Greek History

The coming of the Iron Age and the rise of the Polis 1100 BCE to 499 BCE

The fall of the Mycenaean civilization and the fall, or retreat of numerous other civilizations created what can best be referred to as a “Dark Age”. Like the Dark Age that proceeded the fall of the Roman, this Dark Age saw a fall in population and the size of settlements. However, this Dark Age is probably what produced the early shift to the Iron Age. In the Dark Ages iron was more readily available in Greece then tin and copper. Both tin and copper needed to be imported. The introduction of iron for most civilizations, including the Ancient Greeks, was detrimental to development, as iron, unlike bronze, could not be inscribed upon. For the Greeks, the larger problem was that they were unable to cast iron, so in fact the introduction of iron was a huge step backwards. The Greeks only seemed to start using iron because iron ore was so readily available.

The earliest evidence of the end of the Dark Ages comes from a site called Lefkandi. Lefkandi, located on the west of the island of Euboea, was a Mycenaean settlement that had received a large number of settlers in 1200 BCE; about the same time as the collapse of the Mycenaean civilization. But by the 12th century BCE it had been abandoned, but was quickly resettled in the 11th century BCE. By the 10th century Lefkandi was flourishing. As a city it had developed a wide range of naval contacts. What suggests that Lefkandi was the first of the Greek cities to recover is the extensive and lavish burials surrounding the city. The findings at Lefkandi suggest that by the 10th century BCE, Lefkandi had access to a wide number of luxury goods that could only have been acquired via trade. For these reasons, Lefkandi is often sited as the first Greek city to emerge from the Dark Ages and embrace the Iron Age.

The period comprising the eighth and seventh century BCE is best called the age of epic poetry for the poems of Homer and Hesiod were composed during this period. Homer probably composed his epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, between 750 and 720 BCE. Hesiod’s poems, most likely written at the end of the eighth century BCE, detailed the genealogies of Gods and other divine creatures. The Iliad tells the story of the Trojan War and the great Greek hero Achilles, while the Odyssey chronicles Odysseus and his attempts to return home. It is within Homer’s poems that we can see the birth of the heroic ideal that will further shape the Ancient Greek world. While Homer and Hesoid’s poems are the best-known poems of this period there were dozens of compositions that existed. Many of the compositions actually provide a window into other parts of the Trojan War, however many of these works are only preserved in fragments.

When the Dark Age begins to wane in the eighth century BCE, signs of the Greek polis can already be seen in Greek world. Homer in his poems talks a great deal about the polis. The institutions that constitute a polis can be seen in Homer’s brief discussions of Ancient Greek government. The Ancient Greek polis is unlike a modern city in two important respects. Firstly, the polis, unlike a modern city the polis was completely autonomous or at least sought autonomy. Secondly, a polis tended to control territory. The urban centre of a polis was known as the astu and any extraneous territory was known as the chora. During the early period, series families generally ran a Greek Polis in an autocratic form.

The rivalry between Sparta and Athens and their constant need for heroic glory would eventually destroy the idea of the Greek polis, thus it is important to understand the beginnings of both Athens and Sparta. During the classical period Sparta, a Greek city in the Peloponese, was acknowledged by most of the Greek states as the predominant military power. Even today, the word Sparta conjures images of military strength and a way of life stripped of luxury for the pursuit of warlike activates. The people of Sparta, like many other communities in Greece spoke a Dorian dialect. In comparison the Athenians and the communities around Athens spoke an Ionic form of Greek and the Northern Greeks spoke an Aeolic dialect. According to Spartan tradition, around 950 BCE, groups of Dorian speakers the “Sons of Herakles” returned to Sparta after a period of exile of about one hundred years. Upon arrival they reduced all non-Dorian inhabitants to a subservient status. Over time those subjected to this subservient status became known as helots. Helots were tied to the land, but not own by any individual, as such they could not be sold. Sparta, as a state, completely depended on the Helots for survival as such they employed harsh measures to keep them in line. Every year the Spartan’s would declare war upon their own helots in order to control and dominate over them. The Spartan army, though formidable, could never really leave Sparta as it was necessary to control the helots. The other group of people that existed in Spartan society other than the Spartans were the perioikoi. The perioikoi fought beside the Spartans in battle, but seemed to lack political rights. The Spartans themselves were the rulers of Sparta. They had political rights and were considered the warriors of the society.

