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Ancient Greece A small land that gave the world so much, Ancient Greece continues to influence and inspire over 2,000 years on
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n unremarkable land of mountains, rugged countryside, idyllic islands and clear blue seas, Ancient Greece would go on to have a huge impact on the world as we know it today. For this small nation would give rise to the principles of democracy, concepts of philosophy, key advances in art and architecture, vital scientific and mathematical discoveries, the birth of the Olympic Games and so much more – many of which still remain relevant to this day. It was also home to some of history’s greatest minds and most fearsome warriors, not to mention a pantheon of gods and a catalogue of myths and legends like no other. Over 2,000 years later this small ancient land and its remarkable history continue to fascinate, intrigue and inspire us.
“An unremarkable land that would go on to have a huge impact on the world as we know it today”
Life & Society
An Ancient Greek red-figure vase depicts the underworld, with Hades and Persephone holding court in the centre
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The beginnings of Ancient Greece From the dark beginnings of human civilisation, Greece has been a fascinating country on the forefront of human development in the West
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ncient Greece, with its myriad of different cultures and peoples, has long been seen as the cradle of Western civilisation. Having reached the heights of almost all aspects of human learning, Greece was at the heart of the ancient world, and formed the basis for much of Western society’s science, politics, philosophy and drama, as well as the Olympic Games, the Latin alphabet and historiography. It is worth noting that the Ancient Greeks, as well as modern-day Greeks, do not refer to their country as such, rather calling it Hellas. The name comes from the mythical progenitor of the Greek race, a man named Hellen. It is not known when Hellen is supposed to have been born, or even if he existed, and he shouldn’t be confused with Helen of Troy. The mixing of myth and legend, especially in the early years, was not uncommon in the Greek world. Today we have a great many explanations for all manner of natural phenomena, and our understanding of science and medicine is far more advanced than those who inhabited the ancient world. For them, the divine was a way to explain the unknown, and so early Greek history is directly linked to their religious and mythical beliefs. The geography of Greece can certainly be seen as an inspiration for these beliefs, with tall, majestic
mountains making up 80 per cent of the landmass, but it is also home to rugged coastlines and rolling fertile plains. While offering beautiful, unrivalled views, this mountainous country made overland travel rather difficult, so the Ancient Greeks would more often than not turn to the sea for fast transportation and trade. While connected by the sea, local communities would often find themselves isolated by the local topography, which then led to the formation of independent city-states and communities throughout the land. These settlements would be built up around a central citadel, which would offer a better vantage point to spot incoming raiders or invaders thanks to their location on high ground. These would eventually become known as acropolises, with the most famous example being that of Athens. Archaeological finds point to human settlement in Greece dating back to the Neolithic era. The early settlers and ancestors of the Greek people migrated through Russia and down into the northern part of the country in around 4000 BCE. From this journey, the population spread across the land to found part of the Aegean civilisation, who were fishermen and traders based out of the islands of the Aegean Sea. They flourished from 3200 to 1100 BCE, and provide evidence for continued human
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Life & Society
Athens is one of the oldest cities in the world, with more than 3,400 years of continuous habitation An 18th-century depiction of ancient Athens with the Acropolis and agora visible
habitation of the area. Around the same time, 2700 to 1500 BCE, the Minoan civilisation came to be active on the island of Crete. Experts believe that the island was flooded after a natural disaster, and this has often pointed to the beginnings of the Atlantis myth. Later, the Mycenaean civilisation, which borrowed much from the Minoans, began to take shape. The Mycenaeans were the first people to begin speaking Greek, and their civilisation ruled from 1650 to 1200 BCE. The later Greeks would hold them in high regard, awed by the massive stone citadels they constructed. So vast were the stones that they were named ‘Cyclopean walls’, after the one-eyed mythical monster, as it was thought only giants could have moved such weight. The mixing of the Minoan and Mycenaean gods and goddesses would provide the Ancient Greeks with a foundation on which they constructed their own pantheon, and the creation myth of the Olympian gods’ war and victory over the Titans began in this period. After the fall of the Mycenaeans came a period known as the Greek Dark Ages, an era that gained
its name because from around 1100 to 800 BCE we have very little to tell us what happened. It was during this time that the fabled Trojan War was chronicled by Homer. While the city has been discovered, the exact details of the actual war remain fuzzy, and are so interwoven with mythology that the two have become almost impossible to untangle. 800 BCE onwards is when we begin to find the more familiar names that we associate with Ancient Greece, with the first being the oracle at Delphi. Serving as a prominent feature in Greek society for more than 1,000 years, the oracle would give divine guidance to the rulers of the various city-states on matters of war and politics. Only a few years later, in 776 BCE, the first Olympic Games was held. Although a far cry from the modern version, and despite only having one event, the event started a competitive tradition that would last until the 4th century when it was outlawed by the Romans. This is known as the Archaic period of Greek history, and it bore witness to a massive expansion in the population of the country and the
Welcome to Troy Fought between the Achaeans and the Trojans, the Trojan War is one of the most influential and wellknown pieces of Greek mythology that exists. It is featured in many works of literature, most famously in Homer’s Iliad, a tale of war, love and betrayal. The Ancient Greeks believed the war had historical merit, but they also understood that Homer’s account was filled with exaggeration and myth to improve the narrative. Modern historians and archaeologists have tried to find links in sources of other cultures, like the Egyptians or Hittites, and the consensus seems to be that the conflict took place, but the details – like the cause and outcome – are unfortunately lost to time. It’s thought that Troy was inhabited from about 3000 BCE, but it was constantly being rebuilt, resulting in about ten layers lying one on top of the other.
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A group of artefacts, known as Priam’s Treasure, was found at the supposed site of Homeric Troy
Ancient Greece contained a strong warrior culture and drive to exceed above all others
The beginnings of Ancient Greece
The Greek cityscape While all of the Greek city-states were unique, common urban architecture would help bind them together. The cityscape of a Greek city would have been fairly similar throughout the country. In the centre of the town on a raised mound would stand the acropolis, or citadel. Religious temples would also dominate urban skylines, showing the might and importance of the places where pleas to the gods would be made, usually with sacrifices to ensure those pleas were heard. At the foot of the acropolis would be the agora, the beating heart of the city. Political buildings would be found here, and so it served as a meeting place for the city’s great and good. As the agora would be full of life, each Greek city would contain a dedicated cemetery so that the dead could always be laid to rest peacefully. For entertainment, citizens would usually have to travel to the surrounding hills, as the superior acoustics often made them prime spots for open-air theatres. The remains of the Roman Agora in Athens
A mosaic of Plato’s academy, which was discovered in Pompeii, Italy
Next came the Classical period, a golden age beginnings of some of its most famous events. of sorts, where grand ideas like Greek democracy This was also an age of colonisation for the Greeks, really came to the forefront, and famous buildings with settlements cropping up in all the islands of such as the Acropolis and the Parthenon in the Aegean Sea and the coastline of Asia Minor, in Athens were built. It was roughly situated between modern-day Turkey. the Persian invasions and the rise and fall of Colonies further afield were also founded, Alexander the Great, and the period driven by the need for food, which plays host to many great names like could not come from Greece the philosophers Socrates, Plato due to its lack of arable land. and Aristotle. These included the southern Poor However, this was also tip of Italy and Sicily, the farmland a time of warfare, with coastline around the would see Greece the titanic Greco-Persian Black Sea, and a few Wars seeing the Greek locations on the Iberian mostly cultivate archipeligo invaded by one and African coasts. what is known as the of the largest armies to This was also the time Mediterranean triad: have ever been recorded, when Greek cities would and the Peloponnesian War, make the shift from olive, wheat which saw the great Athenian monarchies into republics, and barley and Spartan empires vie for or poleis, and they would supremacy over all of Greece. control the surrounding land. It wasn’t until the 4th century The two great city-states, Athens BCE that King Philip of Macedonia began and Sparta, began their rise to power to bind them into one cohesive unit. What Philip during this period. Sparta is famous for its intense militaristic society, boasting to have created started would be completed by his son, Alexander – known as Alexander the Great – who crushed the toughest soldiers the world has ever seen. all resistance in his path. In Alexander’s short Meanwhile Athens is seen as the birthplace of life he would carve out a vast empire that would democracy and influential philosophers.
encompass all of Greece, modern-day Iraq and Iran, the Levant, Egypt, and reach even as far as India. Although the empire collapsed shortly after his death, it did herald the Hellenistic period, in which Greek culture was spread far and wide throughout the known world at the time. The fall of Alexander’s empire, and its subsequent carving up by his generals, laid the foundation for the rise of Rome. Around 100 years after Alexander’s death, in the 2nd century BCE, the Greek city-states would fall to the military might of the Roman Republic. While Rome was a foreign invader, much of Roman culture, such as their pantheon of gods, was borrowed from the Greeks, and the Greeks still largely influenced the Romans during this time. But while this was the fall of mainland Greece, a small pocket of Hellenistic culture, the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt, wasn’t overthrown until 30 CE after the naval battle at Actium. So named after the Macedonian general Ptolemy, the dynasty would fall with Cleopatra VII, who would take her own life with her Roman lover, Mark Antony. However, despite the apparent end of the Greek peoples as they were assimilated into Rome, Hellenistic culture still spread throughout the Mediterranean and paved the way for the evolution of Western civilisation that we all now know today.
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Life & Society
8000-479 BCE Early Greek civilisation 8000-1300 BCE
Early archaeological evidence points to human habitation stretching back to the Neolithic period. Through this and the Bronze Age, the Aegean civilisation comes into being. This is a blanket term for the different groups living on mainland Greece, the Aegean Islands and Crete. With few historical records for them, we rely on archaeological and geographical findings to gain an understanding. However, we do know that trade and commerce played a large role in their survival. With farmland being at a premium in Greece, the ability to trade allows these civilisations to sustain themselves.
●● Destruction of the Minoans Although theories are disputed, the eruption of Thera, one of the largest volcanic events in recorded history, brings an end to the Minoan civilisation, with a massive tsunami – caused by the eruption – decimating the island of Crete. c.1600 BCE
8000-1300 BCE
1600 BCE
First Olympic Games
An 18th-century map of the Aegean Sea and surrounding islands
776 BCE
Originating as a festival to honour Zeus, the chief of the gods, the Olympic Games grow into a national pasttime that champions the competitive spirit of the Greek people. The first games only have one event, which is a sprint near the sacrificial altar, but soon grow to include many different sports, such as wrestling and chariot racing. Competitors and spectators flock to the sanctuary at Mount Olympus every four years to watch this spectacle, and it endures almost 1,000 years until it is outlawed by the Roman emperor Theodosius, who banned all pagan worship as the empire converted to Christianity.
Philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras instructed his followers not to eat beans, possibly because they contained the souls of the dead
1300 BCE
1400 BCE
●● The Trojan War Recorded in Homer’s Iliad, the Trojan War is a mix of myth and reality. The Greeks gain victory through deception, infiltrating the city of Troy and brutally sacking it. 1250 BCE
1250 BCE
The Sea Peoples appear Thought to have been made up of a confederacy of tribes from craggy coastlines around the Aegean Sea, the Sea Peoples are savage coastal raiders who cut a bloody swath through the Mediterranean. 1300 BCE
1100 BCE
●● The Greeks visit Italy Always on the lookout for new territory and arable farmland, Greek settlers hop over the Mediterranean and found colonies on the southern tip of Italy and in Sicily. 750 BCE
776 BCE
●● End of Mycenaean civilisation Experiencing two massive civil upheavals, the specifics of which are still being debated, the Mycenaean civilisation falls. Theories include a massive seaborne invasion or internal strife that devours the Mycenaeans from the inside. c.1100 BCE
The Mycenaean civilisation flourishes
Two female Mycenaean charioteers, possibly warriors, from a fresco discovered in Pylos
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750 BCE
730 BCE
727 BCE
Greek tragedy Hippomenes, an Athenian magistrate, displays great cruelty when he punishes his daughter’s infidelity by yoking the man to his chariot until he drops dead of exhaustion. He then locks his daughter up with a horse until she too dies. 727 BCE
The Messenian Wars c.730 BCE
1400 BCE
The Mycenaean civilisation is a precursor to Greek civilisation. From their citadels, the elite of the Mycenaean society flourishes. They also have contact with the Minoans of Crete, and the Mycenaeans are influenced by the island culture, especially in the creation of art. The Greeks are in awe of the Mycenaeans, and coupled with advanced drainage and irrigation systems, the civilisation conducts trade throughout the Mediterranean world.
Pankration, a brutal form of wrestling with very little rules, was a popular sport in the ancient Olympics
Two forces of hoplites, clash with brightly painted and garish shields
Tensions between Sparta and Messenia come to a head in the first in a series of conflicts between the two city-states. A trade deal turns bloody and then escalates into a full-scale war, but the Spartans achieve victory within a year, gaining substantial wealth as a result. Meanwhile Messenia is forcibly depopulated, with its inhabitants either willingly migrating or being enslaved by the Spartans. These slaves later try to rebel against their masters, but are swiftly dealt with.
The beginnings of Ancient Greece
Democracy in Athens
Battle of Plataea
It is the Athenian statesman Solon who champions the beginnings of democracy in Athens, and by extension the Western world. Such is his influence that he achieves an almost-mythical status in later years, and is regarded as a founding father of the city-state. During his lifetime, Athens undergoes an economic crisis where much of the arable farmland is held by a small group of aristocrats. Solon sets about restructuring the social system so that it assigns people to wealth brackets based on income. He also oversees the creation of new law codes, making the system much fairer for the majority of the population. As a result, Solon successfully lays the foundations of a political system that has since been adopted all over the world.
While the Greeks had fought bravely the year before, they had been soundly defeated, and Xerxes looks poised to sweep over resistance in the summer of 479 BCE. On the northern plateau of Plataea, the two armies draw up, neither wanting to cross a river in the middle of the battlefield and break up their formations. The Persians mistake a Greek retreat for a route and charge across the river, and they are soundly defeated by the savage Spartan hoplites. Many of the Persian soldiers are slaughtered when Athenians attack their camp, and Persia’s ambitions of Greece are lost.
594 BCE
479 BCE
A stone bust of Solon from the National Archaeological Museum in Naples
●● Athens goes potty for pottery Red-figure pottery becomes the new artistic trend in Athens. It is recognisable by its red figures painted on a black background, and replaces the older black-figure pottery that originated in Corinth. 525 BCE
594 BCE
580 BCE
The plain of Plataea in the shadow of Mount Cithaeron, where the Persian army was put to rout
525 BCE
●● Battle of Marathon The culmination of King Darius’ first invasion of Greece, this battle sees a smaller Greek army smashing the might of the Persian force. So damaging to Persian invasion plans, they are forced out of Greece for ten years. 490 BCE
497-479 BCE
499 BCE
490 BCE
480 BCE
479 BCE Xerxes, ruler of the Persian Empire, crosses the Hellespont with his army, ready to invade Greece
●● The Persian Wars To punish Athens and Eretria’s role in the Ionian revolt, Persian king Darius launches an invasion of Greece. This also serves to remove any more destabilising Greek influences that might threaten the Persians. 497-479 BCE
●● Vying for power The Greek colonies in Sicily come into conflict with the Carthaginian Empire. Carthage would become famous as the city-state that took on the might of Rome but, like Greece, is ultimately unsuccessful. 580 BCE
●● Battle of Thermopylae One of the most famous battles in history, Thermopylae sees 300 Spartans and 7,000 other Greeks hold a pass against overwhelming odds. The battle occurs at the same time as the naval engagement at Artemisium. 480 BCE
Ionian revolt 499 BCE
A coin minted in Darius I’s image
The precursor to the Greco-Persian wars, the Ionian revolts see the Greek colonies of Asia Minor rise up against their Persian overlords. Unpopular local tyrants and bundled military operations set the scene, with mainland Greece sending supplies and men to aid their countrymen. The Ionians are the first to go on the offensive by burning Sardis, an important city in the Persian Empire. Then the Persian military machine proves to be too strong; after five years of defensive fighting, the Ionians are beaten into submission and come under the rule of the Persian kings.
The Persians strike back 480 BCE
After the defeat at Marathon, the Persians regroup under King Xerxes, who launches another invasion of Greece. In an attempt to head off the invaders, the Greeks muster a fleet of more than 200 ships in the straits of Artemisium. The massive Persian fleet, over 1,200 strong, loses roughly one-third of its strength to stormy weather and the Greek coastline, but uses its numbers to force the Greeks back. It allows the Greeks to gain valuable insights into Persian tactics and thus shatter the aura of invincibility of the Persian war machine.
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Life & Society
479 BCE – 1896 Victory or defeat 479 BCE
After the Greek victories against the Persians, it is clear that mainland Greece is safe from future invasion. Off the back of this, Athens forms the Delian League, an alliance of hundreds of city-states that will collaborate and continue to fight the Persian Empire. While a noble cause from a Greek perspective, the Athenians soon begin to use the navy that the league had formed for its own uses. The league essentially becomes the Athenian Empire, as Athens now has the naval might to bully any wayward city-states into line. This soon brings it into conflict with its rival, Sparta. A stone fragment of an Athenian decree detailing the collection of tribute from league members
●● Helot Revolt A devastating earthquake near Sparta is utilised by the Helots, the Spartan slave class, to rebel against their cruel masters. However, the superior Spartan warriors soon make short work of the rebel slaves. 465 BCE
479 BCE
465 BCE
●● Birth of Plato Along with his teacher, Socrates, and his pupil, Aristotle, Plato lays out the foundation of Western philosophy and science. The polymath also goes on to found the Platonic Academy in Athens, the first centre of higher learning in the West. c.427 BCE
431 BCE
430-429 BCE
The trireme would have been the main warship of the Greek and Persian navy
The King’s Peace 387 BCE
As the Peloponnesian War saw resentment against Athens as one of its main causes, so the Corinthian War was fuelled by anger against Sparta. The conflict saw Sparta gain an early upper hand on land but decisively get beaten at sea by a Persian fleet. Subsequent territorial gains by Athens caused the Persians to ally with Sparta, which brought the remaining Greek allies to the negotiating table. The Peace of Antalcidas, or the King’s Peace, sees Persia take control of all cities in Asia Minor and places like Cyprus in the Aegean. This ensures that the Persian sphere of influence can once again interfere in Greek affairs, and the peace accord – almost ironically – does not bring peace to mainland Greece, where intermittent conflicts rage for years after.
●● Death of Thucydides The author of the only full account of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides stands side by side with Herodotus for his influence on historical narrative. He is later dubbed the father of scientific history. c.401 BCE
427 BCE
●● Death stalks the streets An epidemic ravages the city of Athens and leaves it devastated. Accounts of lawlessness, excess and a general breakdown of morals are recorded, as the population does not believe it will survive long. 430-429 BCE
401 BCE
387 BCE
338 BCE
●● Rise of Macedonia Philip of Macedon defeats the allied cities of Greece in the Battle of Chaeronea. The immediate aftermath is Macedon gaining hegemony over almost all of southern Greece. 338 BCE
Conqueror of the known world 336-323 BCE
431 BCE
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400 BCE
●● Plague returns to Athens Just three years after the first wave of epidemics, a second wave hits Athens again. There is a range of theories as to what could have caused the outbreak, from typhus to typhoid, but the truth may never be known. 427 BCE
Start of Peloponnesian War The growing power of Athens is of great concern to Sparta, but the final straw is Athens’ plan to rebuild its extensive harbour fortifications that Sparta fear will push undecided city-states over to the Athenian side. The spark that ignites the conflict is over the city of Poteidaia, which falls under Sparta and its Peloponnesian League’s sphere of influence. Promising protection from Athenian aggression, the situation escalates to open war. After a long conflict, the Spartans smash the Athenian navy at Aegospotami with financial help from their old enemy, Persia.
●● Finding the atom The philosopher Democritus, known as the father of modern science, lays out his ideas of atomic theory. Although hugely influential, none of his writings and work survive with us to the modern day. 400 BCE
One of the most complete depictions of Alexander the Great from the Alexander Mosaic. However, he is described in historical sources as having blond hair rather than black
Having inherited a well-trained and professional army from his father, a young Alexander turns his insatiable hunger for conquest to the entire known world. Alexander has been fed stories of his divine status, and may believe himself to be a demigod. His charisma and energy gain him many loyal followers, and in a string of victories he conquers Greece, Egypt and the Persian Empire. His army, having marched thousands of kilometres from home, revolts when it reaches India, and he is forced to turn back. After a heavy drinking session that leaves Alexander weak and fever ridden, one of the greatest generals in history passes away aged only 32.
Beards were a badge or sign of virility in Ancient Greece, and men would even have their beards frequently curled with tongs
Rome versus Macedonia 214 BCE
Cleopatra was said to have died from an asp bite, but judging how painful that would have been, other poison seems more likely
Death of a dynasty 30 BCE
The kingdom of Macedonia, still powerful before the conflict, would be stripped of its power by the Romans
●● War of the Diadochi Without Alexander’s leadership to hold his empire together, the Diadochi – Alexander’s generals – fight each other to inherit the kingdom. The first war splits the empire and signals years of conflict and bloodshed between former allies. 322-320 BCE
336-323 BCE
When Alexander the Great dies, one of his generals, Ptolemy, installs himself as ruler of Egypt. From him springs the Ptolemaic dynasty that rules the Nile for close to 300 years. While mainland Greece is firmly under the thumb of Rome, Egypt – with its Greek ruling class – still has a measure of independence. This comes to an end with its last queen, Cleopatra, and her doomed love affairs with both Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, two of the most powerful men in the Roman Republic. After instigating civil war against Octavian, the soon-to-be first Roman emperor, Antony and Cleopatra commit suicide, ending the Greek line of pharaohs.
●● Gallic invasion During the aftermath of the Wars of the Diadochi, the fragile peace is shattered as Gallic tribesmen invade through northern Greece. The Gauls loot the area surrounding Macedon, and gain substantial booty. 280 BCE
322-320 BCE
281 BCE
280 BCE
●● Defeat at Corinth An allied Greek army is crushed under the heel of the Roman legions. With Corinth destroyed, the Roman Republic now has complete control over all of the Greek city-states. 146 BCE
214 BCE
146 BCE
381 CE
1896
●● The Oracle is silenced Having survived numerous sackings, the Oracle at Delphi is closed when the Roman emperor Theodosius I bans all pagan rituals, and instigates Christianity as the state religion of the empire. 381 CE
●● Foundation of the Achaean League Also known as the Achaean Confederacy, this group of city-states from the northern and central territories of Greece consider themselves to have a common identity. They come into conflict with Sparta, Macedon, and later Rome itself. c.281 BCE
The sacking of Athens
Modern Olympic Games
During the First Mithridatic War, fought to stem the Romans’ growing influence in the Greek world, a Roman army under the command of General Sulla lays siege to Athens. Stripping the surrounding countryside of wood and valuables, he starves the city, and the sack of Athens is said to have been so great that blood was flowing in the streets. The aftermath leaves no room for ambiguity; it is Rome, not Athens, that is the cultural and political heart of the Mediterranean.
