c. 700 B.C.Athens becomes aunified polis

508 B.C.Cleisthenes comesto power

461 B.C.The Age of Pericles begins

The Civilization of the Greeks

Preview of Events!750 B.C. !700 B.C. !650 B.C. !600 B.C. !550 B.C. !500 B.C. !450 B.C.

Guide to Reading

Section Preview The Greek city-states of Sparta andAthens illustrate forms of Western gov-ernment, while the Greek philosophersestablished the foundations of Westernphilosophy.

• The polis created a model for active citi-zenship, while the Athenian polis laidthe foundations for democracy. (p. 135)

• Greek thinkers left an important legacyto the West in their commitment torational inquiry. (p. 139)

Content Vocabularypolis, tyrant, democracy, oligarchy, direct democracy, philosophy, Socratic method

Academic Vocabularygoal, adult, foundation

People to IdentifyPericles, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle

Places to LocateSparta, Athens

Reading Objectives1. Describe the groups who lived in the

polis.2. Identify how Athens and Sparta

differed.

Reading StrategyOrganizing Information Use a conceptmap like the one below to show ideas ongovernment that the Greeks contributed.

California Standards in This SectionReading this section will help you master these California History–Social Science standards.

10.1: Students relate the moral and ethical principles in ancient Greek and Romanphilosophy, in Judaism, and in Christianity to the development of Western political thought.

10.1.1: Analyze the similarities and differences in Judeo-Christian and Greco-Romanviews of law, reason and faith, and duties of the individual.

10.1.2: Trace the development of the Western political ideas of the rule of law and illegit-imacy of tyranny, using selections from Plato’s Republic and Aristotle’s Politics.

Greek ideas on government

c. 800 B.C.Sparta is a powerfulcity-state

!800 B.C.

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The Polis: Center of Greek Life

The polis created a model for active citizen-ship, while the Athenian polis laid the foundations fordemocracy.

Reading Connection Has a parent or friend taken partin a city council meeting? Read to understand the workings ofa direct democracy.

By the eighth century B.C., the Greek city-state, orpolis, became central to Greek life. Our word politicsis derived from polis. In a physical sense, the poliswas a town, city, or even a village, along with its sur-rounding countryside. The town, city, or village wasthe center of the polis where people met for political,social, and religious activities. In some of them, thiscentral meeting point was a hill, like the Acropolis atAthens, which served as a place of refuge during anattack. Sometimes this high ground also became areligious center where temples and public monu-ments were erected.

At a lower level, below the acropolis, there was theagora. The agora was an open place that served as aplace for citizens to assemble and a market area.

City-states could cover a few square miles or a fewhundred square miles. They also varied in popula-tion. Athens had a population of more than 250,000by the fifth century B.C., but most city-states con-sisted of only a few hundred to several thousandpeople. Above all, the polis was a community with acommon identity and common goals.

135CHAPTER 1 The Legacy of the Ancient World

The sense of common goals in the polis was espe-cially evident in Athens. In a speech to the people ofthe city at the beginning of the Peloponnesian War,the Athenian leader Pericles proclaimed:

“I could tell you a long story about what is tobe gained by beating the enemy back. What Iwould prefer is that you should fix your eyesevery day on the greatness of Athens as she reallyis, and should fall in love with her. When yourealize her greatness, then reflect that what madeher great was men . . . who knew their duty. . . . Ifthey ever failed in an enterprise, they made uptheir minds that at any rate the city should notfind their courage lacking to her, and they gave toher the best contribution that they could.”

A polis was made up of three groups: citizens withpolitical rights (adult males), citizens with no politi-cal rights (women and children), and noncitizens(slaves and resident aliens).

Citizens had rights, but rights were coupled withresponsibilities, such as passing laws and makinggovernment decisions. The Greek philosopher Aris-totle argued that a citizen did not just belong to him-self or herself: “We must rather regard every citizenas belonging to the state.” In all Greek states, citizenshad the duty to fight and die, if necessary, for thepolis. The fierce loyalty of citizens to their polis had anegative side, however. Greece’s independent city-states did not trust one another, and their conflictsultimately brought about their ruin.

In the seventh and sixth centuries B.C., manyGreek city-states fell under the control of tyrants.They were not necessarily oppressive or wicked, asour word tyrant implies. Greek tyrants were rulerswho seized power by force and were not subject tothe law.

Tyrants stayed in power because they had the sup-port of the rich traders and of poor peasants in debtto landholding aristocrats. Both groups were tired ofaristocratic rule.

The temple of the Parthenon on top of the Acropolis in Athens

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136 CHAPTER 1 The Legacy of the Ancient World

N

S

EW

500 kilometers

500 miles0

0

Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area projection

40°N

10°W

0° 10°E 20°E 30°E

MediterraneanSea

Black Sea

RedSea

Euphrates R.

Tigris R.

Nile R

.

ATLaNTICOCEaN

Corsica

Sardinia

Sicily

Crete

Hellespont Bosporus

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ASIAMINOR

AFRICA

THRACEITALY

EGYPT

IONIA

CarthageSparta

Athens

Knossos

Byzantium

Troy

Tyre

Greek Colonies and Trade, 750–550 B.C.

Over a period of 200 years, the Greeks spread acrossEurope and northern Africa, bringing Greek civilization toareas more than 1,500 miles (2,400 km) from Greece.

1. Interpreting Maps Analyze the relationship betweenGreek trading routes and Greek colonies.

2. Applying Geography Skills Find a map of the con-temporary world. Name all the modern countries whereGreece had colonies.

Greece

Greek colonies

Trade route

The tyrants used hired soldiers to stay in power,and often built new marketplaces, temples, andwalls. These projects made them popular, but by theend of the sixth century B.C., Greeks turned againstthem because they felt tyranny was an insult to theideal of law.

Tyranny’s role in ending the rule of Greek aristo-crats was important because democracy could beginto flourish in some city-states. Democracy is govern-ment by the people or rule of the many. Other city-states remained committed to rule by an oligarchy,rule by the few. The differences in these forms of gov-ernment can be understood by examining the mostfamous city-states, Sparta and Athens.

Evaluating In the polis, are citizens’rights the same as in the United States?

Reading Check

HISTORY

Web Activity Visit the Glencoe World History—ModernTimes Web site at and click onChapter 1–Student Web Activity to learn more about theGreek city-states.

wh.mt.glencoe.com

Sparta The powerful city-state of Sparta conqueredneighboring peoples, the Laconians and Messenians.To prevent these peoples from rebelling, the Spartansmade a conscious decision to create a military state.

Between 800 B.C. and 600 B.C., the lives of Spartanswere rigidly organized and controlled—our wordspartan means highly self-disciplined. Boys spenttheir childhood learning military discipline andenrolled in military service at age 20. They mightmarry, but lived in the military barracks until age 30. At 30, Spartan males could vote in the assemblyand live at home, but they stayed in the army untilage 60.

All meals were eaten in public dining halls withfellow soldiers. Meals were simple: the famous Spar-tan black broth consisted of a piece of pork boiled in

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137CHAPTER 1 The Legacy of the Ancient World

The importance of military skill to the Greeks is reflected on this kylix, or two-handled drinking cup.

animal blood, salt, and vinegar. A visitor who atesome of the black broth once remarked that he nowunderstood why Spartans were not afraid to die.

While their husbands lived in the barracks, Spar-tan women lived at home. This separation gave themgreater freedom of movement and power in thehousehold than was usual in other parts of Greece.Spartan women were expected to exercise so theycould bear and raise healthy children.

Most women upheld the Spartan values asstrongly as their husbands. The women expectedbravery from their husbands and sons. One famousstory shows this very well. It describes a Spartanwoman who was ready to see her son off to war. Asshe handed him his shield, she is supposed to havetold him he should return carrying it—or being car-ried on it.

Spartan government was an oligarchy headed bytwo kings, who led the Spartan army on its cam-paigns. Five citizens were elected each year as ephorsto supervise education and conduct in the polis.

