Geography: The Italian Peninsula

      The Italian Peninsula lies in the geographic centre of the Mediterranean basin, surrounded on three sides by what the Romans called Mare Nostrum, "Our Sea." The land is separated from the rest of Europe by the Alps, a rugged mountain chain that provides the people of northern Italy with a formidable protective barrier. The peninsula is approximately 1000 km long and 200 km wide and is itself divided along most of its length by Apennine Mountains. This diagonal barrier, no higher than about 3000 m, to this day remains difficult to penetrate, and in Roman times, served to make internal communication difficult.
       Although the Romans preferred to travel by boat, there were few rivers that were easily navigable for most of their length. The most important were to Po River, which for many centuries acted as a border between the civilized inhabitants of Italy and their wilder neighbours to the north, and the Tiber River in central Italy. The story of Rome is the story of the growth, expansion, and influence of a small settlement in the Tiber River Valley, about 20 km from the Tyrrhenian Sea.
      Although there were few good harbours and the Romans were unadventurous sailors, coastal trade was brisk. To the southeast were the ports of Brindisi and Taranto. To the northeast were the two ports of Genoa and La Spezia. the later Roman navies were stationed in the bay of Naples south of Rome and in the north on the estuary of the Po, at Ravenna. An artificial, commercial port was built at Ostia at the mouth of the tiber to supply the city of Rome. The word "port," in fact, comes from the Roman name for this place, Portus.
      While the Italian Peninsula was generally fertile along the narrow coastal plains and in river valleys, an expanding urban population led to an increased reliance on grain imported from Sicily and Egypt. From the height of the Roman Empire to its ultimate collapse in the sixth century CE, the urban population of Rome was dependent on foreign imports.
     The climate of the peninsula is relatively mild. In winter and summer, temperatures along the coasts are moderated by the proximity of the seas, although greater extremes of cold and heat are felt farther inland. In the summer months, the heat is intensified by a dry, southerly breeze that rolls away the clouds to allow the sun's uninterrupted glare. In winter, from October to March, the win'd direction is reversed, bringing cold fronts in from the European continent and making the seas unsuitable for sailing. The relatively mild climate, general agricultural prosperity, seclusion from the rest of Europe, and central position in the Mediterranean world, were all important factors in the rise of Rome.

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

The Greatness Of The Greeks

      Why were the Greeks able to accomplish so much during the Classical Age? The answer to this question is not such a mystery. The system of farming, with slaves and tenants doing the work, and the mercantile interests of many Greeks, produced both wealth and leisure time. This in turn gave freedom and time to many individuals for other areas of human interest - literature, philosophy, music, and art. As a consequence, a very large portion of the male population of Greece had the freedom and encouragement to exercise their natural talents and curiosity. Imagine what might have been accomplished had all Greeks - men and women, slaves, and foreigners  been given the same opportunities!
      It is hard to imagine Western civilization without its foundations in ancient Greece:
-Thought: When it came time to build on the accomplishment of other cultures, the Greeks used careful, rational thought, to which they added their natural curiosity. This used of logical thinking may partly be credited to the political system. In small city-states, power derived from being persuasive in public argument, and persuasiveness depends in part on rational, logical thought.
-Language: Thousands of words used in English and other European languages are derived from ancient Greek, for example: technology, history, evangelist, cyberspace, titan, euthanasia, genetics, photography, economy, and microscope.
-Politics: The study of government was first begun by Plato and Aristotle. The very word "politics" is derived from ancient Greek, from polis, the word for a Greek city-state. Many of the words we use to describe our various political systems also come from Greek words: democracy, monarchy, tyranny, aristocracy, and so on. The concept of democracy too its first breath in ancient Greece, albeit in a somewhat different, more limited form compared to what we know today.
-Philosophy: It has been said that all later philosophy is merely footnotes to Plato. This is an exaggeration, of course, but it points clearly to the importance of Plato and other Greek philosophers. Not only did these thinkers give rise to the field of philosophy as we know it, but they also introduced many of the philosophical questions that have occupied human minds since.
-Art and Architecture: Beginning in the fifteenth century CE in Europe, both sculptors and painters were strongly influenced by Classical art. Using Greek art as a model, problems in creating the human figure were solved, and techniques in foreshortening, light and colour and perspective were employed just as the ancient Greeks had done. In architecture of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, there was a strong revival of Classical art called Neo-classicism. The architectural styles of government buildings, banks, art museums, train stations, and stately mansions imitated those of Classical Greece.
-Myth and Literature: Besides the myths and literature of the ancient Greeks that we still read today, there are a great many allusions to Greek myth and literature in our modern world. Sports teams are called Trojans, Spartans, or Argonauts; adventurous travels are called odyssesy; and the space program that landed the first human on the moon was called Apollo.

