ID quiz September 16th-30th Flashcards
who was Cyrus the Great
the first king of Persia
559-530 B.C.
led a rebellion against the Medes, success seen in the conquest of Babylon
the Cyrus cylinder describes and justifies these conquests and affirms his legitimacy as an agent of the god Marduk
who was Darius I
522-486 BCE
a usurper to the throne but claimed to be related to Cyrus
was the ruler at the beginning of the Persian wars
what is the prelude to the Persian wars
tried to take on a campaign against the Scythians
the Athenians come to the Scythians aid (Ionian revolt)
the revolt failed but Darius was furious with the Athenians as they were supposed to be subservient to the Persians and this is the prelude to the Persian wars
when was the first Persian war?
490 B.C.
describe the first persian war
an invasion of Attica by Darius’ general
the Persians are initially quite successful but then the battle of Marathon sees a hoplite phalanx defeat the Persians despite being heavily outnumbered
there was a threat that the Persians were going to take Athens by surprise so an Athenian general ran 42km to warn Athens
when was the second Persian war
482 B.C.
describe the second Persian war
Darius died and was taken over by his son Xerxes
Herodotus story of how he wasn’t originally going to go to war but was visited by a phantom
he had a huge invading force
Xerxes hubris e.g. his whipping of the water after the bridge is destroyed
the Hellenic league and Greek freedom ideology
the battle at Thermopylae
what was the hellenic league
a Greek union led by Sparta against the Persians
the biggest unification of Greek poleis but probably only included a third of them
describe the battle of Thermopylae
the Greeks chose a narrow pass to mitigate the fact they were outnumbered
there was great initial success but someone revealed to the Persians that there was a way round the back of the pass which surrounded the Greeks
the Spartans valiantly stayed on led by Leonidas and fought to their deaths
what happened after the battle of Thermopylae
the path was open to the Persians to Athens and the take the city, burning the Acropolis
what is the prelude to the battle of Salamis?
the Peloponnese wanted to give up central Greece but others from central greece disagreed
Xerxes is tricked by Themistocles to fight at the battle despite wise advice from Artemesia
what are some facts about salamis
a narrow passage that gave the Greeks a naval advantage
Artemisia rams her ship into another persian one to stop the enemy from chasing her and make Xerxes think she’s doing really well
the decisive battle in the persian wars that sees the Greek alliance win
when is the classical period of Greece?
most of the 5th and 4th century B.C. but particularly after Greek victory in the Persian wars
what are possible reasons for Greek victory
they claimed it was because they were free men fighting of their own will whereas Xerxes’ men were ‘slaves’ showing Greek pride
it was more likely because of Hellenic league tactics, luck with weather etc.
how did the Athenian empire develop?
emerged out of the Hellenic league
they travelled round ensuring freedom of poleis that had been under Persian control
the Spartans had been leading this but rolled back and Athens took control
they were renamed the Delian league with various outposts to prevent any future invasion
they win the battle of Plataea and Mycale that finally pushes the Persians out of the Mediterranean
the league starts to turn into a tool of Athenian power and the line begins to blur between Athenian empire and Delian league
who was Pericles
a highly popular Athenian general/politician
devised innovations to strengthen the egalitarian tendencies of Athenian democracy
he also introduced important reforms that paid those who had been put into official positions by the ballot (e.g. jury) as previously poorer men had found it difficult to leave their jobs and serve which brought an end to the more elite aspect of the Athenian democracy
what are some features of the Greek classical age
the Parthenon is built to Athena
friezes are created that depict mythological scenes
Athens becomes the intellectual centre of the Greek world
philosophy grows e.g. the Sophists and Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
theatre booms e.g. Antigone 441 B.C.
what was life like for Athenian women?
citizens but not at all involved in politics
concerned only with the household
girls tended to be married at 14 to much older men
what was life like for Spartan women?
participated in training and athletics
could speak publicly
relationships outside of marriage were allows
however all of these were to produce stronger children
who was Aspasia of Miletus?
a metic of Athens (a resident foreigner there) who had a relationship with Pericles
she had a large influence over him and some say her intellect is what attracted him to her
she ran a house of prostitutes so was also a business woman
people like Socrates came to hear her speak
what was slavery like in Athens?
most were owned privately
they were acquired through war, if a slave had a child or just by buying
working domestically or in religious temples was one of the best roles and the mines were effectively a death sentence
