...The women of Sparta had to shave their heads when preparing to get married. Even after they married the women had to keep their hair short. Since the men under thirty were required to live in communal barracks, married couples typically lived apart and husbands could only see their wives by sneaking away at night. Like most Greeks, Spartans fought Hoplite style. They wore a bronze helm, protecting their head, bronze greaves to protect their legs and carried a large round shield. The shield was made of wood, bronze covered the front of it, while the back was hollowed out with a shield stand attached. This would keep the shield upright and ready to use at a moment’s notice. The soldiers would each go into battle with a xiphos, which was a short leaf bladed sword made for close combat, and an eight foot long spear. Since arrows had little effect in Spartan warfare, Archers were not very common, but some were still brought on. Calvary was also an uncommon use to the Spartans. The Spartans had a very honorable policy during wartime. They would not loot the bodies of the defeated armies nor will they pursue them. Similar to how today’s armies have dog tags, the Spartan warriors would bring two wooden sticks with their names carved into them. They would leave one stick in a bowl before...
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...The Ancient Greek Civilization Can you imagine 7,000 Spartans holding off 150,000 Persians at the Battle of Thermopylae? It is true. The Ancient Greeks held off one of the most powerful armies of that time so Greece would survive. Greek geography, the city-states, the concept of acropolis, government, military strategy, philosophy, and religion were all contributing factors in the creation and survival of the Greek city-state lifestyle. The geography and climate of Ancient Greece influenced the development of Greek civilization. Mountains separated Greece into regions where the Ancient Greeks settled and formed separate city-states and types of government. The mountains and the peninsula of Ancient Greece isolated Greek society from other city-states and also helped to keep them safe from enemy attack. Transportation over the rocky land was difficult, much of the land was not suitable for farming, and there were limited natural resources. The lack of natural resources and the difficulty of traveling by land caused the Ancient Greeks to depend more on the sea. Ancient Greece was surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea on three sides. Much of the land of Ancient Greece was linked by the sea and the sea also linked Ancient Greece to other societies. The Ancient Greeks became skilled sailors, fishermen, and tradesmen. The climate of Ancient Greece was moderate all year long and there was adequate rainfall. Due to the mild climate, Greek men spent much of...
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...Everyone has seen films depicting the soldiers of Sparta, so most would assume that their military would easily defeat any other nation’s lesser armies. History can attest to the superior infantry that Sparta produced. These soldiers were the best when compared to all the other Greek nations; however, did Sparta have the greatest military force in all of Greece? Throughout the history of ancient Greece, superior naval forces were every bit if not more vital to national defense. The idea of a strong navy was especially significant to the Greek nation of Athens. Many nations during that time would say that a superior navy was far more important than having superior land forces. With Athens and Sparta fighting countless battles for control over Greece a superior Athenian navy was more effective in war than a superior Spartan army. There were numerous reasons why Athens was able to have superior naval forces, but the largest reason was money. According to Anna Maria Gillis of Humanities.gov; when speaking of money in Athens “money mattered.” The Athenian empire was secured with continuous military victories over prospective invaders. This military success was due to Athens’ superior naval forces, and because of their victories Athens received large sums of money (tribute) from other Greek nations for naval protection. Athens used this income to bolster its navy by building more ships and paying their respective crews. Athenian naval personnel were highly experienced war...
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...Writer: Mashell Chapeyama Subject: History Selected essays on Greek civilization Introduction This booklet is a collection of essays that were written for academic purpose. The essays are centred on Greece. Particular emphasis is placed on the states of Athens and Sparta. The aim of the essays is to show the contributions that Greek states made to the modern world. The world has learnt a lot of aspects from Greece, being they direct or indirect. One of the things that Greece brought to the world is the democratic system of government. Together with lessons from ancient Rome the world has learned much. Essay1: Differences in terrain and climatic conditions between Athens and Sparta Greece has many cities and towns, however probably the main ones in ancient times were Sparta and Athens. These two cities shaped the political life and history of Greece for quite a long time. The influence mainly centred on land and agriculture. For, about 90% of Greece production was agricultural in nature, with grain production as the dominant area. Incidentally, grain was a staple product and food of Greece. As a result the land that was used for grain production was a vital part of wealth and a valuable asset, for which citizens compete for. This essay is going to explore the difference in terrain between Athens and Sparta and how it affected agriculture and political rights, including democracy as well as how agricultural production had an impact on the distribution of political...