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

Greek Culture

Philosophy

      Before the time of Socrates, Greek philosophy was often only concerned with scientific inquiry, such as the nature and origin of the universe. Thales of Miletus may have been influenced Babylonian wise men when he predicted an eclipse around 585 BCE, or turned his thoughts to the problem of the beginnings of life. Another question addressed by early Greek thinkers concerned what we can really know fro certain, when all the information about our world comes to us through our senses, which can be deceived. One noteworthy idea to come from this inquiry was the theory that all matter is made up of tiny, indivisible particles called atoms. Greeks of course never realized just how tiny atoms really are.
      The foundations of Greek society were shaken by philosophers questioning traditional beliefs. Men called sophists sold their services as teachers for wealthy youths, training them in public speaking (rhetoric) ad logic. One such sophist, Protagoras of Abdera, tried to throw out all the previous standards of judging what is right and wrong good and bad, ugly and beautiful. He argued that people are the measure of all things -meaning that human beings themselves set all such standards for judgement. Into this climate of distrust of wise men, there appeared a greater genius - Socrates.
      "Ugly in body, but magnetic in mind; convivial and erotic, yet Spartan in habits and of enormous physical endurance," is one scholar's description of Socrates. This true "lover of wisdom" left behind nothing in writing, but through Plato, his disciple, we learn that Socrates believed it was duty of every person to care for one's inner being (soul), that is, the moral and intellectual personality, in order to make it as good as possible. His method of inquiry, which came to be called the Socratic method, was to ask people simple questions about their beliefs, then to probe deeper and deeper into their assumptions, often making them look foolish as they recognized their errors. Socrates' impact on later philosophy has been profound, but his own day he was often ridiculed. In the end, he was tried and forced to commit suicide by his own city.

That was the end, Echecrates, of our friend, the man who of all men of his time whom we have known was, we may say, the best -yes, and what is more, the wisest and the most just.

Plato The Phaedo 118

      The most famous of Socrates' followers was Plato. Plato set up his own school, called the Academy, beside the Academus gymnasium just outside Athens. Here, he taught philosophy to advanced students. Plato wrote many works, called Dialogues, with Socrates as the main character. In these he sought to explain concepts such as love, beauty, justice, and what he called "the Good." The concept of the Good had a strong impact on later Christian thinking since it was similar to the Christian idea of God. 

      Aristotle was a student at Plato's Academy. After Plato's death, Aristotle started his own school, the Lyceum, where he organized his students to carry out research in many fields of scientific learning. Aristotle himself made many important advances in biology, zoology, astronomy, meteorology, psychology, political science, ethics, and rhetoric. He also made great contributions to philosophy. He opposed some of Plato's ideas about the nature of true knowledge, and the relationship between the world of the intellect and the world of the senses. Besides these schools there were dozens of others, including those of the Cynics, the Stoics, and the Epicureans, some of which especially influenced the Romans. 

Art and Architecture

      If you look at examples of Egyptian painting, you will see that they are really coloured drawings. A figure is drawn and then colours are added, like in a colouring book. Greek artists were the first to learn how to show three dimensions on a flat surface by using different shades of colour to give the illusion of depth. They also used techniques such as forshortening (making near objects look bigger than distance onces) so as to produce images that looked real. Unfortunately, most Greek paintings are lost, but we can read stories about how painters painted grapes that looked so real that birds tried to eat them. Greek painters aimed at producing not only real-looking pictures, but also ideal images. These images reflected a Greek concept of the ideal, or most beautiful, human form-youth, harmonious proportions, and calm expression. When the Greeks depicted the gods, they showed them as ideal human figures, though often larger than life.
     The same was true of sculptors. The Greeks concentrated on creating statues of nude young men, and over time observed each detail and proportion of the body. Scuptors wanted to make the statues appear natural but also conforming to certain rules about how an ideal figure should look. This concentration on detail and proportion resulted in statues that were almost lifelike. In the Classical period, the sculptors, like the painters, usually portrayed men and women in their ideal sate-in the prime of life, in the most beautiful or handsome pose.
      In the Hellenistic period, Greek architecture was refined by elaborating on existing styles rather than by using new methods or materials. More public money was devoted to non-religious buildings such as theatres, stadiums, gymnasiums, and stoas (long colonnaded buildings, often with stores and public facilities, like ancient shopping malls). Private architecture also began to develop as rich individuals decided to use buildings to display their wealth, most notably in the construction of tombs. The most famous such tomb was built at Halicarnassus around 353 BCE by King Mausolus (from which we get the word "mausoleum") and his sister Queen Artemisia. Because of the novelty of the design, and the fame of the artists who decorated the building with sculpture, this building was later named one of the wonders of the ancient world. By the time of Alexander the Great, the Greeks had learned how to build arches and vaults out of stone, but it was the Romans who really took advantage of these new devices for spanning open spaces in their architecture.
   

