CLASSICAL GREECE AND THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD

PRESENTATION

1.- CLASSICAL GREECE 2.- THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD

ATHENS

ATHENS

• At the beginning of the archaic period most city states were governed by rich landowners called "Aristocrats". This type of government is known by "Aristocracy" , which means "rule by the important people"
• Sometimes "aristocrats" chose respected important people to govern. This is called an "Oligarchy",which means "rule by a few"
• Little by little, merchants and craftsmen began to prosper and also wanted to take part of the government so this led to riots between different social groups
• To bring peace between these social groups, sometimes it was necessary to let one powerful man rule alone, this was called "Tyrant"
• Some important "tyrants" in Athens were Draco, Solon and Cleisthenes.
• Draco (621BC)set very severe laws , which led to death even for minor crimes so today we have the expression "Draconian measures" to mean that something is very strict.
• Solon (594BC) reformed the law so that the poor could live better and gave citizens a say in the city's affairs.
• Cleisthenes ( 508BC) introduced a new system of government called Democracy.

Draco

Cleisthenes

Solon

The democracy in Athens

Pericles. Click on the image to watch a video

Athenian Democracy. Click on the picture to watch the video

The law Click on the image to know more

Ostracism. Click on the image to know more

SPARTA

A military State

Sparta: A Military State

A soldier's life

The government in Sparta

Alexander the Great: The Helenistic world

The Peloponnesian Wars