In the context of the art, architecture, and culture of Ancient Greece, the classical period corresponds to most of the 5th and 4th centuries BCE (the most common dates being the fall of the last Athenian tyrant in 510 BCE to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE). The History of Greece traditionally encompasses the study of the Greek people, the areas they ruled historically and the territory now composing the modern state of The term Bronze Age refers to a period in human cultural development when the most advanced Metalworking (at least in systematic and widespread use included techniques for Helladic is a modern archaeological term meant to identify a sequence of periods characterizing the culture of mainland Ancient Greece during the Bronze Age. Cycladic civilization (also known as Cycladic culture or The Cycladic period) is an Early Bronze Age culture of the Cyclades in the Aegean The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization which arose on the island of Crete. Mycenaean Greece is a cultural period of ancient Greece taking its name from the archaeological site of Mycenae in northeastern Argolis, in the Peloponnese The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca The Dark Ages (ca 1150 BC–800 BC refers to Greek history from the presumed Dorian invasion and end of the Mycenaean civilization in the 11th century The archaic period in Greece ( 750 BC 480 BC) is a period of Ancient Greek history The Hellenistic period of European history was the period between the death of Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon in 323 BC and the annexation Roman Greece is the period of Greek history (of Greece proper as opposed to the other centers of Hellenism in the Roman world following the Roman victory over Roman Greece See also Roman Greece The Greek peninsula became a Roman protectorate in 146 BC, and the Aegean islands were added Most of Greece was part of the Ottoman Empire from the 14th century until its declaration of independence in 1821. The history of modern Greece began with the recognition of Greek independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1832 after the Greek War of Independence. The Greek War of Independence (1821–1829 also commonly known as the Greek Revolution (Ελληνική Επανάσταση Elliniki Epanastasi; Ottoman The Kingdom of Greece ( Greek:, Vasíleion tīs Elládos) was a state established in 1832 in the Convention of London by the Great The Axis occupation of Greece during World War II ( Η Κατοχή, I Katochi, meaning "The Occupation" began in April The Greek Civil War (ο Eμφύλιος, "the Civil War" fought from 1946 to 1949 by the Governmental forces receiving logistical support by the United Kingdom Regime of the Colonels redirects here For the Polish regime of colonels see Colonels' group. The history of the Hellenic Republic constitutes three discrete republican periods in modern Greek History: 1822 - 1832, 1924 - The economic history of the Greek World spans several millennia and encompasses many modern day nation states The military history of Greece is the history of the wars and battles of the Greek people in Greece, the Balkans and the Greek colonies in the Mediterranean In the modern history of Greece, starting from the Greek War of Independence, the Constitution of 1975/1986/2001 is the last in a series of democratically adopted Constitutions Since the time of Homer, some Greeks have called themselves Hellenes ( in Homer "Hellas" (Eλλάς and "Hellenes" were names of Greece has a rich and varied artistic history spanning some 5000 years The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca The 5th century BC started the first day of 500 BC and ended the last day of 401 BC. The 4th century BC started the first day of 400 BC and ended the last day of 301 BC. This is a list of the eponymous archons of Athens. Background The Archon was the chief Magistrate in many Greek cities but in Events and trends 519 BC — Zhou Jing Wang becomes King of the Zhou Dynasty of China. Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' Events By place Macedonian Empire 10 June — In Babylon, Alexander the Great dies ten days after being taken ill
Contents |
5th century BCE
From the perspective of Athenian culture in classical Greece, the period generally referred to as the 5th century BCE runs over into the 4th a bit. This century is essentially studied from the Athenian outlook because Athens has left us more narratives, plays, and other written works than the other Greek states. In this context, one might consider that the first significant event of this century occurs in 510, with the fall of the Athenian tyrant and Cleisthenes’ reforms. However, a broader view of the whole Greek world might place its beginning at the Ionian revolt of 500, the event that provoked the Persian invasion of 492. The Persians (called "Medes") were finally defeated in 490. A second Persian attempt failed in 481-479. The Delian League then formed, under Athenian hegemony and as Athens' instrument. The Delian League was an association of approximately 150 5th-century BC Greek City-states under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose was to continue Athens' excesses caused several revolts among the allied cities, all of which were put down by force, but Athenian dynamism finally awoke Sparta and brought about the Peloponnesian War in 431. After both forces were spent, a brief peace came about; then the war resumed to Sparta's advantage. Athens was definitively defeated in 404, and internal Athenian agitations mark the end of the 5th century in Greece.
Cleisthenes
In 510, Spartan troops helped the Athenians overthrow their king, the tyrant Hippias, son of Peisistratos. Cleisthenes (Κλεισθένης also Clisthenes or Kleisthenes) was a noble Athenian of the Alcmaeonid family Hippias of Athens (Ἱππίας ὁ Ἀθηναῖος was one of the sons of Peisistratus, and was Tyrant of Athens in the 6th century BC Peisistratus (sometimes transliterated Peisistratos Psistratus, Peistratus, Pesistratusor or Pisistratus, Greek: Cleomenes I, king of Sparta, put in place a pro-Spartan oligarchy headed by Isagoras. Cleomenes (kliːˈɑməniːz Greek Κλεομένης (d c 489 BC was an Agiad King of Sparta in the late 6th and early 5th centuries BC Isagoras (Ἰσαγόρας son of Tisander was an Athenian Aristocrat in the late 6th century BC. But his rival Cleisthenes, with the support of the middle class and aided by democrats, managed to take over. Cleisthenes (Κλεισθένης also Clisthenes or Kleisthenes) was a noble Athenian of the Alcmaeonid family Cleomenes intervened in 508 and 506, but could not stop Cleisthenes, now supported by the Athenians. Through his reforms, the people endowed their city with isonomic institutions (ie ones in which all have the same rights) and established ostracism. Isonomia (ἰσονομία "equality in front of the law" from the Greek ἴσος isos, "equal" and νόμος nomos, "usage custom Ostracism ( ostrakismos) was a procedure under the Athenian democracy in which a prominent Citizen could be expelled from the City-state
The isonomic and isegoric[1] democracy was first organized into about 130 ’’demes’’, which became the foundational civic element. Ancient Greece, a deme ( δῆμος) was a subdivision of Attica, the region of Greece surrounding Athens. The 10,000 citizens exercised their power via the assembly (the ecclesia, in Greek) of which they all were part, headed by a council of 500 citizens chosen at random.