Another body in the government was a council of elders. This council was made up of two kings and 28 citizens who were over the age of 60. It hadthe power to decide on what issues would be pre-sented to an assembly of male citizens. The assem-bly’s only role was to vote on those issues, not todebate them.

It is clear then that this government structure wasconservative. A relatively small group of older menhad great authority over the policies of Sparta.

Sparta remains a historic symbol of the impact of aclosed society. Intent on military might and securityagainst the Messenians and Laconians, the Spartansturned their backs on the outside world. Foreigners,who might have brought in new ideas, were discour-aged from visiting.

For the same reason, most Spartans were not allowedto travel abroad. They were also discouraged fromstudying philosophy, literature, or the arts—subjectsthat might encourage critical thinking. The art of warwas the Spartan ideal. All other arts were frowned upon.

Athens Athens was the other major city-state inancient Greece. By 700 B.C., it was a unified polis onthe peninsula of Attica, a location that would makeAthens a strong sea power with an empire.

Early Athens was ruled by a king. By the seventhcentury B.C., it was an oligarchy with aristocrats incontrol. They owned the best land and dominatedpolitical decisions. Economic problems at the end ofthe seventh century B.C., however, brought a crisis toAthens. Athenian farmers could not pay their debtsto aristocrats and were being sold into slavery. Overand over, there were cries to cancel the debts and giveland to the poor. Athens was on the verge of civil war.

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This crisis is significant for the modern world. Theevents the crisis set in motion eventually led to dem-ocratic government. First, in 594 B.C., the Athenianaristocrats gave full power to Solon, a trusted aristo-crat who knew reforms must be made. Solon can-celed land debts and released farmers from slavery.However, Solon would not go further—he would nottake land from the rich and give it to those with noland. Since only landowners could vote in the assem-bly, many still had no voice in government. Unrestcontinued.

Then, in 508 B.C., another reform-minded aristo-crat, Cleisthenes (KLYS•thuh•neez), came to power.Cleisthenes restructured the assembly and laid thefoundation for Athenian democracy.

Cleisthenes created a Council of 500 whose mem-bers came from local districts. All male citizens votedto elect the Council, which controlled foreign policyand the treasury. The Council also prepared legisla-tion. Our ideal of Greek democracy is best symbol-ized by how the polis decided on its laws. Legislationwas debated openly in the assembly, and all male cit-izens voted on it. Since citizens participated directlyin decision making, Athens had a direct democracy.

Athenian democracy was more limited than inmodern times, however, because whole groups didnot qualify as active or voting citizens—women, for-

138 CHAPTER 1 The Legacy of the Ancient World

Democracy crowning a figure that symbolizes Athens

Discobolos, a famous Greekstatue, pays tribute to athletesand the Greek ideals of soundmind and sound body.

eign residents, and slaves. In 450 B.C., the populationmight have been about 250,000, but probably onlyabout 43,000 were male citizens over 18 who voted.

In another sense, democracy was less limited thanin modern nations because so many citizens activelyparticipated. Every ten days, the assembly met on ahillside east of the Acropolis, the city’s fortified pub-lic area. On average, about 6,000 men attended. Theypassed all laws, elected all officials, and made finaldecisions on war and peace.

The most glorious period of Athenian democracyis associated with Pericles, who dominated politicsfrom 461 B.C. to 429 B.C. Pericles also advanceddemocracy. By paying salaries, he made it possiblefor many more citizens to serve in public office. In theAge of Pericles, the Athenians became deeplyattached to their political system. The officials whoran the city’s daily business were also a fairly largegroup, but ten men known as generals had overalldirection of policy.

Under Pericles, Athens became the leading centerof Greek culture. New temples and statues soonmade the greatness of Athens visible to everyone. Artand architecture flourished, and Pericles boasted thatAthens had become the “school of Greece.” Theachievements of three Athenian philosophers havebeen especially important to Western culture.

Analyzing What was the chief eco-nomic problem Cleisthenes wanted to solve?