The ancient Olympics are finally revived, but the emphasis changes from the need to win at all costs to one of sportsmanship. A new event is added that was conspicuously absent from the ancient games: the marathon, named after the Battle of Marathon where a runner named Pheidippides had raced over 46 kilometres to bring news of the victory to Athens. This reincarnation also sees Athens become the new seat of the games. Olympia, no longer needed for its religious significance, has been sidelined.
1896
86 BCE
Sulla showed no mercy to Athens during the siege, or during the subsequent sack of the city
30 BCE
86 BCE
Spyridon Louis was the first winner of the marathon event. Being Greek, this made him a national hero overnight
© Alamy; Thinkstock
The first of the Macedonian Wars, fought between Macedon and Rome and its Greek allies, sees Macedon’s status as a major power be stripped away. It had sided with the Carthaginians during the Second Punic War, so it is a perceived danger to Rome – the threat of it sending reinforcements to General Hannibal Barca sees Rome dispatch troops to bring it to heel. Over a prolonged conflict, the Macedonian phalanx proves no match for the Roman legion, and by the 2nd century BCE, the once great nation has been divided into the new Roman provinces of Achaea and Epirus.
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Everyday life in Ancient Greece From the wealthiest citizens to the poorest slaves, discover what day-to-day life was like in the city-states
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the workplace. Social historians have pieced it all istory often concentrates on the together to plot the lives of the Ancient Greeks feats of great men, and that of from cradle to grave. Ancient Greece is no different; Classical Athens left more sources of information generations of historians have than any other city-state – its population was written countless books about more literate than any other in the Alexander the Great, Homer and world, and there is an abundance of Socrates. But what about the archaeological remains; so much average Greek who lived of what we know about Ancient and died in the city-states Although Greece is based on these. But without ever leading an three per we also know plenty about army, penning an epic the city-state of Sparta – poem or founding a new cent of Athens’ although its population philosophy? What did population died in was famously illiterate, they do, where did they warfare every year, generations of historians live, and what were they have found the warlike taught during this time? citizens still regarded city-state to be a fascinating Fragmentary military service as study. Elsewhere in Ancient documents, records and a privilege Greece, sources are lacking; archaeological evidence for example, our knowledge of are providing the answers. everyday life in Macedonia before The musings of philosophers Alexander the Great is shrouded in the often shed light on everyday mists of millennia. activities, while epic poems describe the Join us on a journey to the past to find out more lives of the characters they feature. Archaeologists about Lycos the slave-ceramicist, Cephalus the have unearthed the foundations of houses and shield maker and Pasion the money lender. This is analysed them to work out what happened inside. less of a story about great kings and great minds, The objects they have found also provide clues: and more about work, rest and play for the average decorated vases show household scenes, and Greek member of society. discarded rubbish tells us about tools used in
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Everyday life in Ancient Greece
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Life & Society
How was society structured?
A gravestone showing a slave attending to her deceased mistress
Although among the most famous of Greeks, Aristotle was classed as a metic in Athens having been born in the north
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The hoplites stood shoulder to shoulder, ready to receive the enemy’s charge. In their right hand they carried a spear to kill the enemy, in their left was a shield that locked with its neighbours to create a long wall. Individually, the spearmen were vulnerable. Together, they presented a united and strong front – the much-feared phalanx. The social structure that defined the city-states can be traced back to the battlefield. In order to function effectively, the phalanx required a large number of soldiers who were committed to maintaining the formation. If each soldier felt they were a part of the city-state for which they fought, they would be more likely to stand strong on the battlefield. Thus the idea of Greek citizenship was born: if every man was bound to fight in the phalanx on the battlefield, they should also be bound to political participation in the city-state. The most demanding duty for a citizen was service in the phalanx when called upon – and considering that most city-states went to war in three out of every four years, they would be called upon often – but they also had civic responsibilities. They had to serve on 501-men juries (so large to prevent any bribery of the jurors) and most would be called to serve on the Council of 500, which was essentially the government. They would receive a moderate payment for their duties, but not much more than a token gesture. Wealthy citizens were A citizen could be ostracised expected to pay tax at times of emergency, such from Athens for ten years if others voted for it as during the Peloponnesian War, and were also subject to liturgies to pay for specified things – following the Persian Wars of the early 5th century perhaps a trireme, a festival or a new gymnasium. BCE as Ionians fled to a place of safety. They were These sponsorships were not seen as a burden and forced to pay a poll tax of one drachma per month different citizens competed to provide the best or else face enslavement. Numbers continued to facilities for the state. grow throughout the next few decades, reaching Citizenship was the ideal in Ancient 20,000 by 431 BCE, which was perhaps Greece, although it was limited to ten per cent of the total Athenian adult males who had completed population. It was a considerable their military training. But minority, but they played an there were also others who important role in city life. lived in the city-states, A cache of At the bottom of the with their status varying 190 ostraka social hierarchy were the depending upon their dumped in a well, all slaves, making up oneposition. Foreign-born inscribed with similar quarter of the population residents of Athens, for of Athens. An inescapable instance, were known handwriting, may be facet of Greek society, the as metics. Although they evidence of Athenian work done by slaves enabled were liable for military electoral fraud citizens to have the time to service, they did not have take part in the democratic citizenship and were unable system. Slave-owning was usually to vote, hold office or own small scale as little profit was to be land. They did, however, have the made in the buying and selling of them. right to judicial representation. An unskilled slave typically cost around 200 Despite the disadvantages of being a drachmae, or 200 times the amount of a worker’s metic, Athens received a flood of immigrants
Everyday life in Ancient Greece
The peril of ostracism Fed up with another citizen? Send them into exile!
