Herodotus: The Evidence of Greeks - Assignment Example

The ancient Greeks were active seafarers seeking opportunities to find new independent cities to trade with at the coast across the Mediterranean Sea. These new cities act as trading stations. In these stations, Greek goods such as pottery (2009.529), bronze, silver, gold vessels olive oil, wine, and textiles were exchanged for luxury items and toxic raw materials that were in turn worked by Greek craftsmen. They established trading enclaves within existing local communities. The port town of Naukratis (1972.118.142) served as a commercial headquarters for Greek traders in Egypt.

Well-established maritime trade routes around the  Mediterranean basin enable foreigners to travel to Greece. After the military campaign of Alexandra the great (336-323 B.C.), more extensive trade routes were opened across Asia and extended towards Afghanistan and the Indus River Valley (History 101, lecture 4). The population of the Greeks and their interaction with other societies greatly increased due to the trading activity they were involved in. They also had no wrong emphasis they only had oral forms of interaction.

Since early Greeks had no political administration and institution, local communities were dominated by the “big man” (History 102, lecture 4). The big man was not a king or official or someone with an inherited position within an institution but a popular guy and a good warrior who attract followers. The Greeks were greatly involved in warfare, unlike other societies. They were notoriously aggressive warriors (Drews & Robert, 2009). They “fought to live and lived to fight” and ‘drunk the blood of their enemies and used the scalps as napkins”.

The heavily armed soldiers were standing in long, parallel lines close to each other. Every soldier carried a large round shield that covered his left side and the right side of the man on his left. The phalanx was densely packed and could not easily turn left or right. Once they were victorious, the losses on the other end were extremely heavy as the victors would use their swords to kill the defeated enemy. The Greek soldiers were very strong men and they were noted by foreigners as “ men of bronze” (Herodotus, Histories, 2.152)