Foundations of Democratic Rule

Solon and Peisistratus

     Athens avoided tyranny for many years, first, by giving in to demands for a written code of law, and second, by appointing a special magistrate called an archon to try to solve continuing problems between aristocrats and common citizens. The law code, written by Draco in 620 BCE was significant because it recognized that once laws were written down, they could be criticized and changed. The archon appointed in 594 BCE was Solon, who brought in a number of economic and social reforms. These included changes in the law code that helped relieve the debt and land problems of the poor. Solon also abolished the practice of selling debtors into slavery.
      Solon's political reforms were an important step on the road to democracy. The most significant reform allowed all wealthy men, aristocrat or not, to run for the highest government offices. Solon also created a new institution called the Council of 400. One hundred citizens from each of the four traditional tribes of Athens were elected annually and met regularly to prepare legislation to be voted on by the entire Citizen Assembly. The Council probably also acted as a court of appeal for judgments of the archons.
      Many adults living in Athens, or in any Greek polis for that matter, still had no political power at all. This included women, since citizenship ultimately derived from the ability to fight in the army; the large slave population, which had no personal rights whatsoever; and foreigners, who rarely acquired citizenship cause normally it was only bestowed by birth.
      One man who eventually did become tyrant of Athens was Peisistratus, a noble famous for his generalship, and very ambitious. He actually made three tries for tyrant's rule, interspersed with periods of exile. On the second try (ca. 555 BCE), he boldly decided to have a handsome women named Phye dress up like the goddess Athena, with armour and spear, and ride through the streets of Athens in a chariot proclaiming that she, the goddess herself, had come to restore Peisistratus to power! On his third attempt (ca. 546 BCE), Peisistratus defeated his opponents in battle and took the city. He ruled until his death in 527 BCE, when power was handed over to his son, Hippias.

Cleisthenes Establishes Democracy

      Hippias continued the tyranny in Athens after his father's death, but eventually lost support. In 510 BCE, the army of Sparta, Athens's most powerful adversary, besieged Athens and forced an end to the tyranny of Hippias. He and his family surrendered and were forced into exile and the tyranny ended. Athens again had to find new political solutions to her problems of government.
      The solution this time was proposed by Cleisthenes, a member of another noble family, in 508-507 BCE, Cleisthenes's novel approach set aside the ancient division of Athenian citizens into four tribes based on clan relationships and created an equitable division of citizens into ten new tribes, each with members from all parts of the city-state. Cleisthenes also replaced the old Council of 400 with a new Council of 500, with 50 members elected from each tribe. Not only did these 50 members take part in meetings of the full Council, for one tenth of the year, they also acted as the executive committee of the Council. Each tribe also elected a general (strategos) who would lead the city in all its military affairs. By 487 BCE, it was recognized that only the generals had to be highly qualified elected officials. In truly democratic fashion, the other offices came to be filled by drawing lots every year. Any fit citizen could now hold these high offices.
      Another novel measure was introduced in these democratic reforms -- the practice called ostracism. This measure was meant to rid Athens of any citizen who might want to become a tyrant. Ostracism allowed the city to send any citizen and his family into exile for a period of ten years. Every year around January (the middle of the Athenian calendar year), the Assembly voted on whether an ostracism was needed that year. For the ostracism procedure, a minimum of 6000 votes needed to be cast, and the person whose name appeared most often on the ostraka (pieces of broken pottery used as ballots) was send into exile. The first ostracism occurred in 487 BCE and the last was held 70 years later.

Slaves in Greek Society

      For those who had once been free, slavery was generally regarded as a wretched, degrading state. Conditions varied greatly -- household slaves of the wealthy were the best off, while leased slaves working in state mines were probably the worst. In any case, slavery was common and totally accepted throughout the Greek world. Legally, slaves were simply property; they might be treated humanely or cruelly, depending on their owners. At the master's discretion, they were allowed to marry, have a home, and keep their children. Slaves were certainly an important part of the economy, filing virtually every occupation except government and military positions.
      Athens was a major slave-owning state, obtaining new slaves in markets where foreign war captives or Greeks captured by pirates were for sale. Educated guesses suggest no more than one third (60 000 to 80 000) of the total population of Attica (greater Athens) in the fifth century BCE were slaves, of which the majority worked in manufacturing. For example, we learn from the fourth-century BCE orator Demosthenes that his father left him an estate that included a knife- and sword-making workshop with 32 skilled slaves, and a couch-frame-making workshop with 20 slaves. According to Thucydidies, more than 20 000 slaves, of whom the majority were crafts workers, deserted Athens during the darkest part of the Peloponnesian War (412-404 BCE).
       In 414 BCE, Cephisodorus, a metic (foreign resident) from Piraeus, had his 16 confiscated slaves sold for prices ranging from 72 drachmas for a boy, to 301 drachmas for a skilled man (1 drachma was a day's wage for a skilled worker at this time). These slaves included five Thracians, three Carians, two Syrians, two Illyrians, and one each from Colchis, Scythia, Lydia, and Malta.
      Inscriptions in Athens dating between 349 and 320 BCE list 135 slaves (79 males, 56 females) who received their freedom (manumissions). The men, where known, paid an average of 178 drachmas to be freed, while the women paid 180 drachmas on average.
      Among the men in crafts, there was a bronzesmith, an ironworker, three goldsmiths, nine leather cutters, a pail maker, a glue boiler, and a sofa maker. Of the 48 women in crafts, 40 were wool workers. Retail workers included sellers of bread, pickled meats, incense, sesame seeds, fish, wool, rope, and cooked foods. Slaves did virtually every form of work need for life to go on normally in Athens.

Lycurgus and Spartan Society

      Of the more than 300 Greek city-states, Athens and Sparta were the most the most powerful. However, that is where any similarity between these two rivals ends. Spartans were foremost known as warriors, and despite their relatively small numbers, perhaps 5000 full Spartan warriors in good times, they enjoyed a position of leadership in Greece from some three centuries. 

      When other city-states were suffering from lack of land in the eighth century BCE and sending excess population overseas to settle, the Spartans took a different course. In along war, Sparta defeated its neighbours to the west and thereby captured more needed territory. The conquered people joined the large and sometimes rebellious population of Spartan helots, the state slaves who worked the land.

      The political, social, and military systems of Sparta were attributed in antiquity to one great legislator named Lycurgus. So much is credited to Lycurgus, but so little is known, that he has become an almost mythic figure. He may have lived in the early seventh century BCE and is supposed to have laid down the tough military training program that allowed Sparta to produce the best soldiers in the Greek world. At the same time, he proposed a constitution that guaranteed all Spartan citizens -- meaning only adult males born to citizen parents -- a minimum level of political equality. There were still rich and poor Spartans, aristocrats and ordinary people, but all who were "equals" (homoioi) could vote in the Assembly, have a share of Spartan land, and benefit from the work of the enslaved helots.  

      Sheltered family life for Spartan citizen boys ended at the age of seven when military training and rugged barracks life began. Spartiate boys learned to withstand pain without complaint, be unquestioningly obedient to leaders, cunning when necessary, and above all, never to admit defeat. Though military service continued, only at age 30 did Spartan men become full citizens, able to vote in the Assembly, hold political office, marry, have a house, and receive an estate worked by helots. 

     The Spartan government was unusual in that it had two kings who ruled equally. This system provided a strong check on the powers of the monarchy since one king could oppose the other. Advising the kings was a Council of Elders, 28 men over the age of 60 who belonged to the Spartan aristocracy. Only this body could present legislation to the Assembly for approval. The Assembly could not initiate legislation, nor could it even discuss the legislation. The Council of Elders would explain the legislation to the Assembly and even give opposing views, but then the Assembly had to vote in favour or against it. Its decision was final. As a kind of advocate for the common citizens, a new institution, the Ephorate, was created; it soon took a leading role in running Spartan affairs. The Ephorate consisted of five men called Ephors who were elected by the Assembly to hold office for one year. The Ephors presided over the Council and Assembly, but were not part of either of those bodies. 

      The Spartan system of government was conservative in order to prevent revolt by the helots. Babies who were not healthy were abandoned at birth. Boys were sometimes brutally  beaten and whipped. Interestingly though, Spartan women enjoyed more freedom and privileges than women anywhere else in Greece. As girls, they were encouraged to take part in sports to develop healthy bodies so they could have healthy children. They were given training in music and dance, like the boys, and when they reached adulthood, had both property and marriage rights. Other Greeks admired Spartan women, both for their independence and because they were said to be the most beautiful in all Greece. 

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Government in Greece

The Age of Tyrants

      Democracy is just one of many political systems developed by humankind to govern its communities. The Greeks were the first people to invent a formal democratic system in which citizens governed themselves through voting. The word democracy comes from two Greek words, demos meaning "the people" and kratos meaning "the rule" or "power." But democracy was not invented easily -- it was arrived at after a long, painful process. Other systems of government had been tried and failed. 

      The early Greek states were usually focused around the main town in a valley area. The normal system of rule was government by a king, and each king acted as the chief judge, leading administrator, military leader, and at times, priest of the state cult (religion). These kings, however, did not have absolute power, nor was their power automatically passed on to their heirs. A king's authority was limited by the rights and powers of a small, close-knit group of aristocrats who acted as his counsellors. 

      During the Dark Ages, many of the kings lost some or all of their powers to other members of the local aristocracy. Arbitrary rule by aristocratic families replaced the monarchy in some Greek states. But arbitrary administration of unwritten laws was just one concern. The power held by some aristocrats and not by others provoked dissent, as did the lack of a voice in government for wealthy men of non-aristocratic background. Poorer Greeks suffered loss of land, debts, and even enslavement for debt at the hands of wealthy nobles. However, the aristocrats could keep their power as long as they continued to be the military backbone of the state. Down to the early seventh century BCE, fighting depended on heavily armed individual warriors backed up by their lightly armed supporters. Only wealthy aristocrats could afford the arms and armour needed for this style of warfare. 

      This all changed in the period ca. 675-650 BCE, as a new style of warfare was introduced, one that depended on the unified movement of larger numbers of warriors, called hoplites. These were heavily armed men with large round shields, shin protectors (greaves), helmets, body armour, and spears, which they thrust rather than threw. by standing side by side, six to ten lines deep, and maintaining their places in the lines, these warriors could easily defeat the old style of fighting. Large numbers of warriors were crucial to preventing the hoplite lines from being surrounded and attacked from behind. But there simply were not enough aristocrats to fill the new battle lines. Consequently, any citizen who could afford the armour eventually came to stand shoulder to shoulder with the aristocrats. The strategic importance of these new soldiers was probably one factor that led to their demand for more political power. 

      People in control of a government usually do not surrender their power willingly. In the richer Greek states near the Isthmus of Corinth, a man of noble blood named Cypselus was excluded from the ruling circle of nobles at Corinth, despite his ability and great ambition. He gathered a military force composed of other discontented citizens and in 657 BCE defeated and forced the ruling clan of nobles into exile. Cypselus took control of the government and began to rule for the benefit of the middle class people who had supported him. The Greeks called such a person, one who had seized power unconstitutionally (for good or bad), a tyrannos or tyrant. 

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The Archaic Period

      Several significant developments mark the end of the Dark Ages in Greece and point to a great new culture. First was the appearance of a new national literature, epitomized by Homer's work. this not only provided Greeks with a glorious past, whether real or imagined, but also gave them a common view of their god,s almost like a national religion. Second was the resurgence of trade as the Greeks again regularly plied the waters beyond the Aegean Sea. Their first destinations were in the eastern Mediterranean, probably to exchange food or metal for manufactured goods. But more important than the objects they bought were the skills and ideas they soon acquired: shipbuilding and metal-working techniques, better knowledge of geography and navigation, artistic and religious ideas, and not least, an alphabet. The alphabet we use today for English and many other languages came for the Greeks by way of the Romans. The Greeks themselves learned it from the Phoenicians, a seafaring people who lived in the region of present-day Lebanon. The new script had only 27 letters, and was easy enough for almost anyone to learn.
      Soon after their voyages to the east began, the Greeks also began sailing westward, establishing contacts and settlements in Italy. They now had access to the iron and other metals found to the north of Rome, where a people known as the Etruscans were beginning to flourish. This led to the third development, colonization. Trading expeditions soon brought news to Greeks at home about the rich agricultural lands in Italy, Sicily, and other locations on the coasts of the Mediterranean. Since pressures to find better land were building in Greece, the trickle of groups emigrating from the Aegean soon became a flood. Hundreds of new Greek settlements were established abroad over a 200-year period, making much of the Mediterranean and Black Sea coasts an extension of the Greek homeland. While theses settlements are often called colonies, for the most part, they were new, independent Greek city-states.
      A fourth development, though minor at first, later became more important. The first Olympic Games in honour of the god Zeus were held in 776 BCE. This is the first date we have in Greek history, the starting point from which later Greeks marked their own past. The Olympic festival was one of four Panhellenic ("all Greece") games that drew competitors and spectators from every corner of the Greek world. Since the prizes at these prestigious festivals were treasured crowns of sacred tree branches, they were called Crown Games. There were some 300 other local athletic games around Greece where winners received very valuable rewrads. These were called Prize Games. They Olympic Games continued until 393 ACE when the Roman emperor Theodosius I, a Christian, ordered all pagan sanctuaries closed.

Colonization

      Towns in Greece wanting to establish new settlements abroad often consulted the oracle of Apollo at Delphi, a sacred place where priestesses or priests could answer questions put to the god about the new territory (or anything else). Then with the oracle's blessing, a group of several hundred men equipped with ships and all the tools and equipment they would need ( at great expense) and promises of further help, would sail away in excitement and anticipation. Whether women and children went out these expeditions or came later, we do not know. We do know that many Greek men took native wives in their new homes,but many more probably brought their Greek wives with them.
      Below is an inscription discovered in Cyrene, Libya, that preserves the original foundation agreement between the colonists of Cyrene and their mother city, Thera. In this case, famine was forcing the mother city to send some of its hungry citizens away. Part of the agreement reads:

Agreement of the Founders

Decided by the assembly. Since Apollo has given a spontaneous prophesy to Battus and the Theraeans ordering them to colonize Cyrene, the Theraeans resolve that Battus be sent to Libya as leader and king: that the Theraeans sail as his companions: that they sail on fair and equal terms, according to family; that one son be conscripted from each family; that those who sail be in the prime of life; and that, of the rest of the Theraeans, any free man who wishes may sail. ...But he who is unwilling to sail when the city sends him shall be liable to punishment by death and his goods shall be confiscated. And he who receives or protects another, even if it be a father his son or brother, shall suffer the same penalty as the man unwilling to sail... 

      Once colonists had arrived at their destination, they had to choose the best location for their new home, usually a harbour site. Besides the endless work of dividing the land, planting the first crops, and building their homes, settlers also had to contend with the native peoples whose land they were taking. The colonists of Cyrene, for example, were often helped by the native Libyans, but there were also bitter wars. In one battle, says Herodotus, the Libyans killed 7000 Greeks. The number of dead sounds unbelievably high but it points out the seriousness of the problem of conflict between Greek colonists and the natives of the lands they colonized.

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The Earliest Greeks: The Mycenaeans

      Mainland Greece developed in the same way as Crete, and at about the same pace, down to around 2000 BCE. Neolithic farming villages were scattered in the narrow valleys of Greece from ca. 65000 BCE to 3000 BCE. Then, as elsewhere around the Aegean, bronze came into common use, people learned to exploit natural resources more effectively, contacts with other regions increased, and life slowly changed. A new era began, now called the Early Helladic period, to distinguish this culture from the Early Minoan. Archaeologists have excavated several large, carefully planned houses that show the increased wealth of the Early Helladic people at this time. Then, toward the end of the third millennium, development was interrupted by episodes of destruction and signs of depopulation, a pattern widely found around the eastern Mediterranean, including Crete. Why this happened is now well known, but in mainland Greece, one cause might have been invasions of various peoples that began some time after ca. 2300 BCE. By ca. 2000 BCE, most vestiges of the prosperous Early Helladic culture were gone and a simpler, less wealthy farming-herding culture (called Middle Helladic) had taken its place. Meanwhile, in sharp contrast to mainland Greece, the Minoans on Crete had recovered from their late third-millennium disasters and begun reaching new heights of prosperity, including the construction of huge palaces for their monarchs.
      There is no evidence that the invaders of mainland Greece at the end of the third millennium spoke Greek. The Greek language might have developed after their arrival as the language of the invaders mixed with that the Mycenaeans, the descendants of these Middle Helladic peoples, did speak an early form of Greek.
      During the seventeenth and sixteenth centuries BCE (1700-1500 BCE), a surprising change occurred in Greece, or so it seems from the evidence first revealed by archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann (1822-1890). Powerful and wealthy chiefdoms sprang up and consolidated control of the small farming villages of the previous few centuries. What caused this rapid and important transformation is still not well understood. Most archaeologists now call this new culture Mycenaean, after its largest political centre, Mycenae. By the fourteenth century BCE, these chiefdoms had been further transformed into well-defined states ruled by kings with administrative centres (in palaces), a writing system for record keeping, and state institutions including a state religion.
      Schliemann did not know what he had found when he uncovered the fabulously wealthy graves at Mycenae in the fall of 1876. He thought he had discovered the burials of King Agamemnon and his family. He then declared that the epic poems of Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey, were based in history. The two poems describe the adventures of Greek heroes who fought in the Trojan War around 1200 BCE, about 450 years before Homer's own time. Agamemnon of Mycenae, the leader of the Greek army at Troy, returned home from the war successfully, only to be murdered by his wife Clytemnestra.

The Legend of the Trojan War

Sing of the building of the horse of wood, which Epeius made with Athena's help, the horse which once Odysseus led up into citadel as a thing of guild, when he had filled it with the men who sacked Troy.

Homer Odyssey VII. 492-495 

      The Trojan War itself, despite Homer's long descriptions, is still a vaguely understood event in Mycenaean history, if it was an event at all, and not pure legend. Excavations at Troy show that a city there was destroyed in a battle ca. 1240 BCE. At that time, the city was really just a fortified town, only 2 ha in area, with a rather poor standard of living. No wonder some scholars have suggested that the Trojan War was merely a dispute over fishing rights or control over shipping, and not the great conflict of West versus East, as later Greeks believed.
      Schliemann could not have known that the graves he had found actually belonged to a royal family of Mycenae, which predated the legendary Trojan War by 300-400 years. The wonderful gold funeral masks, inlaid bronze daggers, and other exquisite objects of gold, silver, ivory, and faience are stunning testimony of a wealthy and powerful royalty or nobility living in Greece ca. 1650-1550 BCE.
      Mycenaean rulers were similar to feudal lords, each governing his own wide area of central or southern Greece from a well-fortified palace. All of them might have owed some allegiance to the king of Mycenae. Indications from the tombs and the walls at Mycenae certainly point to it being the most powerful of the Mycenaean states. They wealth of these kings probably came from trade, particularly in metals like gold or tin. We known from the Linear B tablets that the palaces acted as redistribution centres, taking in commodities from the areas under their control, storing them, and then sending them (or products made at the palace workshops -- pottery, weapons, etc.) to places within the kingdom and beyond.

The End of the Mycenaean World

      The archaeological evidence shows that the first widespread destruction of Mycenae occurred around 1250 BCE. In order to protect water supplies,workshops, and storage areas from further destruction, the rulers extended the fortification walls. But around 1200 BCE, another series of disasters brought an end to the centralized administration, including the use of writing, and caused great depopulation in some areas. People continued to live at Mycenae, Tiryns, and Athens, but the monumental palaces fell into disuse. There was certainly a long process of decline, when the political and economic structure was weakened. Scholars continue to debate the cases of this decline, focusing on three main reasons: natural catastrophes (probably earthquakes), foreign attacks, and internal strife, or a combination of these factors. Clearly, the Mycenaean world had come to an end, leaving many impressive ruins and a deep-seated memory of a glorious past.

The Dark Ages

     There was a period of recuperation lasting about 350 year,s during which various groups of Greek-speaking peoples from the north settled in the Peloponnese (the Greek peninsula), established new homes,built new sanctuaries for their gods, farmed their new land, and built secure communities. But beyond vague notions of what life was like based on sparse archaeological finds, or what political changes were occurring, we know very little about this period. The collapse of the Mycenaean civilization took with it both the wealth and the writing used to keep track of that wealth. There are absolutely no written documents from this 350-year period and later Greeks did not preserve anything about his part of the past in their collective memory. For this reason, the period is called the Dark Ages of Greece. The Greeks did remember their distant, Mycenaean past as an age of heroes and supermen, like Herakles, Hector, Jason, and Achilles. Minstrels wandered from village to village, finding the houses of local nobles and singing their tales of past glory and brave adventures. In return, they would get a bed for the night, a meal, and a small gift. By the second half of the eighth century, the handing down and constant enhancing of these tales provided Homer with they details he used to compose the Iliad and the Odyssey.

Geography and the Greek City-State

      In what kind of land did the Greeks make their home? Flying into Athens today, a visitor is struck by three things: the tall grey mountains are everywhere, isolating one valley from another, one small cultivable area from its neighbour, and reducing the habitable land by well over half. But these mountains are more like partitions than real barriers. They trap the fall and winter rains, provide pasturage fro animals, yield highly prized marble, but otherwise keep the nation separated into small communities. any of these isolated communities quite naturally grew and developed into what the Greeks called a polis, an independent city-state.
      While the mountains hindered communication and transportation between city-states, the sea was a special blessing -- a vast blue highway linking all parts of the country. This highway, however, extended well beyond the bounds of the Greek nation, stretching hundreds of kilometers in all directions to join the Greeks to all the other nations of the Mediterranean. Since at least 7000 BCE, geography has forced the people of Greece to become fine sailors. Greek sailors brought home ideas and wealth from abroad and this gave their culture a special advantage in antiquity.

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External Forces

      The new palaces were rebuilt almost immediately after their destruction in 1750 BCE. They were virtually identical to those that had been destroyed, with no sign of major changes to their structure or decoration, and were as large and as fine as ever. Minoan life continued for another 250 years, reaching new heights of wealth and vigour. Then, around 1490 BCE, the palaces were destroyed again -- except for the one at Knossos. This time, the cause was probably not a natural disaster. It might have had something to do with the Mycenaean warriors who began to arrive on Crete.
      There is considerable evidence to suggest that Mycenaean lords took over the rule of Crete, with Knossos as their administrative centre, ca. 1500 BCE. The most convincing evidence for this is the use of a new language, which we call Linear B, that was being written on clay tablets to keep track of palace goods. This form of writing was derived from Linear A (the Minoan script), but recorded the language of the early Greek-speaking Mycenaeans, not the non-Greek language of the Minoans. This discovery was made when a young Englishman, Michael Ventris, deciphered Linear B in 1952.
      How and why the Mycenaeans invaded Crete is impossible to say. The Minoans might have been weakened by fighting among themselves, or perhaps by natural disasters. Whatever the cause, they could not hold back the newcomers. The palace at Knossos seems to have been taken intact and for about 80 years served as a main administrative centre. Many distinctive features of Minoan culture disappeared, such as buildings with central courts, art forms depicting scenes from nature, finely carved stone vases, and the Linean A script. Graves near Knossos contain the bodies and weapons of some of these new overlords. Eventually, the palace at Knossos was also destroyed, this time by a great fire. Whether the fire was accident or was caused by an attack is not known, but the Mycenaean lords did not rebuild Knossos. Life on the island began reverting to its simpler past, and the finest accomplishments of the Minoans quietly disappeared.

The Myth of the Minotaur

      Later Greeks had several myths about the Minoans, some of which may hold a kernel of truth. The most famous is the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. The wife of King Minos of Knossos gave birth to a monster called the Minotaur, who was half man and half bull. The bloodthirsty Minotaur was imprisoned in a maze-like structure built by Daedalus, the court inventor. The Greeks called this the Labyrinth. since the Minotaur's diet included young unmarried men and women, every year King Minos forced the people of Athens to select 14 of its finest youth as a sacrifice. This horrific practice would have continued annually but for the young hero, Theseus, who volunteered to go to Knossos as part of the sacrifice. with the help of King Minos's daughter, Ariadne, Theseus killed the Minotaur, found his way out of the Labyrinth by following a string he trailed behind himself and saved the youth of Athens.
      This tale of human sacrifice seems out of character for the Minoans, who loved to show peaceful scenes of nature in their art. Nevertheless, in a few of the wall paintings and seal stones preserved at Knossos there are depictions of what looks like a very dangerous sport or ritual. Young men and women are shown leaping over the backs and long, pointed horns of charging bulls. Sometimes these acrobats are successful but some are gored and severely injured. Perhaps there is an echo of the Minotaur myth in these scenes. This idea is strengthened by the fact that the palace of Knossos itself could well be compared to a maze, given its complex plan of rooms and corridors.

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The Earliest Civilization in Europe: The Minoans

       Crete is a land of abundant agricultural wealth. The people of ancient Crete, whom we call Minoans, were highly proficient navigators. This navigational skill in combination with the island's agricultural bounty led the Minoans to become the first Europeans to acquire some of the facets of civilization. By about 1900 BCE, the Minoans had developed a form of writing, a palace-led social organization, advanced metal-working skills, and sophisticated artistic expression.

      Crete is an island about 200 km long and divided into regions by tall mountain ranges. It enjoys a very pleasant, semi-tropical climate. when the first settlers made their way to the island from Asia Minor in the seventh millennium (7000-6000 BCE), they found a fertile, inviting home. Over the centuries, the settlers spread across the island, building small villages, growing grain, raising sheep and goats, hunting and fishing, and occasionally trading with neighbors on their own and nearby islands. 

Innovations: The Introduction of Bronze

      After more than 3000 years of this Neolithic farming life, several new elements were introduced to the culture. One of the most important was the use of metal to make better tools and weapons. The metal of greatest importance was bronze, an alloy of about nine parts copper to one part tin. Its introduction had as profound an impact on Crete as it did elsewhere in the ancient world, and the arrival of bronze on the island marks the Early Minoan period (ca. 3000-2100 BCE). 

      The  copper used on Crete may have come first from the small island of Kythnos to the north, but it was especially plentiful at Lavrion near Athens on the mainland. On the eastern island of Cyprus, copper was plentiful, but tin was much rarer and therefore more expensive, perhaps coming from the mountains of southern Turkey. Separately, tools made of these metals were not much better than tools made of stone, but combined, they produced a tough but malleable metal with a reasonably low melting point, ideal for producing sharp knives and spear points, tough saws, hard chisels and many other implements. 

      How did the Minoans pay for bronze? Crete had no other valuable products to exchange except agricultural goods. It is likely that a new market developed, even if only on a small scale, involving surplus production of food or linen and wool clothing. Sailors, traders, merchants, and metal workers reaped profits for their work in the exchange system. There is certainly evidence of a great increase in the population of the island, and of better use of the land for agriculture: ploughing heavier soils, making cheese from milk, and planting grape vines. The farmers of Crete also planted olive trees to produce one of them sot important staples of Mediterranean life: olive oil. 

      The process was slow, but over a thousand years, these changes brought about a society with more diverse skills and occupations, some accumulation of wealth, and greater contacts with peoples outside Crete. However, this development was interrupted toward the end of the third millennium (ca. 2300-2100 BCE), perhaps because of problems elsewhere in the eastern Mediterranean. It is not yet understood why settlements were abandoned and trading contacts severed. 

Cross-cultural Influences and the Minoans

      At the beginning of the Middle Minoan period, ca. 2100 BCE, a recovery occurred, with new population growth helped in part by immigration. Very quickly, life on Crete began to flourish in completely new ways. Foreign trade with the Near East increased as it stabilized following a period of turmoil. There were new burial customs, impressive buildings, higher levels of artisanship, and a system of writing. There were now sacred grounds called sanctuaries built on hilltops. This was where temples, sacrificial altars and other forms or architecture were built in honor of the gods. Very clearly, some families on the island were accumulating substantial wealth. Archaeological evidence shows that these newly wealthy people found ways to enjoy their riches. They built bigger and finer houses -- some on the scale of palaces -- where possessions could be stored and administered. They had fine jewelry and clothing and enjoyed works of art and luxury imported products, many of which came from Egypt or elsewhere in the Middle East. to keep track of their property, the wealthy first developed a method of marking ownership with seals, they a system of record keeping using hieroglyphic characters, perhaps borrowed from Egypt. Eventually the Minoans developed a script of their own, which we call Linear A, By about 1900 BCE, civilization had appeared on the threshold of Europe. 

Politics and the Palaces

      The largest and most important palace on Crete was always at Knossos. It was also the earliest, along with the palaces of Phaestus and Mallia. These were certainly centres of political power. Knossos must have been home to the most powerful monarch on the island, king or queen, with other royal families ruling for other palaces. Power was partly exercised by controlling certain goods and products, so the palaces were also centres of exchange for the Minoan economy. The large storerooms for agricultural produce and for items of prestige created in the palace workshops are evidence of the role of the palace in the local economy. 

      The palaces were the most impressive buildings constructed by the Minoans. Dozens of interconnecting rectangular rooms on two, three, or more storeys were grouped around a large open courtyard in the centre of the palace. There were areas for administration, residences, religious purposes, storage, and workshops. The finest rooms were decorated with colorful wall frescoes depicting processions of gift bearers, scenes of nature, lively ceremonies, or charging bulls. Fine building skills can be seen in the masonry reinforced by wooden beams to protect it from earthquakes, in the deep light wells (like elevator shafts) to bring air and light to the lower storeys, and in the advanced plumbing. 

      All these palaces were destroyed around 1750 BCE, possibly as a result of a massive earthquake. Earthquakes and volcanoes are common in the Aegean region, but are rarely strong enough to cause such widespread destruction. Nevertheless, a little more than a century later, the volcano on the tiny island of Thera, to the north of Crete, erupted with cataclysmic results. 

The Eruption of Thera

      The beautiful island of Thera exploded in a tremendous eruption, dated by tree rings to around 1628 BCE. This explosion enlarged an existing caldera from earlier volcanic activity. The sea poured in and caused even more turmoil when it met the red-hot lava. A small, thriving town was buried by the ash that rained down on the south coast of the island. In 1967, the Greek archaeologist Spyridon Marinatos came upon this town, which had been wonderfully preserved. Unlike the later volcanic eruption at Pompeii, the people of Thera had had sufficient time to save themselves, but had to leave behind many of their possessions. The vibrant wall paintings are only the most famous legacy left to us by this culture. Remarkably, this devastating eruption seems to have had little long-term effect on Minoan culture on Crete, only about 120 km away. 

Writing; ECHOES from the past published by McGraw-Hill Ryderson Ltd.

Sons and Daughters of the Commandent

      The term Bar Mitzvah means literally "son of the commandment." Bar means "son" in Aramaic (at one time, a common Near Eastern language), and Mitzvah means "commandment." Bat means "daughter" in Hebrew and Aramaic. Under Jewish Law, children are not held responsible for observing all the commandments (613 of them) until a certain age. At some point, likely between 516 BCE and 70 ACE, age thirteen plus a day was deemed the age that a Jewish boy becomes Bar Mitzvah, and a full member of his community.
      It is not known exactly why thirteen was picked as the age for conferring some serious adult responsibilities. Possibly, the age was picked because Abraham was believed to have rejected idols and begun his jorney with God at the age of thirteen; or perhaps, it was because Moses was said to have made thirteen copies of the Torah. Thirteen may have just seemed like the appropriate age for a coming-of-age observance. Many other cultures and civilizations have ceremonies that recognize adolescence as a gateway to adulthood. Eventually,it was written into the Talmud (Jewish Laws) that "...At age thirteen, one becomes subject to the commandments." Interestingly Bar Mitzvah is not mentioned in the Torah, which actually suggests 20 as the age when adult obligations begin.
      To become Bar Mitzvah, no ceremony is really needed and no ceremony is mentioned in the Talmud. It is simply the age that confers the status. After becoming Bar Mitzvah, certain obligations and privileges are assumed. These include:

   -responsibility for observing the 613 mitzvot (commandments)
   -observance of fast days (for example, Yom Kippur)
   -status in the count for a minyan (the quorum of ten required for community prayer)\
   -eligibility for aliyot (being called upon to read from the Torah)
   -the right to take part in religious services

      When becoming Bar Mitzvah, the celebrant not only enters a new phase in the life cycle, but also adds to the strength of t he community, and this could be another reason for the relatively young age of thirteen. It came to be celebrated in a ceremony (along with birth, marriage, and death) during which the thirteen-year-old blesses and, perhaps, reads from the Torah. Eventually, a celebratory meal was also added.
      Bat Mitzvah ceremonies are a much more modern development, although according to Jewish Law, girls mature faster than boys and are responsible for monies in traditional Orthodox communities, a girl's Bat Mitzvah often went unacknowledged, except by family and by her being subject to most of the commandments. different communities adapted different habits when it came time for a girl to become Bat Mitzvah. The first recorded public Bat Mitzvah ceremony, where a girl read from the Torah, did not occur until the early 1920s/ Today it is a much more common practice.

Writing: ECHOES from the past published by McGraw-Hill Ryderson Ltd.

Nebuchadrezzar II: A Force To Be Reckoned With

      Nebuchadrezzar II (also known as Nebuchadnezzar), King of Babylon from 605 to 562 BCE, was a formidable leader. his reign was chronicled by ancient writers in several Books of the Old Testament, in the historical works of the Roman-Jewish writer Josephus, and in the text known as the Apocrypha, as well as by modern scholars.
      Some ancient texts portray Nebuchadrezzar as mad, and this characterization has been used in several later works of art and literature about him. It is possible that the taint of madness came from Nebuchadrezzar's immense capacity for both wanton destruction and brilliant rebuilding. Following in his father's footsteps, Nebuchadrezzar pursued a military policy of expansion. His aim was to have no opposition from "horizon to sky," and so his army was always on the move, taking over an ever-widening circle of states through Syria, Palestine, Arabia, Judah, and even Egypt. He was always a force to be reckoned with.
      Nebuchadrezzar captured Jerusalem twice. The first time was 597 BCE. Typically, when Nebuchadrezzar invaded an area, the siege was quite complete: physical destruction was extensive, anything of value (property, wealth, and people) was deported out of the area to Babylon. Someone loyal to Babylon was then left in charge of the decimated region. Unfortunately for Jerusalem, the man left in charge, Zedebiah, did not remain loyal to Nebuchadrezza, so the second invasion, in 587-586 BCE, was even more horrible than the first.
      In II Kings 25: 8-12 of the Old Testament, it is reported that virtually nothing was left standing in Jerusalem. Even the sacred and beloved Temple of Solomon was burned to the ground. All the people fled or were deported. This ended the days of the First Temple and began the Jewish Diaspora, the dispersion of the Jewish people from their homeland, which would go on for centuries.
     While he was a ruthless military strategist, Nebuchadrezzar was also known for his skillful diplomacy (despite the destruction in Jerusalem, he is not portrayed as totally bad in Jewish tradition) and his numerous building projects. Many temples were constructed during his reign, along with canals and fortifications. Nebuchadrezzar will always be remembered for directing the largest zigguarat project of them all -- the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the wonders of the ancient world.

Writing: ECHOES from the past published by McGraw-Hill Ryderson Ltd.