The city's administrative geography was reworked, the goal being to have mixed political groups--not federated by local interests linked to the sea, to the city, or to farming--whose decisions (declaration of war, etc. ) would depend on their geographical situation. Also, the territory of the city was divided into thirty ’’trittyes’’ as follows:
- ten trittyes in the coastal "Paralie"
- ten trittyes in "Asty", the urban centre
- ten trittyes in rural "Mesogia". Trittyes (singular trittys) were population divisions in ancient Attica, established by the reforms of Cleisthenes in 508 BC
A tribe consisted of 3 trittyes, taken at random, one from each of the three groups. Each tribe therefore always acted in the interest of all 3 sectors.
This is this corpus of reforms that would in the end allow the emergence of a wider democracy in the 460s and 450s BC.
The Persian Wars
In Ionia (the modern Aegean coast of Turkey), the Greek cities, which included great centres such as Miletus and Halicarnassus, were unable to maintain their independence and came under the rule of the Persian Empire in the mid 6th century BC. Geography Physical Ionia was of small extent not exceeding 90 geographical miles in length from north to south with a breadth varying from 40 to 55 miles but to this Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches Miletus (mī lē' təs ( Ancient Greek: Μίλητος literally Transliterated Milētos, Latin Miletus) was an Ancient Halicarnassus (Άλικαρνᾱσσός &mdash Halikarnassós or Ἁλικαρνασσός &mdash Alikarnassós Halikarnas modern The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia In 499 BC that region’s Greeks rose in the Ionian Revolt, and Athens and some other Greek cities went to their aid, though they were at first quickly forced to back down after defeat in 494 BC at the battle of Lade. Events By place Greece After a failed attack on the rebellious island of Naxos in 502 BC (on behalf of The Ionian Revolts were triggered by the actions of Aristagoras, the Tyrant of the Ionian city of Miletus at the end of the 6th century Events By place Persian empire Having successfully captured several of the revolting Greek city-states the Asia Minor returned to Persian control.
In 492 BC, the Persian general, Mardonius led a campaign through Thrace and Macedonia and while victorious, he was wounded and forced to retreat back into Asia Minor. Events By place Greece The first expedition of King Darius I of Persia against Greece commences This page is about the historical figure for the Millipede Genus, see Mardonius (genus Mardonius (d Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black In addition, the naval fleet of around 1,200 ships which accompanied Mardonius on the expedition was wrecked by a storm off the coast of Mount Athos. Mount Athos (Όρος Άθως is a mountain on the Peninsula of the same name in Macedonia, of northern Greece, called in Greek Άγιον Later, the generals Artaphernes and Datis launched a naval assault on the Aegean islands, causing them to submit, then attempted a landing at Marathon in 490 to take Athens. Artaphernes, more correctly Artaphrenes, was the brother of Darius Hystaspis, and satrap of Sardis. For other uses of the word Dati, see the disambiguation page Datis or Datus was a Median admiral who served the Persian Empire In 490 BC, Darius the Great, having suppressed the Ionian cities, sent a fleet to punish the Greeks. Events By place Greece Darius I sends an expedition under Artaphernes and Datis the Mede across Darius I the Great (c 549 BC&ndash486 BC 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 Dārayavahuš: "Possessing goodness" Having ascended to power amidst controversy and bloodshed 100,000 Persians (historians are uncertain about the number; it varies from 18,000 to 100,000) landed in Attica intending to take Athens, but were defeated at the Battle of Marathon by a Greek army of 9,000 Athenian hoplites and 1,000 Plateans led by the Athenian general Miltiades. Attica (Αττική Attikí;) is a periphery (subdivision in Greece, containing Athens, the capital of Greece The Battle of Marathon ( Greek: Μάχη τοῡ Μαραθῶνος Machē tou Marathōnos) during the Greco-Persian Wars took place in 490 The burial mound of the Athenian dead can still be seen at Marathon. The Persian fleet continued to Athens but, seeing it garrisoned, decided not to attempt an assault.
