4/28/2015

Spartacus

Rome needed workers to maintain its wealth. The first people conquered by the Roman army were welcomed as citizens, but after 265BC, many conquered people were auctioned off as slaves. Many of the great architectural achievements of ancient Rome were created with the grueling labor of slaves.

A slave named Spartacus led a slave revolt that threatened the stability of the Roman Republic. Spartacus was likely from Thrace, a land northeast of Greece, but we don’t know much about his early life. Spartacus may have been a soldier in the Roman army, but was condemned to slavery. He was forced to train to be a gladiator. In ancient Rome, most gladiators were armed slaves who went into battle with other slaves or wild animals for the entertainment of the Roman people. In 73bc, Spartacus and a group of other gladiators escaped captivity by seizing kitchen knives and fighting their way to freedom. The Romans sent a small force to capture the escaped gladiators, but the slaves killed most of the Roman soldiers and took their weapons.

The Roman army believed they cornered the escaped slaves on Mount Vesuvius by blocking the only path from the mountain. Spartacus and his soldiers secretly climbed down a steep cliff using vines as ropes. The slave army then attacked the Romans from behind, killing most of the unprepared soldiers. The slaves continued to win battles with Roman armies and became folk heroes for many of the poorest people of ancient Rome. Folk heroes are popular with common people, but not with people in power. The ranks of the slave army grew as they liberated other slaves, and as word of their success grew, as many as 120,000 of the poorest people of Rome joined the revolt. Spartacus’ powerful army plundered the Roman countryside for more than two years.

The slave revolt ended after a bloody series of battles near the southern tip of the Italian peninsula in 71bc. Two Roman generals, Crassus and Pompey, led a force 40,000 soldiers. The slaves were no match for the superior weapons of the Roman armies. Spartacus was killed in battle, but six thousand of his soldiers were taken prisoner and crucified. Crucifixion is a form of execution where the prisoner is nailed to a cross and left to die a slow, painful death. The crosses were placed along the Apian Way, one of Rome’s most traveled roads. The sight of the crucified slaves served as a gruesome reminder of the strength and the brutality of the Roman army.

Crassus and Pompey returned to Rome as heroes. The Senate selected them to be consuls, but Crassus and Pompey were soon to come into contact with the greatest general in Roman history: Julius Caesar.

Answer in complete sentences

*1. Why do you think the slave revolt led by Spartacus was successful for two years?

*2. The text says, “The powerful slave army plundered the Roman countryside for more than two years..” What do you think countryside means?

*3. Spartacus was a folk hero to many people in ancient Rome. Who might be considered a folk hero in today?

4/13/15

THE PUNIC WARS

Rome fought three wars with Carthage between 264 and 146bce. The wars established Rome as a world power and left the once powerful empire of Carthage in ruins. Carthage was a city in North Africa originally founded as a trading post by the Phoenicians. Since historians have tended to label the conflicts by the Roman name, we know them as the Punic Wars. Punica was a Latin word for Phoenician.

By the time of the first Punic War, Carthage had created an empire that stretched across North Africa and into the southern coast of modern day Spain. Merchant sailors from Carthage traded with cities throughout the Mediterranean Sea. To protect its profitable sea trade Carthage developed a powerful navy. The Romans completed their conquest of the Italian peninsula by 263bce. Rome’s economy depended on the plunder of their army. The Roman Senate had to keep the army busy, or the army might have turned against the Senate.

The first Punic War was fought over Sicily, a Mediterranean island off the coast of the Italian peninsula. Carthage controlled Sicily in 264bce, so the Romans declared war to defend a small group of Roman fortune seekers Carthage had captured. Rome had a powerful army, but they had little experience with the sea. The Romans developed an innovative technique to win several naval battles. They lacked the naval skill to sink ships, so the Romans outfitted their vessels with a hinged bridge. Roman sailors used pulleys to lower the bridge to face an enemy ship. The Roman ship would ram into an enemy vessel. An iron spike at the edge of the bridge attached the two ships, allowing soldiers to cross over and attack in hand-to-hand combat—where Rome was more experienced than Carthage. To try to close the gap in naval power, the Romans captured a Carthaginian warship and used it as a model to build their fleet. They won a few early victories and captured most of Sicily, but the inexperience of the Roman navy left them unprepared for a catastrophic storm that destroyed two-thirds of their fleet and killed thousands of Roman sailors. Rome raised a second and third fleet, but storms also destroyed most of the additional ships. A Carthaginian general named Hamilcar Barca recaptured most of Sicily, but Carthage did not have the money or manpower to continue to engage in the conflict. In 241bce, Carthage surrendered Sicily to the Romans.

In 218bce, a generation after the first Punic War, Hannibal Barca—the son of Hamilcar—commanded an army from Spain. Hannibal led an army of 40,000 soldiers, 8,000 horses and 37 war elephants in a daring and difficult journey over the Alps. The Alps are a treacherous mountain range that stood between Spain and the Italian peninsula. Hannibal expected some Italian cities to join his army, but the cities remained loyal to their conqueror. Hannibal’s army won three decisive victories against Rome in northern Italy despite being outnumbered more than two to one. In the Battle of Canae, Hannibal’s army surrounded the Romans, killing between 50,000 to 80,000 Roman soldiers—the most destructive battle in ancient history. After their humiliation at Canae, Rome changed their strategy. The Romans sent a new army to northern Italy with instructions to withdraw. Hannibal spent the next twelve years destroying the Roman countryside, but his army had no opponent to fight. The antipathy, or bad feelings caused by Hannibal’s destruction would last for generations and would lead to the third Punic War and the downfall of Carthage. A Roman army led by Scipio attacked Carthage in 202bce. Hannibal was ordered home to defend his native land. Without Hannibal in charge, the war on the Italian peninsula turned in Rome’s favor. Once in Carthage, Hannibal had a mercenary army in place of his loyal soldiers. Mercenaries are foreign soldiers hired to fight. The mercenary army was no match for Scipio's trained forces. Rome defeated Hannibal’s army and won the war.

Carthage was no longer in a position to hurt Rome after the second Punic War, but in 149BCE, Roman antipathy toward

Carthage continued to linger. A Roman senator named Cato ended every speech with the cry, “Carthage must be

destroyed.” Rome attacked Carthage and the two sides fought bloody battles in a war that lasted almost three years.

