Ancient Greece 460 B.C. Historical Background
What is currently regarded as modern European culture was developed in great part by ancient Greece. Her location is in southeast Europe; the Aegean Sea separates her from Asia Minor. Three sides of the main peninsula show islands. Among the bigger islands visible straight under the peninsula is Crete. Here was founded the major civilization known as Aegean culture, which existed before the Ancient Greeks.
The Aegean culture goes under the titles Cretan and Minoan as well. Long before the Phoenicians arrived as traders and sailors in this region, the Aegeans, sometimes known as Cretans, prospered as traders and built an empire. They built cities in Asia Minor, on the Greek mainland, on the Aegean islands. Their main foothold in Asia Minor was the city of Troy.
At its height between 2500 and 1400 B.C., the Aegean empire most likely had Cnossus as its capital. The amazing house of King Minos was found close to Cnossus. Most likely, the terrible eruption of the volcanic island of Thera destroyed the Aegean society on Crete. The Minoans were overthrown later on when mainland Mycenaeans invaded Crete.
Influence of ancient geography of Greece
Rough mountains cover Greece’s mainland. The crisscrossing hills on the mainland create several valleys. Greek tribes invaded these valleys. On the few farms, the great majority of people worked as farmers; the others cared for their livestock. They restored the devastated settlements with new ones and absorbed Minoan civilization rather extensively. The geographical barriers kept the Greek tribes apart from joining as one country. Many little Greek city-states so sprung to exist.
creation of City-states: Geographic conditions and the tribal character of the early Greeks were largely responsible for or helped in the creation of city states. Mountains and rivers separated the valleys every tribe inhabited from one another. And their strong enough tribal loyalty kept them apart on top of that. Under such circumstances, union of all the Greeks was not realistic. Every city-state also strongly fought its independence and regularly harboured jealousies of its neighbors. Establishing its own king and council-based governance, a city-state developed its own countryside. Among the most important cities-states were Athens, Sparta, Corinth, and Antigone.
Greek Government Systems in antiquity
Originally, all of the states possessed monarchy. Each king began to manage his city-state with the help of a council composed of nobility. But for a number of reasons, monarchy did not remain a generally approved type of government. Especially concerning Sparta and Athens, there were changes. Sparta most certainly was the biggest city-state. In this society, three social classes were freemen, helots, and peers; also included were freeners. Only the peers got complete citizenship; the others were deprived of rights. The helots were always in revolt, hence the peers received military training and kept their readiness to quash their insurrection.
Comparatively to Sparta, Athens made major political, legal, literary, artistic, scientific, philosophical, advances. A favorite past time in Athens was political experimentation. Their character did not fit monarchy or oligarchy, hence they turned from both. At last democracy entered the scene. Three enlightened law-givers, Draco, Solon, and Cleisthenes, worked to produce this outcome. By giving the Athenians a codified system of laws, a smart aristocrat named Draco (621 B.C.) set the path toward democracy.
Cleisthenes: Nevertheless, the absence of voting rights and public post access worsened the lot of the common population. Leveraging this situation, the tyrants controlled Athens for almost fifty years. They lost favor and had to leave even with their advancements. Cleisthenes, a member of the strong Alcmaeonidae family, challenged the authority of the four founding tribes’ ruling clans by giving male adults citizenship rights depending on domicile in a particular location.
Under the leadership of Emperor Cyrus, the Persians built a huge empire whose borders ran from the coast of the Aegean west to the border of Afghanistan east. In 546 B.C., the Persians under Cyrus sacked Croesus, the richest monarch in history and ruler of Lydia, therefore clearing the path for more growth. The Greek cities in Asia Minor were taken under Persian rule.
The loss of their freedom infuriated the Ionian Greek residents of the Asian Minor towns, who then turned to the Greek cities on the mainland for support and started a rebellion against their Persian overlords. 499–494 B.C. Some other states, including Athens, provided assistance. But the new Persian monarch, Darius the Great, quelled these upheavals and shifted his attention to Greece. To teach Athens a lesson, he dispatched relief to his wayward Greek people.
Persian Wars: The Persian king sent a huge force outnumbering the Athenian warriors to attack Athens. The courageous Athenians confronted the Persians in battle at Marathon ( 490 B.C. ) and fought so valiantly that the Persians were driven to flee. While the Persians suffered terrible losses—6400 dead—the Athenians lost 200 of their brave warriors. The happy Athenian leader sent a runner home right away to inform his people of the great victory.
Battle of Thermopylae and Others (480 B.C.). The Marathon battle did not conclude the Persian war. Ten years later Darius’s successor, Xerxes decided to seek retribution on the Persians. Acting on his own initiative, he organized land and sea operations to drive out the Greek population. He exhorted the Phoenicians to attack Greek colonies in Sicily and Italy. The Spartans realized their survival was in clear danger. Her king Leonidas and three hundred brave troops guarded the Thermopylae pass for more than three days until they were betrayed. The last heroically fighting man turned back them. Once across this obstacle, the Persian army stormed Athens’ farms. They proceeded on Athens and lit the city ablaze.
