Notes
Greece
- Mountains created independent city-states. Sparta was military; Athens developed direct democracy limited to free adult male citizens.
- Greeks defeated Persia at Marathon and Salamis. Athens's Golden Age under Pericles produced the Parthenon, drama and history.
- Philosophers Socrates, Plato and Aristotle used reason to study ethics, politics and nature.
- The Peloponnesian War weakened Greece. Alexander the Great conquered Persia and spread Hellenistic culture.
Rome
- The Roman Republic (509 BCE) had elected consuls, a Senate and written law (Twelve Tables). Rome defeated Carthage in the Punic Wars.
- Civil wars ended the Republic. Augustus became emperor (27 BCE) and began the Pax Romana.
- Legacy: roads, aqueducts, arches, Latin, and Roman law.
Christianity and decline
- Christianity grew from the teachings of Jesus and spread along Roman roads; Constantine legalized it (313 CE).
- Political, economic and military problems plus Germanic migrations led to the fall of the West in 476 CE. The East became the Byzantine Empire.
Topics in this unit
Each topic has its own short notes and practice.
Practice
490 BCE, 323 BCE, 27 BCE, 476 CE.
Many modern republics elect representatives and use a senate.
The two city-states had very different values and governments.
The Republic allowed a temporary dictator in emergencies.
Peace and roads helped trade, culture and later Christianity spread.
Historians point to many interacting causes.
Free response
Write your answer first, then open the scoring guide.
Free-response question
Classical Greece and Rome both developed governments that influenced later societies.
(a) Describe ONE feature of Athenian democracy.
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Athens used direct democracy: male citizens met in the Assembly to debate and vote on laws themselves. Many officials and large juries were chosen by lot.
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(b) Explain ONE way the Roman Republic limited the power of any single leader.
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Rome elected two consuls who served only one-year terms and could check each other. Tribunes could also veto actions that hurt plebeians.
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(c) Explain ONE limitation of political participation in either Athens or Rome.
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In Athens, women, enslaved people and foreigners could not vote, so only a minority of residents had political rights.
Check off the points you earned: