terms Flashcards

1
Q

polis

A

the natural social formation for humans to live in, developed early in the Archaic period (750/700-480) as the Greeks emerged from the Early Iron Age

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2
Q

city-state

A

a geographical area comprising a city and its adjacent territory, which together makes up a single, self-governing political unit

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3
Q

creation of a city-state in 700BC was made possible by:

A

1) formal unification of the demos

2) creation of a central government

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4
Q

demos

A

the territorial community comprising the land and the people

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5
Q

synoecism

A

political unification of states. the process where every town, village, and hamlet of a demos accepted a single political center

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6
Q

politai

A

members of the polis: all male members of a city’s territory, both those who lived in the capital and those who lived in the countryside

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7
Q

ethnos

A

consisted of a people and its territory (a demos) but without a capital polis, a central government, or formal political union. the separate towns and villages of an ethnos were independent and autonomous, yet they also had a strong sense of common identity

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8
Q

basileis

A

the leaders of the districts, towns, and villages of the demos

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9
Q

what was the governmental structure of independent city-states?

A

1) the office of paramount basileus was either abolished completely or greatly reduced in power
2) the governing functions formerly exercised by the basileus was distributed among several officials
3) the importance of the council of aristocratic “elders” increased, while that of the assembly of the people decreased

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10
Q

oligarchy

A

rule by the few (powerful families divided up the spheres of authority among themselves, creating magistracies and boards)

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11
Q

polemarchos

A

war leader, in charge of military operations

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12
Q

archon

A

chief office/chief administrator; leader

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13
Q

prytanis

A

presiding officer

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14
Q

where were 2 causes that drove Greek emigration?

A

1) search for sources of metal to satisfy the Greeks’ growing need
2) the hope of acquiring the land required to life the life of a citizen in the new poleis as opportunities for land at home dwindled

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15
Q

metropolis

A

a citizen body where those who joined a colony gave up their citizenship in the mother city

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16
Q

oikist

A

founder of a new colony

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17
Q

tasks of an oikist:

A

1) to lead the colonists to their new home
2) lay out the colony’s defenses
3) locate the sanctuaries of the gods
4) assign house plots and farmland to settlers

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18
Q

apoikia

A

colony (a home away from their old home)

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19
Q

apoikoi

A

colonists

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20
Q

chattel slaves

A

persons captured or bought and legally classed as property

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21
Q

sermonizing poetry

A

influenced by the ancient genre of Near Eastern ‘wisdom literature’, ex. Hesiod’s Works and Days

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22
Q

thes

A

hired hand

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23
Q

hoplites

A

heavily armored food soldiers (introduced in the Archaic period between about 725 and 650 BC)

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24
Q

phalanx

A

a tightly packed formation of hoplites

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25
Q

greaves

A

shin-and-knee protectors

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26
Q

hoplon

A

a type of shield that the hoplite was named after, designed specifically for the phalanx formation. Round, made of wood covered with a thin sheet of bronze

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27
Q

tyrannos

A

tyrant

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28
Q

tyrannis

A

tyranny

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29
Q

tyranny

A

rule by a man who seizes control of the state by a coup and governs illegally
(often viewed by lower classes as champions of the demos against the oligarchs)

30
Q

similarities between tyrants:

A
  • membership in the elite
  • distinguished in their poleis for their individual achievements
  • after seizing power, usually attacked the rich
  • made laws to limit aristocratic power and privilege
  • protected the existing institutions
  • supported trade, commerce, and crafts
31
Q

genos

A

clans

32
Q

aristocratic genos

A

the word essentially designated a lineage, and was composed of a preeminent family that extended the umbrella of fictive kinship over less prestigious noble oikoi, whose members supported the leader-family in its political ambitions

33
Q

stasis

A

formal conflict between groups within the city-state

34
Q

monumental sculpture

A

life-sized or larger sculptures in marble and bronze, an innovation of the Archaic period

35
Q

kouro

A

naked male figure, one of the important types of freestanding stone statuary in Archaic Greek

36
Q

kore

A

clothed young female figure, one of the important types of freestanding stone statuary in Archaic Greek

37
Q

agora

A

the gathering place, a large open space at or near the center of the city.

38
Q

agora in the Early Iron Age

A

the place where the assembly met

39
Q

agora in the Archaic period

A

the marketplace and public space of the city/city-state

40
Q

lyric poetry

A

“song”, presented in performance, Archaic period

41
Q

symposia

A

male drinking parties, an exclusively aristocratic form of entertainment

42
Q

Presocratics

A

the earliest Greek philosophers, some of whom were the first to write in prose, Archaic period - interested in the structure and development of the physical universe

43
Q

Socratics

A

disciples of Socrates that lived in Athens during the Classical Period - interested in ethics, in the role human beings play in relation to one another and to the larger society

44
Q

electrum

A

an alloy of gold, silver, and a trace of copper, and stamped with a symbol that indicated their weight and hence their value

45
Q

proxeny

A

a resident of one city-state acted as semiofficial representative of the interests of another, institutionalizes personal diplomacy

46
Q

autochthonous

A

sprung from the land, Athenians believed they had always lived in Attica and shared a common kinship

47
Q

pagos

A

the council that met on the hill, worked in concert with the archon of Athens

48
Q

phylai

A

tribes, every citizen family in Attica belonged to one of four tribes

49
Q

phatry

A

brotherhood, another smaller group within each tribe in Attica

50
Q

gene

A

clans, associations of several noble households dominated by a top oikos and claiming descent from a common ancestor

51
Q

what was significant about Draco’s laws?

A

they developed the authority of the state at the expense of that of the family, a process that would continue + established fixed principles of justice that would override the personal preferences of judges

52
Q

hektemoroi

A

sharecroppers, one of Attica’s poorest people, “sixth-parters” - owed a sixth of their produce to a wealthy landowner to whom they were in dept

53
Q

seisachtheia

A

the shaking off of burdens, laws Solon instigated that made it illegal for loans to be secured by anyone’s property or person, freed those who had already fallen into slavery through debt, and cancelled the debts of the hektemorage system

54
Q

metics

A

non-citizen residents, Solon settled non-exiled outsiders as metics

55
Q

pentakosiomedimnoi

A

“500-measure men” - new class established by Solon’s system of class ranked according to agricultural wealth, produced at least 500 medimnoi (bushels) of produce

56
Q

hippeis

A

“horsemen” - income between 300-499 medimnoi/bushels

57
Q

zeugitai

A

men who could afford to own a team of oxen, with 200-299 medimnoi, constituted the majority of the phalanx because they had sufficient resources to purchase hoplite arms

58
Q

thetes

A

poor people - farmers and landless workers - who produced fewer than 200 medimnoi

59
Q

what were the 3 categories of persons that were excluded from Athens’ legal system?

A

1) slaves
2) metics
3) women

60
Q

prothesis

A

laying out the body

61
Q

ekphora

A

transporting the corpse to its place of burial

62
Q

himatia

A

cloaks

63
Q

eunomia

A

governance by good laws, characterizes Solon’s program

64
Q

atimia

A

loss of civic rights

65
Q

Council (Boule) of Five Hundred

A

established in the Cleisthenic system, 50 members chosen annually by lot from each of the 10 tribes, slots were distributed among the demes in accordance with the population of each

66
Q

pytaneis

A

refers to the members of the council serving during one period of service (a tenth of the year)

67
Q

taxiarchos

A

infantry commander

68
Q

hipparchos

A

cavalry commander

69
Q

strategos

A

chief general

70
Q

ostracism

A

a system whereby every spring the Athenians had the option of voting to send one of their fellow citizens into exile for 10 years

71
Q

triremes

A

light, fast, maneuverable warships with 3 banks of oars built by Athenians