After a siege in 146bce, the Romans broke through the city walls of Carthage. Once they subdued the Carthaginian

army, Roman soldiers went from house to house slaughtering the people in their homes. After destroying Carthage,

the Romans sold the remaining citizens into slavery, burned the city and destroyed Carthage’s harbor.

Rome annexed Carthage by making the city a part of a Roman province they called Africa. Africa probably comes from

a Latin word that means “sunny land without cold.” The Punic Wars established Rome as a powerful nation and the

wars were an indication that Rome would develop into one of the most powerful empires in history.

Fill in the Blanks

Rome and C__rt__a__e fought three P__n__c Wars over ______ years beginning in ______bce. The wars established Rome as a world p__w__r and d__s__ro__ed Carthage’s once great North A__r__c__n empire. The first Punic War was fought over S__ci__y, an i__l__nd in the M__d__t__r__a__e__n Sea midway between the two cities. Carthage built a superior n______ to support their m__r__ha__t sailors. Rome had little experience f__g__t__ng at s____; they won many battles using i__n__v__t__ve techniques, but Rome also lost many ships due to their i__e__p__r__e__ce with s__o__ms. Carthage lost S__c__ly and the war when they ran out of the m________ and m__n__o__er necessary to continue fighting.

A generation later, a young Carthaginian g__n__r__l named H__n__i__al led his army in a difficult and daring journey over the Alpine *M__u__t__ins. Hannibal won three bloody b__t__l__s with the Roman army and spent most of the next t__e__ve years d__s__r__y__ng the I__a__i__n countryside. Hannibal was forced to leave his army and return home when a Roman general named S__i__io invaded Carthage. Hannibal was forced to fight with untrained m__r__e__a__y soldiers who were no match for Scipio’s R__m__n army. Rome won the battle and the war.

Rome d__s__r__y__d their e__e__y in the t__i__d Punic War. After a three-year s__e__e, the Romans broke through the city w________ of Carthage. The Carthaginians who were not k__l__ed were sold into s__a__e__y. Rome then d__s__r__y__d Carthage’s h__r__or, ensuring that their old nemesis would never again be a *t__r__at.

Answer in Complete Sentences

1. Explain why the three conflicts between Rome and Carthage are remembered as the Punic Wars.

*2. Why do you think Hannibal led his army through the treacherous Alps instead of engaging his enemy at sea?

*3. Why does the author suggest that the Romans treated Carthage with such brutality after the third Punic War?

4/9/13

The Patricians and the Plebeians

Sometime before the first surviving written historical account, Rome was controlled by the Etruscans, a brutal civilization from the northern part of the Italian peninsula. Etruscans kings rained terror for more than a century until the Romans rebelled and expelled their ruler in 509bce.

The early Romans were miserable living under a king, so they created a republic, a form of government in which elected officials share power.

In place of a king, the Romans elected two consuls with equal power. The counsels served for only one year and could not be reelected. The counsels held veto power over one another. Veto means “I forbid” in Latin, the language of the Romans. Neither consul could make a law without the consent of the other. The Romans never wanted power concentrated in one person again.

The Roman Senate advised the consuls. Senate is derived from a word meaning elder because many Romans considered the senators to be the oldest and wisest of their people.

The consuls and senators came from the patrician “order” – mostly wealthy landowning families believed to have descended from the leaders of the rebellion against the Etruscans.

The plebeians were the merchants, farmers, and craft workers of Rome. The patricians excluded the plebeians from the consulship and the Senate, so when the Senate declared war in 491bce, the plebeians refused to fight. A legend says the plebeians withdrew from the city until they were given the right to elect their own leaders. Historians later called this the Struggle of the Orders.

The patricians and the plebeians negotiated a settlement that allowed the plebeians a voice in Roman government. The plebeians elected tribunes, who represented their order against any mistreatment by the consuls or the Senate. Tribunes could veto a law passed by the Senate or the consuls. The Roman word for a chamber or a meeting room is camera. The Roman government was bicameral because both the patricians and the plebeians had representatives in the Roman Republic. The Struggle of the Orders ended in 287bce, when laws passed by the tribunes were binding for all Romans.

The patricians and the plebeians agreed on the Law of Twelve Tables in 449bce. The Twelve Tables were a legal code that everyone could see. Citizens could no longer be changed in secret, and even elected officials were required to follow the law, though an official could not be charged with a crime until after he left office.

The patricians and the plebeians shared power in Rome, but a third order had no voice in how they were ruled. They were the slaves. Many people captured in war became slaves. Some were former criminals. Others–very poor Romans –sold themselves and their families into slavery to keep from starving. Roman law considered slaves to be property, so slaves had no legal rights. As many as one-third of the Roman people were slaves.

The senate met in the Forum, a marketplace in the valley among the hills that surround Rome. The meetings usually took place outdoors and ended at sunset, so a senator could stop a law from passing by talking continuously until sunset.

In times of great emergency, the Romans would select a dictator to rule the Republic. The dictator had complete control over Rome, but the dictator could serve for only six months. The Romans were at war in 458bce when the Senate asked Cincinnatus to lead them as dictator. Cincinnatus organized the Romans and ended the war in just sixteen days. He could have stayed in power for the remainder of his term and used the office to enrich himself, but Cincinnatus returned power to the Senate and went back to his farm.

The Roman republic never officially ended. Powerful leaders such as Julius Caesar and Caesar Augustus began to take authority from senators and tribunes in the first century BCE. The Romans returned power to one person after about five hundred years as a republic.

America and the Roman Republic

More than two thousand years after the Romans formed their republic, a group of colonists in America rebelled against the English king and formed the United States of America. The founders of the new American nation wrote a Constitution that looked to ancient Rome as model for their new government.

Like the Roman model, the American government is bicameral. Each of the fifty states elects two Senators to represent them in Congress. The United States Constitution allots seats in the House of Representatives based the population of each state. Each state has at least one of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives.

The framers of the American Constitution borrowed the Roman idea of sharing power among many groups. The president can veto a law made by Congress, but under the American system, a vote of two-thirds of each house of Congress can override the president’s veto. Every elected official must follow the law. Even the president can be removed from office by Congress for what the Constitution describes as “high crimes and misdemeanors.”