“The spring festival in honour of Dionysus was particularly raucous” daily wage. Skilled slaves might cost three times the amount, while one particular slave-prostitute exchanged hands for 3,000 drachmae. Many female slaves were used for domestic service, preparing food and helping around the house. However, this often left them at risk of abuse at the hands of their masters. Male slaves were often set up in their own workshops where they would work at a trade, sometimes lucky enough to earn enough money on the side to buy their freedom – a free slave was given the same rights as a metic. The status of women was often little better than that of the slave, especially in Athens. Women were excluded from political participation, could not own property in their own right and were usually dependent on their husband, father or
male relatives. Most of their lives were spent stuck inside, weaving and playing music. Since shopping was usually done by slaves, the best opportunity women had to leave the house was to collect water – though rich women had slaves for this, too. Only in terms of religion were Athenian women provided with opportunities for independence. The patron goddess of the city, Athena, was served by female priestesses, while other gods also had priestesses at the centre of their worship. Only women celebrated the festival of Thesmophoria, honouring Demeter and the successful harvest. The spring festival in honour of Dionysus, the god of wine, was particularly raucous. Women would leave the city and drink copious quantities of wine, and men were advised to give the celebrants a wide berth.
Although being a citizen carried certain benefits, it also brought with it disadvantages, chief among which was the threat of ostracism. Once a year, Athenians citizens were asked if they wanted to ostracise one of their number. If the answer was yes, a vote was held during which each citizen placed the name of another on a piece of pottery named an ostraka, from which the process of ostracism got its name. The nominations were tallied and the person with the most votes – as long as a minimum number or quorum was reached – was exiled from Athens. The ostracised citizen had ten days to leave the city and would be executed if they returned, although their property and possessions were protected and they were free to return after ten years had passed. Ostracism was designed to neutralise a threat to the city-state and prevent individual citizens from becoming so powerful that they became a tyrant. However, the system was open to abuse. Some ostracised citizens were victims of personal grudges. On one occasion, statesman and general Aristides the Just offered to help an illiterate citizen inscribe his ostraka. Not recognising his helper, the citizen asked Aristides to write his own name: “It’s simply that I’m tired of hearing how good he is.” Aristides went on to amass the most votes and was ostracised, but was recalled to help fight the Persian invasion of 479 BCE.
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Life & Society
What was domestic life like? Early Greek houses tended to be simple two-room dwellings with an open porch and a low-pitched pediment, a style that manifested itself in later classical temple architecture. However, domestic home design soon moved on to courtyard residences that housed extended families. Husband and wife, children, grandparents, unmarried siblings and household slaves all lived under one roof, although slave quarters would have been kept very separate from the family and may sometimes have been in a different building. Girls tended to spend their lives isolated in the home. They would be betrothed early, often around the age of five, and would marry when they came of age around 16 – her groom would be around 30. The wedding festivities lasted three days, and sacrifices would be made to Artemis, the goddess of virginity, and Hera, the goddess of marriage. The bride would dispose of her childhood toys before being ritually bathed and dressed. The groom would arrive at the bride’s house having been similarly prepared and, after a banquet, would return to his own home with his new bride and the dowry her father provided. However, the wife would have little more freedom in her new home than she would have done as a child. Women spent much of their lives in the confines of the home with only domestic chores to do. This included weaving, which remained a household task rather than becoming a trade. The women of the household were largely restricted to the gynaikon, rooms on the upper floor, including at night – husbands and wives usually slept separately. Men also had their own rooms in the house, called the andron. Here, they would relax during the day – assuming that they were not working or attending civic duties – and entertain at night. There was little organised recreation in the citystates, so Greeks would invite guests to a party called a symposium (meaning ‘drinking together’). This was a ritualised institution that began with the serving of dinner. After the food was cleared away, garlands of flowers would be worn and drinks – wine only, as the Greeks did not drink beer – would be distributed. Libations would be taken to honour various gods and strict rules were in place to ensure that things did not get out of hand, although there is plenty of evidence that many symposia ended in quarrels or drunken orgies. Although women were banned, female flute players and dancers were often employed as entertainment, while slave girls would be used to serve the wine. Separate male and female living quarters were a luxury that the poorest citizens could not afford, so they made do wth one-room abodes that were partitioned using temporary moveable walls. They did not have the space to host a symposium so would leave the house to drink in the city’s bars,
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which ranged from simple street stalls to multiroom buildings that served food and wine and offered torches so patrons could make their way home along the city’s unlit streets. Although most men and women kept to separate quarters by day and night, Ancient Greece managed to maintain a high birth rate, and once a wife provided her husband with a male heir, her status would rise. However, unwanted pregnancies and children were common. To deal with the problem, Greeks used a drastic measure: infanticide. Although the physical killing of a child was classed as murder and was punishable by the state, it was perfectly acceptable for a father to reject an unwanted child either because it was deemed sickly or unfit, or merely because it was a girl. In these cases, the baby was left outside the city for nature to take its course. Most died, although some lucky babies were saved and brought up by childless women. In Sparta, exposure was even statesponsored. Spartan babies were brought before a panel of elders and it was they who decided whether a child would be allowed to live, not the father.
The lucky Greek child who was rescued or deemed fit to live spent their first years in the female rooms of the house. Rich families would employ a wet nurse, while poorer mothers would take on childcare themselves, but nearly all children would be read the stories from Aesop’s Fables. At the age of six, the next stage in their education would begin. Where there is birth, there is also death. If a family member died, responsibility for preparing the body fell to those remaining in the house and the deceased’s corpse would remain in the home for up to three days. Demonstrations of grief were public, with much tearing of clothes and hair, loud crying and refusal to eat – behaviours that were thought to comfort the dead, who would temporarily reside between this world and the next until the funeral.
Furniture and storage
A necessary piece of furniture was the kline, a couch which doubled up as a bed at night. There were no cupboards or wardrobes; instead chests were used for storage.
Women’s quarters
Men and women were largely segregated from each other. Women were typically confined to rooms on the upper floor known as the gynaikon. Here they would carry out domestic duties including weaving.
The animals commonly kept as pets by the Ancient Greeks included geese, cranes, quail, dogs and weasels
Construction
Walls were made from mud bricks, sometimes baked, sometimes coated with lime, but they were not sturdy structures. Thieves often knocked a hole in the wall to enter a dwelling.
