The Archaic Period to the Fall of Greece
NCSS Content Standards:
1a. Compare similarities and differences in the ways groups, societies, and cultures meet human needs and concerns.
1c. Explain and give examples of how language, literature, the arts, architecture, other artifacts, traditions, beliefs, values, and behaviors contribute to the development and transmission of culture.
2b. Identify and use key concepts such as chronology, causality, change, conflict, and complexity to explain, analyze, and show connections among patterns of historical change and continuity.
4e. Identify and describe ways regional, ethnic, and national cultures influence individuals daily lives.
5a. Demonstrate an understanding of concepts such as role, status, and social class in describing the interactions of individuals and social groups.
The Creation of City -States
The Dark Ages lasted from 1100 B.C. to 800 B.C.. With the conclusion of the Dark Ages, came the emergence of Greek city-states, as well as the rediscovery of Greek culture. Below is a link with an introduction to each city -state, read about each one and complete the activity below.
https://greece.mrdonn.org/city-states.html
Athens and Sparta
While there were many city-states, the two most well known are Athens and Sparta. Therefore, we will take some time to examine these two famous places. Below are links to daily life in Athens and Sparta. Complete the activities for both city-states and gain an undestanding of what the values of each one were. Using the information from each activity, create a diary as a citizen of Athens and Sparta.
Diary for Athens and Sparta Assignment Sheet
The Persian Wars
Throughout Greek history, the people of Greece often had to fight off invasions from the Persians. The link below shows territories owned by Persia and Ancient Greece during the Persian Wars. Look at the map to gain familarity with the territories.
Complete each interactive story below about the Persian War, as well as, the Persian War worksheet.
https://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/war/story/sto_set.html
https://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/war/explore/exp_set.html
https://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/ancient_greeks/greeks_at_war/
The Peloponnesian War
After the victory over the Persians, Athens emerged as the most powerful city-state in Greece. Many paid tribute to Athens and formed alliances for protection from further Persian attacks. This alliance was known as the Delian League. While at the core of Athens is demcracy, they began to rule harshly over the people in other parts of Greece. This created huge resentment towards Athens. One city-state that did not allign with Athens after the Persian War was Sparta. What followed was known as the Peloponnesian War. Using the link below, complete the activity which allows you to live through the Peloponnesian War from both Athenian and Spartan points of view. This will give you a good interpretation of both sides.
https://www.ohassta.org/technology/greecesparta.swf
The End of Greece
After the Peloponnesian War, the Greek city-states were battered, however, there was still riches to be had. A man from an area north of Greece called Macedonia dreamed of one day taking those riches. This man's name was King Phillip of Macedonia. Most Macedonians had Greek heritage and King Phillip was no different. Phillip of Macedonia found much success in taking over the Greek city-states through diplomacy and military force. By 336 B.C. Phillip of Macedonia had conquered all of the major Greek city-states, including Sparta. Trying to build off of his victories, Phillip had the goal of invading Persia, a long time enemy of the Greeks. However, before he could carry out such an invasion Phillip was assassinated and rule was left to his son, the famous Alexander the Great. While the Greeks hated Alexander as much as his father, Alexander expanded the Ancient Greek empire and spread Greek culture more than any other had done. Below is an overview of Alexander the Great, read it as an introduction to this famous historical figure.
https://greece.mrdonn.org/alexander.html
As we know, Alexander the Great loved Greek culture and spread it every place he conquered. Below is a map showing the extent of his empire.
As great as Alexander's empire became, his death marked the end of not just his rule, but Ancient Greece as well. After Alexander's death, his empire shown above fought amongst itself to claim power. One group of people near by Greece took advantage of this choas, invaded Greece and eventually took over the far territories of Alexander's empire. These opportunistic people were known as the Romans. The Roman invasion officially marked the end of Greece and the start of the next great empire.