Fill in the Blanks

The Roman people freed themselves from E__r__s__an rule in 509bce to set up a r__p__b__ic. Their government was run by two c__n__u__s who served one-year terms. The Senate was a group of pa__r__c__a__s that a__v__s__d the c__n__u__s. The patricians were the d__s__e__d__n__s of the leaders of the r__b__l__i__n against the Etruscans. In 491bce, a group of m__r__h__n__s, farmers and c__a__t__o__k__rs called p__e__e__a__s refused to fight in a Roman war unless the P__t__i_ia__s allowed them to *p__r_i__i__a__e in the g__v__r__me__t. The patricians allowed the plebeians to elect t__i__u__es to protect their interests. The patricians and the plebeians agreed on a legal code called the T__el__e Tables. Two thousand years after the founding of the Roman Republic, the framers of the American C__n__t__t__t__on used the Roman Republic as a model for the new American government.

Answer in complete sentences

*1. Use a dictionary to define “patri-,” the root of patrician. List at least two words with this root.

*2. Why is the United States a republic?

*3. Was every class represented in the Roman Republic? Explain your answer.

*4. Why did many Romans consider Cincinnatus to be a hero?

*5. What can you compare the Forum to in modern society? Explain your reasoning.

*6. Explain what a veto was in ancient Rome?

*7. Suggest a class rule that most students would agree to, but would be vetoed by the teacher. (You do not have to use complete sentences for this answer.)

4/6/15

The Founding of Rome

Italy is a peninsula jutting out into the Mediterranean west of Greece. Unlike Greece, Italy is poor in mineral resources and surprisingly devoid of useful harbors. However, the most stunning difference between Greece and Italy is the larger amount of fertile land. While Greece is poor in fertile land, Italy is wealthy in both land and precipitation. So the two peoples developed very differently; the Italians began and remained largely an agrarian people. Even in its latest stages, Roman culture would identify its values and ideals as agrarian.

Italy had one other significant difference from Greece: it was easily accessible from Europe to the north. The Greeks lived behind a formidable mountain range; the Alps to the north of Italy were not quite as invulnerable. The Greeks also had a warlike Greek population to the north, the Macedonians, to serve as a buffer between themselves and other Europeans. The Romans had no such buffer civilization. As a result, conflict was a fairly constant affair on the Italian peninsula and the Romans, along with other peoples on the Italian peninsula, developed a military society fairly early in their history.

According to Roman legend, the city was founded in 753 BCE by Romulus and Remus, twin sons of the god Mars and a Latin princess. The twins were abandoned on the Tiber River as infants and raised by a she-wolf. They decided to build a city near the spot. In reality, Rome developed because of its strategic location and its fertile soil. Rome was built on seven rolling hills at a curve on the Tiber River, near the center of the Italian peninsula. It was midway between the Alps and Italy’s southern tip. Rome also was near the midpoint of the Mediterranean Sea. The historian Livy, in his work, The Early History of Rome, wrote about the city’s site:

Not without reason did gods and men choose this spot for the cite of our city—the healthy hills, the river to bring us produce from the inland regions and sea-borne commerce from abroad, the sea itself, near enough for convenience yet not so near as to bring danger from foreign fleets, our situation in the very heart of Italy—all these advantages make it of all places in the world the best for a city destined to grow great.

We know almost nothing about the earliest peoples in Italy, who were Cro-Magnons, but by the Neolithic stage, they seemed to have been displaced by waves of migrations from Africa, Spain, and France. These peoples were themselves displaced by a new set of migrations in the Bronze Age, which began in Italy around 1500 BC, which violently displaced many of the populations already there. These new peoples came from across the Alps and across the Adriatic Sea to the east of the Italian peninsula. They were a nomadic people who were primarily herdsmen; they were also technologically superior. They worked bronze, used horses, and had wheeled carts. They were a war-like people and began to settle the mountainous areas of the Italian peninsula. We call these people Italic, and they include several ethnic groups: the Sabines, the Umbrians, and the Latins, with an assortment of others.

The Latins were farmers and shepherds who wandered into Italy across the Alps around 1000 BCE. They settled on either side of the Tiber River in a region they called Latium. They built the original settlement at Rome, a cluster of wooden huts atop one of its seven hills, the Palatine Hill. These settlers were the first Romans.

Between 750 and 600 BCE, Greek settlers

established about 50 colonies on the coasts of southern Italy and Sicily. The cities became prosperous and commercially active. They brought

all of Italy, including Rome, into closer contact with Greek civilization. The Greeks also taught the Romans how to grow grapes and olives.

The Etruscans were native to northern Italy. They were skilled metalworkers and engineers. The Etruscans strongly influenced the development of Roman civilization. They had a system of writing, and the Romans adopted their alphabet. They also influenced Rome’s architecture, especially the use of the arch.

Romans borrowed religious ideas from both the Greeks and the Etruscans. The Romans adopted Etruscan rituals that they believed helped them to win the favor of the gods. Roman gods even took on the personalities and legends of the Greek gods. Romans, however, gave their gods different names. Thus Zeus, the king of the Greek gods, became Jupiter in Rome, and Hera, the queen of the gods, became Juno.

THE EARLY REPUBLIC:

Around 600 BCE, an Etruscan became king. However, Rome was not controlled by the Etruscan cities. Under its Etruscan kings, Rome grew from a collection of hilltop villages to a city that covered nearly 500 square miles. Much of Rome was rich agricultural land. Various kings ordered the construction of Rome’s first temples and public buildings. By royal order, the swampy valley below the Palatine Hill was drained, making a public meeting place. Later it became the Forum, the heart of Roman political life.

The last king of Rome was Tarquin the Proud. A harsh tyrant, he was driven from power in 509 BCE. Roman aristocrats, wealthy landowners who resented the Etruscan kings, overthrew him. The Romans declared they would never again be ruled by a king. They swore to put to death anyone who plotted to make himself king.

Having deposed the monarch, the Romans established a new government. They called it a republic, from the Latin phrase res publica, which means “public affairs.” A republic is a form of government in which power rests with citizens who have the right to vote to select their leaders. In Rome, citizenship with voting rights was granted only to free-born male citizens.

1 What natural/geographic advantages did the city of Rome have?

2 How was Rome's geography different from that of Greece? How was it similar?

3 Why was Ostia important to the city of Rome?

4 Why do you think that the Romans could unify their peninsula and the Greeks could not?

5 According to Roman mythology, how was Rome founded? What was the real story?

6 What did the Romans borrow from the Etruscans?

Why is 509 BCE an important date in Roman history?

3/26/15

Aristotle

Aristotle was the greatest scientist of the ancient world. He believed in using logic and reason to explain natural events in an era when most people believed storms and good harvests were a consequence of the anger or the pleasure of the gods.

