...Athens Handout Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, (trans. by R. Crawley) 2.15 The Synoecism of Theseus: From very early times this had been more the case with the Athenians than with others. Under Cecrops and the first kings, down to the reign of Theseus, Attica had always consisted of a number of independent townships, each with its own town hall and magistrates. Except in times of danger the king at Athens was not consulted; in ordinary seasons they carried on their government and settled their affairs without his interference; sometimes even they waged war against him, as in the case of the Eleusinians with Eumolpus against Erechtheus. In Theseus, however, they had a king of equal intelligence and power; and one of the chief features in his organization of the country was to abolish the council-chambers and magistrates of the petty cities, and to merge them in the single council-chamber and town hall of the present capital. Individuals might still enjoy their private property just as before, but they were henceforth compelled to have only one political centre, viz., Athens; which thus counted all the inhabitants of Attica among her citizens, so that when Theseus died he left a great state behind him. Plutarch, Life of Solon (trans. by B. Perrin) Solon and Draco’s Laws: 17 1 In the first place, then, he repealed the laws of Draco, all except those concerning homicide, because they were too severe and their penalties too heavy. For one penalty was assigned to...
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...of peasants before, as well as after the life and times of Solon, and the effect and solutions that Solon’s rule had concerning these conflicts. Such major conflicts between peasants and aristocrats include, [but are not limited to] land and slavery (Trumbach). Though, these laws will be explored further later on in this essay. The ruler, Solon imposed a number of laws in order to rectify the problems that were arising between aristocrats and peasants, as well as to mold Athenian society in a much more citizen-oriented way of living (Trumbach). Such laws included relieving the prior debts that peasants owed to the aristocrats, as well as outlawing the creation of debts slaves (Plutarch: Solon, 57). Again, such laws will be explained further along in this essay. This essay will consist of three sections. In the first section, this essay will attempt to explain the conflicts that arose between the aristocrats and the peasants on the basis of land and slavery. It will also attempt to describe how Solon’s laws impacted this conflict, as well as the situations that occurred before, and the situations that occurred after Solon. The second section of this essay will explore the conflicts that arose between aristocrats and peasants on the basis of political power, the views of both parties, as well as the reasoning both parties had for their views. The third section of this essay will explore the changes that Solon made to the constitution in order to unify the citizens in...
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...Solon Statesman Solon was an Athenian statesman, lawmaker, and poet. He is remembered particularly for his efforts to legislate against political, economic, and moral decline in archaic Athens. Wikipedia Born: Athens, Greece Died: 558 BC, Athens, Greece Parents: Execestides Siblings: Dropidas Draco Legislator Draco was the first legislator of Athens in Ancient Greece. He replaced the prevailing system of oral law and blood feud by a written code to be enforced only by a court. Wikipedia Died: 600 BC, Aegina, Greece Residence: Athens, Greece, Ancient GreeceCleisthenes Political figure Cleisthenes was a noble Athenian of the Alcmaeonid family. He is credited with reforming the constitution of ancient Athens and setting it on a democratic footing in 508/7 BC. Wikipedia Died: Athens, Greece Parents: Megacles II, AgaristeThe helots (/ˈhɛləts, ˈhiːləts/; Ancient Greek: εἵλωτες, heílotes) were a subjugated population group that formed the main population of Laconia and Messenia (areas ruled by Sparta). ol·i·gar·chy ˈäləˌɡärkē/ olegarchy noun a small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution. "the ruling oligarchy of military men around the president" a country governed by an oligarchy. "the English aristocratic oligarchy of the 19th century" government by oligarchy. Aristocracy (Greek ἀριστοκρατία aristokratía, from ἄριστος aristos "excellent," and κράτος kratos "power") is a form of government that places power in the hands of a...
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...Development and Transformation of SOCIAL STRUCTURES P = POLITICAL SYSTEMS (State-Building, Expansion, and Conflict) I = INTERACTIONS between Humans and the Environment C = Development and Interaction of CULTURES E = Creation, Expansion, and Interaction of ECONOMIC SYSTEMS P&S- Solon ended the monopoly over public office held by the Athenian hereditary aristocracy P- Opened all men to making decisions (Council of Four hundred) P,E&S- Solon cancelled all public and private debts, and abolished the practice of enslaving people to pay off their debts E- When Peisistratus seized control, there was economic growth through loans to small farmers P- A new ruler Cleisthenes came to power and reorganized the city S- He did away with aristocratic family centers of power & reorganized the electoral diselectoral units creating new political identities and allegiances P- Athens was at the height of its power and prestige under the military and civic leadership of Pericles S&C- Greek victory led by Athens triggered immense pride in the city-state C- Public building ladder C- The amphitheater where plays were regularly performed I- During the war years, the Persians had destroyed and burned much of Athens C- When the war ended the Athenians rebuild and improved S- Socrates + Plato began produced questions about life C- Ideas about the ideal states which Plato had created C- Plato addressed ideas about logic, physics, astronomy etc C- Plays became a big part of Greek culture...