Medicine

      Greek medical facilities, the equivalent of our hospitals, were located at sanctuaries of the healing god Asclepius. Compared to the worship of the other gods, worship of Asclepius began very late in Greece, around 500 BCE. The Asclepian sanctuaries were usually located well away from the noise and dust of the city, near a source of clean, cool spring water.
      The oldest Asclepian sanctuary was at Epidaurus, and from there the cult spread to Corinth, Athens, Curene in Libya, the island of Cos, and many other places. At these sanctuaries, Greek doctors learned their skills in the use of potions, ointments, healthy diets and exercise, and surgery. A device to remove barbed arrows (like the one that went into the eye of Philip the Great) was one of the Greek surgical inventions. The usual cure for disease was to sleep in a special hall at a sanctuary and wait for a dream about the god to work a cure. This was probably combined with proper medical practices.
      The most famous Greek Physician was Hippocrates whose oath about caring for the sick is still repeated by newly graduated doctors even today. Hyppocrates worked at the Asclepian sanctuary at Cos at the same time that Socrates lived in Athens. Hippocrates was the first to study how parts of the body work in relation to the body as a whole.
      There was a great deal of superstition and religion mixed with the practice of ancient medicine, but cleanliness, healthy food, rest, and a number of good, naturally occurring drugs helped the healing process. There are many records of cures left at sanctuaries; some are unbelievable, bordering on miraculous, but a good portion of the inscriptions, and the hundreds of clay body parts dedicated in thanks to the god, suggest good success.

Sexuality

      While some societies have abhorred, ridiculed, or even attacked homosexuality, that was not the case among the Greeks. On the contrary, it was quite a conspicuous part of Greek life. The Greeks were ready to respond favorably to the open expression of homosexual desire whether in words and behaviors, or in literature and the visual arts. Many vase paintings, for example, depict homosexual courtship and love. for the most part, these represent relationships between older men and youths. This was particularly common in aristocratic circles. Homosexuality is also a common theme in Greek poetry, and Plato treats it on a philosophical level when he discusses the concepts of ideal beauty and love.
      The finest unit of warriors in the Theban army, during its period of dominance in the fourth century BCE, was called the Sacred Band. The Sacred Band was made up entirely of pairs of homosexual lovers. It was believed, and indeed proved correct, that a warrior would fight more fiercely if standing in battle beside his beloved. At the battle of Chaeronea in 338 BCE, when Philip the Great of Macedon crushed the Greek army opposing his rule over mainland Greece, the entire Sacred Band of Thebes died fighting.
      Female homosexuality was much less common but can be found in poetry of Sappho (ca. 600 BCE), a woman poet who ran a finishing school for aristocratic girls on the island of Lesbos. Her poetry was regarded as among the finest of her age. A common theme was her love for certain of her students. It is because of the poetry of Sappho that the island of Lesbos gave its name of female homosexuality (lesbianism).

Science and Technology

      Greek mathematics reached very advanced levels, especially by the Hellenistic Age. Best known are the works by Pythagoras and Euclid in geometry, but algebra and even trigonometry were also well developed. In the field of science, biology progressed particularly well, especially through the efforts of Aristotle. The Greeks did not know the scientific method, and while they observed natural phenomena carefully, they were not at all good at carrying out accurate experiments to test their theories.
      The Greeks did develop a number of more complicated devices based on simple machines such as the pulley, the lever, and the plane. Clock-like mechanisms with complex gears, perhaps to measure astronomical data, have been found, as have large siege machines for hurling various projectiles against an enemy. The famous mathematician and inventor Archimedes, who lived in the third century BCE on the island of Syracuse, which is still used today to draw water up out of streams to irrigate fields.

