2. The City-States of
Ancient Greece
• Sparta and Athens
• The Persian Wars
• The Delian League
• The Decline of Athens
3. Polis = City-State
• Greece was divided into
city-states, each known as
a polis. The two main city-
states were Sparta and
Athens. The greatest of
these was Athens which
was a center of intellectual
and cultural development -
“the nursery of western
civilization.” What do you
think that means?
4.
5. Government & Education
• Athenian democracy
was for free, male
athenians only.
Education for men was
highly valued. Only
boys of wealthy
families attended
schools. The term
academy comes from
athens.
6. Structure of the Polis
• Each polis was built around an acropolis, a
fortified hill with the temple of the local god at
the top.
7. Structure of the Polis
• At the foot of the acropolis was the agora, an open
area used as a marketplace. By 700 B.C. This inner
part of the polis had become a city. With the villages
and farmland around it, it made up a city-state.
8. Athens
• Athens was knows for its great navy and was
a rival of sparta. Its ships were known as
triremes because they had three levels of
rowers.
9. Battle of Marathon
• The Persians were defeated by the Athenians at
the battle of marathon. The Athenians were so
joyful in victory that they sent a professional
runner, Pheidippides, back to Athens.
10. A run extraordinaire. . .
• Pheidippidies ran
about 26 miles to
athens to report the
victory. When he
arrived, he cried out,
“Nike!” And died from
exhaustion. Nike is
the goddess of
victory.
11. Sparta
• Sparta was known for its
great army and was a rival
of Athens. Their army was
known for holding off the
Persian army of 250,000 at
Thermopylae for three
days with only 7000
soldiers. This gave the
people of Athens time to
escape before the
Persians invaded there.
13. Spartan Goal
• Sparta tried to become the strongest people in Greece. They
also disliked change. This would later prove to be a weakness
for them. Spartans preferred actions to words. A “Spartan
lifestyle” both then and today is one that is simple and highly
disciplined with few luxuries.
14. Main Ideas
• Government – Democracy expanded under the leadership of
Pericles.
• Economics – Pericles expanded the wealth and power of
Athens through the Delian League.
• Culture – Pericles launched a program to make Athens
beautiful.
16. Pericles’ Three Goals
• Pericles led athens after
the persian wars
• Was the strongest
leader from 460
B.C.E until his death
31 years later
• This time was later
called age of pericles
• Three goals: strengthen
democracy, expand
empire, beautify athens
17. Pericles Strengthens Democracy
• Pericles supported democractic reforms
• Wanted to change balance of power between rich
and poor
• In 430 B.C.E., Pericles gave speech honoring soldiers
killed in war
• Stated his view of democracy
• Spoke out for equality in laws
• Praised public service and individual ability over
class
18. Paid Public Officials
• Changed rule for holding
public office to spread
power more evenly
• Paid more officials so
poor could afford to
hold office
• Citizen had to be free
male, over 18, son of
athenian-born parents
19. Direct Democracy
• Direct democracy – all
citizens participate in
running government
• All could propose and
vote on laws
22. Delian League
• To protect themselves,
Greek city-states formed
the Delian league
• Mutual protection
group had center,
treasury on island of
Delos
• Pericles used league
money to build navy
of at least 300
warships
23. Athens Dominates the Delian League
•Athens had a superior navy and
control of the delian league
• Moved league treasury to athens in
454 B.C.E.
• This move strengthened athens
•Other city-states eventually
became part of athenian empire
25. Rebuilding Athens
• In 480 B.C.E., Athens was in ruins from the persian
wars
• Pericles rebuilt and beautified city with funds from
delian league
• Other city-states were angry because he did not
ask permission to use funds
• Pericles spent money on sculptures, buildings,
expensive materials
• Materials included gold, ivory, and marble
26. The Acropolis
• Athens rebuilt acropolis
– “high city” that included
parthenon
• Parthenon housed
statue of goddess
athena, the city’s
protector
• Parthenon
architecture had
graceful proportions,
harmony, and order
27. The Acropolis (con’t.)
• Other acropolis temple
dedicated to Athena Nike,
goddess of victory
• Acropolis’ erechtheum was
sacred site with beautiful
architecture
• Legendary site where
Athena beat Poseidon
to be city’s patron
28. Why it matters now…
Athenian democracy, art, and architecture
set standards that remain influential in the
world today.