Difference between revisions of "Classics"

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[[Image:Homere.jpg|right|thumb|<center>[[Homer]]</center>]]
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'''Classics''' or '''Classical Studies''' is the branch of the [[Humanities]] dealing with the [[language]]s, [[literature]], [[history]], [[art]], and other aspects of the ancient [[Mediterranean]] world; especially [[Ancient Greece]] and [[Ancient Rome]] during the time known as [[classical antiquity]], roughly spanning from the Ancient Greek [[Bronze Age]] in 1000 [[BCE]] to the [[Dark Ages]] circa [[Common Era|CE]] 500. The study of the Classics was the initial field of study in the humanities.  The word "Classics" also refers to the literature of that period.
 
'''Classics''' or '''Classical Studies''' is the branch of the [[Humanities]] dealing with the [[language]]s, [[literature]], [[history]], [[art]], and other aspects of the ancient [[Mediterranean]] world; especially [[Ancient Greece]] and [[Ancient Rome]] during the time known as [[classical antiquity]], roughly spanning from the Ancient Greek [[Bronze Age]] in 1000 [[BCE]] to the [[Dark Ages]] circa [[Common Era|CE]] 500. The study of the Classics was the initial field of study in the humanities.  The word "Classics" also refers to the literature of that period.
  
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The word "classics" is derived from the [[Latin]] [[adjective]] ''classicus'' meaning "belonging to the highest class of citizens," and has further connotations of superiority, authority, and [[perfectionism|perfection]]. The first, recorded use of the word "classics" was by [[Aulus Gellius]], a [[second century]] Roman author who, in his [[miscellany]] ''Noctes Atticae'' (19, 8, 15), refers to ''classicus scriptor, non proletarius''. He ranked writers per the classification of the Roman taxation classes.
 
The word "classics" is derived from the [[Latin]] [[adjective]] ''classicus'' meaning "belonging to the highest class of citizens," and has further connotations of superiority, authority, and [[perfectionism|perfection]]. The first, recorded use of the word "classics" was by [[Aulus Gellius]], a [[second century]] Roman author who, in his [[miscellany]] ''Noctes Atticae'' (19, 8, 15), refers to ''classicus scriptor, non proletarius''. He ranked writers per the classification of the Roman taxation classes.
  
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This method was started when the Greeks were constantly ranking their cultural work. The word they used was ''[[wikt:canon|canon]]''; ancient Greek for a carpenter's rule. Moreover, early [[Christianity|Christian]] Church Fathers used this term to classify authoritative texts of the [[New Testament]]. This rule further helped in the preservation of works since writing platforms of vellum and papyrus and methods of reproduction was not cheap. The title of ''canon'' placed on a work meant that it would be more easily preserved for future generations. In modern times, a [[Western canon]] was collated that defined the best of [[Western culture]].  
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This method was started when the Greeks were constantly ranking their cultural work. The word they used was ''[[canon]]''; ancient Greek for a carpenter's rule. Moreover, early [[Christianity|Christian]] Church Fathers used this term to classify authoritative texts of the [[New Testament]]. This rule further helped in the preservation of works since writing platforms of vellum and papyrus and methods of reproduction was not cheap. The title of ''canon'' placed on a work meant that it would be more easily preserved for future generations. In modern times, a [[Western canon]] was collated that defined the best of [[Western culture]].  
  
 
At the Alexandrian Library, the ancient scholars coined another term for canonized authors, ''hoi enkrithentes''; "the admitted" or "the included."  
 
At the Alexandrian Library, the ancient scholars coined another term for canonized authors, ''hoi enkrithentes''; "the admitted" or "the included."  
  
 
Classical studies incorporate a certain type of methodology. The rule of the classical world and of Christian culture and society was Philo's rule:  
 
Classical studies incorporate a certain type of methodology. The rule of the classical world and of Christian culture and society was Philo's rule:  
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:"Philo's rule dominated Greek culture, from Homer to Neo-Platonism and the Christian Fathers of late antiquity. The rule is: "μεταχαραττε το θειον νομισμα" ("metacharatte to theion nomisma"). It is the law of strict continuity. We preserve and do not throw away words or ideas. Words and ideas may grow in meaning but must stay within the limits of the original meaning and concept that the word has."{{Fact|date=April 2007}}
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:"Philo's rule dominated Greek culture, from Homer to Neo-Platonism and the Christian Fathers of late antiquity. The rule is: "μεταχαραττε το θειον νομισμα" ("metacharatte to theion nomisma"). It is the law of strict continuity. We preserve and do not throw away words or ideas. Words and ideas may grow in meaning but must stay within the limits of the original meaning and concept that the word has."
 
Classical education was considered the best training for implanting the life of moral excellence [[arete (excellence)|arete]], hence a good citizen. It furnished students with intellectual and aesthetic appreciation for "the best which has been thought and said in the world." Edward Copleston, an Oxford classicist, said that classical education "communicates to the mind...a high sense of honour, a disdain of death in a good cause, (and) a passionate devotion to the welfare of one's country." Edward Copleston, in ''The Victorians and Ancient Greece,'' Richard Jenkyns, 60. [[Cicero]] commented, "All literature, all philosophical treatises, all the voices of antiquity are full of examples for imitation, which would all lie unseen in darkness without the light of literature."
 
Classical education was considered the best training for implanting the life of moral excellence [[arete (excellence)|arete]], hence a good citizen. It furnished students with intellectual and aesthetic appreciation for "the best which has been thought and said in the world." Edward Copleston, an Oxford classicist, said that classical education "communicates to the mind...a high sense of honour, a disdain of death in a good cause, (and) a passionate devotion to the welfare of one's country." Edward Copleston, in ''The Victorians and Ancient Greece,'' Richard Jenkyns, 60. [[Cicero]] commented, "All literature, all philosophical treatises, all the voices of antiquity are full of examples for imitation, which would all lie unseen in darkness without the light of literature."
  
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*[[Phoenicia]]
 
*[[Phoenicia]]
  
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===Philology===
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===[[Philology]]===
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Traditionally, classics was essentially the [[philology]] of ancient texts. Although now less dominant, philology retains a central role. One definition of classical philology describes it as "the science which concerns itself with everything that has been transmitted from antiquity in the [[ancient Greek|Greek]] or [[classical Latin|Latin]] language. The object of this science is thus the Graeco-Roman, or Classical, world to the extent that it has left behind monuments in a linguistic form." J. and K. Kramer, ''La filologia classica'', 1979 as quoted by [Christopher S. Mackay [http://www.ualberta.ca/~csmackay/Philology.html]. Of course, classicists also concern themselves with other languages than Classical Greek and Latin including [[Linear A]], [[Linear B]], [[Sanskrit]], [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], [[Oscan]], [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscan]], and many more. Before the invention of the [[printing press]], texts were reproduced by hand and distributed haphazardly. As a result, extant versions of the same text often differ from one another. Some classical philologists, known as textual critics, seek to synthesize these defective texts to find the most accurate version.
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Traditionally, classics was essentially the [[philology]] of ancient texts. Although now less dominant, philology retains a central role. One definition of classical philology describes it as "the science which concerns itself with everything that has been transmitted from antiquity in the [[ancient Greek|Greek]] or [[classical Latin|Latin]] language. The object of this science is thus the Graeco-Roman, or Classical, world to the extent that it has left behind monuments in a linguistic form." J. and K. Kramer, ''La filologia classica'', 1979 as quoted by [Christopher S. Mackay [https://www.ualberta.ca/~csmackay/Philology.html]. Of course, classicists also concern themselves with other languages than Classical Greek and Latin including [[Linear A]], [[Linear B]], [[Sanskrit]], [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], [[Oscan]], [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscan]], and many more. Before the invention of the [[printing press]], texts were reproduced by hand and distributed haphazardly. As a result, extant versions of the same text often differ from one another. Some classical philologists, known as textual critics, seek to synthesize these defective texts to find the most accurate version.
  
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===Archaeology===
 
  
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===[[Archaeology]]===
 
Thanks to popular culture, such as the movie ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]'', classical [[archaeology]] is often seen as very exciting. Philologists rely on archaeological excavation, so that they may study the literary and linguistic culture of the ancient world. Likewise, archaeologists may rely on the philological study of literature in order to contextualize the excavated remains of the classical civilizations of [[Mesopotamia]], [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]], Greece, and Rome. The artifacts they find are key to all the other sub-disciplines and help provide new evidence for the understanding of the ancient world.
 
Thanks to popular culture, such as the movie ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]'', classical [[archaeology]] is often seen as very exciting. Philologists rely on archaeological excavation, so that they may study the literary and linguistic culture of the ancient world. Likewise, archaeologists may rely on the philological study of literature in order to contextualize the excavated remains of the classical civilizations of [[Mesopotamia]], [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]], Greece, and Rome. The artifacts they find are key to all the other sub-disciplines and help provide new evidence for the understanding of the ancient world.
  
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===Art history===
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===[[Art history]]===
 
Some [[Art history|art historians]] focus their study of the development of art on the classical world. Indeed, the art and architecture of Ancient Rome and Greece is very well regarded and remains at the heart of much of our art today. For example, Ancient Greek architecture gave us the Classical Orders: [[Doric order]], [[Ionic order]], and [[Corinthian order]]. [[Parthenon|The Parthenon]] is still the architectural symbol of the classical world.
 
Some [[Art history|art historians]] focus their study of the development of art on the classical world. Indeed, the art and architecture of Ancient Rome and Greece is very well regarded and remains at the heart of much of our art today. For example, Ancient Greek architecture gave us the Classical Orders: [[Doric order]], [[Ionic order]], and [[Corinthian order]]. [[Parthenon|The Parthenon]] is still the architectural symbol of the classical world.
  
