Post on 20-Jan-2016
Migrations into Greece and the ‘Dorian Invasion’
• During the Mycenean Age, Greece was fairly similar culturally and linguistically.
• By 800 BC this had changed significantly, with different cultures and dialects in different regions.
• One theory is non-Greek populations migrated into Greece with the collapse of Mycenae.
• It is theorised the Spartans were Dorian invaders that conquered the native Arcadians, which would explain their unique culture and society!
• This invasion is mentioned in Greek texts, but it has never been proven or disproven. There is not enough evidence either way!
SPARTA• Sparta focused on foreign conquest in
response to population pressure– By 600 BC it had taken over the
nearby city of Messenia• Doubling agricultural acreage
and establishing firm economic base for future military power
• War against Messenia also forced fundamental social, political, and economic reforms within Sparta– First written constitution in Greek
history• Reflected unique form of society
in which every aspect of a citizen’s life was governed by military necessity
SPARTAN TRAINING I• Every new-born infant examined by
committee– Abandoned to die if it showed any
type of deformity• Enrolled in special troops at age six
– Remained members until age 18– Girls still lived at home but boys
lived away from parents– Put through increasingly brutal
series of classes designed to make them used to suffering and hardship
• Also designed to break down family relationships
• Education focused on music, dancing, and athletics
SPARTAN TRAINING II• Began formal military training at age 18
– Took 2 years to complete• Applied for admission into a military
club after successful completion of training– Membership was official indication
that a boy had become a man– Application for admission had to be
voted on by other members of club• Vote had to be unanimous
• Not allowed to marry or have a family for 10 years– Still had to have meals with club until
he was 60• Military clubs formed basic unit of
military service
HELOTS & PERIOIKOI• Spartan men given plots of land to
support themselves after they joined a military club– Did not work land themselves– Work done by helots
• Slaves from the conquered city-states owned by the Spartan state
– Manufacturing also done by helots
– Trade done by perioikoi• Meaning ‘those who dwell around’,
they were the conquered people on the fringes of Spartan territory.
• Spartan men lived off the work of others so that they could devote their entire life to being a soldier
HELOTS – SPARTA’S PROBLEM
Constantly feared uprising
Spartan boys spied on them
Attacked them regularly
Had to keep standing army to maintain them
SPARTAN GOVERNMENT
• Two kings– Led army and Sparta in general– Hereditary
• Gerousia – 28 man council– All members over 60 years old– Drew up proposals for
legislation• Assembly of the Spartans
– All full male citizens– Voted on legislative proposals– Presided over by five elected
officials called ephorsKing Leonidas
SPARTAN WOMEN• Did not participate in
government, but had considerable freedom.
• Were given athletic and some military training.
• Were allowed to own property, and often became wealthy land owners.
• Had considerable influence over Spartan men, and were often chosen for their qualities and personalities rather than economic gain.
"Why are you Spartan women the only ones who can rule men?""Because we are also the only ones who give birth to men."—Gorgo, Queen of Sparta and wife of Leonidas, as quoted by Plutarch
Lifestyles of the Spartan Citizen
• Laconic
• No jewelry
• No precious metals
• Only necessary possesions
Values of the Spartan Citizen
• Unquestioning Obedience
• Courage
• Indifference to pain, cold or heat
• Contempt for other civilizations
What is Spartan art?
• Poetry incites warriors to fight
• Music was for war and religion
• Even art depicts the gods in chains
Spartan vs. Non Spartan Poetry
• Is anything worth dying for? If so, what?
• “Shove your shield in the face of the enemy, hating life and embracing death’s dark spirits like the sun’s rays . . .” Tyrtaeus
• “Some Thracian is flaunting the shield I left thoughtlessly by the brush, an flawless piece. So what? I saved myself.” Archilochus
ARCHAIC GREECE• At beginning of period, most of
the Aegean world was divided into independent principalities– Had simple social structures
with nobility on top and everyone else below
• By 500 BC, principalities had been transformed into city-states– Aristocracy reduced to just one
faction of many– Aristocratic value system
subsided in favor of a new one based on service to the community and the law
POETS• Old value system of aristocracy was based
on fighting and an obsession with honor– But the new city-state, with its commercial
and business activities, had little use for a bunch of jealous, warring aristocrats with their inflated sense of honor
• Required instead justice, established by law according to rational and regular procedures
• Poets at the forefront of attack on old aristocratic value system– Example: Archilocus– Argued old aristocratic and heroic values
were out of touch with the times• Silly and counter to the need for law
and order
CHANGES IN RELIGION
• Gods reflected aristocratic values in Homer’s poems– Obsessed with fighting, killing,
and performing heroic feats• During the Archaic Ages, gods
became more interested in justice– Urged men to be content with
their lot in life• To go against this was now
considered hubris– Insolence against the gods
• Religion modified during Archaic Age to reinforce new value system and discourage the old
SUMMARY• Mutually-reinforcing cycle
– Growth of business and trade undermined the aristocratic monopoly over society
• Decline of aristocracy was accompanied by a parallel decline in their value system
– Helped by propaganda attacks by poets and a gradual shift in religious emphasis
– Decline of aristocratic value system was paralleled by the rise of a new value system based on law, order, and stability
• Encouraged further business growth and prosperity– Sped up the decline of the aristocracy– Provided good environment for development of literature
and beginning of philosophic and scientific speculation
GREEK POLITICAL CULTURE• In Greek polis, the state was
society– Two were completely integrated
with each other• Power was not delegated to a
permanent group of legislators, judges and bureaucrats– Citizens were expected to play
an immediate and direct role in legislation, the judiciary, and executive policy-making
• Fundamental principle of most Greek city-sates that officials should be constantly changed– Giving almost everyone a chance
to actively running the polis
PRIVATE SPHERE/PUBLIC SPHERE
• No “diffusion of loyalty”– No chance for citizen to develop non-
state loyalties• Only one state religion• No non-state cultural associations
– All art was public and all cultural events were state affairs
– Nothing in the Greek polis existed to distract the citizen from his loyalty to the state
• Private sphere linked tightly to the state, focusing everyone’s absolute loyalty to that institution
POLITICAL ASSUMPTIONS
• Taken for granted that all important questions regarding policy-making, legislation, and judiciary was the concern of all citizens– Professionals did not
dominate government• Power was not dissipated
among a multitude of specialized departments and institutions– Rested fully in the hands
of the people
CITIZENSHIP
• All city-states restricted who could become a citizen– General tendency in
Archaic Age was towards less restrictivness
• Citizens only made up part of total population– Rest were foreigners,
slaves, and freedmen
FINAL POINT• Neither male nor female citizens enjoyed a high degree of
freedom (in the modern sense of the term)– Greek ideas of freedom implied conformity to community
standards of behavior• Community needs defined the roles of men and women
and restricted the freedom of both• Male family heads had little choice over who and when he
should marry, whether to have children, etc.– Law and custom demanded that he subordinate his
own needs and desires to those of his family and the community at large
– In exchange, men and women enjoyed a strong and stimulating community life
» A trade off between liberty and security, with security receiving the most emphasis
• Just like in later periods of History, the Greeks had differing ideas on how to best ensure justice and security, and they had a war of ideology.
Sparta exercised power through the Peloponnesian
League
Originally a protective alliance with included most
of the city-states in the Peloponnese
Met periodically to discuss issues
Decisions made through majority vote but Sparta
became accepted as
most important member and was
able to get majority support for its position on any issue
SPARTA CONTROLLED THE PELOPONNESIAN
LEAGUE