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Minoan Society

2000 B.C.E - 1700 B.C.E

The Minoan society arose on the island of Crete – named after Minos (legendary king of ancient Crete)

Minoans build many lavish palaces (architecture - wealthy) as nerve centers of the society – got ideas from Egyptians, Mesopotamians and Phoenician (previous cultures)
• Served as the residences for the rulers and storehouses to collect taxes from
• The palace official began a script called Linear A (symbols stood for syllables)
• Linear A was untranslated
• Crete received many early influences from Phoenicia and Egypt → they traded a lot with abroad
• Their government was monarchy based (kings – capital city – centralized – palaces)
• They grew olives, grapes, and sheep – wine, olive oil and wool…trade
• Crete was experiences many natural disasters – never could rebuild – Crete fell under foreign domination (next society: Mycenaean)

Mycenaean Society

1500 B.C.E. - 1100 B.C.E.

Mycenaeans were named after Mycenae (important city)
• Indo-European immigrants were the Mycenaean people
• Adapted Minoan Linear A into their script (early form of Greek) and created: Linear B script
• Stone fortresses in the Peloponnesus (southern Greece) – offered great protection and the beginning of agricultural settlements (fertile)
• Overpowered Minoan society and expanded to Anatolia, Sicily, and Italy
• They created the closest thing to a unified empire in Greece of their time
• Mycenaeans were not known as intellectuals – more as brutes

Chaos in the eastern Mediterranean after Trojan War

1200 B.C.E.

• Mycenaeans engaged in conflict with Troy (in Anatolia)
• Chaos “reigned”

The world of the polis gradually emerged in Greece

800 B.C.E

Transition to city states - Examples: Sparta and Athens (Location? Central values? Economy?)
Arete – individual military success and finding yourself - (bravery… - The Odyssey)

Sparta began to extend control

700 B.C.E

Sparta extended control
• The neighboring people’s status was reduced to the status of helots (semi-free servants)
• Domination was maintained by powerful military
Spartan society
• Discouraged social distinction – were very serious people – distinction was drawn by skill, discipline, and military talent (very intense and harsh)

Beginning of Athens

600 B.C.E

Athens
• Solon (one leader/ruler of the time) sought to negotiate order → introduced democratic principles…
• They also made citizenship only open to free adult males (not slaves, women, or foreigners)
• It was hard for Athens to have control over all people (population growing – less manageable/ little land makes it hard to expand)
• When people moved and began small colonies in other lands, they kept their Greek heritage and still considered themselves Greek (PanHellenic)
Athenian society
• Athens was trading overseas (which brought prosperity to Attica – a region of Athens)
• Aristocratic landowners mostly received the $$$$$
• There was much tension between the classes… problems for Athens due to changing social structure/ “shakiness”
Pericles
• Most popular democratic leader of Athens
• He wielded enormous personal influence on the Athenian government → he supported programs that created jobs (construction and laborers)
• Under Pericles leadership → Athens became the most significant and sophisticated of the poleis
Hoplites
• In later classical Greece – hoplites (foot soldiers) began to replace the chariots and different styles of Minoins/Mycenaeans – new style of military –

The Peloponnesian League

550 BC

• Many city states joined in and gave money to Sparta to protect them – (similar to Athens’s league)
• The PL was a large support system for Sparta – they joined together to protect from their enemies
• More of a unification of Sparta and surrounding city states
• Created to stop invasions into the Peloponnesus
• Sparta relied on its own agriculture

The Persian War

500 B.C.E - 479 B.C.E

• Sparked by: Ionians revolting against Persians – Darius attacks Athens – Sparta does not help (Sparta only cares about Sparta) – Battle of Marathon: Athens wins
• Wars continued – Darius’s son (Xerxes) – he comes back and creates a large army to attack again
• Battle of Salamis (Athens Wins)
• The two Persian attacks were both unsuccessful – Athenians are scared though (if attack happened again – maybe not able to win)
• Athens set up a systems of alliance (The Delian League)

Beginning of Delian League

478 BC

• Many states joined in and gave money to Athens to protect them – (similar to Sparta’s league)
• They kept the money (treasury) on the island: Delos
• They created trirenes/birenes – large powerful vessels (defense against Persians)
• To ensure more protection – Athens built the Long Walls: wall all around Athens (protection – extended to the seas)
• During war – people would stay in protected walls – military could go out and get food/needed supplies
• DL made government positions (boule…etc.) a paying job
• Made citizens able to have only one parent (male) of Athenian birth/citizenship

• Made it so there’s no threat and that the government is secure (Empire)
• With no more threat of Persians, the DL became pointless (the supporting states began to rebel – Peloponnesian War)
• More of an empire that the Pelo league (control)
• Athens traded more with other regions (Corinth → ports/sea trade)

Socrates

470 B.C.E. - 399 B.C.E.

Socrates asked thought-provoking questions about human behavior. He tested people’s beliefs on morality and ethics, but as his beliefs became too extreme, a jury of Athenian citizens condemned him to death. Though Socrates never wrote about his beliefs, his pupil Plato wrote dialogs that represented the beliefs.