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...also held their own, and were trained just as hard as the men. Spartan girls were not brought up to perform such tasks as spinning and weaving – these tasks were fit only for slaves – but partook in a certain amount of physical training with the boys (although they were excluded from military training), took part in various singing and dancing competitions, played instruments and recited poetry.[1] Spartan women were very unique in the ancient world, particularly in the areas of education and training, their roles and positions in Spartan society and their place in public life. EDUCATION AND TRAINING The women of Sparta were highly valued and respected, particularly for their roles as mothers and nurses. Spartan women also had a reputation for fitness, physical beauty and a strong, independent character. The purpose of a girl’s education in Sparta was to produce healthy bodies, so that, according to Lycurgus, ‘the fruit they conceived might take firmer root and find better growth, so that they, with this greater vigour, might be more able to undergo with the pains of childbearing’.[2] According to Plutarch, the girls were organised into bands, similar to the boys groups. He also states that they sometimes exercised together in a large group, participating in such sports as running and wrestling. The girls exercised with the boys to not only increase their physical resilience and make them tougher, but also to encourage competitiveness and equality, and to promote...
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...In Ancient Greece there were two different major forms of government, Oligarchy and Democracy. The two city-states that best represent each form of government were Sparta (oligarchy) and Athens (democracy). The democratic government in Athens, though de cently equal, fair and fairly advanced for its time, did not meet the needs of the Greeks. During a time of many military battles Athens decided to worry more about comfort and culture. It is the oligarchy in Sparta that put a war-like attitude as it's first priority and best met the needs of Ancient Greece. The Athenian democratic government, which may have given the citizens in Greece more freedom, was not the best form of government at the time. The democracy in Athens cannot really be called a true democracy since there were several flaws in the governme nt and the way it worked. Only ten per cent of the total population of Athens actually had voting rights and all of these citizens were upper class men who were over thirty years old. Women, no matter what the class or age, were given no freedom at all. They were first owned by their fathers and then were passed from them to their husbands who then gave them nothing more than the responsibilities of managing the household and educating the children. During a meeting of the Assembly, a policy could be adopted and formed into a law but once the meeting of the assembly ended, the enforcement of that law was left in the hands of people...
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...World Civilization 101 Jeremy Haskett 5/3/15 Sparta was a warrior society in ancient Greece. The empire peaked after defeating Athens, in the Peloponnesian War. Culture in Sparta focused on loyalty to the state and military service. Sparta had three main groups: the Spartans, the Helots and the Perioeci. Spartans were full citizens of Sparta, while the Helots were slaves. The Perioeci, however, were neither. The Perioeci, worked as craftsmen and traders. They crafted the Spartan weapons. Healthy male citizens went into a state-sponsored education system, known as the Agoge. The school system emphasized obedience, endurance, courage and self-control. The Helots, were fellow Greeks, who the Spartans had conquered. The Spartans’ way of life would not have been possible without the Helots. They performed all the day-to-day tasks, and any unskilled labor that was required. This kept society functioning. They were farmers, domestic servants, nurses and military attendants. There were a significantly more Helots than Spartans. Helots were often mistreated and brutalized and oppressed. This was to prevent an uprising. Spartans humiliated the Helots several ways, such as forcing them to get extremely drunk and making them do foolish things in public. Spartans were even allowed to kill Helots if they were too smart or fit. (Sparta. 2015). In Spartan society the children of Sparta were children of the state more than that of their parents. They were raised to be soldiers, and were...
