap a slave because you might
inadvertently hit a citizen instead.
• A master could beat his slave, though.
• Testimony was taken only under torture.
• Could buy freedom or earn through fighting in war.
• Masters could free their slaves.
• Even then, though, they couldn’t be citizens and there
were still conditions on them.
• In other city-states, treatment was much worse.
Sparta
It was here:

SPARTA
 Sparta- A City of Warriors

Those who lived around Sparta lived vastly different

lives.
They were more focused on war and building up
strength to fight
An early slave revolt causes the Spartans to create
strict laws that demanded public allegiance to the
state.
Although they did have artistic culture, much of
their energy was spent tuning their military skills
Sparta- Rise of the Oligarchy

olig (few or little in Greek) arche (rule)

Rule by a few
Sparta develops a system where either the city-
state was controlled by a king or by an oligarchy
Citizens are not encouraged to speak freely, the
few who rule were usually powerful military
leaders.
 In Greek, Spartans known as
Lacedaemonians

• Lacedaemon was the name of the city-state

while Sparta was the ancient town
• According to legend, founded by
Lacedaemon, son of Zeus and Taygete
(a nymph)
• Controlled most of southern Peloponnese
• Argos & Arcadia were main rivals on the
Peloponnese
 Plutarch, Greek Biographer
on Spartans
“The women did not bathe the babies with water, but
with wine, making it a sort of test of their strength.
For they say that the epileptic and sickly ones lose
control and go into convulsions, but the healthy
ones are rather toughened like steel and
strengthened in their physique. The nurses
displayed care and skill: they did not use
swaddling-bands, making the babies free in their
limbs and bodies. They also made them sensible
and not fussy about their food, not afraid of the
dark or frightened of being left alone, not inclined
to unpleasant awkwardness or whining. So even
some foreigners acquired Spartan nurses for their
children.”
 Plutarch on Spartans

"They learned reading and writing for basic needs, but all the rest
of their education was to make them well-disciplined and
steadfast in hardship and victorious in battle. For this reason, as
boys grew older, the Spartans intensified their training, cutting
their hair short and making them used to walking barefoot and
for the most part playing naked. When the boys reached the age
of twelve, they no longer had tunics to wear, but got one cloak a
year. Their bodies were tough and unused to baths and lotions.
They enjoyed such luxury only a few special days a year. They
slept, in packs, on beds which they got together on their own,
made from the tops of the rushes to be found by the river
Eurotas. These they broke off with their bare hands, not using
knives."
Culture
Sparta was a military culture

• The entire Spartan culture went towards developing

and fielding a strong army
• This was to preserve itself as well as to keep down the
helots
• Children were taught at home until they were seven
• At Seven, began their training
• Exercises for them and all ages were always in
the nude.
• At 13, they were dropped off in the woods in
Spartan Military

•Men married at the age of 20

•Had to live in barracks for ten years
•If they wanted to see their wives, they had to escape
•At the age of 30, men could finally move home and
were full citizens
•Still ate every meal in the military dining hall
•Food was sparse and plain
MILITARY SERVICE
Spartan mother to her son as he goes off to war:
“Return with your shield, or on it.”
• Began military service at 20
• Soldiers not allowed to trade or hold non-military
occupations.
• These were done by a class called the periokoi,
free non-citizen inhabitants of Sparta.
• Exercised full rights and duties of citizens at 30.
• Weren’t free from military service until 60.
• To help ensure the physical superiority of their people,
babies were bathed in wine shortly after birth.
• If they survived, they were taken to elders.
• If the elders deemed the baby unfit, it was left exposed to
die on a hillside (other city-states practiced exposure).
Government
Two (hereditary) Kings, Five Ephors, Gerousia & Apella

• Two kings equal in power & exercised various duties.

• Eventually became less powerful/important,
• were primarily generals
• Five Ephors: council elected for one year by the Apella. All
citizens were eligible.
• Gerousia: (Senate) – a council of 30 elders (over 60 yrs)
• Elected for life by the Apella.
• Could veto the Apella.
• The Apella (lower legislative body).
• Every citizen over 30 could attend.
• Votes were taken by shouts.
Women

More independent than in other city-states

• Learned reading/writing
• Girls given similar harsh physical training as the boys
• Many domestic tasks were left to the helots & periokoi
• Received same amount/quality of food as boys
• Could own/control property and
• Could overtake husband’s property while he was @ war.
• Expected to defend it too and to put down revolts.
• Not rushed into bearing children.
• Husbands also allowed other men to bed their wives
and produce children.
• May have practiced polyandry.
 Sparta- Athens in Conflict

Each city had a vastly different social and government

structure.

Although they agreed on issues such as the limited role of

women and the role of slaves, they had many disagreements

Athenians were interested in military strength, but also in

art and culture.

Spartans were only interested in military power.

This type of rift leads to fighting across the Peloponnesus.

The Persian Wars

Athens & Sparta

vs

Persian Empire
 The Greeks at War
Between 500 and 400 B.C. the Greeks
fought several wars.
Two were against the powerful Persian
Empire to the east of Greece.
Then a civil war broke out among the city-
states of Greece.
 Why did the Persians invade Greece?
In 519 B.C. the Persians
conquered a group of AGH!
Those Greeks
people who lived in Asia will pay for
Minor called the Ionian this

Greeks.

In 499 B.C. the We’re on

the way
Help!
Ionian Greeks asked
the mainland Greeks
to help them rebel
against the Persians.

Athens sent warships to

help them, but they were
not strong enough to
defeat the Persian army.

This made the Persian King, Darius, very

angry with Greece.
 In 490 B.C. Darius sent 600 ships and thousands of soldiers to invade
Greece. He wanted to punish the Athenians for helping the rebels.
The Persian army
landed at Marathon,
north of Athens, in
490 B.C.
Persians greatly Persian
outnumbered Greeks. Empire

The Persians were

amazed at the Athens Marathon
strong will of the
small Athenian Sparta
force. They had no
horses or archers,
only fierce foot
soldiers.
After a few days,
the Persians While they were loading their ships, the
decided to attack Athenians attacked and defeated them.
Athens by sea. The Persians Retreated.
 Marathon

The Greeks sent their fastest runner

Pheidippides to carry home news of the
victory.
He sprinted 26.2 miles from the battle site
to the city-state of Athens.
He arrived and said, “Rejoice, we conquer,”
and died from exhaustion
The Marathon race is named after this event.
 What Happened at Thermopylae?
The Greek ruler Themistocles knew this was a temporary victory.
He encouraged the Athenians to build up their fleet and prepare
for battle with the Persians.

In 480 B.C. Darius’ son Xerxes sent a

larger force to conquer Greece.
He sent 200,000 soldiers and nearly 1,000
ships.
By this time Athens had convinced Sparta
to join them in battle. Twenty Greek city-
states joined together to meet the Persian
invaders.

Sparta took charge of the army.

 Persia Invades Greece

The Persian army had little trouble as it moved

through northern Greece.
It came to a narrow mountain pass called
Thermopylae...7,000 Greeks waited for the Persians.
For several days they stopped the Persian army from
moving forward
Someone led the Persians behind the Greek army, the
Spartan soldier began to retreat to their ships as
the Persians marched forward.
 A Small Spartan force of about 300 men commanded by King Leonidas,
guarded the mountain pass of Thermopylae.
They held out heroically against he enormous Persian force for three days.
They were betrayed when someone told the Persians how to get behind the
army.
They were defeated, but won valuable time for the rest of the Greeks.
Who won at Salamis?
The Persians
marched south
after their
victory at
Thermopylae and
destroyed the
city of Athens.
Thermopylae
The Athenians
had already Salamis Athens

moved to
Salamis, a small
nearby island.

More than 800

Persian ships
attacked the
Athenian navy The large Persian ships could not maneuver in the
near the island. water.The smaller Greek ships destroyed them.
 Results of the Persian Wars

•The Greek sense of uniqueness was increased.