The Peloponnesian War

431 BC - 404 BC

• The two armies were under the leadership of Athens and Sparta → because of Sparta’s powerful army, Athens surrendered
• Sparta’s strategy: (military strength was high) – try to burn all of Attica to the ground (in hopes of surrender…)
• Athens’ strategy: retreat inside the city walls – initially it worked but then the plague his them (all the disease was inside the walls → lots of death)
• New Athenian leader: Alcibiades) – “A” helps allies in Sicily (they lose and he loses his prestige and power – not his intention (backfire))
• Hellespont → surprise attack form Sparta and Persia
• Athens starves and surrenders

• Sparta’s victory sparked jealousy → creation of the Peloponnesian League

Plato

430 B.C.E. - 347 B.C.E.

Plato built upon the foundation that Socrates had left behind, and established a vision of the world called: Forms and Ideas. He struggled with the idea of intellectual control, and came to the conclusion that there was more than one world. He decided that the world was not a genuine reality, but rather a world of Forms and Ideas, where it was possible to understand the true nature of human affairs and qualities. Plato’s abstract ides had political context as well, and he believed that an ideal state would be ruled by a philosopher king, so he supported the idea of an intellectual aristocracy.

Aristotle

384 B.C.E. - 322 B.C.E.

Aristotle, Plato’s pupil, began to break off from Plato’s belief of Forms and Ideas. Aristotle showed people that philosophers could rely on their own senses to discover life’s mysteries. His beliefs were easier to grasp for people, because he had a true understanding of the world. As philosophies evolved during Greek history, beliefs became more relatable to common people. They also started to shape the development of cultural traditions in Greece, Europe, and Islam for many future generations.

Alexander of Macedon's conquests

330 BC

Alexander of Macedon: “Alexander the Great”
• He succeeded King Philip of Macedon when he was 20 and began his conquests…
• His goal was to defeat PERSIA (conqueror, educated man – philosophy taught by Aristotle)
• He wanted to spread the Greek culture (wanted to discover the Mediterranean)
• He had a very open philosophy
• Timeline of conquests
o 333 B.C: he controlled Anatolia and Ionia
o 332 B.C: he controlled Syria, Palestine, and Egypt
o 331 B.C: he controlled Mesopotamia, he invaded Persia and he burned the Achaemenid empire’s palace (Persepolis)
o 330 B.C: he killed all the Achaemenid rulers and made himself the new ruler of Persia

o 327 B.C: he crossed the Indus River (entering Punjab) – but his troops refused to go any further…
o Alexander began to create/establish cities throughout Indus River Valley land
• About 70 of the cities were named Alexandria (after himself) – left a legacy
• He also started the Persian satrapies (small institutions/provinces that were governed by a satrap – they administered Alexander’s standards/laws)
o 323 B.C: he fell ill and died
o He left a large and prospering realm behind though (provided a great base for future rulers)

Hellenistic Age

323 BC

• Hellenistic Era: era during which Greek cultural traditions expanded into regions beyond Greece (spreading out) – standardized banking, measurements ETC. (CLASSICAL)
o Alexander’s realm was divided into three empires between his generals: Antigonus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus
• The empires were governed as very cosmopolitan cities – that sparked interactions between peoples from India to Greece
• Benefits of the interaction: integration of economies throughout, facilitated trade (trade routes between regions became more prominent), and made the spread of religions, values, and governing systems easier
• Antigonid Empire: Macedon and Greece – the smallest
o There was constant tension between the Antigonid empire and Greek cities (they wanted their independence back) – they tried to make bargains

o No capital (harder to unify – independent nature of city states)
o Cities of Athens and Corinth flourished though (prospering economy due to trade ports)
o Wasn’t fertile – little agricultural prosperity
• The Ptolemaic empire: Egypt – the wealthiest
o The capital is Alexandria
o The rulers of the empire did not interfere in Egyptian society – focused on organization of agriculture (FERTILE), industry, and taxes
o Alexandria: the capital (administrative headquarters and served as a prominent sea port, ability to spread ideas from Alexandria – ability to carry more cargo) – HUGE ex of the Hellenistic world
o The famous Alexandria Museum and Alexandria Library – cultural centers that supported higher learning and scholarship
o The only negative was that there was very little Greek influence
o The Ptolemaic kingdom became Greek → transition
• The Seleucid empire: Bactria to Anatolia – the largest
o Greek and Macedonian colonists were drawn to the cities – they created a Mediterranean-like society
o Not good agriculture → but was along the prominent trading routes
o Bactria withdrew from the Seleucid empire → established independent Greek kingdom