2. What was significant about Aristotle’s theory of logic?

Plato

What we know about Socrates comes mostly from his student, Plato. Plato called Socrates "the best of all men I have ever known." Plato wrote down his teacher’s ideas in a series of dialogues. A dialogue is a conversation between two people.

Plato was a young man when he began to study with Socrates. Plato came from a very wealthy and powerful family. He was named Aristocles, but he was better known as Plato, a nickname that means “broad.” Plato’s nickname could have referred either to the philosopher’s broad shoulders, or to the breadth of his great intellect.

When Socrates died, Plato left Athens for more than a decade. He returned to start the Academy, a school where Plato and his invited guests would discuss philosophy.

*2. What is a mentor? Who is your mentor? Explain your reasoning.

Socrates

Wisdom can be defined as the knowledge of what is right and true. The ancient Greeks discussed, debated, and studied wisdom. This is called philosophy. The word philosophy comes from a Greek term meaning "the love of wisdom."

The Greeks believed they could become wise by using reason. Reason is the ability to think clearly. Greek philosophers developed logic, a step-by-step method of using reason to think through a problem. A philosopher named Socrates challenged the leaders of Athens by asked his students to use reason and logic instead of following the directions of the leaders of Athens.

Socrates was a retired stonecutter. As a young man he fought in the Peloponnesian War and served in the boule, but he devoted the last years of his life to philosophy. Socrates believed that we all could find truth by thinking logically and trusting our inner voices. Socrates told his students that “wisdom begins in wonder.”

Socrates did not teach in a school. The old philosopher drifted around Athens, engaging his students in arguments about justice, bravery, and ethics. Socrates taught by asking questions that forced his students to use logic. When teachers ask questions that encourage students to draw conclusions, they are using the "Socratic method" of teaching. A priest called the Oracle of Delphi pronounced Socrates the wisest man in Greece. Socrates concluded that while others professed knowledge they did not have, Socrates knew how little he knew. Socrates asked many questions, but he gave few answers. He often denied knowing the answers to the questions he asked.

2. What is reason?

Fill in the Blanks

The study of wisdom is called p__i__o__o__hy. Wisdom is the k__o__l__d__e of what is __i__ht and true. The ancient Greeks believed they could attain wisdom by using r__a__on. Reason is the ability to t__i__k clearly. The Greeks developed a step-by-step method of using reason they called l__g__c.

Socrates was a p__i__o__o__h__r who taught his students to think l__g__c__l__y and to t__u__t their i__n__r voices because “w__s__om begins in w__n__er.” Socrates and his students drifted through A__h__ns discussing j__s__i__e, bravery and piety. The old p__i__o__o__h__r taught by asking q__e__t__o__s that e__c__u__a__ed his s__u__e__ts to use l__g__c. We call this method of teaching the “S__c__a__ic method.”

The l__a__e__s of Athens threatened to bring S__c__a__es to trial for *t__a__h__ng his students to t__u__t their own j__d__m__nt. Athens had recently lost the P__l__p__n__e__i__n War to S__a__ta and did not want a “g__d__ly” challenging their a__t__o__i__y. The leaders expected S__c__a__es to leave A__h__ns, but the 70-year-old p__i__o__o__h__r stood t__i__l and was found g__i__ty. Socrates accepted his d__a__h by calmly drinking from a cup of poison h__m__o__k.

Answer in complete sentences

3. What is logic?

4. What did Socrates mean when he said, “wisdom begins in wonder”?

5. The text states that “Socrates knew how little he knew.” What does that phrase mean?

*6. Write a message to a parent, teacher, or friend where using your rhetorical skills. (You do not have to be concerned about a topic sentence or a conclusion.)

*7. Name a person from today or the recent past who challenged society by asking uncomfortable questions. (You may need to ask your parent for help with this question.)

3/4/15

Name: ______________________________ Date: _____________

The Persians Video Worksheet

Directions: Answer the following questions while watching the movie entitled “Engineering an Empire: The Persians”.

1. What resource was crucial to early survival in Persia?

2. Explain how the Persians harnessed this resource for their people?

3. How did the Persian Empire of Cyrus the Great compare to other empires of the Ancient World?

4. What was Cyrus the Great’s first building project?

5. How was Cyrus the Great different from previous kings and emperors of the Ancient World?

6. What was Darius the Great’s first major building project?

7. What unseen engineering marvel truly made the Persian city of Persepolis a wonder to behold?

8. What did Darius the Great construct to connect the far reaches of his empire?

9. How far apart were the rest stations and inns along the Persian road?

10. What two bodies of war were connected by Darius’ canal?

11. How did Darius the Great get across the Bosporus Straits in order to reach Athens, Greece?

12. Who succeeded Darius as the emperor of Persia?

13. How were Darius’ and Xerxes’ invasions of Greece similar?

14. What did Xerxes do to Athens after he conquered it?

15. How big was the Hall of 100 Columns?

16. How tall was the Mausoleum of Mausolos?

17. What was the final fate of Persepolis?

3/2/15

Persia

Wars among the Greek poli were common in the fifth century before the Common Era, but the city-states united to defend themselves against Persia, the most powerful empire in the world at that time. The victorious Greeks developed a sense of confidence that led to an era we now call the Classical Age of Greece.

The Persian Empire conquered Ionia. Ionia is east of the Greek peninsula in Asia Minor, land that is now part of the modern nation of Turkey. In 499bce, Athens sent its army to aid an Ionian rebellion against the Persians.

Athens used a battle formation called a phalanx. In a phalanx, heavily armed soldiers held overlapping shields that protected the combatants on either side. The phalanx required soldiers to depend on one another for their safety, so Athenian warriors fought as a unit instead of as individuals. The well-trained Athenian phalanx helped repel the Persians from Ionian land.

King Darius of Persia swore revenge on Athens. In 490bce, Persian ships carried about 20,000 warriors to Marathon, a flat plain twenty-six miles from Athens. The Persians planned to use Marathon as a base from which to attack, but a spy alerted Athens. The Athenian army was outnumbered by about two to one, but they marched through the night to make a surprise attack on the Persian forces at dawn. The frightened Persians fled to their ships and retreated from Greece.

A messenger named Pheidippides ran to Athens without stopping to announce Athens’ surprise victory at Marathon, but the runner died from exhaustion shortly after gasping out his news. A modern marathon is a foot race that is named in honor of Pheidippides’ run. Modern marathons are exactly 26 miles, 385 yards. This is exactly the distance Pheidippides is believed to have run.

