The History of the Greeks and Persians - Research Paper Example

Jerry Ciacho December 2, The History of the Greeks and Persians In 1888, an Englishman is at a flea market in Athens. Sir Arthur Evans notices coins at a woman’s stand with markings on them and asks where she got the coins. She repeats the word ‘minos.’ She is referring to King Minos. In 1893, Arthur Evans travels to the island in the Mediterranean. Crete is the island Evans begins to dig up. There are approximately one thousand men with him. The Turks imprison Evans. He negotiates to get out and he buys the northeastern section, where he believes Minos is. 6 year later in 1899, Evans with five thousand men begin to dig and he discovers the legendary capital city, Knossos where the Palace of King Minos is constructed. The Minoan civilization is the oldest Greek and the oldest European civilization. Many characteristics define the Minoan civilization. One, there are palaces everywhere to be found and it stretches to the whole entire island. Every city has no walls around it. There is no fear of foreign attack and no domestic enemies of war. Every road is paved. It is during this time that the first flushable toilet is made since France in 1701 AD. The Minoan civilization is also engaged in a lot of trade and is rich and healthy. Every home has two stories. The Minoan civilization declines due to many factors. In 1628 BC, there is a massive volcanic eruption, which is two hundred miles away. The explosion and the waves destroy the Minoans’ city. It is felt from China all the way to California. By 1500 BC, the Minoans tries to rebuild their city. The problem is that they cannot rebuild because of a weakened city. In 1450 BC, the Minoan world is invaded by a civilization, the Mycenaeans. The Mycenaeans will finish off the Minoans’ world. They were the second oldest group of Greeks. In 1871 AD, Heinrich Schliemann goes and seeks the legendary city of Troy. He carries with him one book entitled Iliad written by Homer. In the same year, he goes to Western Turkey in Hissar. There he finds a gigantic mound. He begins to dig straight down and discovers nine ancient cities. Some of them are older than Troy. 1873, he states that he discovers the legendary city of Troy and he goes to search for the legendary Greek king, Agamemnon who destroys the city of Troy. He later goes to Peloponnesus in 1878 and he discovers five bodies which he thinks is the legendary king, but is not. He instead discovers the city Mycenae and the Mycenaeans. The Mycenaeans build cities on top of hills which are about nine hundred feet high. There are gigantic walls around their cities. The walls are thirty feet wide and fifty feet high. The Mycenaeans also have a massive navy. Other characteristics of the Mycenaean civilization include large degree of slavery, illiteracy and the roads are not paved. They also do not believe in womans’ rights. They have one written language, Linear B. The Mycenaeans are also the first to establish the first Greek colonies. In addition, they are the first to worship the first thirteen Greek gods. The Mycanaeans declines approximately around 1250 BC. They are invaded by the future Spartans as the Dorians are one of the first people to create iron weapons. They have slaves within. Beginning from 1250 BC and lasting until 800 BC, the Greeks undergo a plunge for four hundred eighty years, also known as the Greek Dark Ages. The Greek Dark Ages is an age of no physical remains. It is an age of constant warfare. Farming provides the daily sustenance of the people. It is the day-to-day livelihood of the Greeks. The cities disappear and in its place, there is a town construction. Education also stops. In addition, the Greek Dark Ages is an age of the Greek migration, where the people begin to flee. The first Olympics are also held during this time. By 800 BC, the Greek world emerges from the Dark Age and divides into over two hundred city-states. Sparta and Athens emerge as the two natural leaders. Sparta is found in the Peloponnese, in the area of Laconia. In 725 BC, Sparta is on its way out three major problems. First, the land’s condition goes bad, meaning rocky. Rising population, also begin to rise through the roof. The number is thirty thousand people and there is no food to feed the people. The slave population is also massive. Known as the helots, they outnumber the people with the ratio of 9 to 1. In the same year, Sparta invades their peaceful western nation member, Messenia. A seventy-five year war erupts between 725 BC until 650 BC. The Spartans win the war at a great cost, losing forty nine percent of their population. The Spartan king strolls onto the battlefield to observe the death and the destruction. His name is Lycurgus. He says that the war is a loss because the people are selfish and only care about themselves. The king Lycurgus writes the Spartan constitution and instructs, “No one is to change a word until I get back.” However, he never returns. The moment one is born, the Spartans take the children on the mountainside to physically examine them. If anything is wrong such as a missing finger, then the child is killed because they feel that they are weak and by blending more weak kids, they are destroying the army. At