Greek Social Structure, Government & Crime/Punishment

Greek Social Structure, Government & Crime/Punishment

Mr. Mains

Multiple Choice

Review: What type of terrain BEST describes the geography of Greece?

• desert

• mountains

• plains

• tons and tons of farmland

Open Ended

Review: Since the people of Greece couldn't depend on farmland to get their food, they used the seas. What was ONE (of four) of the jobs that was created?

Objectives:

• Understand the establishment of the first city-states

• Understand the different types of government throughout ancient Greece's history

• Understand basic social structure of Greece

• Understand what it took to be a citizen of Greece and the rights that went along with it

• Understand how crime and punishments worked in most of the Greek city-states

Multiple Choice

What do you think best describes what a city-state is?

• a country

• a place that has all of the different types of climate

• a self-sufficient area of land

• an area of the world that is both a country and a continent

A city-state is a self-sufficient area of land

• Also, known as a polis

• They all varied in population

• They all had their own unique philosophy and/or ruling style

• They all varied in physical size

Other types of govs. throughout history:

• Monarchy: rule by one (king) & it is inherited

• Tyranny/dictatorship: rule by a leader who gained power through force (usually legally)

• Oligarchy: rule by a few (king and an assembly) -Sparta used this

Multiple Choice

Greece was one of the first civilizations that established a democracy. What does the term democracy mean?

• rule by the people (voted into power)

• rule by only a king/queen

• rule by a religious leader or religious group

• rule by Mr. Mains

Difference between representative democracy & direct democracy

• Representative: gov. in which few people are voted in to represent the whole

• Direct: people who vote specifically/directly for a person/law

Multiple Choice

Which type of government is better for a larger population?

• representative democracy

• direct democracy

The Social Structure of Ancient Greece

• First of all, it definitely varied for each different city-state/polis as each had their own philosophy of how each society should be run

• It was also dependent upon your gender, age, birthplace and whether or not you were free

• Before we get into the social structure, we need to look into what the requirements were to be a citizen

To be a Greek citizen, you MUST have ALL of the following!

• You must be free

• You must be a male

• You must be a landowner

• You must be native-born (born in that city-state)

Multiple Choice

About what percentage of society were citizens (that is, allowed to vote)?

• 80%

• 33%

• 20%

• 5%

Open Ended

Give me an example of someone who was NOT considered to be a citizen

Those who were NOT citizens:

• Women

• Children

• Slaves

• Anyone foreign-born (not born in that city-state)

Important: Just because you weren’t a citizen, didn’t mean that you couldn’t live in the city, but that you didn’t have the RIGHTS of a citizen

• Rights of citizens:

• -right to vote/choose officials

• -pass laws

• -defend themselves in court

• -hold office

Reorder

Put the order of the generic Greek social structure. With 1 being the top, and 5 being the bottom

• Government & wealthy males

• Male citizens

• Male children

• Women, foreigners, female children

• Slaves

1

2

3

4

5

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

Social Structure of Ancient Greece

• Social Structure was upon your gender and we​alth and not your job like other civilizations

  ​

• 1) Government (run by wealthy males)

• 2) Male citizens (broken up into upper, middle and lower class which depended on wealth & job)

• 3) Male children (would be considered a child until age 18)

• 4) Women/foreigners, female children-no rights

• 5) Slaves-made up a huge population & had no rigths

• Remember-all of the city-states were unique regarding their social structure so this is just a generic model

Open Ended

Reaction on how the Ancient Greek social structure was set up? Fair? Give me your thoughts.

The elected officials

• The process varied per city-state

• In Athens, the Council (500 citizens) were elected to a 1 year term; they would create laws for the Assembly to vote on

• The Assembly was made up of 6,000 citizens

• Fun fact: if 6,000 citizens voted to remove a citizen from office, they would be exiled for 10 years

Crime & Punishments

• You were expected to represent yourself (timed arguments)

• Trials determined by a jury (200-600) & NOT a judge

• Didn't need everyone to agree, just the majority

• Punishments for mild crimes: jail, fines and/or loss of property

• Punishments for serious crimes (depended on offense): poisoning, stoning, impalement, buried alive or crucifixion

Poll

Overall, do you think that these punishments are reasonable for the crimes?

• Yes for the most part

• No, I still think they are pretty harsh

The punishments were much more fair & reflective of the crime one committed

• This was contrary to the rule of Legalism

• However, crimes were taken seriously & this was able to help keep people in check

Open Ended

So far, how are you feeling about wanting to be a person living in Ancient Greece? Sound like a good place? Bad? Give me your thoughts. No right or wrong answer....

Review

• A city-state (or polis) is a self-sufficient area of land; Each city of state of Greece was unique in its government and policies

• Governments have evolved throughout history but democracy was formed and established in Greece

• The social structure of Ancient Greece depended on the city-state but those who were citizens had rights

• People were voted into office and were held accountable for their actions

• Punishments were reflective to their crime in Ancient Greece

Your tasks:

• Daily life in Athens Edpuzzle

• Greek geography Edpuzzle from earlier this week