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Some classicists use the information gathered through philology, archaeology, and art history to seek an understanding of the history, culture, and civilization. They critically use the literary and physical artifacts to create and refine a narrative of the ancient world. Unfortunately, imbalances in the evidence available often leave a huge vacuum of information about certain classes of people. Thus, classicists are now working to fill in these gaps as much as possible to get an understanding of the lives of ancient women, slaves, and the lower classes. Other problems include the under-representation in the evidence of entire cultures. For example, [[Sparta]] was one of the leading [[city-state]]s of Greece, but little evidence of it has survived for classicists to study. That which has survived has generally come from their key rival, [[Athens]]. Likewise, the domination and the expansion of the [[Roman Empire]] reduced much of the evidence of earlier civilizations like the [[Etruscans]].
 
Some classicists use the information gathered through philology, archaeology, and art history to seek an understanding of the history, culture, and civilization. They critically use the literary and physical artifacts to create and refine a narrative of the ancient world. Unfortunately, imbalances in the evidence available often leave a huge vacuum of information about certain classes of people. Thus, classicists are now working to fill in these gaps as much as possible to get an understanding of the lives of ancient women, slaves, and the lower classes. Other problems include the under-representation in the evidence of entire cultures. For example, [[Sparta]] was one of the leading [[city-state]]s of Greece, but little evidence of it has survived for classicists to study. That which has survived has generally come from their key rival, [[Athens]]. Likewise, the domination and the expansion of the [[Roman Empire]] reduced much of the evidence of earlier civilizations like the [[Etruscans]].
  
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===Philosophy===
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===[[Ancient Philosophy]]===
  
 
The roots of [[Western philosophy]] lie in the study of the classics. The very word [[philosophy]] is Greek in origin—a term coined by Pythagoras to describe the "love of wisdom." It is not surprising, then, that many classicists study the wealth of philosophical works surviving from Roman and [[Greek authors|Greek philosophy]]. Among the most formidable and lasting of these thinkers are [[Socrates]], [[Plato]], [[Aristotle]], and the [[Stoics]].
 
The roots of [[Western philosophy]] lie in the study of the classics. The very word [[philosophy]] is Greek in origin—a term coined by Pythagoras to describe the "love of wisdom." It is not surprising, then, that many classicists study the wealth of philosophical works surviving from Roman and [[Greek authors|Greek philosophy]]. Among the most formidable and lasting of these thinkers are [[Socrates]], [[Plato]], [[Aristotle]], and the [[Stoics]].
  
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==Classical Greece==
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[[Category: General Reference]]
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[[Category: The Classics]]
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'''Ancient Greece''' is a period in [[Greek history]] that lasted for around nine hundred years. It is generally considered to be the seminal culture which provided the foundation of [[Western world|Western Civilization]]. [[Culture of Greece|Greek culture]] had a powerful influence on the [[Roman Empire]], which carried a version of it to many parts of Europe.
 
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The civilization of the ancient [[Greeks]] has been immensely influential on the language, politics, educational systems, philosophy, science, and arts, giving rise to the [[Renaissance]] in [[Western Europe]] and again resurgent during various [[Neoclassicism|neo-Classical]] revivals in 18th and 19th century Europe and the [[Americas]].
 
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==Chronology==
 
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[[Image:Location greek ancient.png|frame|left|The Ancient Greek world, Circa [[550 BC]]|left]]
 
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There are no fixed or universally agreed upon dates for the beginning or the end of the Ancient Greek period. In common usage it refers to all Greek history before the [[Roman Empire]], but historians use the term more precisely. Some writers include the periods of the Greek-speaking [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean]] civilization that collapsed about [[1150 BC]], though most would argue that the influential [[Minoan civilization|Minoan]] was so different from later Greek cultures that it should be classed separately.
 
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In Greek school books, "ancient times" is a period of about 900 years, from the catastrophe of [[Mycenae]] until the conquest of the country by the [[Roman Republic|Romans]], divided into four periods based on styles of art and culture and politics. The historical line starts with [[Greek Dark Ages]] ([[1100 BC|1100]]&ndash;[[800 BC]]). In this period artists use geometrical schemes such as squares, circles and lines to decorate [[amphora]]s and other pottery. The [[Archaic period in Greece|archaic period]] ([[800 BC|800]]&ndash;[[490 BC]]) represents those years when the artists made larger free-standing sculptures in stiff, hieratic poses with the dreamlike "[[archaic smile]]". In the classical period (490&ndash;[[323 BC]]) artists perfected the style that since has been taken as exemplary: "[[Classical Greece|classical]]", such as the [[Parthenon]]. The years following the conquests of [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]] are referred to as the [[Hellenistic Greece|Hellenistic]], (323&ndash;[[146 BC]]), or [[Alexandria]]n period; aspects of Hellenic civilization expanded to Egypt, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Persia and beyond.
 
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Traditionally, the Ancient Greek period was taken to begin with the date of the first recorded [[Olympic Games]] in [[776 BC]], but many historians now extend the term back to about [[1000 BC]]. The traditional date for the end of the Ancient Greek period is the death of [[Alexander the Great]] in 323 BC. The following period until the integration of Greece into the [[Roman Republic]] in 146 BC is classed [[Hellenistic Greece|Hellenistic]].
 
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These dates are historians' conventions and some writers treat the Ancient Greek civilization as a continuum running until the advent of [[Christianity]] in the [[3rd century]].
 
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==Origins==
 
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The Greeks are believed to have migrated southward into the [[Balkan peninsula]] in several waves beginning in the late  [[3rd millennium BC]], the last being the [[Dorian invasion]]. [[Proto-Greek]] is assumed to date to some time between the 23rd and 17th centuries BC. The period from [[1600 BC]] to about 1100 BC is described in [[History of Mycenaean Greece]] known for the reign of [[King Agamemnon]] and the wars against Troy as narrated in the epics of [[Homer]]. The period from 1100 BC to the [[8th century BC]] is a "[[Greek Dark Ages|Dark Age]]" from which no primary texts survive, and only scant archaeological evidence remains. Secondary and tertiary texts such as [[Herodotus]]' [[Histories (Herodotus)|''Histories'']], [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]]' ''Description of Greece'', [[Diodorus]]' ''Bibliotheca'', and [[Jerome]]'s [[Chronicon (Jerome)|''Chronicon'']] contain brief chronologies and king lists for this period. The history of Ancient Greece is often taken to end with the reign of [[Alexander the Great]], who died in [[323 BC]]. Subsequent events are described in [[Hellenistic Greece]].
 
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Any history of Ancient Greece requires a cautionary note on sources. Those Greek historians and political writers whose works have survived, notably [[Herodotus]], [[Thucydides]], [[Xenophon]], [[Demosthenes]], [[Plato]] and [[Aristotle]], were mostly either [[Athens|Athenian]] or pro-Athenian. That is why we know far more about the history and politics of Athens than of any other city, and why we know almost nothing about some cities' histories. These writers, furthermore, concentrate almost wholly on political, military and diplomatic history, and ignore economic and social history. All histories of Ancient Greece have to contend with these limits in [[Ancient Greek|their sources]].
 
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==The rise of Greece==
 
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In the 8th century BC, Greece began to emerge from the Dark Ages which followed the fall of the Mycenaean civilization. Literacy had been lost and the Mycenaean script forgotten, but the Greeks adopted the [[Phoenician alphabet]], modifying it to create the [[Greek alphabet]]. From about the 9th century BC written records begin to appear. Greece was divided into many small self-governing communities, a pattern dictated by Greek geography, where every island, valley and plain is cut off from its neighbours by the sea or mountain ranges.
 
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The [[Classical demography#Ancient Greece and Greek colonies|Population grew]] beyond the capacity of its limited [[arable land]] (according to [[Mogens Herman Hansen]], the population of Ancient Greece increased by a factor larger than ten during the period from 800 BC to 400 BC, increasing from a population of 800,000 to a total estimated population of 10 to 13 million).<ref>[http://www.umsystem.edu/upress/fall2006/hansen.htm Population of the Greek city-states]</ref> From about [[750 BC]] the Greeks began 250 years of expansion, settling colonies in all directions. To the east, the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]] coast of [[Anatolia|Asia Minor]] was colonized first, followed by [[Ancient history of Cyprus|Cyprus]] and the coasts of [[Thrace]], the [[Sea of Marmara]] and south coast of the [[Black Sea]]. Eventually Greek colonization reached as far north-east as present day [[Ukraine]]. To the west the coasts of [[Illyria]], [[Sicily]] and southern [[Italy]] were settled, followed by the south coast of France, [[Corsica]], and even northeastern [[Spain]]. Greek colonies were also founded in [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]] and [[Ancient Libya|Libya]]. Modern [[Syracuse, Italy|Syracuse]], [[Naples]], [[Marseille]] and [[Istanbul]] had their beginnings as the Greek colonies Syracusae ''(Συρακούσαι)'', Neapolis ''(Νεάπολις)'', Massalia ''(Μασσαλία)'' and [[Byzantium|Byzantion]] ''(Βυζάντιον)''.
 
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[[Image:Taormina Theater2.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Ruins of Greek Theater in the colony at [[Taormina]] in present day Italy]]
 
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By the [[6th century BC]] the Greek world had become a cultural and linguistic area much larger than the geographical area of present Greece. Greek colonies were not politically controlled by their founding cities, although they often retained religious and commercial links with them. The Greeks both at home and abroad organized themselves into independent communities, and the city (''[[polis]]'') became the basic unit of Greek government.
 