age seven, the Spartans take the kids away and never brings them back because they do not want the children to get a personality and become soft. From age seven to twenty, both girls and boys go to a military camp. Physical abuse happens every day and if one shows any sign of weakness, he or she is killed on the spot. After, they encourage them to steal by taking away their food away from them. They encourage killing people as well. In addition, they deprive the people of sleep to make them stronger. They also make the people eat a tar like soup so they will not be weak eating good food. At fourteen years of age, a cheese stealing ritual is held in which one group attempts to protect the cheese as the other group tries to steal it and they will kill to win. At twenty, there is a one year probation to join the military. They only get one meal and a pair of clothes to change outside of Sparta. The military then comes and hunts the kids down to get a reward of twenty thousand. At the age of twenty two, one becomes part of the Spartan military. When one turns thirty years of age, there is like a birthday celebration to receive a gift of citizenship. At age sixty, one can finally leave the military and can marry. At the wedding night, a Spartan woman cuts all her hair off and the men wear gigantic clothing after. A Spartan breaks into his own house that he has built and has sex with his supposed wife. Spartan education was just up to reading and writing, as they do not want to make one educated to have a mind of their own. The only Spartan occupation is becoming a warrior. The other group of people living outside the war fix the food and make clothing. Sparta owns a lot of gigantic bars of gold and silver which they do not want to trade because they do not want to be affected with others’ ideas. They do not like outsiders and if found inside out, they are thrown out. Spartan government is composed of two separate kings. One ran the military, the other the government. Gerusia is the name for the Spartan senate. The members are sixty years of age and has to be a retiree from the military. Twenty eight senators compromised the Gerusia. The Apella is the Spartan house. All men can be part of the senate at age thirty. Women, in addition, can speak at the House or Senate. All people are equal in Sparta. A special branch of the government, the Ephors, compromised seven men. They run the day-to-day operation of the government. The seven men are like surveillance cameras so no one steals and so everyone is safe. The history of the Persians originates from the steppes of Russia. They are the Aryan people. They enter the state of Iran to establish serfs. They were a slave population when entering the southern region. In 539 BC, a man would later free the Persians from slavery and also do something no ancient warrior would do. His names is Cyrus the Great. He would conquer the entire Middle East and the whole area with the Persians and would capture the kingship of Israel. The Persians grants all people religion toleration. The Persians help rebuild the temple of Jerusalem, made the royal Persian road and the world’s first postal service as well. They would also influence Christianity and the concept of human and the divine would come from the Persians. This also includes the concept of heaven and hell. In 501 BC, Darius the Great rises to power and expands the Persian Empire to its largest million square miles. In 499 BC, the Persians expand to the edge of Western Turkey. They encounter the Ionian Greeks who are the richest of all the Greek people. They have massive cities. One of them is the port city of Miletus. They also controlled the majority of the trade, they have been independent for over seven hundred years, and were never physically threatened. That year the Ionian Greeks attack the god king and burn the whole city down. From 499 BC to 494 BC, the Persians begin their attack on the Ionian Greeks for burning down their city. They ask the Spartans for help but they said no because they started the war and were outsiders. They then turn to Athens for help and by 499 BC, the Persians destroyed the Ionians. In 490 BC, Darius goes after Athens with attacks by sea with one to five thousand Persian ships. Aware, the Athens would get there first at Marathon and win the battle. Not more than a month after, a revolution broke out in Egypt. In 480 BC, Xerxes comes up with a different battle plan after ten years of preparation. The army totaled to one million men. King Leonidas was the leader of the Spartans. He brought fifteen thousand men to a narrow opening, Thermopylae. Although Spartan government disagrees, Leonidas goes for a walk with three hundred of the greatest Spartan warriors and a thousand other Greeks. Using famous tactics, they hold the Persians off for two days, killing over fifty five thousand men. The Spartans brought the Greek world together in the fight against a common enemy. By 480 BC, the Greek world unified their navy and fought at Salamis. The Persian fleet goes full speed into the bay and get stuck. It was shallow so they hit one another and the Greeks won the Battle of Salamis. In 479 BC, the Greek army unified and fought at Plataea. The Greeks ultimately won the battle. Read More