Ancient Greece Flashcards
Describe the geography of Greece
It has many mountains and is surrounded by natural harbors (water)
In geographical terms, what physical feature is Greece?
A peninsula, (with many mountains and harbors)
Because traveling by land was difficult, what did the Greeks do instead?
They turned to the seas for travel and trade, they became excellent ship builders
What group developed an advanced civilization on Crete?
the Minoans
In what ways were the Mycenaeans different than the Minoans
Minoans didn’t speak the Greek language (that’s why historians don’t consider the Minoans to be Greek)
What led to the end of the Minoan civilization?
many natural disasters: a volcano erupted, covering the sky and ground in ash that ruined crops and buried cities. Because of the eruption, a giant wave came up from the sea and flooded much of the island of Crete.
What was the period of warfare and disorder in Greece?
The Greek Dark Ages
Define polis
city-state.
How were Greek colonies similar to a polis?
they were centers for government and trade.
Which Greek leader did democracy work best under?
Pericles.
(He encouraged people to take pride in their city, participate in government, and paid people for their public service. He also encouraged people of Athens to introduce democracy into other parts of Greece.)
Describe a representative democracy
A representative democracy is the type of government of the United States. Citizens elect representatives to debate and vote on issues for them. There is a separation of powers: legislative (create laws), executive (enforce laws), and judicial (judges interpret the laws). All citizens can participate/vote (both men and women).
Why were juries in Athens designed to have an odd number of members?
to prevent ties in votes.
What is a government that only has a few people in power?
An oligarchy
During the early democracy in Greece, why did people have meetings outdoors?
The Athenians held meetings outdoors because they wanted to be sure everybody that wanted to attend would be able.
Describe the rights of citizens in the first democracy of Athens
to be a citizen in Athens, you had to be a male that owned land. All citizens had the right to vote in assembly. They all had the right to speak and debate on issues. All voting was done by a show of hands or by secret ballot.