Everyday life in Ancient Greece
Pillow talk
Jump in bed with the Ancient Greeks to discover the truth behind prostitution and pederasty Having said that, many Greek men did have relationships with boys between the ages of 12 and 15, often beginning with a ritualised kidnapping with the permission of the boy’s father. However, when the boy reached adulthood, the relationship would usually end. Although pederasty, as the practice was called, was considered entirely acceptable, sex between adult males was seen as absurd. Heterosexuality was the norm. Weddings were normally arranged
between men and women, and the family units they created were the core building blocks of the city-state. Although marriages were supposed to be monogamous, both married and unmarried men made use of prostitutes. Grand hetaerae charged hundreds of drachmae and often became the lovers of great men, while lower down the social scale, Kerameikos was the red-light district where Athens’ streetwalkers plied their trade.
Courtyard
Houses were built around a courtyard. The men’s rooms (andron) were usually on the north side of the courtyard, where they would be warmed by the winter sun.
© Sol 90
A red-figure cup showing a man offering a gift to his young male lover
According to the playwright Aristophanes, humans originally had four arms, four legs and two sets of genitals: either two male, two female or one of each. But Zeus split everyone in two, forcing them to look for their other half, and their sexual orientation was determined by the genitals of the half they searched for. While it sounds like it could show the Ancient Greeks being accepting of homosexuality, in reality, it wasn’t necessarily a concept that existsed.
Bathing and toilets Front door
Wooden doors were solid and could be locked and barred. They were also expensive – when Athenians were evacuated in the Peloponnesian War, many took their doors with them.
Only wealthy families had access to a bath tub. No houses had toilets – both men and women would relieve themselves into a chamber pot, while babies were often dangled out of the window.
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Life & Society
Papyrus was expensive so Greek boys were schooled in the three Rs using wax tablets and a stylus
How were children taught? were often low enough that all but the poorest Aristotle, one of the greatest Greek minds, declared families could send their children for at least a few that “the roots of education are bitter, but the fruit years. Lessons were usually held in the is sweet”. Most Greek city-states regarded house of the tutor with ten or 20 education as an important tool boys in attendence. Boys from to help their people become the wealthiest families were effective citizens of the future, often accompanied by a but the states actually played paidagogos, a household a minor role in teaching the No more than 30 slave who escorted them young, leaving education per cent of the Greek to school and took care in the hands of parents population was literate, of them during the day, and private teachers. but it was illegal for any although some slaves Only at the age of 18 did adult other than the slave the city-state step in and were trained to read or teacher to enter the demand that boys, now and write children’s classroom. classed as ephebe, undergo The first type of teacher, a two years of military service. grammatistes, would instruct Early education occurred boys in the three Rs. There were in an informal setting, usually no desks, with students instead at home, where a child was taught sitting on stools and writing on wax tablets by their mother or a slave. From the age with a stylus made from bone or metal. When they of six, most boys attended three different types were ready to deal with longer works, boys were of classes, paying for the privilege, although fees
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expected to learn the poems of Homer and be able to recite long passages. In the second type of class, a kitharistes (lyre player) would teach mousike, a combination of music, dance, lyrics and poetry. Most boys would learn to play musical instruments, usually the lyre, flute and pipes. However, the most important school was the gymnasium, supervised by paidotribes (physical trainers), where students were instructed in sports such as wrestling, running, discus and javelin. Physical training was seen as necessary for good health, to improve one’s appearance and, most importantly, to prepare boys for the citizen-army. As a result, the paidotribes were the most highly paid of all teachers. Education ended when boys reached adolescence and began to learn a trade. However, those from wealthier families would continue their paid education under sophists, itinerant philosopherteachers who would travel from town to town teaching rhetoric. For young Greeks with political ambitions, rhetoric was a key skill. Being able to
Everyday life in Ancient Greece
This is Sparta How did Greece’s militaristic city-state train a new generation of warriors? Although most Ancient Greek city-states aimed to prepare boys to become effective citizens, Sparta had a more singular objective: to train boys to take their place in the phalanx. In order to do this, education was controlled by the state. Boys entered the agoge – a military school – when they were about seven years old, and for the next 12 years they slept in the barracks with their classmates and were instructed by veteran soldiers in a brutal environment. Boys were purposely given little food and clothing to encourage them to forage, steal and endure hunger. Punishments gradually became harsher and physical training became harder in order to build up strength and stamina. Although
Music and dance were taught to both boys and girls, although female education tended to be informal and at home
speak well, to sway the assembly or law courts, was the path to power. Isocrates opened up a permanent school of rhetoric in Athens around 392 BCE and his unusually high fees allowed him to amass a considerable fortune. However, not all Athenians were convinced of the value in his lessons, and some blamed their problems on an overemphasis on rhetoric in education. As a democratic city, important decisions were made by votes of all Athenian male citizens meeting in an assembly. After a series of questionable decisions, Athens was conquered by Sparta and many citizens blamed their fall on education: not because they didn’t understand what they were voting on, but because teaching rhetoric allowed some people to persuade the assembly to make poor decisions. With the growth of philosophy in Greece, the idea of education as a lifelong passion began to
reading and writing were taught, they weren’t considered important skills beyond being able to understand military messages. Music and dancing also formed part of the curriculum, but even they had a military use, aiding the boys’ ability to move en masse in the phalanx. The culmination of the agoge came when the best students were instructed to hunt down and kill a slave. If caught, the boy would be disciplined – not for murder, but for his inability to commit the killing without being discovered. After the agoge, another exhaustive two years of military training would follow. Only then would a 20-year-old Spartan be considered a warrior ready to take his place on the battlefield.
