Ancient Greece
Terms
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- Solon
- A man who is a respected leader in national or international affairs.
- Polis
- A city-state
- Aristotle
- 384 B.C.-322 B.C. A Greek philosopher and scientist; all knowledge of his time into a coherent whole which served as the basis for much of the science and philosophy of Hellenistic and Roman times and even affected medieval science and philosophy.
- Hoplite
- A heavily armed foot soldier of ancient Greece.
- Cleisthenes
- 600 B.C.-570 B.C. tyrant of Sicyon; taken a leading part in the Sacred War.
- Dorian Invasions
- One of a Hellenic people that invaded Greece around 1100 B.C. and remained culturally and linguistically distinct within the Greek world.
- Sparta
- A city-state in southeast Peloponnesus; it was noted for its militarism and reached the height of its power in the sixth century B.C.
- Homer
- A Greek Poet who lived in the 8th century he wrote the two epics: The Illiad and The Odyssey.
- Tyranny
- A government in which a single ruler is vested with absolute power.
- Monarchy
- A state ruled or headed by a monarch.
- Phalanx
- A formation of infantry carrying overlapping shields and long spears, developed by Philip II of Macedon and used by Alexander the Great.
- Mycenaeans
- The last phase of the Bronze Age in ancient Greece, is the historical setting of the epics of Homer and much other Ancient Greek literature and myth.
- Archon
- One of the nine principal magistrates of ancient Athens.
- Pisistratus
- Athenian tyrant (560-527) remembered for encouraging athletic contests and literary efforts.
- Thucydides
- The greatest ancient historian, he is in a real sense the creator of modern historiography
- Acropolis
- The fortified height or citadel of an ancient Greek city.
- Persian Wars
- 492 B.C.-449 B.C. series of wars between Greek states and Persia, particularly two invasions of Greece by Persia.
- Ostracism
- In Athens and other cities of ancient Greece, the temporary banishment by popular vote of a citizen considered dangerous to the state.
- Hellenic Culture
- The specific artifacts of the ancients as well as the ideas and ideals of democracy, beauty and balance.
- Aristocracy
- Government by a ruling class.
- Oligarchy
- Government by a few, especially by a small faction of persons or families.
- Delian League
- Confederacy of ancient Greek states led by Athens and based on the island of Delos.
- Democracy
- Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives.
- Ephors
- One of a body of five elected magistrates exercising a supervisory power over the kings of Sparta.
- Pericles
- Pericles was the son of Xanthippus, a distinguished statesman and general of aristocratic family.
- Socrates
- 469 B.C.-399 B.C. A Greek philosopher and logician; an important formative influence on Plato and had a profound effect on ancient philosophy.
- Hellenistic Age
- The period between the death of Alexander the Great (323 BC) and the conquest of Egypt by Rome (30 BC).
- Plato
- 428 B.C.-347 B.C. He founded the Academy, one of the great philosophical schools of antiquity. His thought had enormous impact on the development of Western philosophy.
- Athens
- The capital and largest city of Greece, in the eastern part of the country near the Saronic Gulf. It was at the height of its cultural achievements and imperial power in the fifth century B.C. during the time of Pericles.
- Helots
- One of a class of serfs in ancient Sparta, neither a slave nor a free citizen.
- Herodotus
- "The Father of History" he was among the first to approach the reporting of history in a logical and skeptical way; he tried to separate true events from myth and made a point of identifying and commenting on his sources. It didn't hurt that he was a colorful writer and commentator; his most famous work, The Histories, remains a widely-read account of the Persian invasion of ancient Greece.
- Minoans
- A bronze age civilization which arose on Crete, an island in the Aegean Sea. The Minoan culture flourished from approximately 2700 to 1450 BC; afterwards, Mycenaean Greek culture became dominant on Crete.
- Peloponnesian War
- The Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC) was an Ancient Greek military conflict, fought by Athens and its empire against the Peloponnesian League, led by Sparta.
- Alexander the Great
- 336B.C.-323 B.C. An emperor; the greatest military commander of the ancient world.