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...Athens, the Original Eternal City They say Rome wasn’t built in a day. Neither was Athens. Though the Athenians never managed to build an empire the size of Rome’s, they did spread their culture and ideas throughout the Mediterranean. Athens during the Classical, or Hellenic, period (500-340 B.C.E) can easily be compared to Rome at its height in terms of art, and architecture, and far surpassed it in philosophy. While Rome was still struggling for independence from its Etruscan masters, Athens was the center of the Hellenic world. While Alexander the Great was learning from his Athenian tutor, Rome was putting down Latin rebellions. Even under Roman rule, Athens was favored for its ancient accomplishments. Rome may be the Eternal City, but it is simply a backwater pretender to Athens. Democracy is probably Athens most well known characteristic, but it was not always that way. Like every other Greek city during the Mycenaean period (1500-1200 B.C.E.), Athens was once ruled by a king. Little is known of Athens during this period, though the archeological record combined with popular myth from later periods may give us an insight. The names of several legendary kings of Athens have come down to us: in particular Erectheus, the first king, who was believed to have established the worship of the goddess Athena on the Acropolis, and Theseus, killer of the Minotaur, who (according to the Greek historian Plutarch) unified Attica (Connolly 10). Legend tells of...
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...Athens is one of the oldest named cities in the world, having been continuously inhabited for at least 7000 years. Situated in southern Europe, Athens became the leading city of Ancient Greece in the first millennium BC and its cultural achievements during the 5th century BC laid the foundations of western civilization. During the early Middle Ages, the city experienced a decline, then recovered under the later Byzantine Empire and was relatively prosperous during the period of the Crusades (12th and 13th centuries), benefiting from Italian trade. Following a period of sharp decline under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, Athens re-emerged in the 19th century as the capital of the independent Greek state. Contents 1 Name 1.1 Geographical setting 2 Antiquity 2.1 Origins and early history 2.2 Reform and democracy 2.3 Classical Athens 2.3.1 Early Athenian military history 2.3.2 Artists and philosophers 2.3.3 Peloponnesian War 3 Athenian coup of 411 BC 3.1 Corinthian War and the Second Athenian League 3.2 Athens under Macedon 3.3 Hellenistic Athens 3.4 Roman Athens 4 Middle Ages 4.1 Byzantine Athens 4.2 Latin Athens 4.2.1 Burgundian period 4.2.2 Aragonese period 4.2.3 Florentine period 5 Modern history 5.1 Ottoman Athens 5.2 Independence from the Ottomans 5.3 Modern Athens 5.3.1 Population influx 5.3.2 Athens under the Nazis 5.3.3 Postwar Athens 5.3.4 Athens today 5.3.5 Recent historical population 5.4 Notable Athenians 5.5 Ancient sites in Athens ...
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...An unidentified flying object, often abbreviated UFO , is an unusual apparent anomaly in the sky that is not readily identifiable to the observer as any known object. Originally referred to popularly as "flying saucers" during the late 40's, the term UFO became more widespread during the 50s at first in professional literature, but later in popular language. UFOs garnered considerable interest during the Cold War, an era associated with a hightened concern for national security. Various studies, both governmental and civilian, have concluded that the phenomenon does not represent a threat to national security nor does it contain anything worthy of scientific persuit, although there is disagreement. Culturally, the phenomenon has often been associated with extraterrestrial life or government-related conspiracy theories, and thus has become a popular theme in fiction. Studies have established that the majority of UFO observations are misidentified conventional objects or natural phenomena—most commonly aircraft, balloons, noctilucent clouds, nacreous clouds, or astronomical objects such as meteors or bright planets with a small percentage even being hoaxes.[7] After excluding incorrect reports, however, most investigators have acknowledged that between 5% and 20% of reported sightings remain unexplained, and therefore can be classified as unidentified in the strictest sense. Many reports have been made by such trained observers as pilots, police, and the military; some have involved...