Spartan education had one aim: to mould boys into warriors
Plato’s Academy offered a new type of teaching, concentrating on science, dialectics and politics
The Library Alexander the Great and emerge. Sometime after founding his own school, 387 BCE, when Plato is of Alexandria is the Lyceum. thought to have returned said to have contained Although formal from his first visit to over half a million education was limited to Italy and Sicily, he papyrus rolls – double boys across most of Ancient opened the Academy in Greece, wealthier girls did Athens – often thought that of any other have the advantage of being of as the first university. library taught at home – often by a Essentially a club for slave – and instructed how to interested and interesting read, write and play the lyre. Only minds, the Academy did not in Sparta were they given a formal charge a fee for lessons, but it education. As well as being taught how to wasn’t open to the public. There was no sing, dance and play music, Spartan women were formal curriculum or distinction between teachers instructed in physical education and even taught and students, but members studied mathematics, to run, wrestle and throw. The idea during this science, dialectics and politics – unlike Isocrates, time was that strong women would produce strong Plato placed little value on rhetoric. Among the children, and that Spartan women could be used as Academy’s pupils was the infamous Aristotle, a last-resort defence force. who studied there for 20 years before tutoring
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Life & Society
What jobs did Greeks do?
For most Ancient Greek men, the ideal way to spend life was as a gentleman of leisure. Released from the need to work to live, such a gentleman could dedicate himself to the political and social obligations placed upon them by the city-state. If a citizen was to play his role in direct democracy to full effect, he should be well informed and able to take part in the discussions and debates that moulded policy. Yet the vast majority of Greeks were not so lucky that they could spend their days gossiping in the agora. More than half of Attica’s population worked in the countryside – although many lived inside the city walls for security – tending small plots of land that they either owned themselves or rented from richer landlords in return for a percentage of the yield. Barley and wheat were the staple crops, supplemented by the likes of olives, cabbages, onions and lettuce. For those who worked within the city walls, the majority were tradesmen who saw to the day-today needs of the population: blacksmiths, sculptors, painters, carpenters and so on. Many were citizens, although undoubtedly of a lower social class than the gentry, but others were foreign-born metics or slaves who were engaged in a trade on behalf of their owner. These slaves had a degree of independence in their lives compared to those who than that of a slave, because at least a slave had a worked in the house as domestic servants, but any degree of job security. money they made would belong to their owner – As trade routes developed, connecting Greeks although some were allowed to keep a small share. to each other and the wider world, including Among the slave artisans who are known to have Persia, India, Britain and China, city-states began worked in Athens was Lydos, who stamped ‘Lydos to specialise in certain trades. Corinth was the slave’ on any vases he produced. known for its ceramicists who crafted the pottery Some tradesmen could gain extraordinary amphorae that carried olive oil and wine wealth through their skilled hands. When across Greece and the known Demosthenes the knife maker world, although its ceramicists died, he left behind an estate were later displaced by those equivalent to 220 times the from Athens. Corinth later annual salary of a labourer. Few found a new speciality When Cephalus of Syracuse shops have in metalwork, while the set up a shield-making been discovered best textiles came from workshop in Piraeus, by archaeologists – Miletus and the best his business grew to the parchment from the city extent that he had 120 instead tradesmen of Kerameikos. slaves working under would sell their own One result of increased him. However, success on wares on market trade and prosperity such a scale was rare and was the growth of a new Demosthenes and Cephalus days industry: banking and money were exceptions. lending. Merchants who could It wasn’t just slaves who were not afford large outlays of money employed by the more successful would borrow using letters of credit, tradesmen – poorer citizens would be repaying what they owed on the completion given jobs in workshops too, although being in of their voyages. It led to the development of a the employ of other Greeks was considered an complicated financial system that required some embarrassment. It was a status perhaps even lower
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Ionian city-states to employ financial advisers to keep track of the flow of money. It also provided a rare opportunity for advancement. In Athens, a slave called Pasion showed such wit when running a money-lending table that he was rewarded with his freedom. He inherited his old owners’ banking business, established a shield factory and gifted 1,000 shields and a trireme to the state, for which he was rewarded with Athenian citizenship – a spectacular rise for a former slave. Another offshoot from Athenian prosperity was an element of social security, one which allowed poor citizens to be employed as rowers in the navy and the elderly to serve as jurors. Tradesmen were employed to build grand civic buildings like the Parthenon. Those working for the state were paid one drachma per day, no matter what the work, and were expected to toil from dawn to late afternoon regardless of the season. The one place where no Greek ever wanted to end up working was the mines. So horrific were the conditions there that slavery was almost ubiquitous – few free men would ever stoop so low. The silver mines at Laurium and gold mines at Mount Pangaeus claimed many lives, including those of young slave children who were tasked with crawling through the smallest tunnels, often 100 metres underground.
Everyday life in Ancient Greece
Slavery to success Not all slaves were condemned to a life of drudgery – these men escaped the shackles and made their life a success
Aesop
Aesop was born into slavery and, although described as strikingly ugly, used his great mind to win his freedom and become an adviser to kings. He also wrote the Fables, a collection of folk tales with which every Greek child was familiar.
Rhodopis
Known by a nickname that means rosy-cheeked, Rhodopis was a slave-prostitute who was taken to Egypt by her owner and bought her freedom by a client who had fallen for her beauty. She continued to work as a prostitute in Egypt, and stories even suggest that the pharaoh made her his queen.
Greek tradesmen ranged from slaves working on behalf of their masters to vastly wealthy businessmen
Diogenes the Cynic
One of the founders of cynicism, the philosopher Diogenes found himself cast into slavery after being captured by pirates and sold to a Corinthian who wanted Diogenes to tutor his children. He remained in Corinth until his death, by which time he had been freed by his master.
Phaedo of Elis
Slaves working in the Laurium silver mines – possibly the worst job in Ancient Greece
Taken prisoner by the Spartans in 402 BCE, Phaedo’s beauty led to him becoming a slaveprostitute until he was bought his freedom by a friend of Socrates. Phaedo then became attached to the great philosopher and was present at his death, before returning to Elis and founding his own school.
© Alamy; Look & Learn; Sol90; Wiki
Each year, around 6,000 Athenians were employed by the state as jurors – around 20 per cent of the total number of citizens
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