Mid Term Exam Flashcards by Taliesin Cook

What is a polis? What is a greek city state?

A polis is the greek word for a greek city state. By definition- a city-state, a social and political unit with a unified identity

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What year to the Polis start to emerge within Ancient Greece?

9th and 8th centuries

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What were the three most democratic measures taken by Solon?

1) the ban on loans granted upon the person 2) the right for all to seek compensation on behalf of offended parties 3) the right to appeal to the jury-courts

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Who is Solon?

Solon was a social, political, economic reformer who held the title of archon in 594 B.C. He was one of the most important figures for democracy, although there was not democracy in his time he laid the roots for eventual democracy

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What is a Deme?

Is a subdivision of Athens or other city-states

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What is a primary source?

sources written/ create at the time (texts, artifacts, images. etc.)

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What is a secondary source?

sources that are based on primary sources written by modern day scholars

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What are the main 4 points that a Polis were characterized by?

Autarkeia, Autonomia, Elutheria, Isonomia

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What is Autarkeia?

Autarkeia is freedom from all things, to have need of nothing or no one, a focus on independence specifically with economic self-sufficiency

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What is Autonomia?

The power or right to govern itself. (each city state made up its own rules and governance with they determined those rules and laws)

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What is Eleutheria?

Personification of liberty, meaning a citizen had personal freedom

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What is Isonomia?

equal rights to the law and shares of tradition. (although the shares themselves may not be equal like political offices)

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What is a magistrate?

a civil officer or lay judge who administrates the law

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What is an Archon?

a name for an athenian magistrate (served a single year term)

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Who was Draco?

Draco was the first recorded legislator in Athens in 621 B.C. He was a lawgiver known for making many laws, implementing citizenship to those that owned land and could bare arms

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Did Draco favour democracy?

No, Draco favoured ogligarchy

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What is Ogligarchy

Oligarchy is a power structure in which power rests with a small number of people. Usually wealthy and noble people.

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During Dracos time were Archons able to have debt?

No they were not allowed to have debt to anyone as this has the potential for political bribery

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How long was a Archons service?

1 year

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What is the Council of Areopagus?

Was essentially a jury made up of previous Archons in which citizens would bring cases before this council.

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What was the Council of Areopagus described as?

The “guardians of the laws” ensured that magistrates acted in compliance with the laws

What council came under Solon?

Council of 400 (401) drawn by lot

how many Archons were in Solons time?

Who was tested as a neutral part between the extremely rich and poor

Solon

What was the measure called that cancelled all the debts

Seisactheia (shaking off of burdens)

Whose laws led mostly to the death penalty

Draco

What was the difference between Draco and Salon's reforms?

Dracos laws were largely legal, while Solons reforms focused on the economic, political, and social tensions that were starting to arise

How are the Archons chosen during Solons time?

citizens of each tribe elected ten candidates (40 Total) from which the years archons were chosen by lot

How many tribes were there in Solons time

What were the 4 established wealth classes that was introduced my Solon

1) Pentakosiomedimnoi (500 medini of produce as yearly income) 2) Hippeis (>300 medimni) 3) Zeugitai (possessors of a yoke of oxen, at least 150 medimni) 4) Thetes (workers for wages less than 150 median)

What was the structure like in Solons period?

Nine archons and treasures (3x main archons included in this), council of Areopagus and council of 400 (100 from each tribe)

Were the 4 wealth classes equal in political office?

No, although the citizens were equal in the state they were not equal in what office they hold

What is Tyranny?

a government run by a single ruler who didn't have constitutional authority to rule.

Who was Peisistratus?

tyrant of ancient Athens whose unification of Attica and consolidation and rapid improvement of Athens’s prosperity helped to make possible the city’s later preeminence in Greece.

What were some positives of Peisistratus

He developed coinage, public buildings, religious building and was regarded as the one whom unified Athens

How many times was Peisistratus excommunicated?

twice

When did Peisistratus die?

527 BC

Who took over after Peisistratus's death?

his two sons Hipparchus & Hippias (murdered and exiled)

Who were the two that were considered the Tyrannicides?

Harmodius & Aristogeiton

Name the 3 timeline events that came after Peisistratus's death?

509 BC, Spartans and Athenians drive out Hippias 509/8, Isagoras becomes First Archon, 508/7, Cleisthenes becomes first Archon

After the death of Peisisitratus who were the two men competing for power

Cleisthenes and Isagoras

How did cleisthenes gain an upper hand on Isagoras

by utilizing the populace by giving political rights to the masses

What did cleisthenes do to the existing 4 tribes?

He distributed all citizens through ten tribes instead of the four, this was because he wanted to mix them up so more men should have a share in the running of the state. He then made the council of 400 the council of 500, 50 from each tribe, he refused dividing them up into 12 to avoid allocating them to the already existing thirds

Who changed the council?

Cleisthenes

What did Cleisthenes do to Attica?

he split Attica into 30 parts, 10 parts in the city region, 10 in the coast and 10 in the inland

What is Trityes?

The name trittys means "third", and is named such because there were three types of regions in each trittys. There were thirty trittyes and ten tribes (before Cleisthenes, there were only four tribes organized by royal families) named after local heroes in Attica.[1][2] Trittyes were composed of one or more demes; demes were the basic unit of division in Attica, which were the smaller units of population that made up the trittyes. (see here - [1] - for a very descriptive map of the demes and tribes).

True or Flase Cleisthenes allowed the each region to maintain their traditional privileges but appointed 10 eponymous heroes to each tribe chosen by Delphic priests

True

True or False most of solons laws disappeared because of the tyrants

true

Cleisthenes introduced laws aimed at the people?

True

what were the 6 reforms done by Cleisthenes?

1)Divides attica in city, mountain and coastal regions 2) each region has 10 trityes, made up of demes (villages) 3) 1 city tritys +1 mountain tritys + 1 coast tritys = 1 voting tribe 4) 500-man boule 5) 10 strategy 6) ostracism

What is ostracism?

an official exile, where citizens retained property but loses the ability to act as a citizen (voting, holding office, residing in office)