LO3

• Greek city-state: polis, small places with populations reaching a few thousand. Athens and Sparta were huge city-states, Athens with a population of 250,000. They were extremely competitive, often fighting with one another.
• Acropolis: a religious temple, usually stood on top of a hill 
• Hoplites- soldiers who were equipped with sophisticated weapons and armor. They fought in phalanxes- a formation of several hundred soldiers  
• Forms of government:
•  Oligarchy- "rule by few" a minority of citizens ruled the government 
• Tyranny- ruled by a 'tyrant' or self proclaimed dictator 
• Democracy- where government was ruled by the majority of male citizens
• Spartans- descendants of Greeks who were a minority among helots: non-citizens who were forced to work for land owners. Their government consisted of a council of men chosen by the citizens, and two 'kings' who were priests and army commanders, whose positions were hereditary. The main authority was five elected officials called ephors. Spartan boys were raised to be warriors, and their lives were strictly controlled by the government. Girls were raised to be child bearing wives, and lived withou many rights. 
• Athens- war-like community like Sparta, but gave citizens more freedom and power. It had a large area of fertile land and was a big producer of wine and oil making it a big trading center. Aristocrats: members of prominent and wealthy families.
• Persian war- occurred in the 6th century BC when the Persians conquered land from the border of India to the Nile and the Aegean. The Persians then lost to Athenians at Marathon in 490 BC. Ten years later, the Athenian navy beat the Persian fleet off the island of Salamis. Persians and Athenians made peace in 445 BC.