Note: You may find conflicting information on maps of ancient Greece. The area under Greek control varied over time; some maps include the areas the Greeks colonized, other maps do not. The shaded areas on the map shown in PictureShow do not include the colonies. Unable to produce enough food on their own rocky soil, the Greeks set sail in search of more fertile land. Between 750 and 550 B.C., the Greeks headed northeast and established many colonies around the Black Sea. They also sailed south across the Mediterranean and colonized the coast of Africa in the area of present-day Libya. Other Greeks headed west and colonized Sicily, southern Italy, and parts of the Mediterranean coast of present-day France and Spain.
KEY POINTSΓÇöGREECE
ΓÇó Although many of the early Greeks farmed or raised animals, they also depended heavily on the sea for food, trade, and the exchange of ideas.
ΓÇó Many separate city-states were established amid the rugged mountains of the mainland and on the islands, but the early Greeks were unified by common beliefs.
ΓÇó Two of the most important city-states were Athens and Sparta.
ΓÇó The Athenians and Spartans developed very different ways of life. The Athenians made their city a center of learning and beauty. The Spartans led a harsh life that concentrated on developing military might.
ΓÇó Many ideas and practices that shape our modern world come from the Greeks of ancient times.
BACKGROUND INFORMATIONΓÇöGREECE
The seeds of modern Western civilization took root in Classical Greece. After defeating the Persians in the fifth century B.C., Athens had a full treasury. Pericles, the Athenian statesman who supervised the reconstruction of Athens, used the wealth to pay architects, sculptors, and playwrights to create great works of art. The freely flowing funds and the atmosphere of cooperation led to remarkable developments in philosophy, politics, and science in what came to be known as Classical Greece. But the age-old rivalry between the two most powerful city-states, Athens and Sparta, re-emerged, intensified, and eventually erupted into decades of war and finally the defeat of Athens. Philip II, the king of Macedon, saw his opportunity to conquer Greece. By 338 B.C. he had succeeded.
When Philip was assassinated two years later, his son Alexander assumed power and continued to expand the boundaries of the empire. Armed with his Greek education (Aristotle had been his tutor) and fueled by his dream of uniting all the peoples of his empire into a single, harmonious domain, Alexander pushed south and east through Persia, and Egypt, and into northern India. As Alexander conquered new lands, he spread the Greek language, knowledge, and customs and reported back new ideas. Learned men marched with him to record the geography, botany, myths, and philosophy of the newly acquired lands. Fever finally halted Alexander the Great's relentless march. In 323 B.C., he died at the age of 32.
The period of Greek history following Alexander the Great's death is called the Hellenistic Age. It is the period in which Greek ideas and culture dominate in the lands that Alexander had conquered. Education and great libraries, such as the one in Alexandria, Egypt, flourished. But the fighting continuedΓÇöand bit by bit the empire crumbled. When the Romans marched in and conquered the lands in the second century B.C., they embraced Greek art, religion, and ideas. Instead of destroying Greek culture, the Romans absorbed it and passed it on so that we can still see the Greek influence in society today.
KEY POINTSΓÇöROME
ΓÇó The Roman Empire, eventually one of the largest and most powerful in history, covered parts of Africa, Asia, and Europe.
ΓÇó Rome fought and defeated Carthage in the Punic Wars.
ΓÇó The expansion of the Roman Empire was largely due to the highly disciplined army led by strong leaders such as Julius Caesar and Caesar Augustus.
ΓÇó The Romans, remarkable engineers and architects, built an extensive network of roads and many impressive aqueducts and buildings throughout their empire.
ΓÇó Latin, the language of the Romans, is the basis of many contemporary languages such as Italian, Spanish, and French.
ΓÇó Roman law and government provided the foundation for many of the legal and political systems that exist today.
BACKGROUND INFORMATIONΓÇöROME
Julius Caesar, a great orator, writer, politician, and military leader was instrumental in spreading the Roman Empire across Europe and into Asia and Africa. Born into a relatively obscure patrician family, Caesar quickly developed an interest in public affairs. A clever politician, he made astute alliances that catapulted him to powerful positions. Realizing that he needed military victories to advance his political fortunes, Julius Caesar set out to conquer Gaul (in present-day France) in 58 B.C. His military genius quickly became apparent as he and his soldiers conquered all of the land east of the Rhine River.
The conservatives, fearing his growing power, tried to strip him of his army. Caesar retaliated by marching his soldiers into Italy and toward RomeΓÇöthus provoking civil war. His political rivals fled. Caesar and his soldiers pursued them to Greece, and then Egypt. He defeated his rivals and imposed order on Egypt and other parts of northern Africa before returning to Rome. The Romans honored him by naming him dictator in 45 B.C.
Caesar tried to institute reforms. He reorganized municipal government. He granted Roman citizenship to many of the people in the provinces and gave them representation in the Senate. Caesar distributed public land to the poor and gave jobs to the unemployed. He also introduced a new calendar that is the basis for the one we use today. Many Romans viewed him as a wise ruler and were grateful to him for imposing peace; but others objected to his imperial ways. On March 15, 44 B.C., a band of conspirators stabbed him to death in the Senate.
GLOSSARY
agora: the marketplace and city center in ancient Greek cities.
aqueduct: a large stone structure that carries water from one place to another.
Caesar: a title given to many of Rome's rulers. It was taken from the family name of Julius Caesar. The Russian title "tzar" and the German "kaiser" also come from the same word.
city-state: an independent, self-governing region comprised of a city center and the surrounding countryside. The city-states that comprised ancient Greece were never ruled by a central authority. But they were united by common language and culture and by military alliances for mutual defense.
democracy: a government by the people in which the citizens establish their own laws.
empire: an extensive areaΓÇöfrequently made up of many territoriesΓÇöunder the control of one government.
patrician: a member of a rich, powerful family in ancient Rome; Latin noble.
philosopher: a person who explores broad questions about human existence and the place of humanity in the universe.
plebeian: one of the common people in ancient Rome.
republic: a government in which the people elect their leaders.