Pericles was Cleisthenes’ great-grandson during the Golden Age. In the fighting of Salamis and Mycale, he guided his troops to triumph. Raised like an aristocrat, he was taught by the most prestigious academics of the day. The Athenians voted him to the highest office (Strategos) for the next thirty years as they were so sure of him. It was he who finished setting up the democratic system. Radical politician by nature, he supported changes. Once possessed by the Arcopagus, the political authority moved to the Council of Five Hundred.
Athens Rebuilding as the Most Beautiful City: The Persian War totally destroyed Athens. Task Pericles set for rebuilding the city was Hundreds of artists and architects helped to design big public structures. The most seductive aspect of the newly established metropolis was the Parthenon on Acropolis. Built of colored marble, the Parthenon was the most beautiful temple ever created. Inside the temple stood the huge marble monument of Athena, the patron goddess of the city.
Greek thinkers of Pericles’ Age
The great Greek thinkers sought or discovered the truth “about man and the universe.” Anything that fell short of logical consistency would not be tolerated. Many times referred to as “the age of reason,” the Era of Pericles The Athenian philosopher Socrates (469–399 B.C.) was the best of them all; he counseled his pupils to carefully examine any idea before embracing it. Through challenging questions and animated arguments, he tried to clear his pupils’ several biases.
Finding him guilty, the Athenian power declared him dead since his ideas about Greek religion were disruptive and damaging of the young people. Among Socrates’ pupils (427–347 B.C.), Plato was a great philosopher. His conversations carry the teachings from his guru. Plato’s best work, The Republic, sees a philosopher-king running an ideal state. Aristotle taught pupils in the academy Plato set up. Many consider the later to be among the best philosophers of all time.
Greek Education in Ancient Times
The younger generation, who were more educated, paid great interest to sophists—wise men or professors. Topics they taught included grammar, literature, astronomy, algebra, and oratory. These days, every institution has to offer military training.
Greek Literary Works from Ancient Times
Greek plays peaked in the Periclean era. Among the ancient Greeks, the tragic dramas of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides were much sought after. Following a public competition, the Attic government bestowed upon the best dramatist an annual award.
Among the most popular among all the people living in Athens were the three plays discussed below. Aristophanes was known for penning humorous plays. Homer’s great works have long inspired Greeks.
Folklore, tales, and myths helped to popularise historical information. Still, others have long doubted its accuracy. Living between 484 and 425 B.C., Herodotus raised history to its present prominence as “the father of History.”
He is well-known for providing an engaging account of his trips through the Persian Wars as well as the Near East. Published the first history of science, Thucydides was another Athenean living from 471 to 400 B.C. His most important contribution was his research of the Peloponnesian War, or main struggle between Sparta and Athens.
Greek Science Restored in Perspective
Great scientists like Hippocrates and Anaxagoras emerged from the Periclean age. The scientific method of current medicine originated with Hippocrates (460–377 B.C.). Unlike prevalent opinion at the time, he “emphasized that diseases are of natural origin” and not brought on by bad spirits.” For other doctors in his day, he turned into a role model.
Even today, he developed an oath requiring new doctors to follow a set of moral guidelines (even now presented during the graduation ceremony). Between 503 to 424 B.C., great mathematician and geometrician Anaxagoras taught in Athens. Democritus offered his atomic theory about 460 B.C. The Greek scientists are much appreciated worldwide for their major contributions to science. Given this, it is hardly unexpected that historians have called Athens “the School of Hellas.”
Greek City-States are Disappearing
Athens, the principal builder of the Delian League, built an empire at the expense of its other members. When the Persian threat seemed to be passed, some members of the Delian League sought to quit. But Athens forbade them from going and insisted they stay honoring her. People began debating among themselves. The Peloponnesian War, between Sparta and Athens, was unavoidably brought about by Sparta’s great jealously of Athens’s growing power. For Sparta, Persia—always seeking for means of division of the Greek city-states—was useful.
Following the epic Battle of Aegospotami in404 B.C., Sparta ruled and Athens was vanquished, therefore ending the war. The Greek city-states ruled for some time, but by the middle of the 4th century B.C., they were all still completely split.
Philip, Macedonia’s king
King Philip of Macedonia attacked under pretext of partition among the Greek city-states. Except for Sparta, he subdued all of the Greek city-states. Developing a plan to challenge the Persian empire as one Greek country, he Before he could implement this idea, he was dead.
The fabled king Alexander of ancient Greece
His 20-year-old son Alexander the Great filled in for him in the year 336 B.C. Alexander was lucky to have a highly disciplined and talented Greek army passed on from his father. None other than Aristotle the philosopher had given him direction. Like his father, Alexander valued Greek civilization. His own country suffered a rebellion shortly after he took the throne.
Alexander devastated it mercilessly. Believing Alexander was only a little child, the Greeks were threatened and rebelled; but, Alexander mercilessly put an end to the rebellion and totally devastated Thebes.
Alexander saved his house since he appreciated the great works of the eminent poet Pindar. Alexander, who came to be known as Greece’s unquestioning king, oversaw the country as it was ready to challenge the Persian Empire. Leading a strong Greek force of 35,000 troops against the Persian Empire (331 B.c., in three different conflicts at Granicus (334 B.C.), Issus (333 n.C.), and Arabela). He governed Egypt as well as the Phoenician cities.