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In this period, huge economic development occurred in Greece and also her overseas colonies such as [[Cyme (Aeolis)]], [[Cyrene]] and [[Alalia]] which experienced a growth in commerce and manufacturing. There also was a large improvement in the living standards of the population. Some studies estimate that the average size of the Greek household, in the period from [[800 BC]] to [[300 BC]], increased five times, which indicates a large increase in the average income of the population.
 
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At its economic height, in the 4th century BC, Ancient Greece was the most advanced economy in the world. According to some economic historians, it was one of the most advanced preindustrial economies. This is demonstrated by the average daily wage of the Greek worker, it was, in terms of wheat (about 12 kg), more than 3 times the average daily wage of the Romano-Egyptian worker during the Roman period (about 3.75 kg).<ref>Real Slave prices and the relative cost of slave labour in the Greco-Roman world</ref>
 
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==Social and political conflict==
 
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The Greek cities were originally monarchies, although many of them were very small and the term "King" (''[[basileus]]'') for their rulers is misleadingly grand. In a country always short of farmland, power rested with a small class of landowners, who formed a warrior [[aristocracy]] fighting frequent petty inter-city wars over land and rapidly ousting the monarchy. About this time the rise of a mercantile class (shown by the introduction of [[currency|coinage]] in about [[680 BC]]) introduced class conflict into the larger cities. From [[650 BC]] onwards, the aristocracies had to fight not to be overthrown and replaced by [[populist]] leaders called [[tyrant]]s (''turannoi''), a word which did not necessarily have the modern meaning of oppressive dictators.
 
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[[Image:EarlyAthenianCoin.jpg|thumb|Early [[Athenian]] coin, 5th century BCE. [[British Museum]].]]
 
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By the [[6th century BC]] several cities had emerged as dominant in Greek affairs: [[Athens]], [[History of Sparta|Sparta]], [[Corinth, Greece|Corinth]], and [[Thebes (Greece)|Thebes]]. Each of them had brought the surrounding rural areas and smaller towns under their control, and Athens and Corinth had become major maritime and mercantile powers as well. Athens and Sparta developed a rivalry that dominated Greek politics for generations.
 
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In Sparta, the [[landed aristocracy]] retained their power, and the constitution of [[Lycurgus]] (about [[650 BC]]) entrenched their power and gave Sparta a permanent militarist regime under a dual monarchy. Sparta dominated the other cities of the [[Peloponnese]], with the sole exceptions of [[Argos|Argus]] and [[Achaia]].
 
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In Athens, by contrast, the monarchy was abolished in [[683 BC]], and reforms of [[Solon]] established a moderate system of aristocratic government. The aristocrats were followed by the tyranny of [[Peisistratos (Athens)|Pisistratus]] and his sons, who made the city a great naval and commercial power. When the Pisistratids were overthrown, [[Cleisthenes]] established the world's first [[Athenian democracy|democracy]] ([[500 BC]]), with power being held by an assembly of all the male citizens. But it must be remembered that only a minority of the male inhabitants were citizens, excluding slaves, freedmen and non-Athenians.
 
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==5th century BC==
 
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The period of the 5th century BC in classical Greece is generally considered as beginning in 500 and ending in 404, though this is debated.  This century is essentially studied from the Athenian viewpoint, since Athens has left us more narratives, plays and other written works than the other Greek states.  If one looks at Athens, our principal source, one might consider that this century begins in 510, with the fall of the Athenian tyrant and Cleisthenes's reforms.  If one looks at the whole Greek world, however, we might place its beginning at the Ionian revolt in 500, that provoked the Persian invasion of 492.  The Persians (called "Medes") were finally defeated in 490.  A second Persian attempt failed in 481-479.  The [[Delian League]] then formed, under Athenian hegemony and as Athens' instrument.  Athens' excesses caused several revolts among the allied cities, which were all put down by force, but Athenian dynamism finally awoke Sparta and brought about the Peloponnesian War in 431.  After both sides were exhausted, a brief peace occurred, and then the war resumed to Sparta's advantage.  Athens was definitively defeated in 404, and some internal Athenian agitations ended the 5th century in Greece.
 
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===Cleisthenes===
 
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{{Main|Cleisthenes}}
 
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In  510, Spartan troops helped the Athenians overthrow their king, the tyrant [[Hippias (son of Pisistratus)|Hippias]], son of [[Peisistratos (Athens)|Peisistratos]].  [[Cleomenes I]], king of Sparta, put in place a pro-Spartan oligarchy conducted by [[Isagoras]].  But [[Cleisthenes]], his rival, assisted by the support of the middle class and democrats, reversed this.  Cleomenes intervened in  508 and 506, but could not stop Cleisthenes, now supported by the Athenians.  By his reforms, Cleisthenes endowed the city with [[isonomic]] institutions (ie ones in which all have the same rights) and established [[ostracism]]. 
 
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The isonomic and isegoric (iségoria: same legal right) democracy expressed itself first in the [[deme]] (about 130 dèmes) that became the foundational civic element, the 10,000 citizens exercising their power via the assembly (the ecclesia, in Greek) of which they all were part, headed by a Counsel of 500 citizens choosen at random. 
 
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The city's administrative geography was reworked, the goal being to have mixed political groups, federated by local interests linked to the sea, to the city, or to farming, and to which decisions (declaration of war, etc.) would be submitted to their geographical position.  Also, the territory of the city was divided into thirty [[Trittys]] as follows: 
 
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*ten trittyes in the coastal "Paralie"
 
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*ten trittyes in the "Asty", the urban centre
 
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*ten trittyes in the rural "Mésogée" . 
 
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A tribe was 3 trittyes, taken at random, one from each of these three.  Each tribe therefore always acted in the interests of all 3 areas.
 
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This is this corpus of reforms that would in the end allow the emergence of a wider democracy in the 460s and 450s.
 
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===The Persian Wars===
 
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{{main|Greco-Persian Wars}}
 
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<!---Translate [[:fr:Grèce classique au Ve siècle]] and integrate its material into here.--->
 
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In [[Ionia]] (the modern Aegean coast of [[Turkey]]) the Greek cities, which included great centres such as [[Miletus]] and [[Halicarnassus]], were unable to maintain their independence and came under the rule of the [[Persian Empire]] in the mid 6th century BC. In [[499 BC]] the Greeks rose in the [[Ionian Revolt]], and Athens and some other Greek cities went to their aid, though they were at first quickly forced to back down after defeat in [[494 BC]] at the battle of Lade.  Asia Minor returned to Persian control.
 
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[[Image:Leonidas statue1b.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Statue of King Leonidas of Sparta]]
 
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In [[492 BC]], the Persian generals [[Mardonios]] and [[Datis]] launched a naval assault on the Aegean islands, causing them to submit, then attempted to disembark to Marthon in 490 to take Athens.  In [[490 BC]] the Persian Great King, [[Darius I of Persia|Darius I]], having suppressed the Ionian cities, sent a fleet to punish the Greeks.  100,000 Persians landed in [[Attica]], attempting to take Athens, but were defeated at the [[Battle of Marathon]] by a Greek army of 9000 Athenian hoplites and 1000 Plateans led by the Athenian general [[Miltiades]]. The burial mound of the Athenian dead can still be seen at Marathon.  The Persian fleet continued to Athens but, seeing it garrisoned, decided not to attempt an assault.
 
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Ten years later, in 480 BC, Darius' successor [[Xerxes I of Persia|Xerxes I]] sent a much more powerful force of 300,000 by land, with 1207 ships in support, across a double boat-bridge over the Hellespont.  This army took Thrace, before descending on Thessaly and Boetia, whilst the Persian navy skirted the coast and resupplied the ground troops.  The Greek fleet, meanwhile, dashed to block cape [[Artemision]].  After being delayed by the Spartan King [[Leonidas I]] [[Battle of Thermopylae|at Thermopylae]], Xerxes advanced into Attica, where he captured and burned Athens. But the Athenians had evacuated the city by sea, and under [[Themistocles]] they defeated the Persian fleet at the [[Battle of Salamis]].  (In the peacetime, in 483, a silver-bearing seam had been discovered in the Laurion (a small mountain range close to athens), and the hundreds of talents mined there had paid for the construction of 200 warships to fight [[Aegina]]'s piracy.)  A year later, the Greeks, under the Spartan [[Pausanias (general)|Pausanius]], defeated the Persian army at [[Battle of Plataea|Plataea]].
 
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The Athenian fleet then turned to chasing the Persians out of the Aegean Sea, defeating their fleet decisively in the [[battle of cape Mycale]], and in [[478 BC]] the Athenian fleet captured [[Byzantium]]. In the course of doing so Athens enrolled all the island states and some mainland allies into an alliance, called the [[Delian League]] because its treasury was kept on the sacred island of [[Delos]]. The Spartans, although they had taken part in the war, withdrew into isolation after it, allowing Athens to establish unchallenged naval and commercial power.
 
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===Dominance of Athens===
 
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[[Image:Athenian empire atheight 450 shepherd1923.png|right|thumb|250px|Map of the Athenian empire circa 450 BC]]
 
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[[Image:Acropolis of Athens 01361.JPG|thumb|left|200px|The western side of the [[Parthenon]] on the [[Acropolis of Athens]].]]
 
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The Persian Wars ushered in a century of Athenian dominance of Greek affairs. Athens was the unchallenged master of the sea, and also the leading commercial power, although Corinth remained a serious rival. The leading statesman of this time was [[Pericles]], who used the tribute paid by the members of the Delian League to build the [[Parthenon]] and other great monuments of classical Athens. By the mid 5th century the League had become an [[Athenian Empire]], symbolized by the transfer of the League's treasury from Delos to the Parthenon in [[454 BC]].
 