The key to Spartan power technically lay within the fertile land of the Messenians. Though this is a strong claim it can be defended by the fact that Sparta only became a power in Greece through its acquisition of Messenia, and it lost its power rather quickly after the loss of Messenia. The first Messenian War is barely visible in historical sources, but we believe that it lasted about twenty years in the mid-eighth century. The Spartans were the ultimate victors of this war and they enslaved the conquered, reducing them to helots. The resources gained by the Spartans in their conquest of Messenian would instrumental in the development of their power. The further rebellions of Messenian would mold the idea of warrior into what we associate the word Spartan with. Also through these revolts the Spartans institutionalized their annual killing of helots as a brutal method of control.

Very little is known about the political structure and life of early Athens. Most sources suggest, that like other poleis it was an autocratic society controlled by elite families. Athenian history, or at least as we can understand it, really begins sometime between 640 and 621 BCE when an Athenian aristocrat named Kylon attempted to form a tyranny in Athens. Kylon, despite his help Athens enemy Megara, was foiled and forced to flee. A number of his followers to took refuge in a temple seeking protection. Kylon’s enemies cut them down and unwittingly violated their own laws and created consequences that would help to define Athens future. In Ancient Greece the idea of “Blood Pollution” was prominent any shedding of blood was though to pollute. Deliberate unjustified killing, incurred the gravest consequences. In this case the family responsible for the killings, the Alkmeonids, were forever stained. This is significant as almost all of Athens most prominent figures were Alkmeonids. Kleisthenes, Pericles and Alkibiades were Alkmeonids.

In 594 BCE, when unrest threatened the city, a man named Solon was given special powers to reform Athens’s political and economic system. When Solon completed his legislative works, he is said to have left the city to preserve his work. The immediate result of Solon’s work was chaos. However, Solon’s laws set the framework for all future Athenian states through his guarantees of freedom and rights. These rights and guarantees would be vital to the development of the famous Athenian democracy. Despite the new laws, another tyranny was formed in Athens, under a man named Peisistratus. Peisistratus died in 527 BCE and was succeeded by his son Hippias. Hippias continued to rule like his father until 514 BCE when his brother Hipparchus was assassinated. This act made Hippias bitter and his rule became harsh, and began to reflect our modern idea of a tyranny. The Alkmeonids hoped to restore their aristocratic power by overthrowing an unpopular tyrant; in order to overthrow Hippias they secured the help of the Spartans. With assistance from the Spartans Hippias was forced to flee to Asia Minor.

At this point two men attempted to seize power in Athens. Kleisthenes, an Alkmeonid and Isagoras. In the initial competition Isagoras seems to have held the upper hand, as he was the one who had the Spartan support, not Kleisthenes. It was then at this crucial point that Kleisthenes took a revolutionary step. In order gain support with the common people he bestowed political powers upon the people that were traditionally applied to a small group of aristocrats. Isagoras responded by using his Spartan troops to banish Kleisthenes, but Kleisthenes had already set something of great importance into motion. It is at this point that the common Athenians rose up and for three days they besieged Isagoras and his contingent of Spartan troops atop the acropolis. At the end of the third day they surrendered and the Spartans, Isagoras and his followers fled Athens. With Isagoras’s expulsion, Kleisthenes was invited back to Athens. In Kleisthenes new government a man could only be a citizen if he was a member of a deme, and every citizen had an equal share in government. These reforms did not make Athens a true democracy, as is sometimes toted as the highest offices were restricted by property class. Kleisthenes reforms were important as they ended the traditional aristocratic factionalism that had plagued Athens and stunted its growth. Now with a new system of government, Athens had room to grow.

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