The Ancient Greek City-States and Geography

The Ancient Greek City-States and Forms of Government

Leaning Objective 1: Explain the structure and development of a polis in ancient Greece

​Learning Objective 2: Understand the purposes of the different types of government

Multiple Choice

Which year comes before the year 300 BCE?

• 100 BCE

• 1642 CE

• 53 BCE

• 509 BCE

Multiple Choice

Which year comes after the year 100 CE

• 101 BCE

• 101 CE

• 99 BCE

• 99 CE

Multiple Choice

The Greek philosopher Aristotle was born in 385 BCE.

Another philosopher, Pythagoras, was born in 570 BCE.

Which ancient Greek is older?

• Aristotle

• Pythagoras

Multiple Choice

True or False:

The year 2000 BCE is after the year 1000 BCE.

• True

• False

Big Question

• As we go through the notes, keep the big question in mind:

• What different forms of government were adopted by various city-states?

What is a City-State?

• A city that is an independent political state with its own ruling government

• Ancient Greek word for city-state is polis

Polis in Ancient Greece

• Typical Polis would have included a town or small city and the farmlands surrounding it

• City-State populations were typically no more than 20,000 and covered around 100 sq miles

• About 2/3 the size of Denver, CO

​More about Poleis

• ​Forts built on elevated land to protect farmland and polis

  • ​Known as the acropolis (elevated city)

  • ​Regarded as a sacred place

    • ​Built temples to honor the local god

  • ​Athens acropolis was dedicated to the goddess Athena

• ​Each polis had an agora

  • ​Open market in the center of town

More About City-States

• ​Over 1,000 poleis developed

  • present day Greece (around the Aegean Sea),

  • Asia Minor

    • ​peninsula in SW Asia (modern day Turkey)

  • along the Black Sea

  • southern Italy

  • northern Africa

What the City-States all had in Common...

• People spoke Greek, although dialects would vary from city-state to city-state

• Greeks referred to non-Greek speakers as "barbarians"

  • comes from the Greek word barbaros, meaning to babble

• Worshiped the same set of Greek gods

  • Zeus - God of the Sky and main god

  • Hera - Goddess of marriage & Zeus's wife

  • Aphrodite - Goddess of love

  • Athena - Goddess of wisdom & warfare

  • Apollo - God of the sun, medicine, and prophecy

  • ​Ares - God of War

  • ​plus 12 others

​

​

Common cont. 

• Believed the gods lived on Mount Olympus but came down to Greece to influence human affairs

• They all told stories and myths about their gods

• They all built temples to honor their gods

• They would come together for athletic competitions

While they had a lot in common, each City-State was unique

• They would each have their own traditions, legends, and local heroes

• Along with the main gods, each city state would have local gods they would worship

• They had different forms of government

Open Ended

What forms of government have you heard about before?

City-States continued

• From 2000 to 800 BCE, most were ruled by kings (a monarchy)

• By 800-500 BCE, most city-states adopted other forms of government

• Other forms include:

  • Tyranny

  • Aristocracy

    Oligarchy

  • Democracy

​

Monarchy

• ​Earliest form of Greek gov.

• The ruler was seen as legal because the throne was inherited 

• It was believed that the monarch had the right to rule

• One person held all the power

• Male citizens had no say in laws or how society ran

City-States continued

From 2000 to 800 BCE, most were ruled by kings (a monarchy)

By 800-500 BCE, most city-states adopted other forms of government

Other forms include:

Tyranny

• Aristocracy

  Oligarchy

Democracy

​

Oligarchy

• Power held by only a few people

• Oligarchy means rule of the few

  Frequently made up by aristocratic and wealthy, non aristocratic men

• Male citizens who were not either wealthy or aristocratic did not have power

Tyranny

• ​Power held by one man

  • ​Tyrant

  • ​Usually has military experience

  • ​Usually has strong support among the people

• Different from a monarchy because tyrants take power illegally, while kings inherit the throne legally

• Some tyrants in ancient Greece were popular because they would help the poor

• Some tyrants ruled in cruel or harsh ways

Democracy

• Power was shared by a large number of citizens

  • ​Typically only men of a certain status

  Citizens took part in debates, decided government policy, and elected officials

• Democracy was invented in ancient Greece, specifically in Athens

• Democracy spread to a number of different Greek city-states and still influences government today

Aristocracy 

• A government/system where a few noble, upper-class families held power

• Aristocracy means "rule of the best"

• Some aristocratic governments would share their power with an assembly, but not always

  Upper class was usually more educated

• More male citizens had power than under tyranny or a monarchy

• Only noble families got to hold power

Why have different governments?

• ​City-states developed in isolation

• Greeks were proud of the independence and individuality of their city-states

• Believed it was better to live under local government than to live under the power of a king who lived far away

• There was a lack of unity and frequent wars between the city-states

• The two largest and most powerful city-states, Athens and Sparta, were bitter rivals.

Multiple Choice

What is a small, independent political state known as?

• City-State

• Asia Minor

• Aristocracy

• Monarchy

Multiple Choice

What was the ancient Greek word for city-state?

• Agora

• Acropolis

• Ostrakon

• Polis

Multiple Choice

Who was the Greeks' main god?

• Hera

• Poseidon

• Athena

• Zeus

Open Ended

Using complete sentences, answer the following question:

What different forms of government were used in ancient Greece?