Ancient Greece

Knossos
 Gods and myths

Culture Mythology

HELLAS
Hellenians
Language
A Greek city-state
Acropolis and Agora
Citizens of all Greek City-States
What are the duties of citizens in a Greek
city state?

 Vote
 Defend the Polis
 Take Part in Government
 Greek Polis (City-State)
 Sparta
 Athens
 Thebes
 Argos
 Corinth
CIVIC AND PERSONAL HONOR.
THE GOOD OF THE POLIS ABOVE EVERYTHING ELSE!
 Athens

 Athens was an important Greek city-state.

 The people of Athens wanted to rule themselves
and not have a king or queen.
 Athens became the world’s first democracy
around 508 B.C.
 A democracy is a government in which all
citizens can vote and have equal say in what
happens.
Athens
The thing that set Athens
apart from the other
city-states was its
government.
M onarchy
Athens was a democracy Rule by a king or queen

A ristocracy
The government of Rule by a small group of land owning elite
Athens, however,
went through several T yranny

stages before Rule by one person, the Tyrant. Who takes power

reaching democracy.
Democracy
Rule in which people can vote.
 Education in Athens

Education was very important in Athens.

Boys went to school to learn to

read and write. They also
learned many sports.
Girls were not allowed to go to
school or learn to play sports.
Sparta
 Sparta
 Sparta was a Greek city-state.

 Sparta was very powerful and had its own army.

 Sparta conquered other city-states to gain
wealth and power.

 There were three classes of people in Sparta.

 Citizens, non-citizens, and slaves.
 Sparta’s Classes
 Only men born in Sparta were citizens.
 Women were not allowed to become citizens,
however, women were allowed to own land and
businesses, which gave them more freedom than
other Greek city-states.
 The second class in Sparta was
people who came from other
city-states or other countries.
They could own businesses but
not become citizens.
 The third class was slaves.
 Aristocrats (These are
the Spartans) – they
owned all the land,
but lived in the center
of the Polis.

Center of the Polis,

where the Spartans lived

Farmland, where
the Helots (slaves)
Lived and worked.
The Ephors – MOST POWERFUL
 Ephors – A group of 5
elder men that made
sure everyone,
including the kings,
followed the laws.
 Laws were not written
down.
 Memory and
judgment of the
Ephors was crucial.
 Spartan Kings
 Oligarchy – means rule
by a few.
 Sparta – Had 2 Kings to
prevent one from getting
too powerful.
 One was in charge of the
army, and the other
matters at home.
 Both were members of
the Council of Elders.
Council of Elders
 Called the Gerousia.
 28 more “elected”
officials (totaling 30).
 Must be over 60.
 Usually wealthy
aristocrats.
EQUALS
 Boys trained from 7-19.
 Around 20, they became
Spartan soldiers.
 Once you became a
soldier, you were
considered an “Equal.”
 Equals voted on matters
by yelling out as loud as
they could.
 They lived together in
barracks, not with their
families.
 Spartan Women
 Different from
other Greek
women.
 Their job was to
work out and get
strong so that they
could….
 Make Strong Babies
 Perioeci
merchants and artisans
Periocei: non-Spartans
who made things the
Spartans needed and
brought in goods the
 Helots - slaves Spartans needed

Helots: they were conquered people who

the Spartans owned as slaves, they grew all
the food for the Spartans. They
outnumbered the Spartans, which is why
the Spartans always trained to fight.
 Sparta warriors
 Learning to read and write in Sparta was not
very important.
 Training to become a good soldiers was
important.
 Young boys were taken from their parents and
trained to be soldiers as well as good in sports
such as running.
 Girls were also trained to be good in sports.
Sparta warriors

 Spartan Boot Camp

Phalanx-the military
formation of the
Spartans, and later
all Greeks.
 A Spartan Existence

 Do not own many

nice things
 Do not eat out
much
 Wear plain clothes
 A Simple Life