Chapter 2

• Whether because of the Dorian invasions or natural catastrophes or a combination of these, the brilliant Mycenaean world and the reduced settlements that remained decayed and eventually lost their identity
• Mycenaean Greeks and other Hellenic ethnic groups and tribes then living on the Greek peninsula were displaced by the newcomers and were driven south, east, and overseas to the Aegean islands and the Asia Minor coast in search of new locations in which to settle themselves
• This process took place over the period c.1100-c.800 BC
• As the migrations were largely forced by hostilities, whatever economic and other benefits and developments had been enjoyed by these people in their former settlements had to be left behind, and a new beginning had to be forged elsewhere
• There followed the long, slow growth process of developing their communities in the new locations
• Between the luminous heights reached by Mycenaean civilization in the twelfth century BC and the brilliant period of a much broader Greek world of the fifth century BC, there was a period of "dark ages"
• Yet, during this unstable and low economic period, the foundations were laid for the explosive growth that was to follow
• Eastern settlements founded and grew in this time-span

  • Rhodes
  • Samos
  • Chios
  • Lesbos
  • Halikarnassos
  • Miletos
  • Priene
  • Ephesos
  • Smyrna
  • Kolophon
• After the initial refugee movements, more peaceful migrations took place, and the prevalence of that peace
• The mixing of populations and much trade brought forth a vitalizing exchange among them
• The Greeks borrowed their alphabet from the Phoenicians, then added vowels of their own
• They reestablished the art of writing that had been lost during the early period of migration
• The spoken Greek language (albeit with many dialects) reached a degree of uniformity and became the common language of all these people
• The Greeks also learned how to make iron, a process developed earlier by the Hittites that they had carefully guarded from others
• Their well-shaped pottery, characteristically ornamented with geometric designs, was traded (as uncovered by archeologists) over a broad area
• All this led to a rise in the economies of these independent Greek communities, which also encouraged the development of the arts
• These arts became a mixture of the styles then prevalent in the east and the west
• Athens was never conquered by the Dorians
• While it did not flourish as it was to do beginning in the sixth century BC, it maintained its Greek culture and had continuous contact and trade with the newer eastern Greek cities, thus contributing to the preservation of the mother culture
• The Archaic Period (c. 800-c. 600 BC), brought forward a series of events that were to lead to the "Golden Age" of the Greeks
• Greek presence and influence had greatly expanded following a movement of peaceful colonization extending farther east along the Propontis (Sea of Marmara) and the Euxine (Black) Sea, as well as increasingly westward along southern Italy, Sicily, and on to the coasts of present-day France and Spain
• Many of these independent colonies were to become prominent in later times
• It is at this time that we see the rise of monumental architecture used for public buildings that were also finely decorated, the plain but dignified Doric order appearing in the west and the Ionic (a mixture of Greek and eastern forms) appearing first on the island of Samos
• Intellectual progress was made possible by the rise in literacy through the reintroduction of writing, Homer and Hesiod formalized the hierarchy of the gods in their written texts
• The ritual of the Olympic games began formally in 776 BC and was enacted every four years, during which time all Greeks put aside their differences and participated, in respect of religion and peace
• All these and many other significant experiences together with independence, self-reliance, free thinking, and the economic growth of the settlers, soon led to a broadening of political awareness, power, and the evolution of the city-state, the basis of Greek democracy, the springboard to yet new growth
• Settling down in an area of good water and agricultural potential, populations grew, and this growth eventually led to the development of concentrations of people
• When governing the community became a full-time job, and especially when specialized functionaries were required to look after the particular needs of the people, a seat of government became a necessity
• The process continued until finally the independent settlement became known as a village, town, or a city; or, in Greek, a polis
• Building the center on a hill or high place (for visibility and security), it was called an akropolis (that of Athens being a well-known example), with the rest of the community built around its base
• Some poleis (pl.) remained small, but those near large tracts of arable land grew considerably larger
• The polis of Athens together with its rural support area, for example, covered all of the large Attica peninsula
• Likewise, Sparta. Thebes, Corinth, and Argos, among others, were poleis that covered large areas
• Only when the polis was large enough was it able to provide its citizens with services and administration, education, the arts, and many other benefits
• Plato was of the opinion that a polis of about 5,000 free citizens was the ideal size
• The city-states of Athens, as well as Akragas and Syrakuse in Sicily, had over 100,000 people; Samos, Corinth, Korkyra, and Argos had between 60,000 and 100,000; and more than 20 other Greek cities around the Mediterranean had between 25,000 and 60,000
• In those times a community was small enough so that the leading citizens all knew each other; as a result they were expected to participate in and perform their civic duties
• This obligation was limited mostly to the land-owning free citizens who had the civic privileges as both a right and duty
• Excluded from this group were the citizens of lower rank, as well as foreigners, women, and slaves
• Slavery was established at that time to create a labor force, as it provided household help as well as a means to wealth by providing manpower to work farms and mines and to labor at artisan crafts