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...launched a thousand ships, is from Lacedaemon or Sparta in Greece. She is the daughter of Leda and Zeus, the King of Gods. She has four siblings namely, Clymnestra, Tymandra, Castor and Pollux. When Helen was old enough to marry, Tyndareus was besieged with offers from men of wealth and influence. Many men pursued Helen until Agamemnon wooed Helen for his brother Menelaus who was finally chosen to be her husband. The Greeks are plotting to invade Troy to steal the treasures of the Trojans. Meanwhile Prince Paris is assigned by his wise father King Priam and the King of Troy to travel to Sparta and shows the peaceful intentions of his people. Along his journey, he falls into the sea during a storm and is rescued on the shore by the Queen of Sparta, Helen. When he recovers, he believes that she is a slave and they fall in love with each other. When he arrives at the Spartan Palace, he is arrested by King Menelaus but Helen helps him to escape. Helen is in love with Paris, but it happened that she is already married to King Menelaus. With the help of Aphrodite, Paris abducted Helen. They travel together to Troy and give the excuse that the Greeks need to start a war and put Troy under seige for years. The Greeks are unsuccessful in their intents until they listened to the cunning Ulysses. The Greeks then with draw their one thousand ships from the Trojan waters and offer a wooden Horse of Troy as a gift to the winners. The Greeks or Achaians banded together to restore Helen to King...
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...essay on either The Golden Age of Greece or Greek Tragedy. The question for the first topic is given below. The questions for the second will be given when the lectures on Greek Tragedy begin. Title: Compare the situation of women in Sparta with that of women in Athens in the 5th century BC. Note: The most important word here is compare. Avoid writing about Spartan women and then Athenian women – or vice versa. Rather compare them under specific subject areas such as birth, upbringing, marriage, authority/influence at home, political influence, economic power, status in society… and anything else which you believe is important. The following books (with barcodes in brackets) are available on Short Loan. Bradley’s book is helpful as a general guide to students of Classics. Those by Pomeroy, Fantham and Lefkowitz and Samons focus on women in the Classical World. The other works may not have immediate relevance to this essay, but should be helpful as you study Athenian and Spartan forms of government and the ways of life and values of these two very different societies. Bradley, P. Ancient Greece: Using Evidence. (10021550) Barrow, R. Athenian Democracy. (13143987) Cartledge, P. Sparta and Lakonia. (12667874) Fantham E et al. Women in the classical world. (11621324) Fornara, C., Samons, L. Athens from Cleisthenes to Pericles (10112243). Forrest, W G G. A history of Sparta. (12245024) Lefkowitz, M. and Fant, M...
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...The most important result of the Peloponnesian Wars is that Greece and other city-states lost their independence. Losing their independence made the Greek city-states easily conquerable by the Romans because they lost their unity as a military and were influenced politically by those they were conquered by. Before the Peloponnesian Wars began Greeks wanted to preserve the sovereignty of each city-state because they thought the independent city-state structure was a suitable political system. Athens wanted more power so they created the Delian League so that they can have power over the other city-states. Sparta and other Peloponnesian states feared Athens held too much hegemony over them but Athens wanted to maintain the power. With Sparta and Peloponnesian states disagreeing Spartans invaded in 431 B.C.E against Athens but failed. Spartans failure led to a brief peace between them and Athenians from 421-418 B.C.E after the peace Athenians attacked neutral states in the Aegean. The war led to the defeat of Athens, with the defeat the Delian League fell. The fall of the Delian League was a big result to the Peloponnesian wars because Athens lost all it power. Not having control over the other city-states and their loss of the military they no longer could have a...
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...Greece Weapons/Warfare of Ancient Greece The Ancient Greeks went through their dark age in the ages leading up to the 8th century BC. After the 8th century BC until the 6th century AD this period can be categorized as the Ancient Greek period of history. This is a period of interesting wars and advances in warfare. I will take a deeper look in this paper into the different wars, leaders and weapons used. There were many great wars in this period. The Greek states often fought each other. Sparta and Athens fought a long war, called the Peloponnesian War, during the period from 431 to 404 BC. Sparta won. Only the threat of attack by a foreign enemy made the Greeks forget their quarrels and fight on the same side. Their main enemy was Persia. The conflicts against Persia lasted on and off from 490 to 449 BC. The Persian kings tried to defeat Greece and make it part of the Persian Empire. In the end, it was Greece which conquered Persia, when Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Kingdom in the 330s BC. The strength of the army was the hoplite. They were foot soldier, and the artilleries were a long spear and a sword. They also had a shield. Hoplites clashed in lines or ranks. Eight to ten ranks made a formation called the phalanx. Each soldier held his long spear underarm. Enemy fighters saw only a figure of spears and shields, that was tough to go through and tough to break once it started advancing forward. The Greeks had archers and cavalry, but the phalanx that won many...