Reading Check

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The Greek Love of Wisdom

Greek thinkers left an important legacy to theWest in their commitment to rational inquiry.

Reading Connection Has a teacher ever asked youquestions to draw out an idea? Read to learn why Socratesbelieved in this teaching method.

Philosophy refers to an organized system ofthought. The term comes from the Greek word mean-ing “love of wisdom.” Early Greek philosophers weredevoted to thinking critically and rationally about thenature of the universe. To this day, three Greek philoso-phers—Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle—are usuallynamed as the greatest thinkers of the Western world.

Socrates Because he left no writings, we knowabout Socrates only from his pupils. Socrates was anAthenian stonemason whose true love was philoso-phy. Socrates believed that education had no othergoal than improving human understanding. InSocrates’ words, “the unexamined life is not worthliving.” He also urged his students to “let no daypass without discussing goodness.”

Socrates used a teaching method still known by hisname, the Socratic method. Socrates presumed thatall knowledge was already present in each person,

and that careful questioning could draw it out. Thusthe Socratic method used a question-and-answer for-mat to lead pupils to see things for themselves.

Socrates placed great emphasis on the ability toreason, and this Greek tradition has been key toWestern civilization. Socrates questioned all things,including authority, and this led him into trouble.

Athenians had had a tradition of free thought, butwhen they were defeated in war, they began to fearfree debate. Socrates was accused and convicted ofcorrupting the youth by encouraging critical think-ing. An Athenian jury sentenced him to die by drink-ing hemlock, a poison.

Plato One of Socrates’ students was Plato, consideredby many the greatest philosopher of Western civiliza-tion. Unlike Socrates, who did not write down histhoughts, Plato wrote a great deal. Plato explained hisideas about government in a work entitled The Repub-lic. Plato thought political life in Athens was too rowdy.No one would be able to lead the good life—a virtuouslife—in such a democracy. Plato therefore describedwhat an ideal state would look like. There would bethree groups in society. At the top was an upper classof philosopher-kings. These men would have politicalpower because they were wise. In Plato’s words, thegood society could be achieved only when “politicalpower and philosophy meet together.”

The second group were the warriors who pro-tected society. The third group included everyoneelse—the masses who were driven not by wisdom orcourage but only by their desires. Contrary to theprevailing Greek view, Plato believed that men andwomen should have the same education and accessto all positions in society.

139CHAPTER 1 The Legacy of the Ancient World

CaptionTK

History through Art

In early times, the Greeks watched the rituals oftheir religion while seated on theater-stylebenches. Greek plays grew out of these rituals.Plays were staged in outdoor amphitheaters,such as this one. How does this amphitheaterdiffer from modern theaters?

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“. . . a life guided by intelligence is the best and most pleasant for man, inasmuch as intelligence, above all else, is man.”—Aristotle’s Ethics

Rulers and GodsAll of the world’s earliest civilizations believed that

there was a close connection between rulers and gods.In Egypt, pharaohs were considered gods whose rolewas to maintain the order and harmony of the universein their own kingdoms. In Mesopotamia, India, andChina, rulers were thought to rule with divine assis-tance. Kings were often seen as rulers who derived theirpower from the gods and who were the agents or rep-resentatives of the gods. Many Romans certainlybelieved that their success in creating an empire was avisible sign of divine favor. As one Roman stated, “Wehave overcome all the nations of the world, because wehave realized that the world is directed and governedby the gods.”

The rulers’ supposed connection to the divine alsocaused them to seek divine aid in the affairs of theworld. This led to the art of divination—an organizedmethod to figure out the intentions of the gods. InMesopotamian and Roman society, divination took the

form of examining the livers ofsacrificed animals or the flightsof birds to determine the willof the gods. The Chinese usedoracle bones to receive advicefrom the gods. The Greeks con-sulted oracles.

Underlying all of these practiceswas a belief in a supernatural uni-verse—a world in which divine forceswere in charge and human well-beingdepended on those divine forces. Itwas not until the Scientific Revolution of the 1600s thatmany people began to believe in a natural world thatwas not governed by spiritual forces.