The Role of Women

      The subject of women's roles in Greek society has received a great deal of attention in recent years. It is a topic that depends on very sparse evidence, since most of the archaeological and historical writings were produced by Greek men. Governments were run by men, temples were built by men, writers and artists were men almost exclusively. An exemption was Sappho, of course, who was famous for her beautiful lyric verses.
      In Athens, women of citizen families led very sheltered lives. They closely oversaw the running of their own households, but rarely ventured out in public, even to shop. Their skills in the production of textiles were admired, but cloth was woven just to fill household needs, not for commercial purposes.
      In religion, women had a significant public part to play. In Athens, more than 40 priesthoods were held by women, and some festivals and rituals were led only by women, such as the Thesmophoria festival of Demeter, goddess of fertility and agriculture. Another example of a festival dominated by women occurred at the sanctuary of Artemis at Brauron, located about 30 km outside Athens on the east coast of Attica. Here Artemis was worshipped as the goddess of childbirth, and especially of happy deliveries. She was linked to the bear (though the reason why is no longer known( so her young worshippers, unmarried girls, dressed as "little bears" (arctoi) in the rites performed in her honours. This was a rite of initiation that preceded puberty and was meant to guarantee a fertile marriage and safe childbirth. Childbearing was probably the single most important aspect of a Greek woman's life.
      A woman in Greek society fulfilled her role in life almost entirely as a wife and mother hidden in the home. She was, however, free to visit neighbors and participate in religious festivals, marriages, and funerals. Occasionally, women played a part in public life, as wife or mother of a ruler, but otherwise they id not participate in political life, either to hold office or even to vote. Women in most city-states could not even own property, and had to have a male guardian in legal matters. One exception to this was in Sparta. Though a Spartiate woman was still required to have a guardian, usually the woman's father before she married, and her husband afterward, she could own property. Women received their share of the family estate in the form of a dowry when they married, and this returned with them to their family in the even of divorce or widowhood.
      Some ancient authors leave the impression that Greek men were nervously fearful of women and that they regarded the female character as unpredictable and mysterious. Other authors regarded women with a more liberal attitude. Herodotus described their influence in many historical events. It was mostly through the imagination of Greek men that women made a contribution to the literature and art of this civilization. The Athenian playwrights gave women important and sometimes powerful roles in their dramas.
      Sometime not long after 400 BCE, attitudes toward women and their role in society began to change. For example, statues of nude women first appeared at this time. Women were also allowed to participate in important athletic competitions (though the Olympics were never opened to them) and they began to acquire a stronger role in public life. Women like Cleopatra, ruler of Hellenistic Egypt, were still an exception, however, in terms of political power.

Greek Religion

      The Greeks had many special days when they celebrated and honoured the gods, days that occurred at irregular intervals (remember, there was no such thing as a weekend). But Greeks did not wait for a holy day to pay their respects to their deities. There were altars, shrines, temples, and statues of the gods everywhere in towns and in the countryside. If a person felt the need for help in a certain aspect of life, they might give a small gift and say a little prayer at the appropriate god's shrine. There were gods of birth, death, and the Underworld; gods for women, the weather, and wine; gods of war, peace. victory, and healing; in short, there were gods for all aspects and stages of life. There were also more important gods, most of whom were thought to reside on Mt. Olympus. It was to these gods that the Greeks built their beautiful temples and sanctuaries.
       All the gods were thought to have human forms and characters. This is an important idea to understand, since it explains the Greek attitude toward the gods. People honoured the gods with festivals, and offered sacrifices of honey-cakes, terracotta figurines, or sacrificed animals. In exchange, they expected the gods' blessings, or at least to avoid the gods' punishments.

Myths and Legends

      In order to explain the many rites and cults, stories were told about significant eventsin the lives of the differnet gods. These stories, which we now retad as myths, were firly believed by most Greeks. Myths had the wieght of tradition behind them, and the support of great poets like Homer and Hesiod. Man stories, creations of fertile imaginations, arose as late as the sixth century BCE. They then became fixed and written down, less easy to change or embelish.
      There were also several cycles of stories, waht we might call legends, surrounding great heroes of the past and the foes they fought: Herakles, Jason and the Argonauts, Perseus and the Gorgon, Theseus and the Minotaur, and great warriors such as Ajax, Achilles, and Hector. These heroes accompolished superhuman deeds, often with the direct help of the gods who were their patrons and sometimes even their parents. Such legends helped times even their parents. Such legends helped explain the tradition of a glorious past, the remains of which could still be seen in placs like Mycenae, Tiryns, and Knossos. The belief in the greatness of these heroes and their connection with the gods was so strong that many cities had hero shrines where people could worship a local hero and ask forhelp in their lives.

Temples, Oracles, and Curses

      Temples were built as houses for the gods. The richer the city, the greater the temples. Temples were symbols of the wealthy and power of the community and of its protecting patron deity. Temples themselves, however, were not places of worship. virtually all rituals took place around altars outside the temples. In fact, in most sanctuaries there was only an altar and no temple at all.
      The Greeks believed strongly that the gods communicated with them; this might take place through the songs of birds, the rustling of leaves, then entrails of animals, or the voice of a special person like a prophet. The sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi became famous because the oracle (prophet) there was regarded as reliable. Apollo spoke answers to inquiries through his priestess, an old woman called the Pythia.
      It was also possible for people to address their concerns to the gods. The normal way was through prayers accompanied by fits, but in popular black magic and sorcery, it was also possible to cast spells and put curses on people. A curse on an enemy might be invoked by scratching the enemy's name and the desired curse on a sheet of lead, often scrambling up the letters, then folding up the sheet and driving bronze nail through it. This could then be buried in a grave or in a sanctuary to the goddess Persephone, who dwelt in the Underworld for three months of the year.

