Ancient Greece Quiz Study Sheet

by Class 603
city-states: political units made up of a city and all the
surrounding lands
golden age: a period in a societys history marked by great
achievements
Athens: a city-state in eastern Greece who helped defeat the
Persians
Sparta: Athens rival city-state due to jealousy of Athens
influence on Greece
Hellenistic: describing something Greek-like

City-States
- Made for protection from invaders and violence
- Acropolis (top city) were fortresses on high hills, cities
were built below these hills
- Walls built for protection from outsiders
- Gave sense of identity (instead of saying you were from
Greece, you could say you were from Athens or Sparta)
- Established around the Black Sea and Mediterranean
Sea
Due to trading and constant contact, Greek culture stayed alive
throughout the areas

The Golden Age of Greece

- Lasted roughly 200 years from 500 BC to 300 BC
- In 500 BC, Persia forced the Greeks to gather as one
army to fight them (the Persians) from invasion
- This army was led by Athens and successfully defended
against the Persians twice
- Due to the peace and confidence the Greeks had about
the past events, they focused on other subjects like art,
writing, and philosophy
- Pericles ruled in the 400s BC and encouraged the
advancements of art and great works
- The Parthenon was a symbol of Athens power and
strength, it featured marble columns and a large statue of
Athena
- Athenians believed in a democratic society
- Greek artists liked to make their works seem as
realistic as possible
- Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were all philosophers who
studied in Athens
- Literature was developed (myths, films, playwright,
etc.)
Due to Spartas war against Athens (Spartans won), Greece laid
in ruins allowing other people like Alexander the Great to invade
and take over

The Empire of Alexander

- Alexander the Great took over all of Greece in the 330s
BC
- His journey started in 336 BC with a strong army, soon
taking over all of Greece in just a few years
- He was not yet satisfied with Greece and hoped for an
entire empire which he achieved
- Alexander conquered Greece, the Persian Empire,
Egypt, and most lands in central Asia, such as India
- He wanted to continue invading more lands east but his
army refused and decided to turn back to Macedonia (on the
return, Alexander died at age 33 of an illness)
- Alexander the Great encouraged Greeks to move into
the cities he captured, most named after Alexandria
(himself), to help spread the Greek culture
- This caused Greek culture to mix with other cultures
around central Asia