Geography of Greece

1. Geography of Greece

2. Aegean Sea Black Sea Adriatic Sea Balkan Peninsula Peloponnesian Peninsula Asia Minor Greece’s geography is defined by countless bodies of water, peninsulas and mountains.

3. Please label the following items on your map of Ancient Greece: - Aegean Sea - Mediterranean Sea - Black Sea - Sea of Marmara - Asia Minor - Crete - Balkan Peninsula - Peloponnesian Peninsula - Mt. Olympus - Athens - Sparta

4. The isolation created by theses physical features led to the a region composed of many city-states rather than one large unified empire. The rocky uneven ground throughout Greece made agriculture difficult. City-states around the Aegean Sea were constantly battling each other for the control of the scarce resources.

5. History of Ancient Greece Please draw the following timeline in your notebook. 480 B.C. 490 B.C. 478 B.C. 461 B.C. 492 B.C. 621 B.C. 479 B.C. 438 B.C. 404 B.C. 399 B.C. 336 B.C. 323 B.C. 743 B.C. 431 B.C. 338 B.C. 330 B.C. 500B.C.

6. 743 B.C. First Messenian War begins. Sparta conquers neighboring Messenia and makes its citizens serfs or “helots”. And this is Messenia. 743 B.C.

7. 621 B.C. Draco becomes the first Athenian legislator by recording a strict set of laws in which many actions were punishable by death. Not thisDraco! Thanks to his law code, Draco now has his own adjective! 621 B.C.

8. 500 B.C. Ionian City States Revolt against the Persian Empire. Athens and Eretria send forces to aid in the revolt. Ionia 500B.C.

9. 492 B.C. The first Persian Invasion of Greece led by Darius the Great. He intended to punish the city states of Athens and Eretria for coming to the aid of the Ionian Greeks. In 490, Darius besieged Eretria for 6 days before its citizens were betrayed by a group of Eretrian nobles. The city was looted and burned, and its citizens enslaved. 492 B.C.

10. 490 B.C. The Greeks defeat the Persian forces at the battle of Marathon. The battle of Marathon was a turning point in the Greco- Persian wars because it proved that the Persians could be defeated by a Greek force. Many historians feel that if the outcome of this battle had been different, all subsequent European history would be vastly different. 490 B.C.

12. 480 B.C. The second Persian invasion of Greece. This invasion was led by Xerxes who intended to fulfill his father’s dream of subduing Greece. 480 B.C.

13. 480 B.C. Battle of Thermopylae. The Persians are held off for 7 days before finding an alternate route, which allowed them to attack from both sides and win the battle. (This battle is the inspiration for the movie 300) 480 B.C.

14. 480 B.C. The Persians are defeated at the Battle of Salamis. This victory for the Greeks destroyed the Persian navy and dealt a serious blow to the Persians hopes of conquering Greece. 480 B.C.

15. 479 B.C. The Greeks defeat the Persians in the Battle of Plataea which proved to be the decisive victory in the first stage of the Greco- Persian wars. After this battle, the Persians retreated and the Greeks went on the offensive. The serpent column pictured above was made to commemorate the victory at Plataea. It was forged using melted Persian weapons and stood at Delphi until it was transported to Constantinople (Istanbul) by Emperor Constantine in 324 A.D. 479 B.C.

16. 478 B.C. Athens forms the Delian League and Sparta forms the Peloponnesian League. 478 B.C.

17. 461 B.C. Pericles becomes the leader of Athens and ushers in the Athenian Golden Age. He would die of the plague in 428 B.C. “Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you.” - Pericles 461 B.C.

18. 438 B.C. The Parthenon in Athens is completed and dedicated to Athena, the goddess of wisdom and warfare. This temple has stood the test of time to become the most important surviving structure from Classical Greece. 438 B.C.

19. 431 B.C. The Peloponnesian Wars begin when Sparta prepares to destroy Athens. 431 B.C.

20. 404 B.C. Athens surrenders to Sparta bringing an end to the Peloponnesian wars. The Spartans defeated the Athenians by cutting off their food supply and putting Athens under siege. Rather than starve, Athens surrendered. 404 B.C.

21. 399 B.C. Socrates is condemned to death. He was convicted for “corrupting the youth” and “impiety”. Impiety is the lack of respect for God or religious traditions “The Death of Socrates” is a 1787 oil on canvas painting by the French painter Jacques-Louis David. 399 B.C.

22. 338 B.C. All of Greece (excluding Sparta) is unified as the League of Corinth under Phillip II of Macedonia. 338 B.C.

23. 336 B.C. Phillip II is murdered by one of his bodyguards at his daughter’s wedding. His son Alexander who was 20 years old, succeeds him. Alexander is determined to fulfill his father’s dream of conquering the Persian Empire. He even dreams of conquering the entire world! “Pausanias' assassination of Phillip II” By Andre Castaigne- 1899 336 B.C.

24. 330 B.C. After conquering much of the Persian Empire and establishing many cities, Alexander the Great defeats the last Achaemenid Emperor, Darius III, and burns the capital city of Persepolis. A portion of the Alexander Mosaic found in Pompeii. 330 B.C.

25. Alexander traveled and fought for 11 years.

26. A depiction of Alexander's funeral procession based on the description of Diodorus. 323 B.C. Alexander the Great dies at the age of 32. The cause of his death is still debated, but it was due to an illness of some sort. When he died, Alexander had no heir to the throne. 323 B.C.

27. Because Alexander had not declared an heir, his generals divided his empire into the kingdoms shown on the map above. This began the era known as the “Hellenistic Period”.

28. Ptolemy I Soter I became ruler of Egypt and established the Ptolemaic Kingdom. SeleucusI claimed most of the land that had formerly belonged to the Persian Empire. Antigonus controlled the Macedonian homeland.

29. Alexander’s Empire continued to be divided. The map above shows the Diadochi(land of the successors) 20 years after the death of Alexander in 303 B.C.

30. “The Battle of Actium” by Lorenzo A. Castro, 1672 The Hellenistic Period would continue for 300 years until the defeat of the Ptolemic Empire by the Romans in 31 B.C. This defeat would lead to the establishment of the Roman Empire which would become the new Mediterranean Power.