Festivals

      Most festivals included a procession of priests, worshippers, sacred objects, and animals for sacrifice. The more popular festivals had competitions in poetry, music, dance, and athletics, with valuable prizes for the winners. The Olympic Games, held at Olympia, in the Peloponnese, were part of a five-day festival in honour of Zeus. Athletic contests were held on the second and fourth days of this festival as well as on the afternoon of the third day. The first, third, and fifth days were otherwise given over to processions, sacrifices, and prayers to Zeus. No music or poetry contest interfered with he athletic games here, and although the reward at winner usually gave its winners prizes equal to tens of thousands of dollars.

Religion and Political Life

      The Greeks were generally quite tolerant of the religious beliefs of others, probably because Greek religion did not have rigid rules. So, for example, the sophists in fifth-century Athens could discuss their serious doubts about the existence or knowability of the gods. The Greeks could also be deadly serious about religion, especially at times when they thought their city was being threatened or the gods were angry with them. In 414 BCE, in the dark days of the Peloponnesian War and its aftermath, a number of wealthy were tried and executed on the charge of impiety. Protagoras the sophist is said to have fled Athens after being convicted on a charge of atheism in 411 BCE. Socrates was executed (by drinking poison) in 399 BCE on twin charges of corrupting the youth of Athens and introducing new gods. The concept of separation of church and state was unknown in the ancient Greek world, so the temples, and cults were readily supported with public money. Since political leaders were often also religious leaders, threats to religion might also be regarded as threats to the state.

Trade and Coinage

      In Greece, trade over any great distance or in any bulk product was carried out by ship since overland travel by pack animal was difficult and expensive. It seems probable that Phoenician ships first visited Greek shores during the Dark Ages fro trading purposes. These encounters may have encouraged Greeks to make voyages in their own ships, perhaps built especially for the purpose, though more likely used for fishing or island raiding. As underwater archaeological expeditions have revealed, these ships were small, able to accommodate a crew of four or five and a capacity of several tonnes.
      Profits from a successful voyage could be substantial, as much as two or three times the cost of the cargo. However, these voyages were not without risks, from storms and pirates, as well as the great cost of hiring a ship to carry the cargo. A normal venture began when a merchant borrowed money from a banker at a rate of 25 to 60 percent for the term of the voyage. The money would be used to purchase a cargo. The merchant would then make a contract with a shipowner for space on his ship to carry the cargo, for example, copper ingots from Cyprus, back to Piraeus (the main port for Athens). The shipowner presumably would have a contract with another merchant to carry a cargo outbound from Athens, for example, olive oil and fine pottery, to Cyprus. The first merchant would accompany the ship in order to make the best deal possible for the copper. In Piraeus, he then had to find a buyer for his cargo, pay the shipowner, and pay his banker with the necessary interest. If demand for copper were high, as in wartime when armour was needed, the merchant could make a considerable profit.
      The most common trade goods shipped to and from Greece included:
- grain from south Asia, Sicily, or Egypt in exchange for Greek olive oil and wine
- luxury goods like glass, alabaster, perfumes, and ivory from Phoenicia and Egypt in exchange for Greek silver or white marble
- timber and pitch for shipbuilding from the North Aegean in exchange for Greek olive oil and finished goods like pottery, furniture, jewelry, or textiles
      Clearly, Greek merchants and sailors traveled to every corner of the Mediterranean and far inland from its ports in order to find trade opportunities and satisfy their natural curiosity about the world. These traders, together with Greek mercenaries, were no doubt the major force for spreading Greek culture abroad before the time of Alexander. These same traders, on their return to their homeland, brought back the natural resources, goods, and most importantly, the ideas that they acquired in distant places. Many foreigners in turn came to visit and live in Greece, either freely as traders or as ambassadors, or in captivity as slaves.
      For centuries, trade depended on a system of bartering where traders made deals to exchange so much of one product for so much of another - there was no money involved because money did not exist yet. Tow hundred kilograms of salt might be traded for 150 kg of grain, and so on. Days might be spend arguing over amounts and types of compensation. Eventually, traders recognized that small amounts of precious metals might be conveniently accepted almost anywhere in exchange for most products used in daily life. Precious metals like copper, bronze, silver, electrum (an alloy of silver and gold), and even pure gold, could be carried in small chunks, weighed by the traders and used as a form of exchange.
      Chunks of different sizes always had to be weighed against different standards, which was awkward, and there were widely varying standards of purity for metals, or percentages of metals in alloys. To bring some uniformity to this process, beginning in the eighth and seventh centuries BCE, the chunks of precious metal were stamped with a symbol indicating there weight and purity. The stamps of certain traders came to be trusted more than others. Eventually, the uncertainty of this state of affairs was revolved when governments began stamping their own metal chunks, and so put the reputation of the state or monarch behind the quality of the metal and its standard of weight. This was the first coinage of the Western world.
      The first mints, dating to the seventh century BCE, were in Lydia and the East Greek states, but coinage quickly spread to the trading cities of Athens, Corinth, Aegina, and Chalcis in the western Aegean. Silver became the most commonly used metal. By the time of the Athenian Empire in the fifth century BCE, the so-called owls of Athens - coins with an owl on on e side and the head of Athena on the other - became the most common coinage in the Mediterranean area.