Ten years after the Persian retreat at Marathon, Darius’ son, Xerxes, prepared for another invasion of Greece. Xerxes sent about 200,000 soldiers and 800 ships to fight the Greeks at the Battle of Salamis in 460bce. The Persian king watched from a mountaintop as the Greeks managed to destroy the Persian fleet. Xerxes was so enraged by Persia’s loss that he beheaded the few Persian captains who were able to escape the wrath of the Greek armies.

Athens had twice resisted the most powerful empire in the world, but Athens was certain that Persia would make another attempt to conquer Greece. Athens asked all of the Greek poli to meet on the island of Delios where the poli formed an alliance known as the Delian League. Each member of the Delian League contributed soldiers, ships and money to fight the Persians.

The Delian League used its powers first to punish the poli that supported Persia in the past. Then, the combined forces of the league conquered the remaining Persian territories in Ionia. The united Greeks no longer feared the Persians because the Greeks had enough military power to fend off the powerful empire in the world.

Historians call the period the followed the Greek victories over the Persians the Classical Age of Greece. During the classical age, artists, poets, sculptors and architects developed a culture that was unique to Greece. Sparta and Athens were the two most powerful poli of the Classical Age. Sparta was a disciplined military power that discouraged traveling and visitors. Athens was a port city whose merchant ships traveled throughout the Mediterranean Sea. In time, the rivalry between Sparta and Athens would lead of the end of the Classical Era.

Fill in the Blanks

Greece was a collection of c__t__-s__a__es known as poli that shared a common l__n__u__ge and *r__l__g__on. The poli often fought one another, but the poli unified when Persia captured Greek-speaking city-states in Ionia. A Greek army led by A__h__ns used a military f__r__a__i__n called the p__a__a__x. In a phalanx, heavily a__m__d soldiers held overlapping s__i__l__s. By fighting as a unit instead of as i__d__v__d__al soldiers, the p__a__a__x was able to fend off the P__r__i__ns.

King D__r__us sent a P__r__ian fleet to Marathon to begin an i__v__s__on of Greece, but a surprise attack from Athens forced the Persian back to their ships. Ten years later, the s__n of K______ Darius sent a stronger force, but A__h__ns defeated the Persians in the B__t__le of S__l__m__s. Fearing another Persian invasion, Athens asked the other poli form an a__l_a__ce called the Delian L__a__ue. The combined forced of the D__l__an alliance made the Greek poli a powerful force. The years that followed the Greek *v__c__o__i__s over Persia became known as the C__a__s__c__l Age. During the classical Age, a__t__s__s and p__e__s developed a c__l__u__e that was u__i__ue to Greece.

Answer in complete sentences

*1. Why does the author suggest that Athens assisted the Ionian rebellion against Persia?

*2. Why was the phalanx the most powerful military formation of the ancient world?

3. Why are modern Marathon races exactly 26 miles, 385 yards?

*4. How did the Delian League make Greece more powerful?

*5. According to the last paragraph, explain why Athens was able to develop a powerful navy.

1/19/15----2/13/15

Homer. The Iliad. London: Allen Lane, 1973.

Study Questions: "The Death of Hektor"

1. To whom is Hektor speaking when this section of Book XXII begins?

2. What does Hektor believe would be better than suffering disgrace among his people?

3. Hektor realizes that he is going to face the greatest warrior among the Greeks (also called Achaians). What plan might enable Hektor to avoid the confrontation with Achilleus?

4. An epic simile is a long, extended comparison. It is one of Homer's favorite techniques. To what is the race between Hektor and Achilleus compared between lines 35-70?

5. Homer also liked to use stock phrases, or short descriptive epithets to describe his main characters. Often they are repeated throughout the section, to reinforce the ideas Homer wishes to convey. What is the descriptive phrase that follows Hektor's name in line 64? What characteristics does this phrase convey?

6. As the gods and goddesses watched the race between Hektor and Achilleus, who was the first of them to speak? Why does this god feel sympathy for Hektor?

7. Which goddess jumps in to the debate over the fate of Hektor? What is her argument?

8. During the skirmish between Hektor and Achilleus, how did Achilleus' own people try to get in on the fight? Did Achilleus approve of this? Quote the passage that explains why/why not.

9. Between lines 125-144, Athene transforms herself into Deïphobos. Who is Deïphobos and why would Hektor trust (and wish to impress) him?

10. What promise does Hektor wish of Achilleus? Write the passage that summarizes Achilleus' answer.

11. Soon afterwards, how does Athene once again become involved in the fight?

12. At this point in the story (line 200) Hektor realizes that he's doomed. On the other hand, Achilleus is "eyeing" Hektor's body. What is Achilleus looking for?

13. Where does Achilleus stab Hektor?

14. Who is Patroklos and how does he figure into the story?

15. Does Achilleus ever soften in his treatment of Hektor? After Hektor's death, what immediately is done to his body?

16. What act of war (committed by Hektor) are the Achaians glad to avenge?

17. What is Achilleus' final indignity to Hektor's body?

18. Greek wives were expected to stay close to home, in fact the symbol of womanhood in Greece was the tortoise. In what activity was Andromache, Hektor's wife, engaged when she receives word of his death?

19. Andromache fears that their son will suffer cruel treatment after his father's death. Describe the scenario that she envisions.

20. Discussion: Although we feel sympathy for Hektor in this section of "The Iliad," Homer didn't really "side" with either Greeks or Trojans over all. How is Achilleus' greatness conveyed in this section? Do you believe that Achilleus was excessive in his cruelty to Hektor?

1/14/15

Who are the Major Characters in the Iliad?

1/13/15

Iliad Synopsis

It was the face that launched a thousand ships, the face of Helen, the woman who started a ten-year war. But how could one woman start a war, you ask? To answer that I have to take you back to a time, many sunrises and sunsets before blood was shed over the soil of Troy…

The Golden Apple

It was the wedding-feast of King Peleus and the Sea-goddess, Thetis, and all the gods were invited, them, along with the other mortal guests, all except Eris, the goddess of discord. (After all, Thetis knew that wherever Eris went trouble followed, and who would have wanted such a disruption at such a joyful event as a wedding-feast?) But nothing got past Eris. She knew she was being excluded, and she was furious! So she came to the wedding, uninvited and unannounced, and threw a golden apple into the circle of guests. On the apple was inscribed the words: “For the fairest one”. Athena, Aphrodite and Hera, all claimed the golden fruit and fought over the prize, so Zeus chose Paris, Prince of Troy, to make the decision as to who was to get the apple. Hence, each goddess offered him a bribe: Athena promised him supreme wisdom, and Hera offered to give him great wealth and unlimited power. However it was Aphrodite who made him the most irresistible offer of them all, promising to give him the fairest mortal woman alive—Helen of Sparta. But there was one problem: Helen was already married to Menelaus, King of Sparta. Therefore, in order to keep her promise, Aphrodite seduced Helen with an arrow of love and helped Paris abduct her. It was then that the furious Menelaus asked for the help of his brother, Agamemnon, King of Mycenae, and other fellow kings so that they, together, could redeem Helen and conquer one of the finest cities in the land. It was the start of a ten-year war.

Book 1: The Quarrel of Achilles and Agamemnon

Many years later, well into the war, the Achaeans, under King Agamemnon’s command was losing many of its comrades in battle. Apollo was furious at Agamemnon for dishonoring Chryses, a priest of Apollo, when he had come to the Achaean King with gifts aplenty to ask for the return of his daughter, Chryseis, and Agamemnon refused, wanting her as a mistress and seeing her as a prize of his after stealing her from the city of Troy. So distressed with being denied his beloved daughter, Chryses prayed to Apollo. Phoibos Apollo, hearing his priest’s prayer, brought a plague and more destruction to the Achaeans. Finally, after ten days passed, Achilles of the swift feet, Agamemnon’s greatest warrior, called a meeting of the people and questioned a prophet about the means of the Achaeans’ devastation. And the seer spoke, in fear, instructing Agamemnon to return Chryseis without accepting the ransom and lead a sacrificial offering to her father, Chryses—only then would the plague be removed from the Achaeans.

The king of Mycenae was furious at the seer for speaking such news, and he still refused to return the girl. Nonetheless, after arguing tirelessly with Achilles over the matter, he finally agreed to return Chryseis, but wanted compensation for his loss of booty. He ordered Odysseus to return Chryseis and in turn stole Achilles’ prize, Briseis. Dishonored and angered, Achilles sat by his ship, refusing to fight; and on the twelfth day of his strike, Thetis went to Zeus on Mount Olympus and requested that he, King of the gods, give the Trojans strength and help them win the war until her son’s honor was redeemed.

Book 18: The Arming of Achilles

For days on end, Achilles refused to fight and the Achaeans suffered. With the loss of their greatest warrior and the devastation that plagued them, they were trapped. Desperate, Agamemnon sent Aias and Odysseus to beg Achilles to return, offering him gifts and treasures aplenty, but Achilles refused. Upon this refusal, the Achaeans’ plight worsened and Achilles remained relentless. But hearing of the Achaeans’ desperate need, he finally agreed to allow his dear friend, Patroklos, to take his armor and fight. Disguised as Achilles, Patroklos pushed the Trojans back to the walls of Troy. However, Apollo interceded and helped the Trojan prince, Hektor, kill Patroklos. Hektor then took Achilles’ armor into his possession while a huge fight arose over Patroklos’ body. At the end of the brutal fight, the Achaeans obtained Patroklos’ body and performed the appropriate burial rites.

Hearing of his beloved companion’s death, Achilles was deeply saddened and mourned endlessly for his dear friend. Then the great goddess, Thetis, came to him, her son, and filled Achilles’ heart with courage. Achilles was now ready to fight and avenge his friend’s death. At that time, the great warrior also learned that after Hektor’s death, his own death would soon follow. With that, Thetis, goddess of the sea, went to Hephaistos and requested that he make a most beautiful armor to protect her son.

Book 22: The Death of Hektor

Armed in his new armor and filled with renewed courage and anger, Achilles returned to the battlefields of Troy. Meanwhile, Priam and Hekabe were trying desperately to convince their son, Hektor, to remain within the walls of Troy, safe from Achilles. Alas they failed. Hektor stayed outside the gates and waited and waited. When he finally saw the Achilles coming toward him, Achilles’ spear shaking above his shoulder, terror swept over the Trojan prince and he fled. Achilles raced with rage, chasing Hektor around and around the walls of Troy. And the gods looked down on them and counseled, trying to decide who should be the one to die. It was the fourth time that the two warriors had come racing around the side wall. Apollo had been keeping Hektor’s knees light, driving him forward, but Zeus balanced his golden scales and set two measures of death, one on each end. Hektor’s weight was heavier. It was done. It was decided. Apollo retreated and the gray-eyed Athena came swooping down, transforming herself into Deiphobos, Hektor’s brother. She stopped Hektor’s swift feet and convinced him to face up to Achilles in combat, telling him that he (Deiphobos) would indeed be there to help Hektor finish Achilles off. This deceiving act brought great courage to Hektor as he turned toward Achilles, declared his newfound spirit and fought. Eventually, Hektor realized that he was fighting alone and fought to his death.

After Hektor gasped his last breath, Achilles pulled the spear out from Hektor’s body, stripped him of his armor, stabbed a hole by the tendons in his ankles, threaded ox-hide through the holes, and tied the Trojan prince to the chariot letting his head drag. Achilles rose onto the chariot, and lifting the golden armor high, he started the horses running and dragged Hektor in a cloud of dust that trailed around the walls of Troy. Appalled, the people of Troy, and especially Hektor’s wife, father and mother, who loved him the most, looked down at Hektor’s lifeless body being dragged in the dust and mourned for the death of their most favored prince.

Book 24: Achilles and Priam

While the Trojans wept for Hektor, the Achaeans held funeral games for their beloved warrior, Patroklos, and were showered with joy, all of them that is, but Achilles. He would not eat, and his sleep was restless. Tossing and turning, he was plagued by his companion’s death. Every night Achilles would weep, and every day he would rise with the sun, tie Hektor to his chariot and drag him three times around Patroklos’ tomb. However, Apollo had pity on Hektor and protected his body from destruction. On the twelfth day, Phoibos Apollo spoke before the gods, convincing them that they should persuade Achilles to return the lifeless body. Thus, Zeus ordered Thetis to tell her son to return Hektor’s body to Priam. Then the king of the gods commanded Iris to tell Priam to offer gifts to Achilles and secure the release of his son.

Hermes was sent to guide the Trojan king and keep him safe from harm. When they reached the dwelling of Achilles, they found him sitting and dining with his fellow companions. Priam entered inconspicuously, knelt down by Achilles, took the warrior’s knees in his arms and kissed the hands that had caused blood to flow from his son. The two heroic men looked into each other’s eyes, each in marvel of the other, and finally the Trojan King spoke and humbly asked that Achilles take pity on him and return his son to him. Finishing his request, Priam huddled at Achilles’ feet and wept; and Achilles wept with him—for his own father and once again, for his dear friend Patroklos. Then the swift-footed warrior led the Trojan king to the side and ordered his serving-maids to wash Hektor’s body, anoint it with olive oil and cover him with a cloak and tunic. When this was done, Achilles himself helped to lift the body into a beautifully polished mule wagon and took his supper with Priam. The two enemies feasted on roasted meat, bread and wine, and when they had eaten to their heart’s content, they took pleasure in sleep—their first sweet sleep in many days.

The next morning Priam departed with his son’s body, and Achilles ordered a twelve-day truce so that the Trojans could perform the proper burial rites for their prince. The Trojans mourned over his body, each woman coming to pay her respects, and on the tenth day, they burned his body. When Dawn rose again the next day, they gathered up what remained of his lifeless body and placed it in a golden casket, and wrapping it with soft purple robes, they placed it in a hollow grave. After they had finished this task, they gathered at house of Priam and rejoiced with a glorious feast.

But that was not really “The End”. The war went on for many more months. As you probably know, it ended with the wooden horse—a gift to the Trojans—that concealed the hiding Achaean warriors, led by the command of Odysseus. There was a great slaughter within the walls of Troy, and when it was over, there was nothing but destruction. The Trojans were devastated; the Achaeans were victorious; and the woman with the face that launched the thousand ships ten years earlier was returned to her homeland.

1/12/15

The Early Greeks

Most of our study of ancient Greece is focused on what we call the Classical Age. The Classical Age of Greece is a two hundred year period that began about 500 years before the Common Era. During the Classical Age, the Greek poli combined to defeat the powerful Persian Empire. The Greeks of the Classical Age created art, architecture and literature that have influenced the way we live today. The Classical Age came centuries after two earlier civilizations, the Minoans and the Mycenaeans, flourished and then vanished, leaving the Greeks in a period later called the Dark Age of Ancient Greece.

The Minoan culture developed on Crete, an island southeast of the Greek mainland. The Minoans developed a system of writing and traded with other cultures that bordered the Mediterranean Sea, but the Minoan civilization mysteriously disappeared about 1450bce. There is some evidence that the fall of the Minoan civilization is related to a catastrophic volcanic eruption. The Minoans traded with the Mycenaeans, a civilization on the Greek mainland that was known for making bronze weapons and pottery. About a millennium before the Common Era, the Mycenaean culture grew weak and was conquered by invaders from the north known as Dorians.

For the next several hundred years, Greece fell into a period called the Greek Dark Age. There have been several dark ages in history. A dark age occurs when a civilization regresses, or forgets some of the things they know. During the Greek Dark Age, few people could read and write. The Greeks of the Classical Era had no written records of the Minoans and the Mycenaeans, but the Classical Greeks had many legends handed down by word of mouth. These stories became the basis of what the Greeks later called their Heroic Era.

During the Greek Dark Age, poets called bards traveled to different poli. The bards told stories in the form of long poems called epics. People would often pay to hear the bards describe stories of the distant past. The bards would sing many of the epic poems while accompanied by a stringed instrument called a lyre. The musical epics were called lyric poetry.

The two oldest surviving examples of Greek literature are the Iliad and the Odyssey, epic poems that describe the Trojan War, a conflict between the Greeks and the city of Troy that the epics say was fought almost 1200 years before the Common Era. The Trojan War was fought over Helen, who according to legend was the beautiful daughter of Zeus and the wife of the king of the Greek polis of Sparta. The war began after a Trojan prince named Paris kidnapped Helen.

According to the Odyssey, the Trojan War ended when the Greeks pretended to give up their quest for Helen. The Greeks left a huge wooden horse as a peace offering to the Trojans. The Greek navy pretended to sail away, but they only sailed out to a hidden location. The joyous Trojans opened the city gates and pulled in the giant statue. After a great victory celebration of their defeat of the Greek army, the people of Troy slept for the night. As the Trojans slept, Greek soldiers emerged from their hiding place inside the wooden horse, opened the city gates, and began to burn the sleeping city.

Modern scholars believe the Iliad and the Odyssey are based on oral legends, but the epics are often attributed to a storyteller named Homer. The language of the Iliad and the Odyssey suggest that Homer came from the western coast of the modern nation of Turkey. Homer’s name can be translated from a word that means blind, but the vivid imagery of the Iliad and the Odyssey suggest that the author of the poems must have had sight at some point in his life.

We have only a few clues about who Homer might have been. Herodotus was a Greek writer who lived in the fifth century before the Common Era. Herodotus is often called “the Father of History.” The great historian estimated that the story of the Trojan War was at that time at least seven centuries old.

The epic stories of the bards are the foundation of Greek theater. During the Classical Age, the Greeks often performed plays at festivals honoring Dionysus. Dionysus was the Greek god of the harvest, but he was also the god of pleasure. In many Greek plays, a few actors played roles while a chorus narrated the play and offered advice to the characters. Greek tragedies were plays that described great conflicts and often ended unhappily; Greek comedies told amusing stories about Greek culture and society and generally had happy endings. The modern movies we see today are rooted in the plays of ancient Greece and the stories of the mysterious Heroic Era of ancient Greece.

Fill in the Blanks

The C__a__s__c__l Age of Ancient Greece came after the rise and fall the M__n__an and the M__c__n__e__n civilizations about a m__l__e__n__um before the Common Era. A dark age followed where few people could r______ or w________, but the stories of what was later called the H__r__ic Age were kept alive through long e________ poems performed by wandering poets called b__r__s.

The Iliad and the Odyssey are adventures often attributed to a blind storyteller named H__m__r. The Homeric epics describe the T__o__an War, a conflict won by the Greeks after the Greeks *s__c__e__ly hid soldiers in a giant statue of a h__r__e. The Trojans pulled their gift inside the city walls of Troy. That night, Greek soldiers hidden in the horse o__e__ed the city gates and b__r__ed the sleeping city.

The epics were the f__u__d__ti__n of Greek t__e__t__r. In Greek plays, stories that described great conflicts that often ended unhappily were called t__a__e__i__s, while c__m__d__es were amusing stories about Greek culture and society that generally ended h__p__i__y.