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...Early greek illustrative features The final years of the 18th century brought an increasing interest in classical buildings to both the United States and Europe. This was first based on Roman models (Federal style), but archaeological investigation in the early 19th century emphasized Greece as the Mother of Rome which, in turn, shifted interest to Grecian models. The style is an adaptation of the classic Greek temple front employing details of Doric, Ionic or Corinthian order To the popular mind the Greek temple was associated with the origins of American democracy in ancient Greece. Greece's involvement in a war for independence (1821-30) aroused much sympathy in the newly independent United States. Further, the War of 1812 fought against England diminished American affection for British influence, including the still dominant Adam ("Federal" in U.S.) style in domestic architecture. The popularity of Greek Revival led it to be called the National Style. Newly established towns throughout the country even took names such as Athens, Sparta, and Ithaca. Identifying features: * Most have porticos (either entry or full-width) supported by prominent square or rounded columns, typically of Doric style, but also Ionic and Corinthian * Gabled or hipped roof of low pitch * Cornice line of main roof and porch roofs emphasized with wide band of trim (this represents the classical entablature and is usually divided into two parts: the frieze above and architrave below) ...
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...philosophical influences in the Ancient Greek civilisation was born. Socrates’ teachings would continue to heavily impact on philosophical thought throughout the ages. Socrates began as a stonemason, but quickly made the change to a life pursuing the answers to all moral problems with emphasis on the right conduct by which one should live their life. His teachings attracted groups of young men who adopted his methodologies and became fascinated with the ideas he presented, which although popular with some, were often in conflict with the politicians in Athens at the time. Socrates lived through one of Athens’ most advanced eras and he saw firsthand the rise of the Athenian Empire. He often passed judgment and was highly opinionated on many issues which were putting Athens on the map, including democracy. He also promoted honesty and virtue as key contributors to a happy life. Socrates was one of only a few philosophers to be recognised for his work in his lifetime and this indicates that he must have been significant in some capacity. However, Athens was an ever-expanding empire, which meant that their culture was heavily impacted on by not just Greek people on the inside but also by the countries that they conquered and the foreigners who came to Athens as slaves or traders. These outside influences must be balanced against the interior influences of men such as Socrates to explore to what extent philosophy and the teachings of Socrates had on the advancement of Ancient Greek civilisation...
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...The Ancient Greeks are a civilization that has a very long history. First I will be addressing the questions of how and why Greece was created and what the political environment looked like. In between talking about this is I will fill in some blanks about daily life. The first of these will be discussing the use of writing as a way to keep track of history, then I will talk a bit about the greek religion, monumental architecture, specialized art style, and the social classes/inequality, specifically the merchant class. The earliest archaeological evidence for ancient Greece is that of the Franchthi Cave. This cave in what is known today as Greece is what is regarded as the start of Sapiens coming to Europe. There have been human remains found in this cave. These remains are so old it is hard to date them so researchers dated seashells and other things in the period humans brought back to the cave...
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...Ancient Greece was a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity (c. 600 AD). Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in ancient Greece is the period of Classical Greece, which flourished during the 5th to 4th centuries BC. Classical Greece began with the repelling of a Persian invasion by Athenian leadership. Because of conquests by Alexander the Great of Macedonia, Hellenistic civilization flourished from Central Asia to the western end of the Mediterranean Sea. Classical Greek culture, especially philosophy, had a powerful influence on the Roman Empire, which carried a version of it to many parts of the Mediterranean Basin and Europe. For this reason Classical Greece is generally considered to be the seminal culture which provided the foundation of modern Western culture and is considered as the cradle of Western civilization. In the 8th century BC, Greece began to emerge from the Dark Ages which followed the fall of the Mycenaean civilization. Literacy had been lost and Mycenaean script forgotten, but the Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet, modifying it to create the Greek alphabet. From about the 9th century BC written records begin to appear. Greece was divided into many small self-governing communities, a pattern largely dictated by Greek geography: every island, valley and plain is cut off from its...
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