Ancient Greece Key Terms and Concepts Chapter 27: Life in Two City-states: Athens and Sparta

1. Ancient Greece Key Terms and ConceptsChapter 27: Life in Two City-states: Athens and Sparta

2. The peninsula forming the southern part of the mainland Greece. The home of Sparta. Sparta was somewhat isolated located on a plain between mountains while Athens was just 4 miles from the Aegean Sea which allowed them to travel more freely. These 2 city states were almost opposites and were chief rivals. Peloponnesus

3. Athens was a small village, home to a tribe of Ionian people. After the Greek dark ages, Athens grew rapidly until Athens was one of the two most powerful city-states in the ancient Greek world. Athenians thought of themselves as the shining star of the Greek city-states. They were famed for their literature, poetry, drama, theatre, schools, buildings, and government.  Athens

4. Were not considered citizens, which meant they could not vote or attend the assembly. They could not inherit or own their own property and in some cases could not even choose their own husbands. Few had jobs as Athenian women had their biggest influence at home managing the household and raising the children. Athenian Women

5. A system of managing the wealth of a community or region. Athenian economy was based on trade. The land around them did not provide enough food for all their people so they traded with other city states and foreign lands for their food and natural resources. They would trade honey, olive oil, silver, and pottery for wood from Italy and grain from Egypt. Economy

6. A market and meeting place in ancient Greece. The center of Athenian trade. Merchants sold their goods from small stands. Like most city states, Athens developed its own coins to make trade easier. Agora

7. Another powerful Greek city state. Life was very different in ancient Sparta than it was in the rest of ancient Greek city-states. The Spartans were proud, fierce, capable warriors. No great works of art came out of Sparta. But the Spartans, both men and women, were tough, and the Greeks admired strength. The goal of Spartan education was to produce soldiers. Sparta

8. Part of the Spartan oligarchy made up of 2 kings and 28 other men. The kings inherited their position while the Elders were picked by the assembly. The Council of Elders held the real power in Sparta. It prepared laws to be voted on by the assembly and had the power to stop any laws passed by the assembly they did not like. The assembly had little power. Council of Elders

9. The people conquered were turned into slaves called helots. They played a major role in Spartan economy. The Spartans did not have enough farm land to feed their people so they took food from their neighbors. The helots, who were allowed to live in their own villages had to give much of the food they grew to the Spartans. The Spartans always worried the helots would revolt so they treated them harshly. Helots