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...Although sometimes you want to expand your knowledge on certain things and I thought that’d be great for Greece. In this essay I will hit key points like the beautiful Greek geography and how it affected trade, some politics and how the government and religion played a part in life, and the periods and mighty wars fought. hopefully i will succeed in this essay and get a good grade. The purpose of this essay is to provide informational facts on ancient greek civilization/culture and give the reader a sense of how it was then. Enjoy. My background knowledge about ancient Greece is that good. From movies I've seen that Greece had some type of problem with Persia. Im not sure what the problem was but i know it was two major city-states/ empires, Athens and Sparta. I know the one army fought on land & the the other on ships in water. I also know that europe is known for wine and oil so i would like to know if those are some resources Adding that I did know that Greece was surrounded by water so I wonder how that affected the crops? Well to continue on I’d like to answer some of my questions and get to know this cool place a little better. Let’s begin. Greece is the South Eastern region on the European continent. It is defined by a series of mountains, surrounded on all sides except the north by water, and had countless amounts of large and small islands. The Ionian and Aegean seas along with the many deep bays and natural harbors along the coast lines allowed the Greeks to progress...
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...5th century B.C denote the political trends and systems which encompassed most Greek city-states, evidently Athens. Notably, from the Greek perspective of things, contemporary writers like Larry Diamond have tried to explain Democracy from a purely 21st century point of view, trying as much as possible to bestow certain key elements on modern day Democracy (Diamond, 2004). Inherent in Democracy is the personality of a statesman. A statesman from a layman’s point of view is usually a politician, diplomat or other notable public figure that has had a long and respected career at the national and international level. Statesman as the term denotes (diplomat or other notable public figure), is prevalent in the 5th and 4th century history of Greece. Pericles and Alcibiades are considered by the Greeks (Athenians especially), as their most notable and praised statesmen who fostered the course of democracy. This write-up will therefore look at the roles of Pericles and Alcibiades (in the realm of democracy) in Greek (Athenian) history and also focusing on each party’s true statesmanship based on their achievements. I will like to state emphatically that sources on these two personalities are from Plutarch and Thucydides, as they are considered to have given accounts on them. In a more pressing and elaborative sense, other sources may come in handy. Pericles was born in Athens in about 495 BC to a family of wealth and position. His father, Xanthippus, was also a statesman, and his mother...
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...Greece’s conquest was cut short because Alexander’s troops refused to go on. Rome did not have this issue. Another difference between the two empires was their governmental structure. Greece was composed of polis’ or city-states. The polis’ made Greece decentralized because the individual city-states lacked unification. From city-state to city-state society differed. Whereas Sparta was more military oriented, Athens was more focused around academia and trade. Rome did not have this differentiation throughout its empire because it was centralized. Caesar began this process, but after his assassination Augustus continued it. What made Augustus’ rule a success was that he incorporated all different people with differing views into political positions, but he ultimately made himself in charge of all major decisions. Rome’s centralizing government can be attributed to seeing how autonomous city-state rule fared. There were various conflicts, the most notable being between Athens and Sparta. To try and prevent disunity, Rome leaders decided to centralize the government. An additional key transformation between Greece and Rome rule was the role of women in society. In general, women did not possess power in Greek city-states....
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...4.5 billion B.C. Planet Earth formed. 3 billion B.C. First signs of primeval life (bacteria and blue-green algae) appear in oceans. 600 million B.C. Earliest date to which fossils can be traced. 4.4 million B.C. Earliest known hominid fossils (Ardipithecus ramidus) found in Aramis, Ethiopia, 1994. 4.2 million B.C. Australopithecus anamensis found in Lake Turkana, Kenya, 1995. 3.2 million B.C. Australopithecus afarenis (nicknamed “Lucy”) found in Ethiopia, 1974. 2.5 million B.C. Homo habilis (“Skillful Man”). First brain expansion; is believed to have used stone tools. 1.8 million B.C. Homo erectus (“Upright Man”). Brain size twice that of Australopithecine species. 1.7 million B.C. Homo erectus leaves Africa. 100,000 B.C. First modern Homo sapiens in South Africa. 70,000 B.C. Neanderthal man (use of fire and advanced tools). 35,000 B.C. Neanderthal man replaced by later groups of Homo sapiens (i.e., Cro-Magnon man, etc.). 18,000 B.C. Cro-Magnons replaced by later cultures. 15,000 B.C. Migrations across Bering Straits into the Americas. 10,000 B.C. Semi-permanent agricultural settlements in Old World. 10,000–4,000 B.C. Development of settlements into cities and development of skills such as the wheel, pottery, and improved methods of cultivation in Mesopotamia and elsewhere. 5500–3000 B.C. Predynastic Egyptian cultures develop (5500–3100 B.C.); begin using agriculture (c. 5000 B.C.). Earliest known civilization arises in Sumer (4500–4000 B.C.)...
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...Coming of the 3rd phase: Archaic period Archaic Greece (750-500) Re-urbanization happens at the beginning of the archaic period 1. Colonization a. Colonists were selected by lot. b. Metropolis (mater polis) i. Political alliance ii. Economic ties c. Ionia (coast of Asia Minor) d. Sicily iii. Both are major centers of colonization (magna graecia) Trade and commerce would produce tremendous wealth. Phoenicians They see themselves as monopolizing. Rivalry between Phoenicians and these new Greeks. 2. Alphabetic Writing Writing will return to the Greek world during this period. When it does it won’t be like Linear A or B. It will be based on an alphabet that the Greeks borrowed and modified the Phoenicians alphabet. Homer- iconic poet of Greek literature. He came from the region of Ionia. Produced famous epics of the Trojan War. Legends of the great Mycenaean heroes. Different traditions focused on different heroes. Responsible for two of the great monuments. The Iliad and the Odyssey. Achilles Agamemnon Odysseus Hector Ajax Paris Helen of Troy Penelope Important element- arête means excellence. Surpassing Excellence. Achievement, accomplishment. Exceed potential. Also mental. Ex. Odysseus is smarter than anyone else. He outwits Gods. Virtue of this society. Also is very competitive. Forever contending against one another. Individualistic quality. Have to be the best. Character trait...
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...The History of Money THE HISTORY OF MONEY From Its Origins to Our Time This was the final draft of the English text of "Une Histoire de l’Argent: des origines à nos jours" - www.autrement.com/ouvrages.php?ouv=2746710306 - published by Autrement in Paris in November 2007 with a few minor changes in the final French text. I am very grateful to Philippe Godard - www.autrement.com/collections.php?col=277 for his editorial support, and to Autrement for allowing me to make the English version accessible here. INTRODUCTION This book is about the history of money: how did it begin? how has it evolved to the present day? what has it enabled humans to achieve? and why do so many people in the world today have problems with it and suffer from the way it works? The book is also about the future: how may money develop further? how might we want it to develop? Humans are the only creatures that use money. Animals and birds and insects and fishes and plants exist together in the world without it. But in human societies the earning and spending of money has become one of the most important ways we connect with one another. Most of us have to have money. We need to get enough coming in to match what we need to pay out. We all need to understand at least that much about money. But there is more to it than that. Over the centuries, money has reflected changes in politics and government, in economic life and power, in science and technology, in religious and other cultural beliefs, in family and...
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...Plato and Play Taking Education Seriously in Ancient Greece Armand D’Angour In this article, the author outlines Plato’s notions of play in ancient Greek culture and shows how the philosopher’s views on play can be best appreciated against the background of shifting meanings and evaluations of play in classical Greece. Play—in various forms such as word play, ritual, and music—proved central to the development of Hellenic culture. In ancient Greece, play (paidia) was intrinsically associated with children (paides). However, both children and play assumed a greater cultural significance as literacy—and, consequently, education (paideia)— developed during the classical age of 500–300 BCE. Uniquely among ancient thinkers, Plato recognized that play influenced the way children developed as adults, and he proposed to regulate play for social ends. But Plato’s attitude toward play was ambivalent. Inclined to consider play an unworthy activity for adults, he seemed to suggest that intellectual play in some form, as demonstrated in the dialectical banter of Socrates, could provide a stimulus to understanding. Key words: education in ancient Greece; play and child development; play and education; play and Plato; Socratic dialectic Among various plausible misquotations that surface from time to time is a piece of popular wisdom attributed to Plato to the effect that “you can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” It was quoted by Alaska Governor...
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...HUM 1000: WORLD CIVILIZATIONS NOTES BY DR. KAKAI P.W THE NATURE AND ORIGIN OF CIVILIZATION IN AFRICA Definition of key terms As we begin this course, it is crucial to first discuss our understanding of the concept ‘civilization’. This is a comparative term which is usually applied in comparison to such words as ‘barbarian’ ‘savage’ and ‘primitive’. In classical antiquity the Europeans used the word ‘barbarian’ to refer to a foreigner who was regarded as inferior (Ogutu and Kenyanchui, An Introduction To African History, 1991 p33). Do you think this is still the way we use the word barbarian? The Latin speakers referred to hunters, food-gatherers as savage. In the 17th century this term ‘savage’ referred to a person without art, literacy, or society who lived in fear of existence and death. ‘Primitive’ on the other hand, in Latin meant ‘the first or original’. Europeans used these words interchangeably when referring to non-Europeans while the word civilization was preserved to describe historical developments of European people (ibid). Now the term civilization is no longer confined to the above development but also extends reference to non-European communities. Attributes of civilization includes observance to law, belonging to an organized society, having a society of literate people with advanced developments in urbanization, agriculture, commerce, arts and technology. The French thinkers of the 18th century referred to a person of the arts and literature...
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