Why were rulers of early civilizations considered tohave divine powers? How did this affect their sys-tems of government?

! An Athenianking consults the oracle at Delphi.

140 CHAPTER 1 The Legacy of the Ancient World

Aristotle The third great Greek philosopher wasAristotle. Just as Plato was a student of Socrates,Aristotle was a student of Plato. Aristotle studied atPlato’s famous Academy in Athens for 20 years. Aris-totle focused on analyzing and classifying thingsbased on observation and investigation. He wroteabout many subjects, including ethics, logic, politics,poetry, astronomy, geology, biology, and physics. Hiscareful methods contributed greatly to Western sci-ence, which was based largely on Aristotle until theScientific Revolution.

Like Plato, Aristotle thought critically about arational form of government. Unlike Plato, he did notseek an ideal state but analyzed existing ones to findwhat was best. In his Politics, Aristotle looked at theconstitutions of 158 states and concluded that therewere three good forms of government: monarchy, aris-tocracy, and constitutional government. He felt thatconstitutional government was best for most people.

The Greeks and Western Civilization With theirbrilliant civilization, the ancient Greeks were theprincipal source of Western culture. Socrates, Plato,and Aristotle established the foundations of Westernphilosophy. The rational method of inquiry, so

important to modern science, was first conceived inancient Greece. Western literature, too, is largelyderived from the poetry and drama of the ancientGreeks. In art and architecture, the Greek principlesof harmony and proportion have remained thetouchstones in Western culture.

Aristotle

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141CHAPTER 1 The Legacy of the Ancient World

Checking for Understanding1. Vocabulary Define: polis, goal, adult,

tyrant, democracy, oligarchy, directdemocracy, philosophy, Socraticmethod, foundation.

2. People Identify: Pericles, Socrates,Plato, Aristotle.

3. Places Locate: Sparta, Athens.

Reviewing Big Ideas4. Explain how the systems of govern-

ment in Sparta and Athens influencedWestern political thought. Be sure todiscuss how the two systems differed.

Critical Thinking5. Interpreting

How did the governments favored byPlato and Aristotle differ? Which viewmakes more sense to you?

6. Organizing Information Using a tablelike the one below, identify the reformsthat led to democracy in Athens andthe leaders who initiated them.

7. Examine the photo of the Parthenonshown on page 135. Where is theParthenon located? Why was thisfamous temple situated on highground?CA HR 2

8. Descriptive Writing Imagine thatyou are a 25-year-old male living inSparta in 700 B.C. Create a diary inwhich you record your activities forone week. Write one diary page foreach day. CA 10WA2.1

Leader Reforms SolonCleisthenesPericles

Essential Western political ideas also owe a greatdeal to the ancient Greeks. These ideas were passeddown in different ways from the Greeks to the Romans,from the Romans to Western Europeans, and fromWestern Europe to the United States. Many modernpolitical terms—politics, monarchy, oligarchy, aristocracy,tyranny, and democracy—come from the Greek.

For the Greeks, being a citizen in a democracybrought with it a strict sense of duty. As Pericles said,“We do not say that a man who takes no interest inpolitics minds his own business; we say he has nobusiness here at all.” The Greeks called such a manidiotes, meaning “idiot,” by which they meant a foolwho lives in his own private world.

In the United States, there is no direct democracy.Citizens elect representatives who propose and voteon laws. American citizens have the right to choosetheir representatives, but they are not directlyinvolved in making policy. In fact, many U.S. citizenseven choose not to vote, thus removing their chiefsource of power.

Evaluating Why might a person sayAristotle is the most modern of philosophers?

Reading Check

For help with the concepts in this section of Glencoe WorldHistory—Modern Times, go to andclick on Study Central.

wh.mt.glencoe.com

Study CentralHISTORY

History through Architecture

The Erechtheum near the Parthenon hasfigures of maidens in place of conventionalcolumns. This type of ornamental support iscalled a caryatid. Why might the architecthave decided to use female figures?

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