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Ancient Greece was located in southeastern Europe on the Mediterranean Sea. Ancient Greece included many islands, both large and small. The following map shows some early societies.
How did geography shape life in ancient Greece?
Ancient Greece was located on a rugged peninsula in the Mediterranean Sea. A peninsula is a piece of land that is surrounded by water on three sides. Below are some other geographic features that affected daily life in ancient Greece.
Did you know Greece has over 1,400 islands?
Life by the sea
The sea was an important part of Greek life. Living near the sea, ancient Greeks focused on becoming skilled sailors. The Aegean Sea, Ionian Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and neighboring Black Sea made travel and trade by water easier than by land.
Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece and mythical home to the gods and goddesses.
Rugged mountains
About 75% of Greece is covered in rugged mountains! Traveling by land was challenging, so many Greek communities were isolated from each other. The mountains and rocky terrain made farming challenging. Many city-states relied on trade to get the crops they needed.
Greek playwrights are famous for writing comedies and tragedies.
Mediterranean climate
Ancient Greeks spent a lot of time outdoors! Average summer temperatures were around 80°F (27°C), and in the winter, temperatures tended not to go below 40°F (4°C). Plays, athletic events, and even government meetings frequently took place outside.
The number of city-states in ancient Greece changed, but at times there were as many as 1,000 city-states! Each city-state had its own government, economy, and culture, but they did have some things in common. Read the passage about Greek city-states.
All Greek people spoke the same language. Sharing a language allowed ancient Greeks to spread ideas between city-states. For example, city-states shared the same Greek gods, goddesses, and religious festivals. City-states also came together to compete in the Olympic Games, which began in 776 BCE.
Athens and Sparta are two of the most famous Greek city-states. Many historians give Athenians credit for inventing philosophy and democracy. Athenians also developed a style of art and architecture that has been copied for centuries. In comparison, historians remember Spartans for developing military strategies later civilizations adopted. The Spartan leader Lycurgus is given credit for establishing law and order in Sparta as well as granting equality to all citizens. Even though Athens was a democracy, Athenian citizens were treated differently based on their social group.
The ancient Olympic Games
The ancient Olympic Games started around 776 BCE as part of a religious festival to honor the god Zeus. The Olympic Games took place every four years in Olympia from 776 BCE to 393 CE. Athletes and fans traveled from Greek city-states to Olympia to participate in five days of events. There were track and field events, horse and chariot racing, and events for young boys.
The Olympic Games today
The modern Olympic Games began in 1896 in Athens, Greece. Every two years, athletes from over 200 countries all over the world participate in the Olympics. The Olympics last for 16 days. Different countries volunteer to host the Olympic Games. The Olympics also alternate between winter and summer games.
The climate and geography in Athens and many other city-states made growing crops difficult. So, Athenians traded to get food they could not grow, such as grain.
What goods did Athenians trade?
Athens had to import, or bring in, goods such as grain, that farmers could not produce. But Athens was also able to export, or send out, goods they could produce to trade with other regions. Athens mainly exported wine, olives, pottery, and marble. Regions that could not produce these goods, or did not have a lot of them, were happy to trade with Athens.
Although city-states such as Athens could trade for food, Sparta was surrounded by mountains that made trade difficult. So, the Spartans relied on agriculture. The ancient Greek historian Pausanias (paw-SA-nee-uhs) described the role of helots (HEHL-uhts), or enslaved people, in Spartan agriculture. Even though Spartan citizens were treated equally, helots were people the Spartans conquered, and were not considered citizens.
The helots had to bring half of all the crops they grew to the Spartans. Helots who disobeyed were severely punished. The poet Tyrtaeus compared the helots to donkeys exhausted by a heavy load, under painful duty to bring their Spartan masters half of the crops from the land they ploughed and cared for.
Adapted from Pausanias, Description of Greece, translated by W.H.S. Jones and H.A. Ormerod.
Spartans didn't like money.
Most Greek city-states, including Athens, started using coins to make trade easier. However, Spartans discouraged trade by refusing to make coins. Instead of coins, Spartans used heavy iron bars as money! The Spartan leader Lycurgus wanted Spartans to be equal and was worried that money might prevent that if some Spartans had more money than others.
The front of the Spartan coin (left) shows King Cleomenes III. The back (right), shows the goddess Artemis holding a spear and bow.
Did Spartans ever use coins?
There is not any evidence of Spartans making coins until the Spartan king Areus I's rule, around 300 BCE. King Areus I was waging war against Macedonia and needed coins to pay non-Spartan soldiers to fight.
How did ancient Greeks get the food they needed?
Greece has only about 20% arable land, or land that can be farmed. Few city-states were able to depend on farming to get all the food that they needed. So, many city-states traded with colonies, or groups of Greek people living in other regions. The colonies helped Greek city-states get food and goods that could not be grown or produced in Greece.
What did Greek farmers grow?
Greek city-states, in some parts of Greece, could produce apricots, grapes, grains, and olives. Any other crops required a lot of work and often did not survive.
City-states in ancient Greece each had their own government. The following table shows parts of words for three different kinds of governments: monarchy, democracy, and oligarchy. It also shows the Greek words that these word parts come from.
Athenian democracy put power in the hands of citizens, and Spartan oligarchies put power in the hands of several leaders. But in some ways, the governments of Athens and Sparta were similar. Look at the table about the governments of Athens and Sparta.
Athens and Sparta were two of the most powerful city-states in Ancient Greece.
How did Sparta defeat Athens?
Athens and Sparta were often at war with each other. But the Peloponnesian War from 431 to 404 BCE was the most devastating for Athens. In addition to losing many people in battle, they also were hit by a deadly disease! Even so, Athens wouldn't surrender. The Spartans finally defeated the Athenians in a naval battle, even though Athens was famous for its navy. After Sparta captured 170 Athenian ships and killed 3,000 captive Athenians, Athens finally surrendered.
Why was it called the Peloponnesian War?
The area where Sparta is located in Greece is called the Peloponnesus. Also, Sparta formed a partnership with other city-states, called the Peloponnesian League. Members of the league swore to have the same allies and enemies as Sparta and provide troops when Sparta went to war.
The Athenians were famous for their strong military, especially their navy. Because Athens was located near the ocean, it often relied on its navy for battle.
Athens's navy: a symbol of democracy
Athenians viewed their navy as a symbol of their democracy. The oarsmen of the Athenian navy were made up of ordinary citizens contributing to keeping Athens safe. Like the Athenian democracy, the Athenian navy depended on the participation of its citizens in order to be successful.
What was Athens's navy like?
At one point, Athens's navy had 400 warships. Scholars estimate that they needed about 80,000 sailors to operate that many ships!
Athenian ships were about 120 feet long and 20 feet wide. Each ship had three levels where rowers could sit. It took about 170 rowers to move the ships at top speed! Then, the ships could act as battering rams, crashing into and sinking enemy ships.
Like the Athenians, the Spartans were also famous for having a strong military. Read the passage about the Spartan army.
Sparta's military included hoplite soldiers. Hoplites got their name from the giant round shields they carried into battle, called hoplons. The hoplon was made of wood and dipped in bronze. The shield was key to how hoplites fought in their phalanx (FAY-lanks) formation. In a phalanx formation, hoplites lined up tightly next to one another with their shields up. Each hoplite's shield protected both himself and his neighbor.
Hoplites were outfitted with armor and a lot of equipment. In addition to their hoplon, hoplites carried a double-ended spear to stab the enemy. Hoplites also wore a sword to use in hand-to-hand combat if the phalanx formation broke apart. All hoplites wore a helmet topped with horsehair to make them look taller and fiercer. Wealthy hoplites wore metal armor that was sculpted to fit their body. Less wealthy hoplites wore fabric glued together with animal fat to make it tough.
Mom: "Don't forget your shield!"
Before battle, Spartan mothers would hand their son his shield and say, "Come back with your shield or on it." Hoplites would carry the dead back to Sparta on their shields. So, this phrase meant that a soldier should not come back alive without his shield. What happened if you came back alive and without your shield? You would most likely be disowned from your family and possibly killed!
Why were shields such a big deal?
According to Plutarch, a Greek writer, the Spartan king Demaratos said "the shield [is] for the common good of all." The shield was key to keeping the phalanx formation from falling apart. A hoplite who dropped or lost his shield was risking the life of his fellow hoplites!
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