 | Term | Definition |
| |
Minoans |
Ancient seafaring people of Crete |
| |
sea trade |
Primary occupation of the Minoans |
| |
Mediterranean |
Ocean south of Greece that surrounds Crete |
| |
mountains |
Geographic features that separated Greek city-states |
| |
Alps |
Geographic feature of Italy's northern border |
| |
Minos |
Legendary ruler of Bronze Age Crete |
| |
Myceneans |
People who replaced the Minoans as the chief power of the Aegean world |
| |
Trojan War |
Ten-year conflict between the Myceneans and the people of Troy |
| |
Illiad |
Epic poem about the Trojan War |
| |
Dorians |
People who conquered the Myceneans around 1000 B.C.E. |
| |
Aegean |
Sea that separated Greece and Asia Minor |
| |
Adriatic |
Sea that formed Greece's western border |
| |
Alexandria |
Most famous of Alexander's new cities, in Egypt |
| |
trade |
Economic activity made necessary by Greek geography |
| |
Knossos |
Major city of ancient Crete |
| |
Macedonia |
Mountainous land north of Greece |
| |
Balkan Peninsula |
Peninsula on which Greece is located |
| |
Peloponnesus |
Southern portion of ancient Greece |
| |
Ionia |
Region of Greek city-states in Asia Minor and on Aegean islands |
| |
Apennines |
Italy's central mountain range |
| |
Sicily |
Large island at the toe of Italy |
| |
City-state |
Geographic and political center of Greek life |
| |
Monarchy |
Earliest form of city-state government |
| |
Democracy |
Form of government developed in Athens |
| |
Slaves |
Lowest Athenian class |
| |
Women |
People of Athens who spent their lives secluded at home |
| |
military service |
Sole occupation of male Spartan citizens |
| |
polis |
Greek word for the city-state |
| |
acropolis |
Fortified hilltop at the city's center |
| |
agora |
A city's open meeting area, usually the marketplace |
| |
aristocracy |
Form of government in Sparta |
| |
constitution |
Set of principles and rules for governing; Athens had one |
| |
helots |
Spartan slaves |
| |
military barracks |
Where male Spartan citizens lived from age 7 to age 30 |
| |
being abandoned to die |
Fate of unhealthy or imperfect Spartan babies |
| |
being sold into slavery |
Fate of Athenian debtors, abolished by Solon |
| |
household management |
What Athenian girls were taught |
| |
overseers (or ephors) |
The five governing officials of Sparta |
| |
Assembly (or the Council of Elders) |
One of the two ruling bodies in Sparta |
| |
Assembly |
Body of Athenian citizens that passed laws |
| |
Council of Four Hundred (later Five) |
Athenian body that proposed laws and handled daily affairs |
| |
iron bars |
Spartan form of money |
| |
sound mind in a healthy body |
Athenian ideal of education |
| |
barbarian |
Greek term for non-Greeks |
| |
Sparta |
South-central, militaristic city-state |
| |
Athens |
Attican city-state that developed as a democracy |
| |
Persian Wars |
Wars with a powerful empire of Asia Minor (490-470 B.C.E.) |
| |
Darius |
Leader who sailed an army across the Aegean to Greece in 490 B.C.E. |
| |
Xerxes |
Persian leader who sent his army back to Greece in 480 B.C.E. |
| |
Pericles |
Statesman who led Athens to its greatest heights |
| |
Draco |
Athenian leader who drew up a code of laws |
| |
Solon |
Athenian leader whose name today means a wise lawmaker |
| |
Cleisthenes |
Athenian leader who established nearly complete democracy |
| |
Battle of Marathon |
Battle in which the Greeks defeated the Persians in 490 B.C.E. |
| |
Delian League |
Defensive alliance led by Athens |
| |
Peloponnesian War |
Thirty-year war between Athens and Sparta |
| |
plague |
Event in addition to war that destroyed Athens |
| |
Thebes |
City-state that overthrew Spartan rule in 371 B.C.E. |
| |
tyrants |
Greek rulers who seized power by force, often backed by the poor |
| |
Thermopylae |
Mountain pass defended by Spartans in 480 B.C.E. |
| |
Battle of Salamis |
Sea battle in which Athenians defeated Persians in 480 B.C.E. |
| |
Battle of Plataea |
Final, decisive battle that ended the wars in 479 B.C.E. |
| |
Pisistratus |
Athenian ruler who introduced land reform and was supported by the lower class |
| |
triremes |
Athenian warships |
| |
Philip II |
Ruler of Macedon who united the Greek city-states |
| |
Alexander the Great |
Philip's son and successor |
| |
Persia |
Empire conquered by Alexander |
| |
Egypt |
Northern African country conquered by Alexander |
| |
Greek culture |
culture spread by Alexander |
| |
Demosthenes |
Athenian orator who vigorously opposed Philip |
| |
assassination |
cause of Philip's death |
| |
Aristotle |
Alexander's Greek tutor |
| |
India, or the Indus River |
Easternmost extent of Alexander's empire |
| |
fever |
Cause of Alexander's death |
| |
its lighthouse, the Pharos |
Structure in Egypt's Alexandria; one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World |
| |
To unite the Greek city-states, or to spread Greek culture |
Philip's ambition in life |
| |
Thebes |
City-state where Philip was held hostage as a youth |
| |
unification, or the spread of Greek culture |
Alexander's major influence on the world |
| |
phalanx |
Special infantry formation of the Greek and Macedonian armies |
| |
Battle of Chaeronea |
Battle in which Philip gained control of Greece |
| |
20 |
Alexander's age when he came to power |
| |
Macedonia |
Northern portion of Alexander's empire after its division |
| |
Egypt (and Palestine) |
Southern portion of Alexander's empire after its division |
| |
Seleucid Empire (Persia) |
Eastern portion of Alexander's empire after its division |
| |
museum |
Alexandria's renowned center of learning |
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