Early European History Classical Greece早期的欧洲古典希腊历史.ppt

Early European History The Golden Age of Greece Most of European, or Western, civilization grew out of the achievements of Classical Greece. By the 400s BC the city-state had grown from being ruled by a king to the almost direct rule of the people, or a democracy. Athens was home to the world’s first democratic constitution. All free males over 20 had a right to vote and speak freely. The democratic form of government United States uses came from Athens. Classical Greece Athenian artists produced famous and influential works of philosophy, Greek for “love of wisdom.” Two great philosophers, Socrates and his student Plato, wanted to understand and explain human nature. During this period the city- states of Athens and Sparta wanted to expand their empires, so they were always fighting over land. They united temporarily during the Persian War to defeat the Persians from invading Greece. Sparta finally defeated Athens which weakened all of Greece. Classical Greece In the 300s BC, Phillip II of Macedonia and his son, Alexander the Great conquered Greece. Alexander went on to create an empire and spread Greek culture everywhere he invaded until the Romans invaded and conquered Greece. /index.cfm?guidAssetID=cf52ab90-e18d-45df-a0d8-3998b3064de7productcode=US Classical Rome Rome was settled circa 1000 BC. By 700 BC it had become a major city-state that dominated much of the Italian Peninsula. Rome lacked natural resources, but it had fertile soil for Agriculture. Rome culturally borrowed art, religion, mythology, the study of myths, and the Latin alphabet from Greece. Since Italy was easy to invade, a strong army had to be developed. (Why? Discuss with a partner.) Classical Rome Rome started as a monarchy, but changed to Republic, gov. where people choose their leaders. Romans were led by consuls, individuals elected to represent the people of Rome, who reported to the Senate, landowners who served for life. The foundation of Roman law was the Twelve Tables, bronze