You've Gotta Love Those Athenians Quiz

Answer: They viewed Athens as a small, insignificant village.

The Greek Dark Ages is also known as the Greek Iron Age or Archaic Age. During the Dorian invasion, many Mycenaeans were killed or enslaved, but some were able to escape to the western coast of Asia Minor to an area known as Ionia. Some of the Mycenaeans settled in Athens, which was ignored by the Dorians. Of course, it was not until the Golden Age of Athens that culture really flourished there; the acropolis seen in the foreground was used as a fortress but was rather undeveloped in terms of buildings during the Iron Age.

Answer: Archons

The leader of the Mycenaenas was a king whose power was limited as he was expected to both consult the nobles and heed their advice. At some point during the Greek Dark Ages the independent-minded Athenians formulated a government that was an aristocracy. Nine of the wealthiest and most influential Athenians were chosen by the Assembly to lead Athens for one year.

At the end of their term of office they joined the Council of the Areopagus, an advisory body made up of ex-archons. This form of government didn't prove to be satisfactory to the Athenians; it created a huge gap between the wealthy and the poor, and led to social unrest.

Answer: Sumerians

The use of the phalanx dates back to approximately 2500 B.C., and is depicted on inscriptions from ancient Sumer. With the shortage of horses, Greek nobles were no longer able to fight using horses and chariots and no longer were they the only ones allowed to fight in battle. Those citizens who could afford to arm themselves became the mainstay of the army.

Answer: Hoplites

Hoplites were equipped with spears, swords, shields, and bronze armor. Their participation in battle had a staggering effect. The wealthy no longer had the sole right to fight in honor of their polis. Now the rank-and-file could fight too; not only that, but the equality that soldiers felt on the battlefield began to spill over into the governmental workings of the polis as well.

There were still citizens, however, who could not afford weapons and therefore did not have the right to participate in government either.

Answer: Timocracy

Although the Athenians had moved to the phalanx method of fighting, there were still several "thetes", or poor, free farmers, who could not afford to equip themselves for war. They were excluded from both military service and government participation; this led to bitter class struggles as the "thetes" fell into debt to the wealthy, and many not only had their property seized, but were also forced into slavery.

Answer: Solon

Solon was given unlimited authority, which was very unusual in Athens, to achieve the passage of measures to benefit everyone in the polis. It was understood, however, that he would leave office once the task was completed. Although his reforms failed to immediately end the class antagonisms in Athens, he is known as one of the greatest sages of the ancient world.

Answer: True

Each year the Athenian Assembly met to discuss whether or not any Athenian posed a threat to the polis. The names of these people were written on "ostraka", or broken pieces of pottery. If a person received six thousand votes, he was ostracized, or sent into exile, for ten years.

Answer: Boule

All free men who were eighteen and born in Athens were allowed to join the Assembly. It is estimated that at any time, about 1/6 of the population qualified for membership as citizens. As the Assembly discussed the issues of the day, all citizens who wanted to speak before the group could.

It was very easy to be bogged down in details. For this reason, the Boule was established. The Boule, also called the Council of 500, consisted of ten committees of fifty people; each committee served for one-tenth of the year.

Their duties included preparing business for discussion in the Assembly and preparing legislation for debate. To insure that one person did not become too powerful, a new Boule was chosen from among the citizens by lottery every year. Members of the Boule had to be at least thirty years old and were limited to two one-year terms.

Answer: Tyrants

Interestingly enough, the two tyrants, Pisistratus and Cleisthenes, instituted changes in Athens that led to the development of the world's first limited democracy. Due to these reforms, the common man was allowed to participate in government for the first time in history. By the end of the Greek Dark Ages, Athens was one of the most powerful and influential Greek city-states.

Answer: Persians

The Persian's policy of fairness to conquered people usually made it unnecessary to actually conquer to add to their empire; many times terms were peacefully negotiated, but the independent Greeks were not willing to negotiate. With their independence threatened from without, would the Greeks band together to fight as a unified people? Well, that's another story for another quiz!