Ancient Greece

By SalsaHasan
  • 510 BCE

    Democracy in Athens

    At first, Athens had a monarchy, an oligarchy, a tyranny, and then a direct democracy. Draco was a tyrant who provided stability by creating harsh laws. Solon created important democratic reforms, such as banning slavery of citizens for unpaid debts and repealed Draconian laws. Athens had a direct democracy where citizens voted directly for or against laws. An assembly were chosen randomlyeach year by citizen.
  • 490 BCE

    Battle of Marathon

    In 490 BCE, Greece and Persia fight in the first battle of the Persian War. It was called the Battle of Marathon and Greeks won with a phalanx formation in the city-state Marathon. A phalanx is a Greek fighting formation. A messenger named Pheidippides ran 26 miles from Marathon to Athens to inform them about the victory. This run inspired the Marathon.
  • 480 BCE

    Battle of Salamis

    The Battle of Salamis was a sea battle, and the last fight of the Persian War. The Greeks had led the Persians to a narrow strait that made ships hard to navigate. The Greeks managed to sink ¼ of Persian fleet, which caused the Greeks to win the war.
  • 480 BCE

    Battle of Thermopylae

    During 480 BCE, Greeks united to stop Xerxes, who was a Persian king, from taking Athens. It was 300 Spartans with 7,000 Greeks against 10,000 Persians. 300 Spartans held Thermopylae, which was a mountain pass, for 3 days, but eventually lost. The Battle of Thermopylae was the only battle the Greeks lost.
  • Period: 479 BCE to 431

    Golden Age of Athens

    Being the leader of the Delian League led to the Golden Age of culture in Athens. During the Golden Age came Classical Art, which portrayed an ideal beauty, which was serene and peaceful.The sculptures showed harmony, order, balance, symmetry, and proportions. The Greeks had two kinds of theater; Tragedy and comedy. Tragedies were a serious drama about love, hate, war or betrayal, while comedies had slapstick humor and made fun of politics.
  • Period: 461 BCE to 429 BCE

    Pericles

    Pericles was the leader of Athens during the Golden Age and the Peloponnesian War. Pericles helped increase Democracy, created the strongest navy, and made Athens beautiful, which included the building of the Parthenon. Pericles died in the plague of Athens.
  • Period: 431 BCE to 404 BCE

    Peloponnesian Wars

    Because Athens became too powerful with the Delian League, Sparta retaliated with creating the Peloponnesian League. Pericles, who was the leader at the time, brought all citizens behind city’s walls for protection. During the second year of war, Athens was struck with a plague that killed ⅓ of the population, including Pericles. Sparta won the war, but with both cities being weak, Phillip the 2nd from Persia conquers Greece.
  • Period: 323 BCE to 31 BCE

    Hellenism

    Hellenism was Alexander the Great’s empire combined with the knowledge of 4 empires, Greece, Persia, Egypt, and India. The combination of Greek influence and Eastern ideas created a new culture known as Hellenistic culture. Alexandria, Egypt was the most important city and was a city of knowledge for many years.