Ancient Europe
Where it all started
Really Ancient
The next big civilization of this region were the Phoenicians. They weren't really a connected nation, they just several city-states. They were around the northern edge of Africa. They are best known for their creation of the alphabet. They were some of the first to introduce trade. They were taken over by the Assyrians, Babylonians, and the Persian Empire.
Trojan War & The Dorians
The Dorians were a very weak civilization that was around from 1150-750 B.C. Homer, a storyteller, was around at this time and he told epics and myths. At this time, there was a lot of the Greek Mythology being created. Homer is famous for his story the Iliad and the Odyssey. Both very long, dangerous journeys.
Important Contributors
Draco
Pioneer of democracy. Stated that everyone was equal.
Solon
Pioneer in Democracy. Separated people based on wealth.
Cleisthenes
Pioneer of democracy. Separated people into 10 groups based on geography
What more could there be?... A LOT
Importants of the Persian Wars
At the end of the war a group of Greek city-states banded together creating the Delian League. They pushed the Persians out of the remaining land that the Persians occupied.
Greece's Golden Age
At the end of the Golden Age the Peloponnesian War began. It was between Athens and Sparta. They had two very different strategies. Sparta wanted to fight on land while Athens wanted to fight by water. Athens was hit by a plague and Sparta technically won, but they signed a truce.
First Philosophers
A Little Bit More
Plato: Plato thought and wrote about a perfect government in his book The Republic.
Aristotle: He invented a way of arguing based on rules and logic. He was very influential.
Alexander's Empire
Alexander's Father
Alexander Takes Over
Alexander's next move was to liberate Egypt. By doing this he gained their trust and loyalty along with their numbers. Afterwards, he waited a little bit then stormed the Persian capital and burnt it to the ground. That was how he conquered the Persian Empire.
Alexander wanted to conquer India, but his men were too tired so they decided to turn around and go home. Alexander died around 32 years old from a fever. His empire was separated into 3 parts.
Hellenistic Culture, Say What?!
What is Hellenistic Culture?
Hellenes were known for their art. They made statues to portray feelings and events. They made a 100 ft. statue made of bronze called the Colossus of Rhodes. This shows us they had really advanced technology to be-able to create something this big and out of bronze.
There were many contributors to the sciences and maths. Archimedes is probably the best known today. He accurately estimated the value of pi. He also found the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter.