The Ancient Greek Civilization

In class we are learning about the Ancient Greeks. Greece is located in Europe near the Mediterranean Sea. We know that Greece is a peninsula. A peninsula is a body of land with water on three sides. Greece has four seas by it the Mediterranean Sea, Ionian Sea, Aegean Sea, and the Sea of Crete. Many Ancient Greeks made living in the sea by fishing, sailors, and traders. Others settled in farming communities and grew wheat, barley, olives, and grapes.

The Minoans were the first civilizations to live in Greece. Even thought they weren't Greek they ruled the island of Crete. They where wealthy because they traded pottery and stone vases for ivory and metals. They built ships from oak and cedar trees and they sailed as far as Egypt and Syria to trade. In about 1450 b.c the Minoran Civilization collapsed and some say that undersea earthquakes caused giant waves and washed them away. Another way they might of disappeared was that they were invaded by the Mycenaeans.

The Myceanaeans were originally from Asia and they invaded Greek mainland around 190b.c. The first Mycenaeans were the kings of Greece. There capital was Mycenae and it was named after the Mycenaeans. The Mycenaeans Kingdoms where well organized. The center of each Mycenaean kingdom was a fortified palace on a hill. The ruler lived there. They also copied the Minoans with their weapons and goddess Earth Mother. They both fought in the Trojan War also.

The Dark Ages of Greece was between 1100B.C and 750B.C and it was difficult for the Greeks. Lots of battles and earthquakes fell over all Greece causing many to die it was a very hard time for all of Greece. Food was hard to get so farmers had to substance farm. They could grow only enough food to feed their own families.

As Greece recovered from the Dark Ages they did not have enough food to feed their families so they made colonies around the homeland. So started to trade many things for more money. The growth went into industry. The demands keeped producers at pace.

The Polis is like a tiny independent country. The main gathering place in a polis was usually a hill. A fortified area, called an acropolis. It stood at the top of the hill. It provided a safe refuge in case of attacks. It also sometimes served as a religious place. Below the acropolis was an area named agora. This place had two functions it was a market and a place where people could meet and debate issues. Polises varied in size. Some where a few miles wide while others where hundreds of square miles wide.

Each Greek city-state was run by its citizens and the Greeks were the first to develop the idea of citizenship. The point of it was to treat everyone with respect. Today it almost applies to everyone. By 700B.C the city states had begun to depend on armies of ordinary citizens called hoplites.The hoplites went to battle with a shield, a short sword, and a 9 foot spear. Hoplites make good soilders because they took pride in fighting for their city-state.

Another thing we are learning is the Athens and Spartans.Sparta is an Oligarchy which is when few people hold power. Athens is a democracy which all citizens run the government.Sparta cared more about training soilders but Athens cared more about intelligence in their soldiers.

Persia is a empire what is today southwestern Iran. Early Persians were warriors and nomad.Cyrus the great was one of the best leaders because he made the empire to grow very big. Another leader was Darius he improved the goverment and made it into provinces. His son Xerxes was Darius's son and he wanted revenge from the Athens also.

Athens have a direct democracy which means when there is a meeting the whole town goes to it.Today in the United States has a Representative democracy. In the Athens the man called Pericles tryed to make Athens more Democratic.

Daily life in Athens is normal,slavery is common and there was at least one slave in each household. Many Athenians depended on farming for a living. They made wealth by farming and trading. Men farmed or went to the army and Woman stayed home and cared for the household and the children.Girl normally married at the age of 14 or 15. Woman did not have as many rights as men such they could not move in public.

Under Pericles control Athens became more democratic and more rich, but Sparta and Athens went to war together and called it the Peloponnesian War.

In the next chapter we are learning about Ancient Greek Cultures. Myths are traditional stories about gods and hero's. The place were the Greek gods were born is called Mount Olympus. It is the highest mountain in Greece. Greek gods are tought to be all-powerful.

An oracle is a future teller for the ancient Greeks.