LO3 Citizens and communites: The Greek city-states

• Dark ages began to develop into city-states.
• Communities of this kind had often arisen before, for example, among the Sumerians and Phoenicians at times when there was no powerful kingdom or empire to limit their independence
• Athens and Sparta each about the same size as a couple of U.s countries.
• Both Fortresses and temples were vitally important to the Greek city-states
• Acropolis: The high fortified citadel and religious center of an ancient Greek town
• The Greek language is the first that is known to have a specific word for a member of such community: polites, or "citizen"
• City-states and citizens
• The notion of citizen participation seems to have originated partly in geography
• The Athenian Owl: That was the slang name of this tetradrachma(four drachma coin), Because the owl, the sacred bird of Athena, on reverse (tails side). One the obverse (heads side) the goddess herself wears a warriors helmet. The coin, is pure silver
• Hoplite: A heavily armed and armed citizen- solider of ancient Greece
• Phalanx: A unit of several hundred hoplites, who closed ranks by joining shields when approaching the enemy
• Monarchy: A state in which supreme power is held by a small group
• Triremes: Massive fighting vessels with three banks of oars, used to ram or board enemy ships
• Tyranny: Rule by self-proclaimed dictator (a tyrant)
• Democracy: In ancient Greece, a form of government in which all adult male citizens were entitled to take part in decision making
• "Alongside Mesopotamia and Egypt there now appeared a third great civilization: that of classical Greece." 
• Monarchy, Oligarchy, Tyranny, Democracy
• Many city-states in mainland Greece were oligarchies, above all Sparta.
• The most powerful and successful of democratic city-states was Athens, but there were many others, particularly among the Greeks of Asia Minor and elsewhere on the Mediterranean coastline.
• Sparta: the military ideal
• Helots: Noncitizens forced to work for landholders in ancient city-state of Sparta
• The conquerors became prisoners of their own success. Though the Laconian helots were relatively well treated and even fought in the army, The Messenians were harshly exploited, never accepted their defeat, and often rebelled.
• The Spartan Way of Life
• Along with this government system there went a way of life that dedicated male citizens entirely to the service of the state
• A winner in the Heraean Games? This bronze statuette of a female runner is looking backwards, as if at other runners behind her. Perhaps she is ahead in one of the women's foot races in honor of Zeus`s consort Hera that were held alongside the Olympic Games
• Aristocrats: Members of prominent and long-established Athenian families
• Athens: Freedom and Power
• To the Athenians, the Spartan life was not worth living
• One of their favorite jokes was that the life led by the Spartans explained their willingness to face death
• Aristocrats and commoners
• Athens grew to become the wealthiest and one of the most powerful of Greek city-states
• From Monarchy to Democracy
• As a result, Athens passed through several stages of political growth, beginning with monarchy and including both oligarchy and tyranny
• The Persian Wars
• In the sixth century B.C. the stretched from the border of India to the Nile and the Aegean
• The workings of Democracy: The Assembly In Athenian democracy, ultimate government power rested in the assembly of adult male citizens
• The workings of Democracy: Officials and courts
• As an additional check on aristocratic power, the council of five hundred and roughly one thousand public officials that supervised- tax collectors, building inspectors, and the like-were nearly all chosen annually by lot.
• Ostracism: Banishment for ten years by majority vote of the Athenian Assembly
• Women in Athens
• Most of what is known of the life of Athenian citizen women comes from surviving law court speeches composed by famous orators: in other words, it reflects conditions in families ( from small farm and business owners up to the "fine and noble" elite)
• Aliens: The fifty thousand or so residents aliens were a very varied group Some were wealthy businessmen, or independent women like Aspasia, who were socialized on equal terms with the "fine and noble" ferent from citizens in the same lines of business
• Slaves: The hundred thousand or so slaves in Athens were also a very diverse group, not all of them living lives of total subjection and powerless
• Democracy within traditional civilization
• The Athenian laws and customs concerning women, aliens, and slaves, were not special feature od democracy as such.
• They were local version of traditional values and practices that the Athenians shared with most of the world at the time.

Athens:

• One of their favorite jokes was that the life led by the Spartans explained their willingness to face death
• Athens carried on a prosperous commerce and had direct access to the sea
• Athens chief strength was its navy.
• Athens welcomed foreign ideas and visitors
• Athens were proud of their free way of life
• Flowed daring inventiveness, glorious literature, and stunning creations of mind and hand 

Sparta:

• More war based
• More Strict
• Tried to seal off their city-state from outside influences
• Had little contact with foreigners
• Boys were taken at young ages and were taught writing and reading and were started on a lifelong routine of physical toughening and military training
• Had the more powerful army
• Sparta was a tightly controlled society
• Cultivated physical fitness and military courage