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

The Hellenistic Age

      The death of Alexander in 323 BCE marks the end of an era. It separates what historians call the Classical Age (480-323 BCE) from the Hellenistic Age (323-31 BCE). Greek culture began to travel from its home in the Aegean and, through conquest, became the common culture of all countries in the Near East. Teachers, soldiers, craftsmen, artists, writers, and merchants flooded out of Greece into the newly conquered lands to take advantage of the many opportunities for fame and fortune in the near East. Greek culture was so attractive that it significantly influenced every local society it met, especially the better-educated, urban populations of the Near East. Even when the Romans in turn conquered this area, Greek culture and language remained the common unifies until the coming of the Arabs, and much later, the Turks. Alexander founded more than 70 new cities, many of them named Alexandria. In these, and in the older cities of the Near East, we find typical Greek buildings: gymnasiums, theaters, stadiums, market buildings (the stoa), libraries, and temples. Everywhere, Greek became the language of the educated class, and Greek art and literature were appreciated as models of perfection to be imitated.
      Alexander's empire was divided into three kingdoms. One of Alexander's generals, Seleucus, took over the Asiatic part of his empire and established the Seleucid dynasty in the African portion of the Ptolemaic dynasty in the African portion of Alexander's empire (Egypt and eastern Lydia), the last ruler of the European portion, including Greece and Macedonia, and founded the Antigonid dynasty. Smaller kingdoms like Pergamon and Rhodes became involved in the feuds between the Hellenistic kingdoms. the results of these conflicts are part of the history of Rome, since Rome eventually conquered Pergamon and Rhodes and made them part of its empire by 31 BCE. Macedonia itself was humiliated and made a Roman province by 148 BCE.
      In the midst of this turbulent new era, most Greeks could find some degree of stability in the continuing role of the polis, their city. Most city-states maintained independence in their internal affairs, so the councils and assemblies continued to meet, local laws were passed, taxes were collected, and elections were held to fill the traditional offices. Democracy was the normal method of government on this level, but it was expensive to run a democracy. Gradually, wealthier citizens increased their power and the average citizen lost interest in participating in government by neighbours. One means by which the small powers like Macedonia and Pergamon was to form leagues. Two in particular, the Aetolian and the Achaean Leagues, expanded their membership beyond the regions of Central Greece and the Northern Peloponnese. Citizens of each league, or their representatives in the case of the Achaean League, met in large assemblies twice a year and decided matters of foreign policy and the military. In the end, however, none of the leagues could math the power of Rome.
     

Citizens, Slaves, and Foreigners

      Demetrius of Phaleron was appointed governor of Athens in 317 BCE. Shortly afterward, he took a census and learned that there were 21 000 citizens (counting men only) in the city, 10 000 metics (resident foreigners), and 400 000 slaves (including those who worked in the mines). Even if the number of slaves is exaggerated, the ratio of slaves to free men was unusually high.This was partly because of the number of people captured during the wars of Alexander and his successors, and partly because slave dealers were rescuing abandoned newborn babies. Athens was not a typical Greek city, but it does give us some idea of the rights that different classes of people had.
          Only men could be citizens, a legacy of their role in ancient warfare and law making. Women could not vote, hold office, or own property, but had protection within the family structure. Metics were obliged to pay taxes and contribute in other ways to the city, but like women, could not vote, hold offices, or own land. Slaves had no rights. Some were fortunate enough to gain their freedom from generous owners. To abuse, assault, or even kill a slave was not a crime, though it may have been frowned upon. for most slaves life must have been miserable. We learn from the plays of Menander, however, that slaves did find ways to co-exist with their masters. In the difficult conditions of the ancient world where the survival of the individual, the family, and the community was regularly threatened, the rights of the individual depended strictly on his or her importance to the community.

