Interaction between Military and Society in Greece Flashcards
1
Q
What is Laconia?
A
The region of the Peloponnese where Sparta is located
2
Q
What does Kalos Thanatos mean?
A
A Beautiful Death
3
Q
What are the key Spartan factors?
A
- Spartan militarism was enabled by helots and perioikoi
- Spartan militarism was designed to keep control of the helots
- Spartan society glorified warfare
- Spartan society was harsh, but everyone was too afraid to rebel
4
Q
What are the key Athenian factors?
A
- The Phalanx showed the middle classes their power and led to democracy
- The Athenian Navy showed the poor their power
5
Q
What was Athens like before democracy was established, and when was it established?
A
6th and 5th BCE
- Before, the city was ruled by tyrants, who would usually take power for themselves by amassing followers and staging a coup
6
Q
Why were Athenian tyrants bad?
A
- Take power using force
- Common people had no political power
- Massive economic inequality
7
Q
What impact did the Hoplite Phalanx have on democracy?
A
- Athenian victory using the Phalanx in the first Greco-Persian war proved that Athens needed the middle class more than they did aristocracy
- Aristotle wrote that their victory gave the Athenian people confidence to pursue their new system of government- democarcy
- This was reinforced by the fact that a former tyrant of Athens (Hippias) had fought alongside the Persians, so when the Athenians defeated the Persians, they symbolically defeated tyranny
8
Q
What impact did the Athenian fleet on democracy?
A
- Rowers were mainly drawn from the poorer classes of society
- Athens depended on their navy more than their army, so their poorer citizens were now the most important in protecting the city and helping it flourish
- The wealthy and middle-class hoplites could no longer claim to be the ones protecting Athens, and so had no claim to political power over ordinary people