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The wealth of Athens attracted talented people from all over Greece, and also created a wealthy leisure class who became patrons of the arts. The Athenian state also sponsored learning and the arts, particularly architecture. Athens became the centre of Greek literature, philosophy (see [[Greek philosophy]]) and the arts (see [[Greek theatre]]). Some of the greatest figures of Western cultural and intellectual history lived in Athens during this period: the dramatists [[Aeschylus]], [[Aristophanes]], [[Euripides]], and [[Sophocles]], the philosophers [[Aristotle]], [[Plato]], and [[Socrates]], the historians [[Herodotus]], [[Thucydides]], and [[Xenophon]], the poet [[Simonides of Ceos|Simonides]] and the sculptor [[Pheidias]]. The city became, in Pericles's words, "the school of Hellas".
 
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The other Greek states at first accepted Athenian leadership in the continuing war against the Persians, but after the fall of the conservative politician [[Cimon]] in [[461 BC]], Athens became an increasingly open imperialist power. After the Greek victory at the [[Battle of the Eurymedon]] in [[466 BC]], the Persians were no longer a threat, and some states, such as [[Naxos, Greece|Naxos]], tried to secede from the League, but were forced to submit. The new Athenian leaders, [[Pericles]] and [[Ephialtes]], let relations between Athens and Sparta deteriorate, and in [[458 BC]] war broke out. After some years of inconclusive war a 30-year peace was signed between the [[Delian League]] and the [[Peloponnesian League]] (Sparta and her allies). This coincided with the last battle between the Greeks and the Persians, a sea battle off [[Battle of Salamis (in Cyprus)|Salamis]] in [[Cyprus]], followed by the [[Peace of Callias]] ([[450 BC]]) between the Greeks and Persians.
 
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===The Peloponnesian War===
 
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{{main|Peloponnesian War}}
 
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[[Image:Alcibiades.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Alcibiades]]
 
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In 431 BC war broke out again between Athens and Sparta and its allies. The immediate causes of the Peloponnesian War vary from account to account. However, three causes are fairly consistent among the ancient historians, namely [[Thucydides]] and [[Plutarch]]. Prior to the war, Corinth and one of its colonies, [[Corcyra]] (modern-day [[Corfu]]), got into a dispute in which Athens intervened. Soon after, Corinth and Athens argued over control of [[Potidaea]] (near modern-day [[Nea Potidaia]]), eventually leading to an Athenian siege of Potidaea. Finally, Athens issued a series of economic decrees known as the [[Megarian decree|"Megarian Decrees"]] that placed economic sanctions on the Megarian people. Athens was accused by the Peloponnesian allies of violating the [[Thirty Years Peace]] through all of the aforementioned actions, and Sparta formally declared war on Athens.
 
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It should be noted that many historians consider these simply to be the immediate causes of the war. They would argue that the underlying cause was the growing resentment of Sparta and its allies at the dominance of Athens over Greek affairs. The war lasted 27 years, partly because Athens (a naval power) and Sparta (a land-based military power) found it difficult to come to grips with each other.
 
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Sparta's initial strategy was to invade [[Attica]], but the Athenians were able to retreat behind their walls. An outbreak of [[Plague of Athens|plague]] in the city during the siege caused heavy losses, including [[Pericles]]. At the same time the Athenian fleet landed troops in the Peloponnese, winning battles at [[Battle of Naupactus (429 BC)|Naupactus]] (429 BC) and [[Battle of Pylos|Pylos]] (425 BC). But these tactics could bring neither side a decisive victory. After several years of inconclusive campaigning, the moderate Athenian leader [[Nicias]] concluded the [[Peace of Nicias]] (421 BC).
 
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In 418 BC, however, hostility between Sparta and the Athenian ally [[Argos]] led to a resumption of fighting. At [[Battle of Mantinea (418 BC)|Mantinea]] Sparta defeated the combined armies of Athens and her allies. The resumption of fighting brought the war party, led by [[Alcibiades]], back to power in Athens. In 415 BC Alcibiades persuaded the Athenian Assembly to launch a major expedition against [[Syracuse, Italy|Syracuse]], a Peloponnesian ally in [[Sicily]]. Though Nicias was a skeptic about the [[Sicilian Expedition]], he was appointed along with Alcibiades to lead the expedition. Due to accusations against him, Alcibiades fled to Sparta where he persuaded Sparta to send aid to Syracuse. As a result, the expedition was a complete disaster and the whole expeditionary force was lost. Nicias was executed by his captors.
 
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Sparta had now built a fleet (with the help of the Persians) to challenge Athenian naval supremacy, and had found a brilliant military leader in [[Lysander]], who seized the strategic initiative by occupying the [[Hellespont]], the source of Athens' grain imports. Threatened with starvation, Athens sent its last remaining fleet to confront Lysander, who decisively defeated them at [[battle of Aegospotami|Aegospotami]] (405 BC). The loss of her fleet threatened Athens with bankruptcy. In 404 BC Athens sued for peace, and Sparta dictated a predictably stern settlement: Athens lost her city walls, her fleet, and all of her overseas possessions. Lysander abolished the democracy and appointed a council of thirty to govern Athens in its place.
 
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==4th century BC - Spartan and Theban dominance==
 
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:''Related articles: [[Spartan hegemony]] and [[Theban hegemony]]''
 
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The end of the Peloponnesian War left Sparta the master of Greece, but the narrow outlook of the Spartan warrior elite did not suit them to this role. Within a few years the democratic party regained power in Athens and other cities. In [[395 BC]] the Spartan rulers removed Lysander from office, and Sparta lost her naval supremacy. [[Athens]], [[Argos]], [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]], and [[Corinth]], the latter two formerly Spartan allies, challenged Spartan dominance in the [[Corinthian War]], which ended inconclusively in [[387 BC]]. That same year Sparta shocked Greek opinion by concluding the [[Treaty of Antalcidas]] with Persia, by which they surrendered the Greek cities of Ionia and Cyprus; thus they reversed a hundred years of Greek victories against Persia. Sparta then tried to further weaken the power of Thebes, which led to a war where Thebes formed an alliance with the old enemy, Athens.
 
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Then the Theban generals [[Epaminondas]] and [[Pelopidas]] won a decisive victory at [[Battle of Leuctra|Leuctra]] ([[371 BC]]). The result of this battle was the end of Spartan supremacy and the establishment of Theban dominance, but Athens herself recovered much of her former power because the supremacy of Thebes was short-lived. With the death of Epaminondas at [[Battle of Mantinea (362 BC)|Mantinea]] ([[362 BC]]) the city lost its greatest leader, and his successors blundered into an ineffectual ten-year war with [[Phocis]]. In [[346 BC]] the Thebans appealed to [[Philip II of Macedon]] to help them against the Phocians, thus drawing [[Macedon]] into Greek affairs for the first time.
 
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The Peloponnesian War was a radical turning-point for the Greek world.  Before 403 BC, the situation was clearer, with Athens and its allies (a zone of domination and stability, with a number of island cities benefiting from Athens's maritime protection), and other states outside this Athenian Empire.  The sources denounce this Athenian supremacy (or [[Hegemony#Hegemonies in history|hegemony]]) as crushing and inconvenient.<ref>These sources include Xenophon's continuation of Thucydides's work in his "Hellenica", which provided a continuous narrative of Greek history up to 362BC but has defects, such as bias towards Sparta, with whose king Agesilas Xenophon lived for a while.  We also have Plutarch, a 2nd century Boeotian, whose Life of Pelopidas gives a Theban version of events and Diodorus Siculus.  This is also the era where the epigraphy develops, a source of the highest importance for this period, both for Athens and for a number of continental Greece city that also issued decrees.</ref>
 
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After 403 BC, things became more complicated, with a number of cities trying to create similar empires over other cities, all of which proved short-lived.  The first of these reversals was that operated by Athens as early as 390 BC, that allowed an important power to return to normality without recovering its past splendor.
 
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===Spartan hegemony - an impossible empire?===
 
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This empire was strong but short.  In 405 BC, the Spartans were masters of all - of Athens's allies and of Athens itself - and their power was undivided.  By the end of the century, they could not even defend their own city.
 
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====Foundation of a Spartan empire?====
 
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On this subject, there had been a heated debate between Sparta's full citizens.  [[Lysander]] the Athenian felt that the Spartans should rebuild the Athenian empire so that Sparta profited from it.  Prior to this, Spartan law forbade the use of all precious metals by private citizens, with transactions being carried out in iron ingots and all precious metals obtained by the city becoming state property. Without the Spartans' support, Lysander's innovations came into force and brought a great deal of profit for him - on Samos, for example, Lysandreia were organized in his honour.  He was recalled to Sparta and gathered high functions on his way.
 
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Sparta refused to see Lysander or his successors empire-build and accept tribute.  Not wanting to gain an empire, they decided after 403 BC not to support the directives that he had set up. 
 
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Agesilas came to power by accident right at the start of the 4th century BC.  This accidental accession meant that, unlike the other Spartan kings, he had the advantage of a Spartan education.  The Spartans at this date discovered a conspiracy against the laws of the city conducted by [[Cinadon]] and as a result concluded there were too many dangerous worldly elements at work in the Spartan state.
 
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Agesilas used a political dynamic that played on Panhellenic feeling, launching a successful campaign against the Persian empire.  However, the Persian empire reacted and - with access to Persian gold - changed from backing Sparta to backing Athens, which used Persian subsidies to rebuild their walls (destroyed in [[404 BC]]) and to reconstruct their fleet and win a number of victories, notably at Cnidus. 
 
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In 394, the Spartan authorities decided to force Agesilas to return to mainland Greece.  For six years, Sparta fought Corinth, with Corinth partly drawing on Athenian support.  This war had descended into guerilla tactics and Sparta decided that it could not fight on two fronts and so chose to ally with Persia.
 