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

The History of the Imagination: Myths and Legends

      Legends often provide interesting clues in the detective work of piecing together history. Not wholly invented, legends usually grow around a real person who is larger than life, a hero like Alexander the Great. Since the hero is already braver, stronger, or somehow greater than average, legends tend to highlight these qualities. Though legends show plenty of imagination, at the heart, there is always some historic truth.
      Several legends are attached to the life of Alexander:

• On the day of Alexander's birth, several extraordinary events occurred: there was a solar eclipse; the temple of Artemis at Ephesus caught fire; and an eagle, the bird of Zeus, sat on the roof of the building where Alexander was born. These were all taken to be signs of Alexander's future greatness.
• Also on the day of Alexander's birth, his father, King Philip, was told of two other happy events: one of his generals had won a great victory, and one of his horses won a race at the Olympic Games.
• While in the midst of his conquest of Persia, Alexander stopped at a place called Gordian. He was shown a famous wagon roped to a yoke pole by a mysterious knot. None of the ends of the rope were visible. Alexander was told that whoever was able to unravel the knot would conquer the world. At first Alexander was puzzled, but then he drew out his sword, cut through the knot, and fulfilled the prophecy his own way!
• While visiting Corinth, Alexander learned that the philosopher Diogenes was nearby. On his visit, Alexander was constantly surrounded by crowds of well-wishers, yet Diogenes did not seek him out like the others. So Alexander stood over him and asked if there was anything he would like Alexander to do. Diogenes replied, "Stand a little out of my sun." Impressed by this attitude, Alexander said: "Verily, if I were not Alexander, I would be Diogenes."

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

The Road to Persia: Alexander The Great

      As a result of the Peloponnesian War, Sparta, with Persian support, tried to dominate the other Greek city-states as Athens had done. In reaction to this, new alliances were made against Sparta. Corinth, for example, joined with its old rival Athens to prevent Spartan interference. For a brief time (371-361 BCE), Thebes, another city-state, defeated the Spartans and assumed Greek leadership. It was able to achieve this because of changes in military tactics, including the use of a very deep formation of men (called a phalanx) who used longer than normal spears to punch holes through enemy lines. Theban dominance ended with the death of its best general, Epaminondas. The careful balance of power between the leading Greek city-states was soon to be upset by a new force from the north, the kingdom of Macedonia.

Philip of Macedon

      The broad plains and hill country of the North Aegean were home to a people considered backward cousins of the Greeks. The Macedonians spoke a Greek dialect, but they were farmers and shepherds, not craftspeople and traders. They were behind their southern cousins in wealth and culture. In the fourth century BCE, several kings rose to unite the Macedonians and bring them success in battle against their enemy neighbours. The key figure in this success was Philip the Great. As a hostage in Thebes fro three years, he had learned the new battle tactics of the Thebans. He create a professional army with a strong cavalry and more flexible units on the battlefield. As a result, Philip was able not only to unite his country, but also to defeat the southern Greeks at the Battle of Chaeronaea in 338 BCE. For the first time, all mainland Greeks were joined together under the rule of a single leader. It is likely that this ruthless, ambitious monarch planned to turn the combined Greek forces against their old enemy, Persia, but before he could launch such an expedition, he was assassinated by one of his own officers at a wedding celebration.
      I one of the most exciting discoveries in Greek archaeology this century, a royal burial chamber was excavated at Vergina in nothern Greece. The outside facade had a painting of a lion hunt with figures identified as Philip the Great and a young Alexander. Inside the vaulted chamber were found silver drinking cups, bronze armour, and a heavy gold box containing a beautiful golden wreath of oak leaves. Wrapped in a purple and gold cloth were the burnt bones of a man whom many believe was Philip the Great himself. Many others now think this tomb actually belonged to Philip's son, Philip III Arrhidaeus, the half brother of Alexander.

Alexander the Great

      After Philip's death, rule fell to his 20-year old son Alexander. He was a student of Aristotle and one of the most successful military leaders the world has known. he took his father's experienced, professional army, his own genius for finding the weaknesses of his enemies, and Philip's ambitious plans for conquest, and in 334 BCE set out against the Persians. He never returned to Europe. Intentionally or not, he conquered the entire Near East as far as India, in a grueling, decade-long campaign.
      How could such a young man with a relatively small army of 35 000 foot soldiers defeat the Persian Empire? The Macedonian army now represented the ultimate in improved Greek warfare. The Macedonians were led by seasoned commanders and all were devoted to Alexander. The Persian army, though much larger, was made up of many different subject peoples. Darius, the Persian king, was a despot the Persian foot soldiers, the rest of the Persian troops lost their eagerness to fight. The battle of Gaugamela on 1 October 331 BCE, was the final blow against the Persians, whose land and wealthy fell into Alexander's hands. Even this, however, did not satisfy Alexander. He forced his weary army eastward against several great kingdoms, reaching all the way to the Indus River valley before turning back, disappointed that he had not reached the eastern ocean.
      Alexander had dreamed of conquering the entire world as far as the Indian Ocean, but finally faced the fact that he now had to govern what he had won. Though as a boy, Alexander had been tutored by Aristotle, as an adult, his ideas about how to make a better empire otu of all these foreign peoples were probably his own. He tried to make Greek culture and language a kind of common, uniting force. At the same time, he respected the customs and laws of the peoples he had conquered and encouraged their leaders to help him rule the various parts of his empire. This was a wise decision on Alexander's part, since each nationality had its own culture and might have rebelled if forced to adopt Greek customs completely.
      Perhaps Alexander's great experiment would have worked, but he died of an illness just short of his thirty-third birthday. The empire that he fought so hard to create soon split apart as each of his best generals grabbed a large piece of its territory for himself.

