LO3 Notes

• dark ages began to develop in city-states
• polis-Greek city-state
• Greek city-states were small places, consisting of no more than a town and few square miles of the countryside
• acropolis- a combination of fortress and temple precinct
• Athens and Sparta fought each other and competed
• hoplites- men at arms
• they equipped themselves with bronze, helmets, armor, round shields, long spears with iron blades and short iron swords
• phalanxes- formidable shock units of several hundred men each
• the sense of the city-state as a community of all its citizens was reinforced by tradition and myth
• each city-state was believed to have been founded by a family or clan
• the status of a father usually determined that of his children
• good life of an individual was to participate in civic affairs
• the communities that would become city states were ruled by kings
• monarchy- development of citizen armies
• oligarchy- one way of a new form of government
• other city-states developed into large commercial centers
• triremes- massive fighting vessels that fought in Phoenician style by ramming or boarding enemy ships
• tyranny- the rule of tyrant or self proclaimed dictator who held power partly by force party by exploiting internal divisions and partly by providing efficient government
• democracy- government by common people
• the most powerful and successful city-state was Athens
• immigrants were almost never awarded citizenship and slavery was widespread
• when a city-state send some of its citizens overseas to found a colony the new settlement became a separate, independent state
• Spartans were descendants of Greeks  
• landholders- less than 10,000 adult males
• helots- descendants of earlier Greek immigrants who were bound to the land by the Spartan state and compelled to work for landholding citizens
• when and how the Spartans developed their government is unknown
• by the fifth century policy decisions had been taken over by the council of elders
• council of elders was some of thirty men from leading families who had to be at least sixty years of age and were chosen by citizens for life
• there were also two kings(high priests and army commanders) whose positions were hereditary in different families
• ephors- five officials elected annually and usually also elderly
•  boys were taken from there families by the state at age 7 for toughing and military training
• women led free and active lives
• Spartan women won praise for sharing the militaristic ideal for their menfolk
• fourth century is when Spartan started to lose battles
• the freedom of Spartan women aroused by admiration and disproval by the Greeks
• to protect their harsh and rigid way of life the Spartans tried to seal off their city-state from outside influences
• aristocrats-descendants of prominent and long-established Athenian families that had traditionally ruled the city-state
• 800 BC was when many old established communities in Attica merged to form a single city-state that was known by the most important communities Athens
• over years Athens grew to become the wealthiest and one of the most powerful Greek- City states
• Peloponnesian war between Athens and Sparta in which Athens was defeated
• ostracism- it is when the assembly could exile him or any other citizen for 10 years by simple majority vote that required no proof of actual wrongdoing
• 445 BC was when final peace was made with Persia, Athens was the controlling power of the Aegean Sea
• civic and political participation was therefore part of the Athenian way of life for adult male citizens
• during the Age of Pericles there were about 40,000 adult males who qualified
• women from well-off families in democratic Athens led more restricted life and had fewer rights than in Athens
• Athenian girls and women who every four years wove a new robe for Athena's sacred image on the acropolis
• fifty thousand or so resident aliens were a very verified group
• resident aliens in Athens bore all the obligations of citizenship but they were entitled to only some of the benefits
• the hundred or so slaves in Athens were also a very diverse group
• most slave owners were small business people and farmers who kept only a few slaves and often worked side by side with them'
• male slaves usually worked in silver and lead mines  and were sure to die sooner because they were overworked
• Assemblywomen- is when the wives actually take over the government