Review Sheet - Greece

Question 1

Where was the core of the Persian Empire?

How far did the periphery of the empire extend to? (Give geographic boundaries)

Answer 1

Located in modern day Iran and Iraq

In its prime, it extended from Greece to Northwestern India

Question 2

How did Darius and Cyrus control their empire? (Give examples)

Give Darius, Cyrus and Both

Answer 2

Cyrus

• did not enslave conquered people and many became loyal to him (radical move in the ancient world) and FREED Jewish captives from slavery
• took over Babylon by winning the respect of priests after he acknowledged their gods

Darius

• implemented standardized coins and script
• expanded trade throughout the empire
• built cities

Both

• built roads to link the empire
• incorporative method took off ruler but did not change the society so people did not oppose the change

Question 3

Why do historians believe that Mycenaean civilization collapsed?

Answer 3

The Mycenean civilization appeared to be abandoned. We don’t have a definitive answer why but most people think that the Dorian (sea people) invasion destroyed the civilization.

Question 4

How did the Iliad affect Greek culture

Answer 4

Poetry of the Iliad formed a connection between classical and Maecenean - period of great knowledge.

Question 5

What types of human behavior does the Iliad think of as positive and negative?

Answer 5

Positives
Mindful of the gods, gods control fate, bravery, gods are with us, self-assertion, defending honor, violence, revenge, material gain

Negatives
Don’t ignore the divine, meek, patient, submission

Question 6

Why did classical Greece form many smaller city states instead of a large unified empire?

Answer 6

Greece was located in mountainous regions and had dry land so only small pieces of land had been suitable for a successful colony. Likewise, as colonies grew bigger, the small pieces of land could not support them, so it was broken into smaller city states.

Question 7

Why do historians believe that Athens first started to have democratic tendencies?

Answer 7

Direct democracy was initiated as a way to create unity and relieve tension among different groups in Athens.

Leaders created the system to promote equality in the society and stave off civil tension between different economic classes.

Question 8

What were philosophers like Socrates and Plato interested in terms of their philosophy? Why?

Answer 8

Philosophers such as Socrates and Plato were interested in a truth or understanding in life.

Socrates, for example, asked questions about if men and women should have equal education by reasoning an answer.

Question 9

How did Athens become such a wealthy city state? What were some of the results of this success?

Answer 9

Athens emerged as a leader after the Persian war as opposed to Sparta. It became the cultural center of the Green world.

• had a large navy
• head of the Delian Leauge (other city states had to pay them money which funded the navy)

Thus they became wealthy and powerful.

Question 10

Geographically, where is Sparta and Athens located in Greece? What seas surround Greece?

Answer 10

Athens is on the Ionian Peninsula
Sparta is on a sperate island near the Ionian Peninsula.

The Aegean, Ionian, Mediterranean, Sea of Crete surround Greece

Question 11

How did the Spartans solve the problem of their expanding population?

Answer 11

Spartans experienced population growth among the citizens. They faced an agricultural problem of producing enough food. So, they made conquered peoples agricultural slaves and were able to focus back on the military.

This happened early on which established the Spartan focus on the military because agriculture was dealt with by slaves.

Question 12

Define the term “helot”

Answer 12

Helots are slaves owned by the Roman government. These people were men that were in debt or captives from a conquest.

Helot rebellion was a fear because there were so many helots compared to Spartan citizens.

Question 13

Describe the Spartan government

Answer 13

• Democracy
• 2 kings monarchy (one to fight slaves and another to fight abroad)
• Oligarchy (small group of ppl with power)
  and ephors acted as executive officers

Question 14

Describe some of the key aspects of Spartan culture

Answer 14

Military based society
Boys 7 + trained then fought in battles and had basic education. Slaves were the agricultural workforce which allowed the citizens to be devoted to military purposes.

OTHER: We are not sure what non-fighting men did. Women had basic education but we are not sure what they did when the husbands weren’t home. Most of the population was slaves (helot) who kept the society running when everyone was in training.

Question 15

Why do historians believe that the Spartans needed to keep their society in a constantly militarized state?

Answer 15

Sparta needed to have a constant military state to protect themselves from the helot rebellion.

They had a good army = more slaves = needed better military = thus could conquer.

Question 16

What were some of the major battles of the Persian wars? How did the Greeks manage to defeat the Persians during the invasion of both Darius and Xerxes?

Answer 16

The Battle of Marathon is most impt in Greek history because otherwise Persia would have taken over.

The sea battle of the island of Salamis demonstrated Greek dominance.

Also Battle of Platea
Battle of Thermopylae (against Xerxes)

They had a new battle tactic and a powerful fleet. They filled their boats with soldiers to fight hand to hand combat, that lead to the Persian army to withdraw their army.

Question 17

Describe the results of the Persian war on Greek civilization

Answer 17

Athens became the cultural center of the Greek world because it was key in the defeat of the Persians.

Question 18

Why did the Peloponnesian war begin? What was the outcome?

Answer 18

The Peloponnesian war was a result of a campaign against Sparta. Sparta became suspicious of Athens who allied with Megora ad Argos (rival of Sparta).

Athens was convinced to attack the Greek city-states on the island of Sicily. It turned into a disaster and the entire army was captured and defeated in the harbor of Syracuse. The Sicilian expedition left Athens powerless. The Spartans attacked Athens and joined by the Persians. Sparta enforced their own form of oligarchic government, “The Thirty” (Tore city down and took away privileges in Delian Leauge).

Question 19

Why did Alexander win so many battles against the Persian Empire?

Answer 19

• enforced unity over Greece and created a large army and strong government
• Greek was weak from the Pelopennisan War
• His strategy allowed him to deprive of an enemy’s navy
• Darius being killed by his Persian nobles
• accumulated money and people
• started small then gained wealth and people to move to larger cities
• conquered the central cities of the enemy countries

Question 20

Describe the legacy that Alexander left after he died: How did his expansion influence Eurasian culture? (Be sure to reference Hellenism in your answer)

Answer 20

Alexander spread the legacy of Hellenism spread throughout his empire. His empire reached very far in both East and West. He influenced language, culture, architecture. He was still able to create this even though he died young. His successors continued this.

Question 21

How did Macedon gain control of Greece under Phillip II?

Answer 21

King Philip 2 built a powerful military that enabled him to overcome traditional clans and become ruler of Macedon. The groups in Macedon were so divided that they couldn’t form an alliance against Philip.

Question 22

What is a phalanx? Why do historians believe that the Greeks learned to fight in this style?

Answer 22

A military strategy that involved heavily armed men running at each other in a close-knit group.

It was revolutionary at the time.