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