Answer in complete sentences

*1. Most of our study of ancient Greece is focused on the Classical Age. The text implies that the Trojan War occurred in what era of ancient Greek history? What statements from the text lead you to this conclusion?

*2. Why are we not certain what happened to the Minoan civilization?

3. Why do you think people were willing to pay the bards for their talents?

*4. “Beware of Trojan Horses” is a common piece of advice. Explain the historical context of this phrase.

5. Why do many modern scholars believe the epics attributed to Homer are based on oral legends?

6. Why do you think that many Greek plays were performed in honor of Dionysus?

*This is a higher order learning question. You must answer the question to the best of your ability, but any reasonable answer will be graded as correct.

1/6/15

GREEK MYTHOLOGY

The beliefs of the ancient Greeks reflected the violent storms, volcanoes and earthquakes that were a part of their experience. Greek mythology is based on legends passed down through generations by word of mouth, so there are many versions of Greek mythology and not all of the stories agree with one another. Myths are traditional stories that have been passed down through generations by word of mouth. Myths explained nature, taught moral lessons, and provided entertainment. Greek poets created epic stories based on ancient legends. An epic is a long poem about great heroes and their deeds.

Like most ancient cultures, the ancient Greeks were polytheistic, but many of their gods looked and acted like human beings. The ancient Greeks believed their gods had unlimited powers, but Greek gods married, had children, played tricks and fought great battles with one another. The ancient Greeks attributed natural disasters to conflicts among their gods.

A Greek poet named Hesiod wrote that the Earth goddesses emerged from nothingness called Chaos. The earth mated with the sky to produce the Titans. The Titans were giants who ruled over Greece from atop Mount Othrys. Cronus led the giants until he lost a great war with his children. The children of Cronus were called the Olympian Gods because they lived atop Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece.

Zeus was the youngest son of Cronus and the head of the Olympian pantheon. A pantheon is a family of gods. Zeus was also the god of rain who ruled the sky with his powerful thunderbolt. Greek farmers relied on the rain they believed came from Zeus, but the ancient Greeks feared the anger of Zeus during violent thunderstorms.

Poseidon was said to be Zeus’ brother and the ruler of the sea. Greek mariners and fishermen believed Poseidon had the power to create earthquakes by striking the ground with his mighty trident. A trident is a three-pronged spear used by the ancient Greeks both as a tool and a weapon. Poseidon might cause shipwreck with his trident, but could also create new islands and favor sailors with food and safe travel to other lands.

A third brother named Hades ruled the underworld. The Greeks believed that people passed to Hades’ territory when they died, and while they were treated fairly in the underworld, Hades would never allow them to return to the world they once knew.

Greek legends say Zeus’ favorite daughter was Athena. Athena was the goddess of wisdom and courage. Legends say Athena gave the Greek the Olive tree. Olives are a staple of the Greek diet. The Greeks also use olive oil for cooking, fuel, and as a medicine. When the Greeks fought one another, they appealed to Athena because she was also the goddess of just warfare.

Most people no longer share the beliefs of the ancient Greeks, but humanity still finds great inspiration in the stories and symbols of Greek mythology.

Answer in complete sentences

1. How were the Greek gods different from the gods of most other ancient cultures?

Fill in the Blanks

The ancient Greeks believed in many gods, so they were p__l__t__e__s__ic. The battles of the Greek gods reflected the st__r__s, volcanoes and e__r__h__u__k__s that were a part of ancient Greece. Greek mythology is based on *o______ legends, so some stories do not agree with others. In an epic poem called Theogony, Hesiod wrote that the E__r__h and the s_y formed the Titans. The Titans were g__a__ts who ruled the earth until their defeat in a great b__t__le with the O__y__p__an gods.

Zeus was the r__l__r of the p__nt__e__n of Olympian gods. Farmers depended on Zeus because he was the god of r______, but Zeus could also terrify people with his powerful th__n__e__b__lt. His brothers were P__s__i__on and H__d__s. Poseidon was the god of the s____. When angered, Poseidon would s__ri__e the g__o__nd with his t__i__e__t to create e__r__h__u__k__s. Hades ruled the u__d__r__o__d. Athena was the goddess of w__s__om and c__u__a__e. The Greeks often appealed to A__h__na before going to w____ because she was the g__d__e__s of just w__r__a__e.

The stories and legends of the ancient Greeks explained n__tu__e, taught m__r__l lessons and provided e__t__r__a__n__e__t. While the b__l__e__s of the ancient Greeks are no longer widely practiced, many people still find i__s__i__a__i__n in the stories and symbols of Greek m__t__o__ogy.

Answer in complete sentences

*2. If you grew up in ancient Greece, how would you have learned the stories of Greek mythology?

3. Who were the Titans? Why did the ancient Greeks believe the Titans lost power?

4. How were Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades related?

*5. Zeus was the most powerful Greek god. What do his powers suggest the people of ancient Greece feared?

THE GREEK POLI

Ancient Greece was not a unified nation, but a collection of city-states known as poli. A Greek polis consisted of a small walled area and the surrounding farmland. Some poli consisted of several small villages. Poli is the plural of polis, a word often translated as city, but there was one very important difference between an ancient Greek polis and a modern city.

The ancient Greeks saw themselves as citizens of their poli no matter where they lived. Today we think of the people who live in a place as citizens, but to the ancient Greeks the people were as much a part of the poli as the land or the buildings. The word we use today for making decisions as a group is politics. Politics is derived from an ancient Greek word term that refers to the Greek polis.

The Greek poli developed independently of one another because they were isolated by rugged mountains or were located on small islands, but the people of the poli spoke similar languages and worshipped many of the same gods. The poli were also small and often had to depend on one another to survive. The city-states often developed alliances, called leagues, for protection against other cities and foreign invaders. Each polis contributed soldiers and ships to form a common army and navy.

The Greek poli met every four years at a great athletic contest to honor the god Zeus. A period of four years in ancient Greece was known as an Olympiad, so the contests were known as the Olympics. During the Olympic games, poli that were at war would suspend hostilities until the contests ended. We don’t know when the ancient Greeks began told hold Olympic games, because the contests are older than any Greek writing. Today the spirit of the ancient Greeks live on as most of the nations of the world participate in Olympic games every four years.

Answer in complete sentences

*1. Imagine the area you live were a Greek poli. Where would the walled area of your poli be?

2. What other area poli might your polis join in a league?

3. What did the Greek poli have in common?

4. Why were the Olympics an important element in the development of the Greek poli?