History of Greece to 146 BC Setting the Stage

Chronological scope of course coverage

o Course covers Peloponesian war to capture of Corinth
o Three centuries: 4th century BCE to 2nd century BCE
o You count backwards with BCE
4th century: 400, 399, 398, etc (counterintuitive!)
o The Greeks had a different way of counting times
Olympic Games
e.g. my mother was born on the 2nd Olympic
games
Archonship
E.g. I was born when so and so was the
Archon
Periodization
o We are focusing on part of the classical period (480-323)
and the hellensitic period (323-30)
o This is after the bronze age, dark age, and archaic period.
Geographic scope of course coverage
o We are covering a broad area of Greek city states that were
all around the medititeraneon.
Coast of black sea
West coast of Asia Minor
South france
Eastern coast of spain.
o Frogs around a pond Plato
Pond is the Mediterranean
o Title of the course is somewhat misleading.
We are studying the Greek Civilization of all Greek
city-states around the Mediterranean, not just
mainland Greece
o Note that the Persian empire is more to the East, but has a
lot of overlap with Greece
o Aegean World
The Aegean Islands are the islands around the
Aegean seas
Geographical fragmentation across the Aegean sea is
the reason why Greece never developed unity and
instead had independent city states
Polis City-State (pl. poleis)
o Rose in the 8th century BCE (before scope of course)
o (Usually) Small, independent self-ruling political unit (all
forms: democracy to oligarchy to tyranny)

This is the most important political unit in Greek

history
But there are other forms of political community
ethnos : there is no clear translation of this
word into English. League , people , nation .
o Urban center and surrounding territory. Citizens in both the
city and the countryside.
o About 1000 of these in the Greek islands.
o Athens and Sparta were unusually strong as cities. Most
were far smaller.
Ethnos (pl. ethne)
o Nation, people, or league
o Rationale
Sharing of similar ancestry and feeling of common
kinship (same people or nation)
Federal league (e.g. politically united)
o Impact
These areas were goverened by councils of
presentatives from member communities
Similar religious sanctuary (?)
Hellenes Greeks
o The Greek word for Greek is Hellenes.
o There are some aspects of Greek culture that were
common
o Commonalities of all hellenes
Shared language
Shared religious beliefs and rituals
Shared customs (similar laws)
Same blood (shared myth of common ancenstor
Hellen)
These commonalities caused Greeks to see
themselves as a common people. Even though they
fought amongst one another, they still knew they
were similar in a way.
Barbaroi - Barbarians
o These people are simply those whose language the Greek
could not understand
o The main difference between the Greeks and Barbarians
was not racial, but linguistic and sociocultural
o This is a difference with how we understand this in English
Even though Greeks generally did believe their
culture was superior, but savagery really wasnt the
key distinction
Dark Age

o 1200-700 BCE
o We know very little of this time
It is therefore a shadowy, dark period figuratively
speaking
Important features of Greek city states
o New idea of authority community is the sovereign
(definitely different than the united state)
o Direct participation on the part of citizens
No beaureacratic or administrative apparatus
o They did not say Athens or Corinth they said the
Athenians or the Corinthians
The city is the citizenry and the citizenry is the city
This is perhaps a reflection of the direct participation
of the citizenry
o Usually they had ekklesia (assembly) of adult male
citizens. The boule (restricted council) assists the assembly
as a decision making body.
Structure of the society
o Only adult male citizens have political rights and the right
to own real estate
o When we say all citizens, we really mean this small
subset
o Metics (metoikoi) = resident aliens: no political rights and
no right to own real estate (citizenship cannot be acquired)
o Women: no political rights and no legal rights
o Slaves were essential for the functioning of society. Often
these were barbarians or war captives. No freedom or
political rights to vote etc.
o Average citizens had only 1 or 2 slaves.
Hoplite Warfar
o Heavily armored foot soldiers (hoplites) arranged in a
rightly packed formation (phalanx)
o Battles based on the force of impact of the phalanx and on
the cohesion and compactness of the ranks
o Hoplon small shields

Class 2

From League to Empire

Athens versus Sparta (The Poeloponnesian War)
o The war occurred because Spartans feared growth of
Athenian power

o Spartan bloc was largely continguous. They were a

mainland block.
o Athenian were all coastal and not very connected. They are
the maritime block.
o Because it was a maritime versus maritime power it was a
deadlock
o Spartans allied with the Persians (I think this was to get
maritime superiority)
Key Words
o Athenian Dmoecracy
o Misthos and liturgies
o Spartan System
o Helots
o Persian Empire
o Great King
o Satrapy and satrap
Find on a map
o Athens
o Attica
o Sparta
o Laconia
o Messenia
o Delos
o Thebes
o Boeotia
o Corinth
What are main sources for the first half of the 4th century
o Thucydides died before this time
o Xenophon (most important source)
Athenian who served as mercenary under Persians
Befriended Agesilaus, king of Sparta
He had a unique position since he was an Athenian
by birth, he served under Spartan army and knew
king of Sparta as a result, he knew the main actors
of the story
o Plutarch
He lived many years (centuries, actually) after the
events that occurred
Greek biography and essayist. Lives is a great set of
biographies.
He wasnt as interested in actual facts as much as he
was interested in showing models of ideal behavior.
Lysander
o Main author of Spartan victory

o Secured alliance with Persians thanks to friendship with

Cyrus the Young (Persian Prince)
o Defeated Athenian fleet at Aegospotami, thus ending
Peloponnesian war
People in Sparta treated him like a god for winning
the war
o Established Spartan hegemony over liberated cities
Spartans originally wanted to end Athenian empire,
but instead now we just had a Spartan empire The
system is changed but the people in power had
changed.
Decarchies: Oligarchies of 10 men (Spartan form of
rule)
Harmosts: Spartan military governor
Garrisons: Spartan garrisons kept cities under control
Tribute: Collected tributes (taxes) to support the fleet
and garrisons
The end of the Spartan emprie
o Spartans support Cyrus the Young in his rebellion against
the new Persian king
o Cyrus dies at battle of Cunaxa, and Persians claim back the
Greek cities of Asia Minor
o Eventually, they were defending Greek cities of Asia minor
The reason why Spartan empire was doomed was at
least partly attributable to this issue
o Weaknesses in Spartan society
Closed society
Didnt want people in to corrupt values.
made them weak because they knew less than
other societies.
No long term military commitments abroad
Declining # citizens
Discontent with Lysanders personal ambitions
Spartan ideology were that all men were equal
People therefore did not like that Lysander was
treated as above men
People did not like the idea of a Spartan
empire, because they saw it as stemming from
Lysander.
From the Spartan campaigns in Asia Minor to the Corinthian War
o Most important things:
Roles Spartans played
How did it start?
The resurgence of Athens

o After the Peloponnesian war the Athenians were left

without anything
o They had long walls complex systems of fortification between their cities and ports but not they no longer
have this.
o Their fleet was destroyed and so was their long walls.
o Lysander supported a harsh, oligarchy government called
the Thirty Tyrants
This government led to a bloody civil war.
o with the financial help of the Persians, the Athenians rebuilt
their fleet and the long walls
The Persians didnt like the Spartans, so this made
sense for them.
o The Athenians presented themselves as champions of
freedom against Spartans reclaimed supremacy of the
sea with the help of the Persians
Peltastai and mercenaries
o Peltastai = lightly armed troops equipped with throwing
spears and a small round shield, the Thracian pelte

Class 4

Persian Shifting Alliances

o 407-401: Persians support Sparta against Athens
o 388-386: Kings peace. Persians support Spartans again
The Kings Peace (386)
o Koine eirene: common peace (peace that includes all the
Greek cities), signed by all Greek cities
o The reality is that this was an ultimatum issued by the
Great King (of Persia) signed by the poleis under threat by
Persians that they would support Sparta unless peace was
reached [such a strange thing!]
o There is a sense in which this is the low point of Greek
autonomy, because they are being told what to do by the
Persians
Sparta vs Thebes vs Athens
o Sparta forces Boeotian League to dissolve
o Sptartans occupy the citadel of Thebes

Class 6 (?) 9 February 2015

Theban Hegemony
o The Thebans beat the Spartans at Leuctra
Mid 4th Century Overview
o Thebes was unable to maintain its hegemony over Grece
after Mantinea (362)
o The first half of the fourth centry was a hell of a ride
because Thebes went from hegemony to irrelevance
Rich vs Poor at Athens
o In the 5th century, both the rich and poor classes support
Athenian imperialism
The poor were employed as rowers in the fleet
The cost of military supremacy rested on the allies
o By the 4th century, the interests diverged between these
two classes
TA Session

Timoleon (297 from reading)

o How many citizens did the Corinthians muster up?
10K
o How many went to Sicily?
60K
o What did he promise in return for their voyage?
Land
o Why did he promise them this? Why buy them out?