Ten years later, in 480 BC, Darius' successor Xerxes I sent a much more powerful force of 300,000 by land, with 1,207 ships in support, across a double pontoon bridge over the Hellespont. Xerxes I of Persia was a King of Persia (reigned 485–465 BC of the Achaemenid dynasty. A pontoon bridge or floating bridge is a Bridge that floats on water supported by barge-or-boat-like pontoons to support the bridge deck and its dynamic This army took Thrace, before descending on Thessaly and Boetia, whilst the Persian navy skirted the coast and resupplied the ground troops. The Greek fleet, meanwhile, dashed to block Cape Artemision. The Temple of Artemis ( Greek: Ἀρτεμίσιον After being delayed by the Spartan King Leonidas I at Thermopylae, Xerxes advanced into Attica, where he captured and burned Athens. Leonidas ( Greek:; "Lion's son" "Lion-like" was a king of Sparta, the 17th of the Agiad line one of the sons In the Battle of Thermopylae, which occurred in August 480 BC (and was detailed almost entirely by Herodotus) an alliance of Greek City-states fought But the Athenians had evacuated the city by sea, and under Themistocles they defeated the Persian fleet at the Battle of Salamis. Themistocles ( Greek:; c 524&ndash459 BC was an Athenian soldier and statesman The Battle of Salamis ( Ancient Greek:) was a decisive naval battle between the Greek City-states and Persia in September 480 BC in the During peacetime in 483, a vein of silver ore had been discovered in the Laurion (a small mountain range near athens), and the hundreds of talents mined there had paid for the construction of 200 warships to combat Aeginetan piracy. Aegina ( Greek: Αίγινα ( Egina) is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece in the Saronic Gulf, 17 miles (30 km from A year later, the Greeks, under the Spartan Pausanius, defeated the Persian army at Plataea. Pausanias (Greek = Παυσανίας (d c 470 BC was a Spartan general of the 5th century BC The Battle of Plataea was the final major Battle of the Greco-Persian Wars in southern Greece.
The Athenian fleet then turned to chasing the Persians from the Aegean Sea, defeating their fleet decisively in the battle of Cape Mycale; then in 478 BC the fleet captured Byzantium. Events By place Greece Despite Spartan opposition Athens is refortified as well as rebuilt after the This article is about the city See also Byzantine Empire. Byzantium ( Greek: Βυζάντιον Latin: la BYZANTIVM In the course of doing so Athens enrolled all the island states and some mainland ones into an alliance called the Delian League, so named because its treasury was kept on the sacred island of Delos. The Delian League was an association of approximately 150 5th-century BC Greek City-states under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose was to continue The island of Delos ( Greek: Δήλος Dhilos) isolated in the centre of the roughly circular ring of islands called the Cyclades, near Mykonos The Spartans, although they had taken part in the war, withdrew into isolation afterward, allowing Athens to establish unchallenged naval and commercial power.
Dominance of Athens
The Persian Wars ushered in a century of Athenian dominance in Greek affairs. Athens was the unchallenged master of the sea, and also the leading commercial power, although Corinth remained a serious rival. The leading statesman of this time was Pericles, who used the tribute paid by the members of the Delian League to build the Parthenon and other great monuments of classical Athens. Pericles (also spelled Perikles) (c 495 – 429 BC Greek:, meaning "surrounded by glory" was a prominent and influential Statesman, orator The Parthenon ( Ancient Greek:) is a temple of the Greek goddess Athena, built in the 5th century BC on the Athenian Acropolis By the mid 5th century the League had become an Athenian Empire, as demonstrated by the transfer of the League's treasury from Delos to the Parthenon in 454 BC. The Delian League was an association of approximately 150 5th-century BC Greek City-states under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose was to continue Events By place Persian Empire Persian rule in Egypt is finally restored by Megabyzus, Satrap of Syria
The wealth of Athens attracted talented people from all over Greece, and also created a wealthy leisure class who became patrons of the arts. The Athenian state sponsored learning and the arts, particularly architecture. Athens became the centre of Greek literature, philosophy (see Greek philosophy), and the arts (see Greek theatre). Ancient Greek philosophy focused on the role of Reason and Inquiry. The theatre of ancient Greece, or ancient Greek drama, is a theatrical Culture that flourished in ancient Greece between c Some of the greatest figures of Western cultural and intellectual history lived in Athens during this period: the dramatists Aeschylus, Aristophanes, Euripides, and Sophocles; the philosophers Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates; the historians Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon; the poet Simonides; and the sculptor Pheidias. Aeschylus (ˈɛskɨləs or /ˈiːskɨləs/ Greek: Ασχύλος, Aischylos, 525 BC/524 BC 456 BC/455 BC was an ancient Greek Playwright Aristophanes (Ἀριστοφάνης ˌærɪˈstɒfəniːz in English ca Euripides ( Ancient Greek:) (ca 480 BC–406 BC was the last of the three great tragedians of classical Athens (the other two being Aeschylus Sophocles (ˈsɒfəkliːz Ancient Greek, sopʰoklɛ̂ːs circa Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Biography Early life Birth and family Plato was born in Athens Greece SOCRATES is the European Community action programme in the field of Education. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash Thucydides ( C 460 BC &ndash C 395 BC) ( Greek Θουκυδίδης Thoukydídēs) was a Greek Xenophon (Ancient Greek, Modern Greek "Ξενοφών" "Ξενοφώντας" ca Phidias (or Pheidias; in Ancient Greek,; c[[ 80 BC]] c 430 BC) son of Charmides was an ancient Greek The city became, in Pericles' words, "the school of Hellas".
The other Greek states at first accepted Athenian leadership in the continuing war against the Persians, but after the fall of the conservative politician Cimon in 461 BC, Athens became increasingly open in its imperialist ambitions. Cimon (in Greek, Κίμων &mdash Kimōn) (510 Athens - 450 BC Citium, Cyprus) was an Athenian Events By place Greece In Athens, Ephialtes and Pericles finally get agreement to the Ostracism of After the Greek victory at the Battle of the Eurymedon in 466 BC, the Persians were no longer a threat, and some states, such as Naxos, tried to secede from the League, but were forced to remain members. The naval Battle of the Eurymedon took place in 466 BC on the Eurymedon River in Pamphylia in Asia Minor, and was fought between the Athenian Events By place Greece Kimon carries the war against Persia into Asia Minor and wins the Battle of the Eurymedon Naxos (in Greek, Νάξος) is a Greek island the largest island ( in the Cyclades island group in the Aegean. The new Athenian leaders, Pericles and Ephialtes, let relations between Athens and Sparta deteriorate, and in 458 BC war broke out. Pericles (also spelled Perikles) (c 495 – 429 BC Greek:, meaning "surrounded by glory" was a prominent and influential Statesman, orator Ephialtes ( Greek:, Ephialtēs) was an ancient Athenian politician and an early leader of the democratic movement there Events By place Greece Pleistoanax succeeds his father Pleistarchus as king of Sparta. After some years of inconclusive war, a 30-year peace was signed between the Delian League and the Peloponnesian League (Sparta and her allies). The Delian League was an association of approximately 150 5th-century BC Greek City-states under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose was to continue The Peloponnesian League was an alliance of states in the Peloponnese in the 6th and 5th centuries BC. This coincided with the last battle between the Greeks and the Persians, a sea battle off Salamis in Cyprus, followed by the Peace of Callias (450 BC) between the Greeks and Persians. The Battle of Salamis took place around 450 BC near Salamis in Cyprus. Cyprus (Κύπρος transliterated: Kýpros,; Kıbrıs officially the Republic of Cyprus (Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία Kypriakī́ Dīmokratía The Peace of Callias is a purported treaty established around 449 BC between the Delian League (led by Athens) and Persia, ending the Persian Events By place Greece Athenian General Cimon sails to Cyprus with two hundred Triremes of the
The Peloponnesian War
In 431 BCE war broke out again between Athens and Sparta and its allies. The immediate causes of the Peloponnesian War vary from account to account. However three causes are fairly consistent among the ancient historians, namely Thucydides and Plutarch. Thucydides ( C 460 BC &ndash C 395 BC) ( Greek Θουκυδίδης Thoukydídēs) was a Greek Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus ( Greek: Μέστριος Πλούταρχος c Prior to the war, Corinth and one of its colonies, Corcyra (modern-day Corfu), got into a dispute in which Athens intervened. Corfu (Κέρκυρα Kérkyra, ˈkʲe̞ɾkʲiɾa Κέρκυρα or Κόρκυρα Corcyra Corfù is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea Corfu (Κέρκυρα Kérkyra, ˈkʲe̞ɾkʲiɾa Κέρκυρα or Κόρκυρα Corcyra Corfù is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea Soon after, Corinth and Athens argued over control of Potidaea (near modern-day Nea Potidaia), eventually leading to an Athenian siege of Potidaea. Potidaea ( Greek: Ποτίδαια Potidaia, modern transliteration Potidea) was a Colony founded by the Corinthians around 600 Nea Potidea was founded in 1922 by refugees from eastern Thrace on the site of ancient Corinthian colony of Potidaea. Finally, Athens issued the "Megarian Decrees", a series of economic decrees that placed economic sanctions on the Megarian people. The Megarian Decree was a set of Economic sanctions levied upon Megara circa 432 BC by the Athenian Empire shortly before the outbreak of the Athens was accused by the Peloponnesian allies of violating the Thirty Years Peace through all of the aforementioned actions, and Sparta formally declared war on Athens.
It should be noted that many historians consider these to be merely the immediate causes of the war. They would argue that the underlying cause was the growing resentment on the part of Sparta and its allies at the dominance of Athens over Greek affairs. The war lasted 27 years, partly because Athens (a naval power) and Sparta (a land-based military power) found it difficult to come to grips with each other.
Sparta's initial strategy was to invade Attica, but the Athenians were able to retreat behind their walls. Attica (Αττική Attikí;) is a periphery (subdivision in Greece, containing Athens, the capital of Greece An outbreak of plague in the city during the siege caused heavy losses, including that of Pericles. The Plague of Athens was a devastating Epidemic which hit the City-state of Athens in ancient Greece during the second year of the Peloponnesian Pericles (also spelled Perikles) (c 495 – 429 BC Greek:, meaning "surrounded by glory" was a prominent and influential Statesman, orator At the same time the Athenian fleet landed troops in the Peloponnese, winning battles at Naupactus (429 BC) and Pylos (425 BC). The Battle of Naupactus was a naval battle in the Peloponnesian War. The naval Battle of Pylos took place in 425 BC during the Peloponnesian War at the peninsula of Pylos, on the Bay of Navarino in Messenia But these tactics could bring neither side a decisive victory. After several years of inconclusive campaigning, the moderate Athenian leader Nicias concluded the Peace of Nicias (421 BC). Nicias or Nikias (Νικίας (c470 BC-413 BC was an Athenian politician and general during the period of the Peloponnesian War. The Peace of Nicias was a peace Treaty signed between the Greek City-states of Athens and Sparta in the March of 421 BC,
In 418 BC, however, hostility between Sparta and the Athenian ally Argos led to a resumption of hostilities. Argos ( Greek: Ἄργος, Árgos ˈaɾɣos is a city in Greece in the Peloponnese near Nafplio, which was its historic harbor At Mantinea Sparta defeated the combined armies of Athens and her allies. The Battle of Mantinea was a significant battle in the Peloponnesian War. The new fighting brought the military party, led by Alcibiades, back to power in Athens. Alcibiades Cleiniou Scambonides (ˌælsɨˈbaɪədiːz (pronunciation Greek:, transliterated Alkibiádēs Kleiníou Skambōnidēs) meaning Alcibiades In 415 BC Alcibiades persuaded the Athenian Assembly to launch a major expedition against Syracuse, a Peloponnesian ally in Sicily. Syracuse (Siracusa Sicilian: Sarausa, Classical Greek: / transliterated Syrakousai) is a historic City in Sicily ( Italian and Sicilian: Sicilia) is an autonomous region of Italy. Though Nicias was a skeptic about the Sicilian Expedition, he was appointed along with Alcibiades to lead the expedition. The Sicilian Expedition was an Athenian expedition to Sicily from 415 BC to 413 BC, during the Peloponnesian War. Due to accusations against him, Alcibiades fled to Sparta where he persuaded Sparta to send aid to Syracuse. As a result, the expedition was a complete disaster and the entire expeditionary force was lost. Nicias was executed by his captors.
Sparta had now built a fleet (with the help of the Persians) to challenge Athenian naval supremacy, and had found a brilliant military leader in Lysander, who seized the strategic initiative by occupying the Hellespont, the source of Athens' grain imports. Lysander (died 395 BC Λύσανδρος, Lýsandros) was a Spartan General and the commander of the Spartan fleet in the Hellespont which was victorious See also Dardanelles Hellespont ( Turkish, Greek; ie "Sea of Helle" variously named in classical literature Hellespontium Pelagus Threatened with starvation, Athens sent its last remaining fleet to confront Lysander, who decisively defeated them at Aegospotami (405 BC). The naval Battle of Aegospotami took place in 404 BC and was the last major battle of the Peloponnesian War. The loss of her fleet threatened Athens with bankruptcy. In 404 BC Athens sued for peace, and Sparta dictated a predictably stern settlement: Athens lost her city walls, her fleet, and all of her overseas possessions. Lysander abolished the democracy and appointed in its place a council of thirty to govern Athens.
4th century BC
- Related articles: Spartan hegemony and Theban hegemony
The end of the Peloponnesian War left Sparta the master of Greece, but the narrow outlook of the Spartan warrior elite did not suit them to this role. The period of Spartan hegemony is a moment in classical Greek history that extends from the end of the Peloponnesian War in 404 BC to the Battle The Theban Hegemony lasted from the Theban victory over the Spartans at Leuctra in 371 BC to their defeat of a coalition of Peloponnesian Within a few years the democratic party regained power in Athens and in other cities. In 395 BC the Spartan rulers removed Lysander from office, and Sparta lost her naval supremacy. Events By place Persian Empire The Persian Satrap Tissaphernes ' enemy Parysatis, mother of Cyrus Athens, Argos, Thebes, and Corinth, the latter two former Spartan allies, challenged Sparta’s dominance in the Corinthian War, which ended inconclusively in 387 BC. Athens (ˈæθənz Αθήνα Athina,) the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery as one of the world's Argos ( Greek: Ἄργος, Árgos ˈaɾɣos is a city in Greece in the Peloponnese near Nafplio, which was its historic harbor Thebes ( Classic Greek Θῆβαι, Mod Θήβα) is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range which divides Corinth, or Korinth ( Greek Κόρινθος ( is a city in Greece. The Corinthian War was an ancient Greek conflict lasting from 395 BC until 387 BC pitting Sparta against a coalition of four allied states Thebes Events By place Greece Antalcidas, commander of the Spartan navy actively assists Persia against Athens That same year Sparta shocked the Greeks by concluding the Treaty of Antalcidas with Persia. The Peace of Antalcidas ( 387 BC) also known as the King's Peace, was a Peace treaty that ended the Corinthian War in Ancient Greece The agreement turned over the Greek cities of Ionia and Cyprus, reversing a hundred years of Greek victories against Persia. Sparta then tried to further weaken the power of Thebes, which led to a war in which Thebes formed an alliance with its old enemy Athens.
Then the Theban generals Epaminondas and Pelopidas won a decisive victory at Leuctra (371 BC). Epaminondas ( Greek:) (ca 418 BC&ndash362 BC was a Theban General and statesman of the 4th century BC who transformed the Ancient Greek For the Genus of Grass skipper Butterflies, see Pelopidas (skipper. The Battle of Leuctra (or Leuktra was a battle fought between the Thebans and the Spartans and their respective allies amidst the post- Corinthian War conflict Events By place Greece A fresh peace congress is summoned at Sparta. The result of this battle was the end of Spartan supremacy and the establishment of Theban dominance, but Athens herself recovered much of her former power because the supremacy of Thebes was short-lived. With the death of Epaminondas at Mantinea (362 BC) the city lost its greatest leader and his successors blundered into an ineffectual ten-year war with Phocis. The Battle of Mantinea was fought in 362 BC between the Thebans, led by Epaminondas and supported by the Arcadians and the Boeotian Events By place Persian Empire Mausolus of Caria joins the revolt of the Satraps of Anatolia against the Persian Phocis ( Greek, Modern: Φωκίδα foˈkiða Ancient / Katharevousa: Φωκίς foˈkis is an ancient district and a modern prefecture In 346 BC the Thebans appealed to Philip II of Macedon to help them against the Phocians, thus drawing Macedon into Greek affairs for the first time. Events By place Greece The Peace of Philocrates is signed between Macedonia and Athens. Philip II of Macedon, ( Greek: Φίλιππος Β' ο Μακεδών &mdash φίλος = friend + ίππος = Horse Macedon or Macedonia ( Greek grc Μακεδονία grc-Latn Makedonía) was the name of a kingdom centered in the northern-most
The Peloponnesian War was a radical turning point for the Greek world. Before 403 BC, the situation was more defined, with Athens and its allies (a zone of domination and stability, with a number of island cities benefiting from Athens’ maritime protection), and other states outside this Athenian Empire. The sources denounce this Athenian supremacy (or hegemony) as smothering and disadvantageous. Hegemony (hɨˈdʒɛməni (Amer /hɨˈɡɛməni/ (Brit (ἡγεμονία hēgemonía) is a concept that has been used to describe and explain the dominance of one social [2]
After 403 BC, things became more complicated, with a number of cities trying to create similar empires over others, all of which proved short-lived. The first of these turnarounds was managed by Athens as early as 390 BC, allowing it to re-establish itself as a major power without regaining its former glory.
The Fall of Sparta
This empire was powerful but short-lived. In 405 BC, the Spartans were masters of all - of Athens’ allies and of Athens itself - and their power was undivided. By the end of the century, they could not even defend their own city.
Foundation of a Spartan empire
On this subject, there had been a heated debate among Sparta's full citizens. The admiral Lysander felt that the Spartans should rebuild the Athenian empire in such a way that Sparta profited from it. Lysander (died 395 BC Λύσανδρος, Lýsandros) was a Spartan General and the commander of the Spartan fleet in the Hellespont which was victorious Prior to this, Spartan law forbade the use of all precious metals by private citizens, with transactions being carried out with cumbersome iron ingots (which generally discouraged their accumulation) and all precious metals obtained by the city becoming state property. Without the Spartans' support, Lysander's innovations came into effect and brought a great deal of profit for him - on Samos, for example, festivals known as Lysandreia were organized in his honour. He was recalled to Sparta, and once there did not attend to any important matters.
Sparta refused to see Lysander or his successors dominate. Not wanting to establish a hegemony, they decided after 403 BC not to support the directives that he had set up.
Agesilas came to power by accident at the start of the 4th century BC. This accidental accession meant that, unlike the other Spartan kings, he had the advantage of a Spartan education. The Spartans at this date discovered a conspiracy against the laws of the city conducted by Cinadon and as a result concluded there were too many dangerous worldly elements at work in the Spartan state. The Conspiracy of Cinadon was an attempted Coup d'État which took place in Sparta in the 4th century BCE during the first years of the reign of Agesilaus
Agesilas employed a political dynamic that played on a feeling of pan-Hellenic sentiment, launching a successful campaign against the Persian empire. However, the Persian empire reacted and - with access to Persian gold - changed from backing Sparta to backing the Athenians, who used Persian subsidies to rebuild their walls (destroyed in 404 BC) as well as to reconstruct their fleet and win a number of victories, notably at Cnidus. Events By place Greece The Athenian leader Cleophon continues to urge resistance against the Peloponnesians but the situation
In 394, the Spartan authorities decided to force Agesilas to return to mainland Greece. For six years, Sparta fought Corinth, with Corinth partly drawing on Athenian support. This war had descended into guerilla tactics and Sparta decided that it could not fight on two fronts and so chose to ally with Persia.
The peace of Antalcidas
An edict was promulgated by the Persian king, preserving the Greek cities of Asia Minor and Cyprus as well as the independence of the Greek Aegean cities, except for Lymnos, Imbros and Skyros, which were given over to Athens. It dissolved existing alliances and federations and forbade the formation of new ones. This is an ultimatum that benefitted both Athens, which held onto three islands, and Sparta, chosen as the guarantor of the peace.
Spartan interventionism
On the other hand, this peace had unexpected consequences. In accordance with it, the Boeotian confederacy was dissolved in 386 BC. Events By place Persian Empire Freed from Spartan attacks by the King's Peace of the previous year Persia turns to This confederacy was dominated by Thebes, a city hostile to the Spartan hegemony. Sparta carried out large-scale operations and peripheral interventions in Epirus and in the north of Greece, resulting in the capture of the fortress of Thebes, the Cadmea, after an expedition in the Chalcidice and the capture of Olynthos. Chalkidiki, also Halkidiki or Chalcidice, less often Khalkidiki and rarely Chalkidice (Χαλκιδική xalkʲiðiˈkʲi is one of the It was a Theban politician who suggested to the Spartan general Phoibidas that Sparta should seize Thebes itself. This act was sharply condemned, though Sparta eagerly ratified this unilateral move by Phoibidas.
Clash with Thebes
In 378 BC, Sphodrias, another Spartan general, tried to carry out a surprise attack on the Piraeus, whose gates were no longer fortified, but was driven off 10km before the Piraeus. Piraeus (pɪˈræʊs Πειραιάς, piɾeˈas Πειραιεύς, piɾeˈefs is a city in the periphery of Attica, Greece, and a He was acquitted by the Spartan court, but the attempted attack triggered an alliance between Athens and Thebes. Sparta would now have to fight them both together, with Athens trying to recover from the disaster of 404 BC and the Thebans attempting to restore the former Boeotian confederacy with Epaminondas.
In the 370s, Sparta fought Thebes. Athens came to mistrust the growing Theban power, particularly due to Thebes’ razing in 375 BC of the city of Platea, and so negotiated an alliance with Sparta against Thebes in 375 BC. Events By place Greece The Theban general Pelopidas, is made the leader of the "Sacred Band" a selected infantry For the Geometer moth Genus, see Plataea (moth. Plataea or Plataeae was an ancient city located in Greece In 371, however, Sparta suffered a bloody defeat at Leuctra, losing a large part of its army and 400 of its 2,000 citizen-troops. Sparta’s hegemony was over, replaced by that of Athens.
The rise of Athens
Return to the 5th century BC
The Athenians forbade themselves any return to the situation in the 5th century. In Aristoteles’ decree, Athens claimed its goal was to prevent Spartan hegemony, with the Spartans clearly denounced as "warmongers". Athens’ hegemony was no longer a centralized system but an alliance in which the allies had a voice. The Athenians did not sit on the council of the allies, nor was this council headed by an Athenian. It met regularly and served as a political and military counterweight to Athens. This new league was a quite moderate and much looser organisation.
Financing the league
It was important to erase the bad memories of the former league. Its financial system was not adopted, with no tribute being paid. Instead, syntaxeis were used, irregular contributions as and when Athens and its allies needed troops, collected for a precise reason and spent as quickly as possible. These contributions were not taken to Athens--unlike the 5th century BC system, there was no central exchequer for the league--but to the Athenian generals themselves.
The Athenians had to make their own contribution to the alliance, the eisphora. They reformed how this tax was paid, creating a system in advance, the Proseiphora, in which the richest individuals had to pay the whole sum of the tax then be reimbursed by other contributors. This system was quickly assimilated into a liturgy. A liturgy is the customary public worship done by a specific religious group according to their particular traditions
Athenian hegemony halted
This league responded to a real and present need. On the ground, however, the situation within the league proved to have changed little from that of the 5th century BC, with Athenian generals doing what they wanted and able to extort funds from the league. Alliance with Athens again looked unattractive and the allies complained.
The main reasons for the eventual failure were structural. This alliance was only valued out of fear of Sparta, which evaporated after Sparta's fall in 371 BC, losing the alliance its sole raison d'etre. Events By place Greece A fresh peace congress is summoned at Sparta. The Athenians no longer had the means the fulfil their ambitions, and found it difficult merely to finance their own navy, let alone that of an entire alliance, and so could not properly defend their allies. Thus, the tyrant of Pherae was able to destroy a number of cities with impunity. From 360, Athens lost its reputation for invincibility and a number of allies (such as Byzantium and Naxos in 364) decided to secede. This article is about the city See also Byzantine Empire. Byzantium ( Greek: Βυζάντιον Latin: la BYZANTIVM Naxos (in Greek, Νάξος) is a Greek island the largest island ( in the Cyclades island group in the Aegean. Events By Place Roman Empire Jovian surrenders Mesopotamia to the Persians.
In 357 BC the revolt against the league spread, and between 357 and 355, Athens had to face war against its allies, a war whose issue was marked by a decisive intervention by the king of Persia in the form of an ultimatum to Athens, demanding that Athens recognise its allies' independence under penalty of Persia's sending 200 triremes against Athens. Events By place Persian Empire Rhodes falls to the Persian Satrap Mausolus of Halicarnassus. Trireme ( τριήρης sing τριήρεις pl triremis sing Athens had to renounce the war and leave the confederacy to weaken itself more and more. The Athenians had failed in all their plans and were unable to propose a durable alliance.
Theban hegemony - tentative and with no future
5th century BC Boeotian confederacy (447 – 386)
This was not Thebes’ first attempt at hegemony. It had been the most important city of Boeotia and the centre of the previous Boeotian confederacy of 447, resurrected since 386. Boeotia, Beotia, or Bœotia ( Greek: Βοιωτία - English biːˈoʊʃiə formerly Cadmeis was a region of Ancient Greece, north of the
That confederacy is well known to us from a papyrus found at Oxyrhyncus and known as "The Anonyme of Thebes". Oxyrhynchus (Ὀξύρρυγχος "sharp-nosed" ancient Egyptian Pr-Medjed; Coptic Pemdje; modern Egyptian Arabic Thebes headed it and set up a system under which charges were divided up between the different cities of the confederacy. Citizenship was defined according to wealth, and Thebes counted 11,000 active citizens.
It was divided up into 11 districts, each providing a federal magistrate called a "Boeotarch", a certain number of council members, 1,000 hoplites and 100 horsemen. From the 5th century BC the alliance could field an infantry force of 11,000 men, in addition to an elite corps and a light infantry numbering 10,000; but its real power derived from its cavalry force of 1,100, commanded by a federal magistrate independent of local commanders. It also had a small fleet which played a part in the Peloponnesian War by providing 25 triremes for the Spartans At the end of the conflict, the fleet consisted of 50 triremes and was commanded by a "navarch".
All this constituted a significant enough force that the Spartans were happy to see the Boeotian confederacy dissolved by the king's peace. This dissolution, however, did not last, and in the 370s there was nothing to stop the Thebans (who had lost the Cadmea to Sparta in 382 BC) from reforming this confederacy.