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

The Classical Moment

Literature

      Fifth-century BCE Athens was the focal point of the brief age of brilliance sometimes referred to as the Classical Moment. With Pericles as leader and people like the playwright Sophocles and the sculptor Pheidias expressing Greek ideals in artistic forms, Athenian society reached a cultural peak. It was a period of optimism, when the Greeks believed that their world could be made better, and that troubles they faced could be overcome. In Antigone, Sophocles wrote this hymn to humankind:

There are many wonders, but none more wondrous than man
Across the white-caped sea in the storms of winter this creature makes his way on through the billowing waves. And earth, the oldest of the gods, the undecaying and unwearied one, he wears away with constant ploughing, back and forth, year after year, turning the soil with horses he has bred ...
Language, thought swift as the wind, and the patterns of city life he has taught himself, and escape from the shafts of storms, and the shelter -- piercing frosts of clear days. He can cope with everything, never unprepared whatever the future brings. Only from death does he fail to contrive escape. Even for diseases thought hopeless he has figured out cures. Clever, with ingenuity and skill beyond imagining, He veers now toward evil, not toward good ...

Antigone 1.322-368

      Other playwrights, such as Aeschylus and Euripides, hoped to improved their world by examining serious issues like the basis of justice, and the status of women in Greek society. The comic playwright Aristophanes also aimed to change his world -- by making fun of ti. In Lysistrata, he turns the world upside down by having Greek women go on strike -- they refuse to have sexual relations with their husbands in order to force the men to end their destructive war: 

When the War begin, like the prudent, dutiful wives that we are, we tolerated you men, and endured your actions in silence. (Small wonder--you wouldn't let us say boo.) You were not precisely the answer to a matron's prayer--we knew you too well, and found out more. Too many times, as we sat in the hosue, we'd hear that you'd done it again--manhandled another affair of state with your usual staggering incompetence. Then, we'd ask you, brightly, "How was the Assembly today, dear? Anything in the minutes about PEace?" And my husband would give his stock reply.
"What's that to you? Shut up!" And I did...
But this time was really too much:...
We women met in immediate convention and passed a unanimous resolution: To work in concert for safety and Peace in Greece. We have valuable advice to impart, and if you can possibly deign to emulate our silence, and take your turn as audience, we'll rectify you--we'll straighten you out and set you right. 

Aristophanes Lysistrata 1.507-528

Architecture

      The most celebrated of all Greek buildings ever constructed is the Parthenon, built in Periclean Athens as a showpiece of Athenian wealth and power. It dominated all of Athens from its perch high on the Acropolis. Designed by Pheidias and the architect Ictinus, this temple to Athena is a marvel of skill and beauty, inspired in part by the Greek victories over the Persians.

       The construction of the Parthenon would not have been possible without masonry and sculpture techniques Greeks had learned 200 years earlier in Egypt. Each block of this huge temple was carved with incredible accuracy, using only hand tools.

       It is the Parthenon's sculpture, however, that is its most striking feature. Though some remains in Athens, most of the sculpture fro around the temple is now kept in the British Museum in London. The figures show the ideal forms of human beauty, serenely calm and unaffected by the momentary events of the world around them. Represented in the sculpture are mythological battles such as the Battle of the Gods and the Giants. The Birth of Athena, the goddess to whom the temple is dedicated is also portrayed. The Greeks chose not to represent the real battle with the Persians because they believed that such pride (hubris) in their own victory would surely be punished by the gods. 

       Housed in the great cella (centre room) of the Parthenon was a towering statue of the warrior goddess Athena, made by the artist Pheidias. It was over 12 m high and made of ivory and gold plates set on a wooden frame. a reflecting pool sat in front of it. Once can only imagine the awe that it inspired. Such magnificent works of art were not cheap and it was the revenue from Athens's Empire, a forced federation, that paid for much of this beauty. 

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