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Ancient Greece
The ancient greek civilization starts around 3200 BC with the Cycladic civilization [followed by the Minoan (2700 BC) and the Mycenean civilization (1600 BC)] and flourished from the 7th century BC to the 2nd century AD, especially in the 5th century BC with the city-states of Athens and Sparta.
10,833 Questions
How did the Messinians become helots?
They were conquered by Sparta, who made the people into serfs, who delivered half their crop to Sparta.
Why do you think Alexander named so many cities after himself?
One word. Vanity. Hubris.
He was obsessed with leaving his legacy and being remembered across his empire.
In times before people invented the idea of an afterlife, they could live on in people's memories - if people remembered them. Everyone remembered Achilles, even though he was a callous murderer, because the bards sang of him. So self-important people tried to be remembered. Alexander's naming of over 30 cities Alexandria after himself reflected this. He even named a city after his trusty horse Bucephalus to keep his name alive, and similarly favoured some of his generals.
What is the greek word for on time?
συνεπής,ακριβής (sinepis,akrivis). We mostly use the phrase ''στην ώρα μου'' (stin ora mou).
Why did king Philip of Macedonia take an interest in conquering Greece?
His ambition was unlimited, and his strategic ability matched this vision. He absorbed northern Greece, subverted the smaller members of the Amphytionic Council as his placemen, and dominated the remainder, defeating Thebes and Athens when they resisted, and became Hegemon (leader) of the Greek world. He had also planned to take over the Persian Empire and the additional power from his Greek takeover gave him the military strength and a secure base.
He was about to depart for Asia when he was assassinated. This assassination has been put down to many reasons, but most people miss the obvious one - a set up by Persia who saw the attack on them being prepared. His 20 year old son Alexander took over his father's plan, and the rest is --- history.
What role of cultural diffusion did the ancient Phoencians have?
They were seafaring people so moved all over the Mediterranean. Their writing system developed into our modern writing system through the Greeks, then the Romans. They contributed roots of what would eventually become classical civilization as about a quarter of Greek words probably are of Phoenician origin.
They traded and traveled extensively with North Africa, and spread their religion all over the Mediterranean as well. Some scholars link them with the Philistines mentioned in the Bible. Others believe they were Canaanite in origin. Still others believe that they came from Africa.
They were definitely instrumental in mixing the Semite, European and African cultures, and are the ancestors of the modern Lebanese.
Was Phillip II the leader of battle of Thermopylae?
Leonidas I was the leader of Battle of Thermopylae.
Greece is known for it's beautiful beaches and seas, a variety of foods (olives, feta cheese, souvlakis),it's ancient culture, the Greek Gods, the Greek philosophers, the Spartans and Alexander the Great.
How did this conflict encourage the expansion of Macedonia under King Philip?
After the Peloponnesian War, a defeated Athens became a second level power. The Greek cities continued their usual pattern of fighting each other under various coalitions, with at first Sparta dominant, then Thebes which defeated it. Persia intervened, imposing the King's Peace to stop the fighting spilling over into its territories.
This fighting allowed the rise of Macedonia in the background. Philip II was able to secure his borders and consolidate his power in northern Greece and then turn his attention to unifying Greece for the campaign against Persia.
As the eminent J. B. Bury Writes:
"As the hegemony or first place among Greek states had passed successively from Athens to Sparta, and to Thebes, so now it passed to Macedon. The statement that Greek liberty perished on the plain of Chaeronea is as true or as false as that it perished on the field of Leuctra or the strand of the Goat's River. Whenever a Greek state became supreme, that supremacy entailed the depression of some states and the dependency or subjection of others. Athens was reduced to a secondary place by Macedon, and Thebes fared still worse; but we must not forget what Sparta, in the day of her triumph, did to Athens, or the more evil things which Thebes proposed".
Athens formed an alliance of Greek cities to oppose Persia after the Persian invasion had been repulsed. The alliance was funded by contributions from the league while Athens provided the naval power financed by this.
When peace was made with Persia, Athens continued to levy the contributions, using its navy to do so by force if necessary. This league thus effectively became an empire of Athens.
How did Athens attempt to expand westward?
After the problems with Sparta were over, Athens looked westward to Sicily to expand its sphere of influence in the Mediterranean world. The idea was propagated by Alcibiades. Nicias, who had negotiated the peace agreement with Sparta was opposed to the idea. He was outvoted and three generals were named to lead the expedition to conquer Sicily. As events began to unfold, Athens suffered losses in their quest for a larger empire. Bottom line, the idea was a bad one.
Who was the hero with the Golden Fleece?
Jason was the hero with the Golden Fleece. He was sent forth by a king to retreive the Golden Fleece for him. In return the king was to give up his thrown to Jason. When Jason returned with the fleece the king was so outraged that he hadn't died that he would not give up his thrown. He tried to trick him into dying, but the kings son was in love ith Jason and gave him tips to stay alive.
They became more advanced in the arts and we not as war-like as the Spartans.
This proves that the Athenians are a well developed group of people.
The most important institution in Greece was the city state also known as what in Greek?
polis. Its the greek name for city.
What saw a united Athens and Sparta against an Asian?
The Persian attempt to appoint a Persian governor of mainland Greece to stop Greek interference in the Greek city-states within the Persian Empire in Asia Minor.
Describe the early Roman government's position on religion?
How early we talking about? The city-state? The republic? Or the empire?
IIRC, it was important, but there was also a mind your own beeswax kind of thing with a lot of stuff. They were pretty tolerant of other, minor religions, such as Judaism or Christianity, for the most part (until the Christianization, then they were a bit more like "all that other stuff is Evil Pagan Nonsense!"). So long as they didn't cause any bother.
Anyway, they biggie that everyone yaks on about are, of course, they aptly named semi-official Roman Gods. Basically they're the Greek Gods but with added Latin. Jupiter (Zeus), Mars (Ares) or Venus (Aphrodite). There was all that jazz about Romulus and Remus as well. I don't know at what point in "Rome's" history they took the Greek's gods. I know there was a period where they got a hard-on for all things hellenistic, from the gods to the architecture, but I don't have a timeline handy.
They liked to incorporate other religions as well, or say that it was Roman all along. Some conquered group has a god of war? "Well, we did some research and it turns out that Pagan War God 6 is actually Mars after all." Then they'd mostly leave them to get on with it.
Saying that, there was a quite big deal on associating specific gods with specific political stuff. But I can't remember that and don't care enough to look it up.
Note that this is mainly from old memories and a quick skim through wikipedia. I'm not gonna vouch for the accuracy of any of this. In summary though, they were cool with it.