Theban reconstruction
Pelopidas and Epaminondas endowed Thebes with democratic institutions similar to those of Athens, the Thebans revived the title of "Boetarch" lost in the Persian king's peace and - with victory at Leuctra and the destruction of Spartan power - the pair achieved their stated objective of renewing the confederacy. Epaminondas rid the Peloponnesus of pro-Spartan oligarchies, replacing them with pro-Theban democracies, constructed cities, and rebuilt a number of those destroyed by Sparta. He equally supported the reconstruction of the city of Messene thanks to an invasion of Laconia that also allowed him to liberate the helots and give them Messene as a capital. Messene was also the name of a Greek colony in Sicily, initially founded as Zancle and nowadays known as Messina. The helots (in Classical Greek / Heílôtes) were an unfree population group that formed the
He decided in the end to constitute small confederacies all round the Peloponnessus, forming an Arcadian confederacy (The king's peace had destroyed a previous Arcadian confederacy and put Messene under Spartan control. )
Confrontation between Athens and Thebes
All this explains Athens’ problems with her allies in the second league. Epaminondas succeeded in convincing his countrymen to build a fleet of 100 triremes to pressure cities into leaving the Athenian league and joining a Boeotian maritime league. This ended in 362 BC with the result of the battle of Mantinea - a battle caused by the Thebans' difficulty with implementing confederations. Events By place Persian Empire Mausolus of Caria joins the revolt of the Satraps of Anatolia against the Persian
Sparta remained an important power and some cities continued to turn against her. The confederal framework was an artificial one, since it attempted to bring together cities that had never been able to agree. Such was the case with the cities of Tegea and Mantinea, which re-allied in the Arcardian confederacy. Tegea was a settlement in ancient Greece and it is also a municipality in modern Arcadia, Greece, with its seat in the village Stadio. Mantineia ( Greek: Μαντίνεια formerly also Antigonia - Αντιγόνεια was a city in ancient Arcadia in the central Peloponnese The Mantineans received the support of the Athenians and the Tegeans that of the Thebans. The Thebans prevailed, but this triumph was short-lived, for Epaminondas died in the battle, stating that "I bequeath to Thebes two daughters, the victory of Leuctra and the victory at Mantinea".
In the end, the Thebans abandoned their policy of intervention in the Peloponnesus. Xenophon thus concludes his history of the Greek world in 362 BC.
The end of this period was even more confused than its beginning. Greece had failed and, according to Xenophon, the history of the Greek world was no longer intelligible.
The idea of hegemony disappeared. From 362 BC onward, there was no longer a single city that could exert hegemonic power - the Spartans were greatly weakened; the Athenians were in no condition to operate their navy, and after 365 no longer had any allies; Thebes could only exert an ephemeral dominance, and had the means to defeat Sparta and Athens but not to be a major power in Asia Minor. Events By place Persian Empire Mausolus of Caria joins the revolt of the Satraps of Anatolia against the Persian
Other forces also intervened, such as the Persian king, who was appointed as arbitrator between the Greek cities by the cities themselves. This situation reinforced the conflicts and there was a proliferation of civil wars, with the confederal framework a repeated trigger for wars. One war led to another, each longer and more bloody, and the cycle could not be broken. Hostilities even took place during winter for the first time, with the 370 invasion of Laconia.
Rise of Macedon
Thebes sought to maintain its position until finally eclipsed by the rising power of Macedon in 346 BC. Macedon or Macedonia ( Greek grc Μακεδονία grc-Latn Makedonía) was the name of a kingdom centered in the northern-most Events By place Greece The Peace of Philocrates is signed between Macedonia and Athens.
Under Philip II, (359–336 BC), Macedon expanded into the territory of the Paionians, Thracians, and Illyrians. Philip II may refer to Philip II of Macedon (382&ndash336 BC Philip II of France (1165&ndash1223 Philip II of Events By place Macedonia The Macedonian King Perdiccas III is killed while defending his country against an Illyrian Events By place Persian Empire The young king of Persia, Arses, objects to being controlled by Bagoas and attempts For the flower genus see Peony. Paionia or Paeonia (Παιονία was in ancient geography the land of the Paeonians "Thracians" also refers to modern inhabitants of Thrace, regardless of ethnicity Illyrians has come to refer to a broad ill-defined " Indo-European " group of peoples who inhabited the western Balkans ( Illyria, roughly The Macedonians became more politically involved with the south-central city-states of Greece, but also retained more archaic aspects harking back to the palace culture, first at Aegae (modern Vergina) then at Pella, resembling Mycenaean culture more than that of the classical city-states. Pella (Πέλλα was the Capital of the ancient kingdom of Macedon. Mycenaean Greece is a cultural period of ancient Greece taking its name from the archaeological site of Mycenae in northeastern Argolis, in the Peloponnese
Philip's son Alexander the Great (356–323 BC) managed to briefly extend Macedonian power not only over the central Greek city-states, but also to the Persian empire, including Egypt and lands as far east as the fringes of India. Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' Events By place Persian Empire Having blamed the defeats by Philip II in Thessaly and Chalcidice on his colleagues Chares is Events By place Macedonian Empire 10 June — In Babylon, Alexander the Great dies ten days after being taken ill The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country
The classical period conventionally ends at the death of Alexander in 323 BC and the fragmentation of his empire, divided among the Diadochi. The Diadochi (plural of Latin Diadochus, from Greek Διάδοχοι, Diadokhoi, "successors" were the rival successors
References
- ^ isegoria: equality in freedom of speech
- ^ These sources include Xenophon's continuation of Thucydides’ work in his "Hellenica", which provided a continuous narrative of Greek history up to 362BC but has defects, such as bias towards Sparta, with whose king Agesilas Xenophon lived for a while. We also have Plutarch, a 2nd century Boeotian, whose Life of Pelopidas gives a Theban version of events and Diodorus Siculus. This is also the era where the epigraphy develops, a source of the highest importance for this period, both for Athens and for a number of continental Greece city that also issued decrees.
See also
Classical antiquity (also the classical era or classical period) is a broad term for a long period of cultural History centered on the Mediterranean "Classical literature" redirects here For literature in Classical languages outside the Graeco-Roman sphere see Ancient literature. The art of ancient Greece has exercised an enormous influence on the culture of many countries from ancient times until the present particularly in the areas of SculptureDapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic