Greek Facts I'm Learning

• People first lived in Greece about 55,000 years ago.
• In about 1628 B.C., a volcano erupted on an island near Crete and tidal waves caused by the eruption destroyed settlements on Crete.
• The Mycenaeans controlled mainland Greece from about 1600 B.C. to about 1200 B.C.
• The Mycenaeans adopted many elements of Minoan civilization.
• The inhabitants of Greece were intensely loyal to the concept of the polis.
• Citizens met in the agora to discuss common issues. 
• Greek citizens believed that they owed loyalty to their polis, and were often willing to die defending it.
• Helots made up the third and lowest group in Spartan society.
• Ephors were elected from the Spartan assembly, which included all male citizens over 30 years old.
• Sparta's goal was to make every adult male citizen part of the military machine.
• Draco's laws were so harsh and severe that today we call a harsh law a Draconian law.
• Solon also made changes in Athenian government; for example, he set up citizen juries to preside over some court cases.
• The form of democracy Athens had under Cleisthenes was called direct democracy.
• Metics could not take part in government or own land.
• Trade was the mainstay of Athen's economy.
• Terracing means carving small, flat plots of land from hillsides.
• Parents arranged marriages and often girls were married at 13 or 14 to men twice their age or older
• Generally, most Athenians believed that money should be spent on buildings to benefit the whole community, and not on private homes.
• Sappho often described everyday scenes from Greek life, such as weddings.
• Men called Sophists opened schools for older boys in the 400s B.C.
• Athenians placed great value on literacy and learning and sent their sons to schools at a young age.
• Hoplites formed the center of the Athenian infantry. Helots were people that the Spartans conquered.
• Pericles was a great general, orator, and statesman in Athens, and was responsible for building the Parthenon and the Acropolis.