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====The peace of Antalcidas (or the peace of the King)====
 
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An edict was promulgated by the Persian king, preserving the Greek cities of Asia Minor and Cyprus and the independence of the Greek cities of Aegean, except for Lymnos, Imbros and Skyros, given over to Athens.  It dissolved existing alliances and federations and forbade the formation of new ones.  This is an ultimatum that benefitted Athens, which held onto three islands, and for Sparta, chosen as the guarantor of the peace.
 
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====Spartan interventionism====
 
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On the other hand, this peace had unexpected consequences.  In accordance with it, the Boeotian confederacy was dissolved in [[386 BC]].  This confederacy was dominated by Thebes, a city that was hostile to the Spartan hegemony.  Sparta carried out large-scale operations and peripheral interventions in Epirus and in the north of Greece, balanced by the capture of the fortress of Thebes, the Cadmea, after an expedition in [[Chalkidiki|the Chalcidice]], the capture of Olynthos and a suggestion from a Theban politician to Phoibidas, a Spartan general, that Sparta should seize Thebes itself.  This act was sharply condemned, though Sparta speedily ratified this unilateral move by Phoibidas.
 
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====Clash with Thebes====
 
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In 378 BC, Sphodrias, another Spartan general, tried to carry out a surprise attack on the [[Piraeus]], whose gates were no longer fortified, but was driven off 10km before the Piraeus.  He was acquitted by the Spartan court, but the attempted attack triggered an alliance between Athens and Thebes.  Sparta would now have to fight them both together, with Athens trying to recover from the disaster of 404 BC and the Thebans attempting to restore the former Boeotian confederacy with Epaminondas.
 
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In the 370s, Sparta fought Thebes.  Athens came to mistrust the growing Theban power, particularly due to  Thebes's razing in [[375 BC]] of the city of [[Platea]], and negotiated an alliance with Sparta against Thebes in 375 BC.  In 371, however, Sparta suffered a bloody defeat at Leuctra, losing a large part of its army and 400 of its 2000 citizen-troops.  Spartan hegemony was over, replaced by that of Athens.
 
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===Athenian hegemony - a more reasonable empire?===
 
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====Return to the 5th century BC?====
 
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The Athenians forbade themselves any return to the position of the 5th century.  In Aristoteles's decree, Athens claimed its goal was to prevent Spartan hegemony, with the Spartans clearly denounced as "warmongers".  Athens's hegemony was no longer a centralized system but an alliance in which the allies had a voice.  The Athenians did not sit in the council of the allies, nor was this council headed by an Athenian.  It met in a  uniform way and could politically and militarily counterbalance Athens.  This new league was a very moderated and much looser organisation. 
 
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====Financing the league====
 
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It was necessary to obliterate bad memories of the former league.  Its financial system was not adopted, with no tribute being paid.  Instead, ''syntaxeis'' were used, irregular contributions as and when Athens and its allies needed troops, collected for a precise reason and spent as quickly as possible.  These contributions were not taken to Athens (unlike the 5th century BC system, there was no central exchequer for the league) but to the Athenian generals themselves. 
 
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The Athenians had to make their own contribution to the alliance, the ''eisphora''.  They reformed how this tax was paid, creating a system in advance, the ''Proseiphora'', in which the richest individuals had to pay the whole sum of the tax then be reimbursed by other contributors.  This system was quickly assimilated into a [[liturgy#Etymology|liturgy]].
 
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====Athenian hegemony halted====
 
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This league responded to a real and present need.  However, on the ground, the situation within the league proved to have changed little from that of the 5th century BC, with Athenian generals doing what they wanted and able to extort from the league's funds.  Alliance with Athens again looked unattractive and the allies complained.
 
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The main reasons for failure were structural.  This alliance was only valued out of fear of Sparta, which evaporated after Sparta's fall in [[371 BC]], losing the alliance its sole raison d'etre.  The Athenians no longer had the means the fulfil their ambitions, and found it difficult just to finance their own navy, let alone that of an alliance, and so could not properly defend their allies.  Thus, the tyrant of Pherae was able to destroy a number of cities with impunity.  From 360, Athens lost its reputation for invincibility and a number of allies (such as [[Byzantium]] and [[Naxos Island|Naxos]] in [[364]]) decided to secede. 
 
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In [[357 BC]], the revolt against the league spread and between 357 and 255, Athens had to face war against its allies, a war whose issue was marked by a decisive intervention by the Persian king in the form of an ultimatum to Athens, demanding that Athens recognise its allies' independence under penalty of Persia's sending 200 [[trireme]]s against Athens.  Athens had to renounce the war and leave the confederacy to weaken itself more and more.  The Athenians had failed in all their plans and were unable to propose a durable alliance.
 
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===Theban hegemony - tentative and with no future===
 
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====5th century BC Boeotian confederacy (447 – 386)====
 
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This was not Thebes's first attempt at hegemony.  It had been the most important city of [[Boeotia]] and the centre of the previous Boeotian confederacy of 447 which was now, from 386, resurrected. 
 
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That confederacy is well known to us from a papyrus found at [[Oxyrhyncus]], known as "The Anonyme of Thebes".  Thebes headed it and set up a system under which charges were divided up between the different cities of the confederacy.  Its citizen body of 11,000 was defined according to wealth. 
 
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It was divided up into 11 districts, each providing a federal magistrate called a "Boeotarch", a certain number of council members, 1000 hoplites and 100 horsemen.  From the 5th century BC the alliance could field an infantry force of 11000 men, besides an elite corps and light infantry, but its real power derived from its cavalry force of 1100, commanded by a federal magistrate independent of local commanders.  It also had a small fleet which played a part in providing 25 triremes for the Spartans during the Peloponnesian War and, at the end of the conflict, was made up of 50 triremes and commanded by an "navarch".
 
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All this constituted such an important force that the Spartans were happy to see the Boeotian confederacy dissolved by the king's peace.  This dissolution, however, did not last, and in the 370s there was nothing to stop the Thebans (who had in 382 BC lost the Cadmea to Sparta) from reforming this confederacy. 
 
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====Theban reconstruction====
 
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Pelopidas and Epaminondas endowed Thebes with democratic institutions similar to those of Athens, the Thebans revived the title of "Boetarch" lost in the king's peace and - with victory at Leuctra and the destruction of Spartan power - the pair achieved their stated objective of renewing the confederacy.  Epaminondas rid the Peloponnesus of pro Spartan oligarchies, replacing them with pro-Theban democracies, and constructed or rebuilt a number of cities destroyed by Sparta.  He equally supported the reconstruction of the city of [[Messene]] thanks to an invasion of Laconia that also allowed him to liberate the [[helot]]s and give them Messene as a capital.
 
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He decided in the end to constitute little confederacies all round the Peloponnessus, forming an Arcadian confederacy (The king's peace had destroyed a previous Arcadian confederacy and put Messene under Spartan control.)
 
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====Confrontation between Athens and Thebes====
 
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All this explains Athens's problems with her allies in the second league.  Epaminondas succeeded in convincing his countrymen to build a fleet of 100 triremes to pressure cities into leaving the Athenian league and joining a Boeotian maritime league.  All this ended in [[362 BC]] with the result of the [[battle of Mantinea]] - a battle caused by the Thebans' difficulty in putting confederations in place.
 
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Sparta remained an important power and some cities continued to turn against her.  The confederal framework was artificial, for a confederacy mustered cities that could never agree.  This was the case with the cities of [[Tegea]] and [[Mantinea]] which reallied in the Arcardian confederacy.  The Mantineans received the support of the Athenians and the Tegeans that of the Thebans.  The Thebans prevailed, but this triumph was short-lived, for Epaminondas died in the battle, stating that "I bequeath to Thebes two girls, the victory of Leuctra and the victory at Mantinea".
 
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In the end, the Thebans renounced their policy of intervention in the Peloponnesus.  Xenophon thus ended his history of the Greek world in 362 BC.
 
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===Conclusion===
 
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The end of this period was even more confused than its beginning.  Greece had failed and, according to Xenophon, the history of the Greek world was no longer intelligible. 
 
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The idea of hegemony disappeared.  From [[362 BC]], there was no longer a single city that could exert hegemonic power - the Spartans were greatly weakened; the Athenians were in no state to operate their navy and after 365 no longer had any allies; Thebes could only exert an ephemeral hegemony, and had the means to defeat Sparta and Athens but not to be a major power in Asia Minor.
 
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Other forces also intervened, such as the Persian king, who was installed as arbitrator between the Greek cities by the cities themselves.  This situation reinforced the conflicts and there was a proliferation of civil wars, with the confederal framework a repeated trigger for wars.  War led to war, becoming longer and more bloody, and the cycle could not be broken.  War even occurred in winter for the first time, with the 370 invasion of Laconia. 
 
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This world of cities would soon find a new master - the king of Macedon.
 
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==The rise of Macedon==
 
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{{main|Macedon}}
 
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The Kingdom of [[Macedon]] was formed in the 7th century BC. They played little part in Greek politics before the 5th century BC. In the beginning of the 4th century BC, King Philip of Macedon, an ambitious man who had been educated in Thebes, wanted to play a larger role. In particular, he wanted to be accepted as the new leader of Greece in recovering the freedom of the Greek cities of Asia from Persian rule. By seizing the Greek cities of [[Amphipolis]], [[Methone]] and [[Potidaea]], he gained control of the gold and silver mines of Macedonia. This gave him the resources to realize his ambitions.
 
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[[Image:Philip II of Macedon CdM.jpg|right|thumb|186px|[[Philip II of Macedon]]]]
 
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Philip established Macedonian dominance over [[Thessaly]] ([[352 BC]]) and [[Thrace]], and by [[348 BC]] he controlled everything north of [[Thermopylae]]. He used his great wealth to bribe Greek politicians, creating a "Macedonian party" in every Greek city. His intervention in the war between Thebes and Phocis brought him great recognition, and gave him his opportunity to become a power in Greek affairs. Against him the Athenian leader [[Demosthenes]], in a series of famous speeches ([[philippic]]s) roused the Athenians to resist Philip's advance.
 
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In [[339 BC]] Thebes and Athens formed an alliance to resist Philip's growing influence. Philip struck first, advancing into Greece and defeating the allies at [[battle of Chaeronea (338 BC)|Chaeronea]] in [[338 BC]]. This traditionally marks the start of the decline of the city-state institution, though they mostly survived as independent states until [[Roman Republic|Roman]] times.
 
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[[Philipp II|Philip]] tried to win over the Athenians by flattery and gifts, but these efforts met with limited success. He organized the cities into the [[League of Corinth]], and announced that he would lead an invasion of Persia to  liberate the Greek cities and avenge the Persian invasions of the previous century. But before he could do so he was assassinated ([[336 BC]]).
 
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==The conquests of Alexander==
 
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[[Image:Ac alexanderstatue.jpg|thumb|185px|The statue of [[Alexander the Great]] in [[Thessaloniki]] sea front]]
 
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Philip was succeeded by his 20-year-old son [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]], who immediately set out to carry out his father's plans. When he saw that Athens had fallen, he wanted to bring back the tradition of Athens by destroying the Persian King. He travelled to Corinth where the assembled Greek cities recognized him as leader of the Greeks, then set off north to assemble his forces. The core structure of his army was the hardy Macedonian mountain-fighter, but he bolstered his numbers and diversified his army with levies from all corners of Greece. He enriched his tactics and formation with Greek stratagem ranging from Theban cavalry structure to Spartan guerilla tactics. His engineering and manufacturing were largely derived of Greek origin &ndash; involving everything from Archimedal siege-weaponry to Ampipholian ship-reinforcement. But while Alexander was campaigning in Thrace, he heard that the Greek cities had rebelled. He swept south again, captured Thebes, and razed the city to the ground. He left only one building standing, the house of Pindar, a poet who had written in favour of Alexander's ancestor, Alexander the First.  This acted as a symbol and warning to the Greek cities that his power could no longer be resisted, whilst reminding them he would preserve and respect their culture if they were obedient.
 
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In [[334 BC]] Alexander crossed into Asia, and defeated the Persians at the river [[Battle of the Granicus|Granicus]]. This gave him control of the Ionian coast, and he made a triumphal procession through the liberated Greek cities. After settling affairs in [[Anatolia]], he advanced south through [[Cilicia]] into [[Syria]], where he defeated [[Darius III]] at [[Battle of Issus|Issus]] ([[333 BC]]). He then advanced through [[Phoenicia]] to [[Egypt]], which he captured with little resistance, the Egyptians welcoming him as a liberator from Persian oppression, and the prophesied son of [[Amun]].
 
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Darius was now ready to make peace and Alexander could have returned home in triumph, but Alexander was determined to conquer Persia and make himself the ruler of the world. He advanced north-east through Syria and [[Mesopotamia]], and defeated Darius again at [[Battle of Gaugamela|Gaugamela]] ([[331 BC]]). Darius fled and was killed by his own followers, and Alexander found himself the master of the Persian Empire, occupying [[Susa]] and [[Persepolis]] without resistance.
 
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[[Image:MacedonEmpire.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Map of Alexander the Great's Hellenistic empire]]
 
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Meanwhile the Greek cities were making renewed efforts to escape from Macedonian control. At [[Battle of Megalopolis|Megalopolis]] in [[331 BC]], Alexander's regent [[Antipater]] defeated the Spartans, who had refused to join the Corinthian League or recognize Macedonian supremacy.
 
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Alexander pressed on, advancing through what are now [[Afghanistan]] and [[Pakistan]] to the [[Indus river]] valley, and by [[326 BC]] he had reached [[Punjab region|Punjab]] and defeated [[Porus]] after a bruising battle. He reluctantly turned back after reaching the [[River Beas]] as his army, tired after many years of battle and worried about facing the much larger [[Nanda Empire]], refused to go any further. Alexander died of a fever in [[Babylon]] in [[323 BC]].
 
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Alexander's empire broke up soon after his death, but his conquests permanently changed the Greek world. Thousands of Greeks travelled with him or after him to settle in the new Greek cities he had founded as he advanced, the most important being [[Alexandria]] in [[Egypt]]. Greek-speaking kingdoms in Egypt, Syria, Persia and Bactria were established. The knowledge and cultures of east and west began to permeate and interact. The [[History of Hellenistic Greece|Hellenistic age]] had begun.
 
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==Society==
 
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The distinguishing features of Ancient Greek society were the division between free and slave, the differing roles of men and women, the relative lack of status distinctions based on birth, and the importance of religion. The way of life of the Athenians was common in the Greek world compared to Sparta's special system.
 
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===Social Structure===
 
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Only free, land owning, native-born men could be citizens entitled to the full protection of the law in a [[city-state]] (later [[Pericles]] introduced exceptions to the native-born restriction). In most city-states, unlike [[Ancient Rome|Rome]], social prominence did not allow special rights. For example, being born in a certain family generally brought no special privileges. Sometimes families controlled public religious functions, but this ordinarily did not give any extra power in the government. In [[Athens]], the population was divided into four social classes based on wealth. People could change classes if they made more money. In [[Sparta]], all male citizens were given the title of "equal" if they finished their education. However, Spartan kings, who served as the city-state's dual military and religious leaders, came from two families. [[Slavery in ancient Greece|Slaves]] had no power or status. They had the right to have a family and own property, however they had no political rights. By [[600 BC]] [[chattel slavery]] had spread in [[Greece]]. By the [[5th century BC]] slaves made up one-third of the total population in some city-states. Slaves outside of Sparta almost never revolted because they were made up of too many nationalities and were too scattered to organize.
 
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Most families owned slaves as household servants and labourers, and even poor families might have owned a few slaves. Owners were not allowed to beat or kill their slaves. Owners often promised to free slaves in the future to encourage slaves to work hard. Unlike in Rome, slaves who were freed did not become citizens. Instead, they were mixed into the population of ''[[metics]]'', which included people from foreign countries or other city-states who were officially allowed to live in the state.
 
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City-states legally owned slaves. These public slaves had a larger measure of independence than slaves owned by families, living on their own and performing specialized tasks. In Athens, public slaves were trained to look out for counterfeit coinage, while temple slaves acted as servants of the temple's deity.
 
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Sparta had a special type of slaves called ''[[helots]]''. Helots were Greek war captives owned by the state and assigned to families where they were forced to stay. Helots raised food and did household chores so that women could concentrate on raising strong children while men could devote their time to training as [[hoplite]]s. Their masters treated them harshly and helots often revolted.
 
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===Education===
 
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For most of Greek history, education was private, except in Sparta. During the [[Hellenistic period]], some city-states established public schools. Only wealthy families could afford a teacher. Boys learned how to read, write and quote literature. They also learned to sing and play one musical instrument and were trained as athletes for military service. They studied not for a job, but to become an effective citizen. Girls also learned to read, write and do simple [[arithmetic]] so they could manage the household. They almost never received education after childhood.
 
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Boys went to school at the age of seven, or went to the barracks, if they lived in [[Sparta]]. The three types of teachings were: grammatistes for arithmetic, kitharistes for music and dancing, and paidotribes for sports.
 
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Boys from wealthy families attending the private school lessons were taken care by a ''paidagogos'', a household slave selected for this task who accompanied the boy during the day. Classes were held in teachers' private houses and included reading, writing, mathematics, singing, and playing of the lyre and flute. When the boy became 12 years old the schooling started to include sports as wrestling, running, and throwing discus and javelin. In Athens some older youths attended academy for the finer disciplines such as culture, sciences, music, and the arts. The schooling ended at the age of 18, followed by military training in the army usually for one or two years.<ref>Angus Konstam: "Historical Atlas of Ancient Greece", p. 94-95. Thalamus publishing, UK, 2003, ISBN 1-904668-16-x</ref>
 
−
 
 
−
A small number of boys continued their education after childhood, as in the Spartan [[agoge]]. A crucial part of a wealthy teenager's education was a mentorship with an elder, which in some places and times may have included [[Pederasty in ancient Greece|pederastic]] love. The teenager learned by watching his mentor talking about politics in the ''agora'', helping him perform his public duties, exercising with him in the gymnasium and attending symposia with him. The richest students continued their education by studying with famous teachers. Some of Athens' greatest such schools included the [[Lyceum]] and  the [[Academy]].
 
−
 
 
−
The education system of the wealthy ancient Greeks is also called [[Paideia]].
 
−
 
 
−
==Art==
 
−
[[Image:Nike_libation_Apollo_Louvre_Ma965.jpg|thumb|right|260px|[[Apollo]] and [[Nike (mythology)|Nike]] in marble, a Roman copy from the 1 st century CE of the original [[Hellenistic civilization|hellenistic work]]]]
 
−
{{main|Art in ancient Greece}}
 
−
The art of ancient Greece has exercised a huge influence on the culture of many countries from ancient times until the present.
 
−
==Mythology==
 
−
{{main|Greek mythology}}
 
−
Greek mythology consists of stories belonging to the Ancient Greeks concerning their [[Family_tree_of_the_Greek_gods|gods]] and [[hero]]es, the nature of the world and the origins and significance of their  religious practices.
 
−
 
 
−
==Notes==
 
−
<references/>
 
−
 
 
−
==Bibliography==
 
−
*{{cite book|author=Charles Freeman|title=Egypt, Greece and Rome|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1996}}
 
−
*{{cite book|author=[[Paul MacKendrick]]|title=The Greek Stones Speak: The Story of Archaeology in Greek Lands|publisher=St. Martin's Press|year=1962}}
 
−
 
 
−
==External links==
 
−
 
 
−
*[http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk Ancient Greece] website from the [[British Museum]]
 
−
*[http://www.athensinfoguide.com/history.htm Complete history of Athens with timelines and location maps]
 
−
*[http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/engen.greece Economic history of ancient Greece]
 
−
*[http://www.fleur-de-coin.com/currency/greekcoinshistory.asp?sec=4 The Greek currency history]
 
−
*[http://www.limenoscope.ntua.gr/index.cgi?lan=en Limenoscope], an Ancient Greek Ports database
 
−
*[http://www.whitman.edu/theatre/theatretour/home.htm The Ancient Theatre Archive], Greek and Roman theatre architecture
 
−
 
 
−
==Classical Rome==
 
−
 
 
−
===Roman history===
 
−
 
 
−
===Roman language and literature===
 
−
 
 
−
===Roman religion and mythology===
 
−
 
 
−
===Roman philosophy===
 
−
 
 
−
===Roman science and technology===
 
−
 
 
−
*Roman Philosophy
 
−
*Roman mythology and religion
 
−
*Roman Science
 
−
*Roman History
 
−
*Roman Literature
 
−
*Latin Language
 
−
 
 
−
*[[Seneca_the_Younger]]
 
−
*[[Marcus Aurelius]]
 
−
 
 
−
|
 
−
*[[Roman mythology]]
 
−
*[[Roman religion]]
 
−
|
 
−
 
 
−
|
 
−
*Periods
 
−
*[[Founding of Rome|The founding of Rome]]
 
−
*[[Roman Kingdom]]
 
−
*[[Roman Republic]]
 
−
*[[Roman Empire]]
 
−
*[[Decline of the Roman Empire|The fall of Rome]]
 
−
*Topics
 
−
**The [[Samnite Wars]]
 
−
**The [[Pyrrhic War]]
 
−
**The [[Punic Wars]]
 
−
***The [[First Punic War]]
 
−
***The [[Second Punic War]]
 
−
***The [[Third Punic War]]
 
−
**The [[Social War (91–88 BC)|Social War]]
 
−
**The [[Gallic Wars]]
 
−
**The [[Civil war between Antony and Octavian]]
 
−
**The [[Germanic Wars]]
 
−
|
 
−
*Poets
 
−
**Didactic poetry
 
−
**[[Lucretius]]
 
−
**[[Ovid]]
 
−
**[[Virgil]]
 
−
**Elegiac poetry
 
−
**[[Catullus]]
 
−
**[[Ovid]]
 
−
**[[Propertius]]
 
−
**[[Tibullus]]
 
−
**Epic poetry
 
−
**[[Ennius]]
 
−
**[[Lucan]]
 
−
**[[Virgil]]
 
−
**Lyric poetry
 
−
**[[Catullus]]
 
−
**[[Horace]]
 
−
**Playwrights
 
−
**[[Plautus]]
 
−
**[[Terence]]
 
−
*Prose writers
 
−
**Epistolary writers
 
−
**[[Pliny the younger]]
 
−
**[[Lucius Annaeus Seneca|Seneca]]
 
−
**Fiction
 
−
**[[Apuleius]]
 
−
**Historiography
 
−
**[[Julius Caesar|Caesar]]
 
−
**[[Livy]]
 
−
**[[Sallust]]
 
−
**[[Suetonius]]
 
−
**[[Tacitus]]
 
−
**Oratory
 
−
**[[Cicero]]
 
−
|
 
−
*[[Latin]]
 
−
*[[Classical Latin]]
 
−
*[[Vulgar Latin]]
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
==Famous Classicists==
 
−
Throughout the history of the Western world, many classicists have gone on to gain acknowledgement outside the field.
 
−
*[[Anthony James Leggett]], [[Nobel Prize]] winner in [[physics]] who studied [[Greats]] at [[Balliol College, Oxford]] before switching to physics.
 
−
*[[Karl Marx]], philosopher and political thinker, studied Latin and Greek and received a Ph.D. for a dissertation on ancient Greek philosophy, entitled "The Difference between the Democritean and Epicurean Philosophy of Nature." His classical background is reflected in his philosophies—indeed the term "[[proletariat]]" which he coined came from that Latin word referring to the lowest class of citizen.
 
−
*[[John Milton]], author of ''[[Paradise Lost]]'' and English Civil War era political activist, studied, like most at the time, Latin and Greek texts. This classical background is quite obvious in ''Paradise Lost''.
 
−
*[[Friedrich Nietzsche]], famous philosopher, earned a Ph.D. and became Professor of Classics at the [[University of Basel]] in [[Switzerland]].
 
−
*[[Oscar Wilde]], celebrated Victorian playwright and novelist, was educated in Classics at [[Trinity College, Dublin]] and [[Magdalen College, Oxford]]
 
−
*[[Toni Morrison]], noted author and [[Nobel Prize]] winner, studied classics at [[Howard University]].
 
−
*[[Charles Geschke]], founder of [[Adobe Systems]], studied Classics at [[Xavier University]] and received a Bachelor of Arts in Classics.
 
−
*[[Ted Turner]], media mogul, studied Classics before being expelled from [[Brown University]].
 
−
*[[J.K. Rowling]], author of the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' series, studied Classics and frequently uses classical terms in her books. The first Harry Potter book has been translated into both Latin and ancient Greek.
 
−
*[[Jerry Brown]], former governor of California and former mayor of Oakland, majored in Classics at the [[University of California]].
 
−
*[[W.E.B. du Bois]], Afro-American civil rights leader, historian and sociologist, was a professor of Greek and Latin at [[Wilberforce University]], Ohio.
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
==Quotations==
 
−
*"Nor can I do better, in conclusion, than impress upon you the study of Greek literature, which not only elevates above the vulgar herd but leads not infrequently to positions of considerable emolument." [[Thomas Gaisford]], Christmas sermon, [[Christ Church]], [[Oxford]].
 
−
*"I love the language, that soft bastard Latin, Which Melts like kisses from a female mouth." George Noel Gordon ([[Lord Byron]]), ''[[Beppo]]''
 
−
*"I would make them all learn English: and then I would let the clever ones learn Latin as an honour, and Greek as a treat."<br />—[[Winston Churchill|Sir Winston Churchill]], ''Roving Commission: My Early Life''
 
−
*"He studied Latin like the violin, because he liked it." [[Robert Frost]], ''The Death of the Hired Man''
 
−
*"I enquire now as to the genesis of a philologist and assert the following: 1. A young man cannot possibly know what the Greeks and Romans are. 2. He does not know whether he is suited for finding out about them." [[Friedrich Nietzsche]], [[Unzeitgemässe Betrachtungen]]
 
−
 
 
−
==Bibliography==
 
−
 
 
−
* ''Biographical Dictionary of North American Classicists'' by Ward&nbsp;W. Briggs, Jr. (editor). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1994 (hardcover, ISBN 0-313-24560-6).
 
−
* ''Classical Scholarship: A Biographical Encyclopedia (Garland Reference Library of the Humanities)'' by Ward&nbsp;W. Briggs and William&nbsp;M. Calder&nbsp;III (editors). New York: Taylor & Francis, 1990 (hardcover, ISBN 0-8240-8448-9).
 
−
* ''Dictionary of British classicists, 1500–1960'' by Richard&nbsp;B. Todd (General editor). Bristol: Thoemmes Continuum, 2004 (ISBN 1-85506-997-0).
 
−
**[http://www.tls.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,25829-2293189,00.html Reviewed] by [[Mary Beard (classicist)|Mary Beard]] in [http://www.tls.timesonline.co.uk/ ''The Times Literary Supplement''], April&nbsp;15, 2005.
 
−
* ''An Encyclopedia of the History of Classical Archaeology'', edited by Nancy Thomson de Grummond. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996 (hardcover, ISBN 0-313-22066-2; ISBN 0-313-30204-9 (A–K); ISBN 0-313-30205-7 (L–Z)).
 
−
* ''Harper's Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities'', ed. by Harry Thurston Peck. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1896; 2nd ed., 1897; New York: Cooper Square Publishers, 1965.
 
−
* Medwid, Linda M. ''The Makers of Classical Archaeology: A Reference Work''. New York: Humanity Books, 2000 (hardcover, ISBN 1-57392-826-7).
 
−
*''The New Century Classical Handbook'', ed. by Catherine B. Avery. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1962.
 
−
* ''The Oxford Classical Dictionary'', ed. by Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth, revised 3rd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2003 (ISBN 0-19-860641-9).
 
−
*''The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature'', ed. by M.C. Howatson. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.
 
−
 
 
−
Miscellaneous
 
−
 
 
−
*[[Mary Beard (classicist)|Beard, Mary]]; Henderson, John. ''Classics: A very short introduction''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995 (paperback, ISBN 0-19-285313-9); 2000 (new edition, paperback, ISBN 0-19-285385-6).
 
−
* Briggs, Ward&nbsp;W.; Calder,&nbsp;III, William&nbsp;M. ''Classical scholarship: A biographical encyclopedia (Garland reference library of the humanities)''. London: Taylor&nbsp;& Francis, 1990 (ISBN 0-8240-8448-9).
 
−
* '''''Forum: Class and Classics''''':
 
−
** Krevans, Nita. "Class and Classics: A Historical Perspective," ''The Classical Journal'', Vol.&nbsp;96, No.&nbsp;3. (2001), p.&nbsp;293.
 
−
** Moroney, Siobhan. "Latin, Greek and the American Schoolboy: Ancient Languages and Class Determinism in the Early Republic," ''The Classical Journal'', Vol.&nbsp;96, No.&nbsp;3. (2001), pp.&nbsp;295–307.
 
−
** Harrington Becker, Trudy. "Broadening Access to a Classical Education: State Universities in Virginia in the Nineteenth Century," ''The Classical Journal'', Vol.&nbsp;96, No.&nbsp;3. (2001), pp.&nbsp;309–322.
 
−
** Bryce, Jackson. "Teaching the Classics," ''The Classical Journal'', Vol.&nbsp;96, No.&nbsp;3. (2001), pp.&nbsp;323–334.
 
−
* Knox, Bernard. ''The Oldest Dead White European Males, And Other Reflections on the Classics''. New York; London: W.W. Norton & Co., 1993.
 
−
* Macrone, Michael. ''Brush Up Your Classics''. New York: Gramercy Books, 1991. (Guide to famous words, phrases and stories of Greek classics.)
 
−
* Nagy, Péter Tibor. [http://mek.oszk.hu/03700/03797/03797.htm#6 "The meanings and functions of classical studies in Hungary in the 18th–20th century"], in [http://mek.oszk.hu/03700/03797/03797.htm ''The social and political history of Hungarian education''] (ISBN 963-200-511-2).
 
−
* Wellek, René. "Classicism in Literature," in ''Dictionary of the History of Ideas, Studies of Selected Pivotal Ideas'', ed. by Philip P. Wiener. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1968.
 
−
* Winterer, Caroline. ''The Mirror of Antiquity: American Women and the Classical Tradition, 1750–1900''. Ithaca, NY; London: Cornell University Press, 2007 (hardcover, ISBN 978-0-8014-4163-9).
 
−
 
 
−
==Online resources==
 
−
*[wikiversity3|School:Classics|classics|The School of Classics]
 
−
*[http://www.classicalassociation.org/ The Classical Association], the largest classical organization in the UK.
 
−
*[http://www.ut.ee/klassik/links/pages/ Classical Resources on Internet] at the Chair of Classical Philology, University of Tartu.
 
−
*[http://www.roman-emperors.org/ De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors]
 
−
*[http://www.tlg.uci.edu/index/resources.html Electronic Resources for Classicists] by the University of California, Irvine.
 
−
*[http://www.roman-empire.net/ Illustrated History of the Roman Empire]
 
−
*[http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/OMACL/ The Online Medieval and Classical Library]
 
−
*[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/ The Perseus Digital Library]
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
*[[Digital Classicist]]
 
−
*[[Humanism]]
 
−
*[[Literae Humaniores]]
 
−
*[[Loeb Classical Library]]
 
−
*[[Philology]]
 
−
*[[Western culture]]
 
−
*[[Western World]]
 

Latest revision as of 23:42, 12 December 2020

Lighterstill.jpg

Homer

Classics or Classical Studies is the branch of the Humanities dealing with the languages, literature, history, art, and other aspects of the ancient Mediterranean world; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during the time known as classical antiquity, roughly spanning from the Ancient Greek Bronze Age in 1000 BCE to the Dark Ages circa CE 500. The study of the Classics was the initial field of study in the humanities. The word "Classics" also refers to the literature of that period.

Traditionally, the focus of classics was tightly centered on ancient Greece and Rome. Ancient Egypt was thought to be beyond the discipline. Today, classicists study a subject more broadly defined as that pertaining to the Ancient Mediterranean World. Those scholars focusing upon the landward side of the eastern Mediterranean—the ancient Persian Empire and the kingdoms of ancient India—are termed Orientalists.

History of the western classics

The word "classics" is derived from the Latin adjective classicus meaning "belonging to the highest class of citizens," and has further connotations of superiority, authority, and perfection. The first, recorded use of the word "classics" was by Aulus Gellius, a second century Roman author who, in his miscellany Noctes Atticae (19, 8, 15), refers to classicus scriptor, non proletarius. He ranked writers per the classification of the Roman taxation classes.

This method was started when the Greeks were constantly ranking their cultural work. The word they used was canon; ancient Greek for a carpenter's rule. Moreover, early Christian Church Fathers used this term to classify authoritative texts of the New Testament. This rule further helped in the preservation of works since writing platforms of vellum and papyrus and methods of reproduction was not cheap. The title of canon placed on a work meant that it would be more easily preserved for future generations. In modern times, a Western canon was collated that defined the best of Western culture.

At the Alexandrian Library, the ancient scholars coined another term for canonized authors, hoi enkrithentes; "the admitted" or "the included."

Classical studies incorporate a certain type of methodology. The rule of the classical world and of Christian culture and society was Philo's rule:

"Philo's rule dominated Greek culture, from Homer to Neo-Platonism and the Christian Fathers of late antiquity. The rule is: "μεταχαραττε το θειον νομισμα" ("metacharatte to theion nomisma"). It is the law of strict continuity. We preserve and do not throw away words or ideas. Words and ideas may grow in meaning but must stay within the limits of the original meaning and concept that the word has."

Classical education was considered the best training for implanting the life of moral excellence arete, hence a good citizen. It furnished students with intellectual and aesthetic appreciation for "the best which has been thought and said in the world." Edward Copleston, an Oxford classicist, said that classical education "communicates to the mind...a high sense of honour, a disdain of death in a good cause, (and) a passionate devotion to the welfare of one's country." Edward Copleston, in The Victorians and Ancient Greece, Richard Jenkyns, 60. Cicero commented, "All literature, all philosophical treatises, all the voices of antiquity are full of examples for imitation, which would all lie unseen in darkness without the light of literature."

At Oxford University Classics is known as Literae Humaniores, comprising the study of Ancient Greek and Latin language and literature, Greek and Roman art and archaeology, history and philosophy. It is sometimes known as Greats after the nickname for the final examinations.

Legacy of the Classical World

The Classical languages have been immensely influential on all western European languages, bestowing on them an international learned vocabulary. Until the 17th century, the Latin language itself was used as the international medium of communication in diplomatic, scientific, philosophical and religious matters.

Latin itself evolved into The Romance languages. Ancient Greek can be seen in Modern Greek and the Griko languages.

The Latin influence on English is most prominent in technical vocabulary; in a similar way, so is the Greek influence on English.

The Ecclesiastical Latin dialect of Latin is still used by the Catholic Church.

Sub-disciplines within the classics

One of the most notable characteristics of the modern study of classics is the diversity of the field. Although traditionally focused on ancient Greece and Rome, the study now encompasses the entire ancient Mediterranean world, thus expanding their studies to Northern Africa and the Middle East.

Forebears of the Classical World

The Classical civilization did not develop in isolation; the ancient Greeks were indebted to their geographical proximity to the much older, intellectually and technologically sophisticated cultures of the East.

Philology

Traditionally, classics was essentially the philology of ancient texts. Although now less dominant, philology retains a central role. One definition of classical philology describes it as "the science which concerns itself with everything that has been transmitted from antiquity in the Greek or Latin language. The object of this science is thus the Graeco-Roman, or Classical, world to the extent that it has left behind monuments in a linguistic form." J. and K. Kramer, La filologia classica, 1979 as quoted by [Christopher S. Mackay [1]. Of course, classicists also concern themselves with other languages than Classical Greek and Latin including Linear A, Linear B, Sanskrit, Hebrew, Oscan, Etruscan, and many more. Before the invention of the printing press, texts were reproduced by hand and distributed haphazardly. As a result, extant versions of the same text often differ from one another. Some classical philologists, known as textual critics, seek to synthesize these defective texts to find the most accurate version.


Archaeology

Thanks to popular culture, such as the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark, classical archaeology is often seen as very exciting. Philologists rely on archaeological excavation, so that they may study the literary and linguistic culture of the ancient world. Likewise, archaeologists may rely on the philological study of literature in order to contextualize the excavated remains of the classical civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. The artifacts they find are key to all the other sub-disciplines and help provide new evidence for the understanding of the ancient world.

Art history

Some art historians focus their study of the development of art on the classical world. Indeed, the art and architecture of Ancient Rome and Greece is very well regarded and remains at the heart of much of our art today. For example, Ancient Greek architecture gave us the Classical Orders: Doric order, Ionic order, and Corinthian order. The Parthenon is still the architectural symbol of the classical world.

Greek sculpture is well known and we know the names of several Ancient Greek artists: for example, Phidias.

Civilization and history

Some classicists use the information gathered through philology, archaeology, and art history to seek an understanding of the history, culture, and civilization. They critically use the literary and physical artifacts to create and refine a narrative of the ancient world. Unfortunately, imbalances in the evidence available often leave a huge vacuum of information about certain classes of people. Thus, classicists are now working to fill in these gaps as much as possible to get an understanding of the lives of ancient women, slaves, and the lower classes. Other problems include the under-representation in the evidence of entire cultures. For example, Sparta was one of the leading city-states of Greece, but little evidence of it has survived for classicists to study. That which has survived has generally come from their key rival, Athens. Likewise, the domination and the expansion of the Roman Empire reduced much of the evidence of earlier civilizations like the Etruscans.

Ancient Philosophy

The roots of Western philosophy lie in the study of the classics. The very word philosophy is Greek in origin—a term coined by Pythagoras to describe the "love of wisdom." It is not surprising, then, that many classicists study the wealth of philosophical works surviving from Roman and Greek philosophy. Among the most formidable and lasting of these thinkers are Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoics.

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