A History of the World: Chapter 7: The Ancient Greeks

Greek civilization began in an area dominated by mountains and seas.

A peninsula is a body of land with water on three sides.

Other ancient Greeks settled in farming communities.

Evans concluded that Minos and his family lived in the palace.

Trade was an important economic activity for the Minoans.

However, the Mycenaean civilization declined over time. Mycenaean kingdoms fought one another, and earthquakes destroyed their palace fortresses. By 1100 B.C., the Mycenaean civilization had crumbled.

Soon, people wrote down the tales that had been told by bards, or storytellers.

A colony is a settlement in a new territory that has close ties to its homeland.

As the Greeks began to make coins from metal, this affected their trade. Trade expanded as merchants traded money for goods rather than bartered for goods.

Outside the acropolis was an open area called an agora. This space was used as a marketplace. It was also an area where people could gather and debate issues, choose officials, pass laws, and carry out business.

During battles, rows of hoplites marched forward together, shoulder to shoulder. They raised their shields above them to protect them from the enemy's arrows. This unified formation is called a phalanx.

Merchants and artisans had earned a good living in the growing city-states. However, because they did not own land, they were not considered citizens.

A tyrant is someone who seizes power and rules with total authority. Most tyrants who commanded city-states ruled fairly. However, the harsh rule of a few tyrants gave the word tyranny its current meaning; that is, rule by a cruel and unjust person.

In an oligarchy, a few wealthy people hold power over the larger group of citizens.

In a democracy, all citizens share in running the government.

The Spartans called their enslaved laborers helots, a word that comes from the Greek word for "capture.”

Sparta's leaders wanted to prevent future revolts. They decided to make Sparta a military society that stressed discipline.

Sparta's strict government brought stability. But that stability cost the people of Sparta. Because the government feared losing the helots, it discouraged free thinking and new ideas.

The Spartans achieved Greece's greatest military strength and power.

He also hired the poor to construct temples and other public works.

Travelers could obtain food, water, and fresh horses at roadside stations along the route.

Each satrapy was ruled by a governor called a satrap, which means "defender of the kingdom." The satrap collected taxes, judged legal cases, managed the police, and recruited soldiers for the Persian army.

When the runner reached Athens, he cried out "Victory" and then collapsed and died from exhaustion.

A strait is a narrow channel of water between two pieces of land.

In a direct democracy, all citizens meet to debate and vote on government matters.

In a representative democracy, such as the one we have in the United States today, citizens elect a smaller group of people. This group represents them, makes laws, and governs on their behalf.

Philosophers are thinkers who reflect on the meaning of life.

Most upper-class women rarely left their houses except to attend funerals and festivals. Even then, they had to be accompanied by a male relative.

Athenian farms lacked sufficient land to grow enough food to support the city-state.

During the next several decades, the league drove Persia out of the remaining Greek territories in Anatolia.

Historians call this conflict the Peloponnesian War because Sparta was located in the Peloponnesus.

In his speech, Pericles emphasized that the democratic way of life is worth protecting.