Words for Board: Cnossus, Homer, Iliad, Odyssey, Agamemnon, Polis, Acropolis, Eupatrid, Hoplite, Phalanx

We are now ready to begin on one of the biggie civilizations–the Greeks. They come in 2 basic groups: early and late. The first Greeks were more Oriental and showed up in 3 different location, around the year 2000 BC. They were found: 1. On the Island of Crete. Cnossus was its capital city. 2. In the Southern part of the Island of Greece called Mycenae. 3. On the Eastern tip of Asia Minor, called Troy. Crete, from 1800-1400 BC, was the best of the 3. They were called Minoan-Cretans cuz they had an early king named Minos. Bull-leaping was the national sport of Cretans. (If you're reading the book by Renault, you'll learn more about it.) An earthquake (of the tidal wave type) wiped out the Cretan navy and its enemies got to them. Mycenae was eaten up by barbarians. Troy was a big city by the Hellespont Straits. It was run over by barbarians (from Russia with blonde hair and blue eyes) early. They were the 3rd group of Greeks. We know about them cuz of long epic poems by a man named Homer, (who may have actually just been the editor of a bunch of legends). These epic poems are The Iliad and The Odyssey. The Iliad is about the Trojan war, which is a bunch of barbarian Greeks against Troy. It was supposed to be because the leader of Troy stole the king's wife, who was named Helen. Actually, it was cuz the Trojans controlled all the shipping to Greece, by being located by the Straits. Greece is such a cruddy country that they had to import all their food from Russia and up north. The Trojans were taxing the ships too much. The Iliad shows that the early Greeks were not civilized. They were led by their king, Agamemnon. As an example of their low class: Agamemnon was preparing to sail off to war but the winds wouldn't blow the right way. Finally he decided that the gods were angry so he sacrificed his daughter to make the winds go the right way. It worked! But human sacrifice is one of the more barbaric customs. It took 10 years but eventually the Greeks beat the Trojans (supposedly with the Trojan horsie).

Now let's jump to 500 BC where the Greeks are becoming more civilized.

The geography of Greece is rotten. There are steep, jagged mountains which weren't tall but they broke up the country. The cities were in the valleys. Greeks traveled by ship, but not by land. The soil is rocky, infertile which is why the Greeks always had to import their food. One of their major problems was overpopulation.

The Greek city is called a Polis. It was the city and all its surrounding countryside. There were hundreds of them. They were very independent and never united. They were originally built at least 3 miles back from the sea cuz of pirates. There was always a strategic fort somewhere in or by the city called an Acropolis. It was the citadel or "high city." It was usually a hill with walls on top. If your city was losing, you ran like mad to the Acropolis and defended it to the last.

The social class of the Greeks was topped off by the kings. By 500 BC, the kings were dying out as a big power. The major group that controlled things were the Eupatrids ("well-fathered"–that is, those who knew who their father was!). They ran the army, government, owned the land, etc. You were a eupatrid only by heredity. Originally they were created by a union between a mortal and a god. (Nothing like a real live god in your family tree!!) The next class was the citizen. He sharecropped, was the sailor, seller, etc. The bottom was the slave. How many slaves depended on the wars. But Greek slavery was more like the early American custom of indentured servants. You were only a slave for about 7 years. What happens is you catch a guy, or buy one, and make him work for you. If he was a potter back home, you don't have him scrubbing floors! You set him up in a little pottery shop downtown and you get a (big) percentage of the goods he sells. The slave gets the rest and can buy himself out of slavery. Greeks weren't mean to slaves cuz they were people with the same culture and language. 6-7 years was long enough to get the slave accustomed to the new area and make him not want to go home and fight against you again. Besides he had a business already set up so he'd probably stay in the area.

Now for the military system: Having an army buys your city or country independence. Around 1000 BC, the major weapon was the war chariot (used in the Trojan War). It was neat to run around your enemy. But by 500 BC, war had changed. For one thing, most of the fighting was done in Greece, between the city-states. You couldn't use chariots cuz the soil was too cruddy to ride over. Besides, horses were expensive. Greeks couldn't grow food for themselves, let alone dumb horses. And if you had a horse, he was too expensive to take the chance he'd get killed in battle. Also, in the years around 1000 BC, enemies did something called fighting by champions. Each side would pick their toughest guy and match him up against the other side. Each side would pick their toughest guy and match him up against the other side. Each side agreed to a treaty of what would happen depending upon who won. By the 500s BC, war was fought by Hoplites ("big shield"). They were heavily armored infantrymen packed into tight rows shoulder-to-shoulder, forming a Phalanx. They were armed with: defensive–1. A helmet with nose and cheek pieces made of bronze. 2. A bronze shield which covered from his chinny chin chin to the top of his knee guards. 3. Knee and leg guards which kind of fit on-they weren't tied. They fought naked and with no shoes. They were totally protected on the front (nothing on the back, literally). For offensive: They had a spear that was 7 feet long with a bronze tip to thrust with. They also had knives which were sharp on one side to hack with. All the equipment was handmade, very expensive, and paid for by the soldiers, cuz it was a privilege to be in the army (makes a man out of ya!). The phalanx was the scariest thing of its time cuz they were the only ones organized. Greeks could only fight in good weather in level places. Every city had a favorite battleground outside the city. It was usually a field with 2 hills forming the boundaries. Everybody would line up on their hill and says their prayers and hymns. Then both sides would run down the hill to meet the enemy in the middle in one big crash. That was the battle: one big crash and the ensuing hand-to-hand combat. After the charge, you get up quickly to see who won and if it's no you, chuck the shields and equipment and take off for the hills, naked. That wasn't too safe cuz there was some cavalry from the other side trying to run you down. Actually, the cavalry wasn't too good cuz the stirrup hadn't been invented yet so they had to wear bareback. (It's not easy staying on the horsie, who wasn't really that big anyway–like an overgrown Shetland pony.) After the charge, the cavalry (who'd been sitting up on the hill watching the outcome) either deserted or chased down the fleeing enemy. There were some slingshotters and bows and arrows but neither was much good. The winner of the battle set up a trophy of all the enemies shed equipment. After a couple days of embarrassment, they would sell the stuff at an auction and the army got a cut of the goods.

The navy was very expensive. The state footed the bill for the hulls of the ships. The rest was outfitted by private citizens. They looked like Viking longboats and were called triremes. They were long open canoes that were rowed. They had a sail but it was used only for getting to the battle. Nobody knew how to tack against the wind. There were about 50 rowers per ship. Beneath the front of the ship was a bronze can opener type thing called the ram. It was used to punch holes in the sides of the other guys' ships when you hit them broadside. They also did something neat called shearing. What happens is you sneak up on the enemy's ship from behind. Battles were really noisy and sometimes it was easy to do. Row as fast as you can to pull up beside them and as you're gliding by, pull up the oars on the same side as the enemy ship. Your ship runs over their oars and breaks them all off on one side causing their ship to go around in circles cuz it's only being rowed on one side. The rowers for the ships were hired, and they brought their own oar and cushion. The ships were fast and low in the water, similar to water bugs. They were great for war, but you couldn't fight in bad weather cuz they swamped easily. And you can't get far from home cuz they're so small and can't hold supplies. They were only used for home defense. If you were wounded in big battle and from a big city, you went on a pension. Small cities didn't have the money so you lost out.