•Athens emerged as the most powerful city-state in Greece.
•Athens takes credit leading the victory.
•Athens organized the Delian League, an alliance with other
Greek city-states.
•Athens used the league to assert power and build an Athenian
Empire.
•They moved the treasury to Athens, and forced people to stay
in the league against their will.
•Persia still exists.
•Greek cities in Asia Minor are still controlled by Persia.
Athens in the Age of Pericles

The wise and skillful leadership of Pericles brought

about a Golden age in Athens.
This was from about 460 to 429 B.C. and is often
called the Age of Pericles.
•Pericles believed that all male citizens, regardless of wealth or social class,
should take part in government.
•He paid salaries to men who held public office.

•This enabled the poor to serve in the government.

•The assembly met several times a month and needed at least 6,000 members
present to take a vote.
•This was direct democracy, a large number of citizens took part in the day
to day affairs of the government.
Pericles stated, “We alone, regard a man who takes no interest in public
affairs, not as harmless, but as a useless character.
Pericles rebuilt the Acropolis and turned Athens into the cultural center of Greece.
Age of Pericles
Elected to lead Athens on and off for 30
years.

All citizens can hold office.

- ½ of population not citizens

Slaves made government participation

possible.

City is rebuilt with Delian funds.

City-states that oppose Athens are

crushed by League.
 Athens as Leader
Athens rebuilds after the Persian War.
Rather than win by conquest, it tries
diplomacy.
Many allies together, sharing money, troops
and ships.
 Delian League…or Empire?

League consists of Athens and 140 city-states.

No member can withdraw without all the others
agreeing. (Athens can thus control)
465 BC: Xerxes dies – Persia not a threat.
League still exists
Athens takes treasury, spends $ on itself.
League becomes a financial empire.
The Peloponnesian War

Athens & Delian League

vs

Sparta & the Peloponnesian League

 Greek against Greek

Many Greeks resented the Athenian domination.

The Greek world split into rival camps.

To counter the Delian League, Sparta and other

enemies of Athens formed the Peloponnesian
League.
Sparta encouraged an Oligarchy (government
run by business) in the states of the
Peloponnesian League, and Athens supported
democracy.

A 27 year war broke out in 431 B.C. engulfing all of Greece

 Peloponnesian War
•Athens faced a serious geographic disadvantage from the
start.
•Sparta was located inland, the Athenian navy was no good
against them.
•When Sparta invaded Athens, Pericles allowed people from
the countryside to move inside the city.
•Overcrowding led to a plague that killed a third of the
people.
•Internal struggles undermined the Democratic government
of Athens.
•Sparta even allied with Persia, their old enemy, against the
Delian League.
•Finally, in 404 B.C., with the help of the Persian navy, the
Spartans captured Athens and stripped it of its fleet and
empire.
 The Peloponnesian War
Sparta attacks Athens
Sparta has no Navy
Athenians hide inside walls.
Athens controls the ocean, from Delian League.
Athens gets greedy, attacks Sicily & LOSES.
Sparta builds small navy, stops food from getting in.
Eventually, Athens surrenders.
 The Aftermath of War

•The Peloponnesian war ended Athenian greatness.

•In Athens Democratic government suffered:
Corruption and selfish interests replaced order.
•Fighting continued to disrupt the Greek world.
•Sparta itself suffered defeat at the hands of
Thebes, another Greek city-state.
•Greece was left vulnerable to invasion.
•Cultural development was arrested.
 Sparta Controls Greece
Sparta gets respect, seems to rule.

But other city-states gain control. Corinth, then Thebes

Greece is left weak.

City-States fight, use up resources.

Greece conquered by Philip II from the region of Macedon

to the North.

Philip unites, son Alexander takes over…

Macedonia and Alexander the Great

In 338 B.C. King Phillip II of

Macedonia led his army from the
north and conquered Greece.
After his death his son, Alexander
the Great, went on to conquer the
entire Greek world.
Macedonia

Philip II saw the weakened state of Greece

He valued Greek culture – his son

Alexander was educated in Athens

He took over Greece before any other

power could

Was Persia next?

Alexander the Great

Philip died before attacking

Persia

His son, Alexander, took

over and Persia fell to his
armies

Alexander went on to
control areas in the Middle
East and Asia
Alexander’s Empire