0:00:00.205,0:00:02.073 - [Salman] I am now[br]going to give an overview 0:00:02.073,0:00:03.157 of ancient Greece. 0:00:03.157,0:00:05.678 In future videos we're gonna[br]go into a lot more depth 0:00:05.678,0:00:07.339 on a lot of these events and ideas. 0:00:07.339,0:00:10.191 But this one is to give you[br]context on the big picture. 0:00:10.191,0:00:14.358 And just to start, let's[br]begin with the name Greece. 0:00:15.295,0:00:17.785 It turns out that the Greeks do not call 0:00:17.785,0:00:21.361 where they live, Greece,[br]neither did the ancient Greeks. 0:00:21.361,0:00:23.194 They called it Hellas. 0:00:24.101,0:00:25.351 Hellas, Hellas. 0:00:27.019,0:00:30.186 And the word Hellas comes from Hellen, 0:00:31.497,0:00:33.449 so this comes from Hellen, 0:00:33.449,0:00:35.891 which is this legendary[br]figure who is viewed 0:00:35.891,0:00:38.924 as a progenitor of the Greek people. 0:00:38.924,0:00:39.831 You could kind of view him 0:00:39.831,0:00:41.743 as the father of the Greek people. 0:00:41.743,0:00:45.166 And it's not well established[br]in the historical record 0:00:45.166,0:00:48.364 when Hellen actually existed, 0:00:48.364,0:00:51.886 but this is where we get[br]the name Hellas from. 0:00:51.886,0:00:52.764 And it's very important. 0:00:52.764,0:00:56.781 Do not confuse this Hellen, who was a man, 0:00:56.781,0:00:59.146 with Helen of Troy. 0:00:59.146,0:01:00.973 Helen of Troy was a different person. 0:01:00.973,0:01:04.146 When I was a child and I[br]heard about Hellenic things 0:01:04.146,0:01:06.946 or the Hellenic period, or the Hellenes, 0:01:06.946,0:01:07.779 I was like, oh, 0:01:07.779,0:01:10.385 maybe that's something[br]to do with Helen of Troy. 0:01:10.385,0:01:11.218 No. 0:01:11.218,0:01:15.070 That's referring to the[br]Greek progenitor Hellen. 0:01:15.070,0:01:18.427 And so that's where the[br]word Hellas comes from, 0:01:18.427,0:01:22.436 and ideas like Hellenes,[br]which is the Greek people. 0:01:22.436,0:01:25.547 Or Hellenic, which is referring[br]to something that is Greek, 0:01:25.547,0:01:27.116 or the Hellenistic Period, 0:01:27.116,0:01:29.499 which we'll talk about[br]many videos from now, 0:01:29.499,0:01:31.264 which is this period of Greek influence. 0:01:31.264,0:01:35.053 Not just over Greece and[br]the Anatolian Peninsula, 0:01:35.053,0:01:37.636 but over Persia and over Egypt. 0:01:38.585,0:01:39.998 So with that out of the way, 0:01:39.998,0:01:44.010 let's now talk about[br]the big arc of history 0:01:44.010,0:01:45.706 of ancient Greece. 0:01:45.706,0:01:49.074 And it's believed that the Greek Peninsula 0:01:49.074,0:01:52.366 has been settled by human beings 0:01:52.366,0:01:54.474 for thousands and thousands of years. 0:01:54.474,0:01:56.047 And as time goes on we'll[br]hopefully understand 0:01:56.047,0:01:57.761 more and more about them. 0:01:57.761,0:01:59.372 But my timeline right over here 0:01:59.372,0:02:01.460 starts with Mycenaean Greece, 0:02:01.460,0:02:04.862 or it starts with the[br]end of Mycenaean Greece. 0:02:04.862,0:02:06.275 In other videos we might talk more 0:02:06.275,0:02:09.023 about the Mycenaean Empire. 0:02:09.023,0:02:10.851 And as that empire falls, 0:02:10.851,0:02:13.274 we enter into the Greek Dark Ages. 0:02:13.274,0:02:15.122 And the reason why it's[br]called the Dark Ages, 0:02:15.122,0:02:18.114 is there's not a lot of[br]historical record of this period 0:02:18.114,0:02:21.031 roughly between 1100BCE and 800BCE. 0:02:22.326,0:02:24.402 Now there's one event, 0:02:24.402,0:02:26.944 and I'll kind of say that[br]with a slight emphasis 0:02:26.944,0:02:29.810 or a question that is worth noting here. 0:02:29.810,0:02:33.727 I have Trojan War question[br]mark around 1200BCE. 0:02:35.339,0:02:38.555 Once again, there's not[br]a strong historic record 0:02:38.555,0:02:42.697 for the Trojan War,[br]but it is a famous war, 0:02:42.697,0:02:45.394 that was chronicled by Homer. 0:02:45.394,0:02:47.484 And even Homer, we don't[br]know if he really existed, 0:02:47.484,0:02:49.972 or whether he was an[br]entire literary tradition. 0:02:49.972,0:02:51.622 But it was chronicled in the Iliad 0:02:51.622,0:02:53.682 in the aftermath in the Odyssey. 0:02:53.682,0:02:54.515 And once again, 0:02:54.515,0:02:56.806 this was chronicled many[br]hundreds of years later, 0:02:56.806,0:03:00.306 and even Homer is a semi-legendary figure. 0:03:01.284,0:03:03.321 But when people talk about the Trojan Wars 0:03:03.321,0:03:04.695 or you see movies about it, 0:03:04.695,0:03:06.202 we're talking about something that, 0:03:06.202,0:03:08.361 if it happened the way it happened, 0:03:08.361,0:03:10.778 it's on the order of 1200BCE. 0:03:13.597,0:03:16.215 Now as we exit the Greek Dark Ages, 0:03:16.215,0:03:19.384 that's when we start to have[br]some of the institutions 0:03:19.384,0:03:22.886 that really, that we now[br]identify with the ancient Greeks, 0:03:22.886,0:03:24.286 get established. 0:03:24.286,0:03:26.616 You have the Oracle at Delphi. 0:03:26.616,0:03:29.972 The Oracle of Delphi, or Pythia, 0:03:29.972,0:03:31.743 often known as the Oracle of Delphi. 0:03:31.743,0:03:34.441 This is where leaders[br]of the Greek city-states 0:03:34.441,0:03:38.886 went for direction to understand[br]what was likely to happen, 0:03:38.886,0:03:40.356 to get prophecies. 0:03:40.356,0:03:43.213 And this institution,[br]the Oracle at Delphi, 0:03:43.213,0:03:47.469 lasts through this entire[br]period I have on my timeline, 0:03:47.469,0:03:50.552 into Roman rule, for over 1000 years, 0:03:53.094,0:03:56.828 where the Oracle at Delphi is[br]a very, very prominent figure 0:03:56.828,0:03:59.905 in influencing Greek leaders. 0:03:59.905,0:04:03.550 At around the same time, you[br]also have the Olympic Games, 0:04:03.550,0:04:05.479 where they're held at Olympia, 0:04:05.479,0:04:09.685 where people compete to[br]show their athletic prowess. 0:04:09.685,0:04:12.187 And this ancient Olympic Games once again, 0:04:12.187,0:04:15.187 it continues on for over 1000 years. 0:04:16.224,0:04:20.103 Our modern Olympics are just[br]kind of a flash in the pan, 0:04:20.103,0:04:24.338 and it was obviously modeled[br]after the ancient Olympics, 0:04:24.338,0:04:27.541 compared to how long this lasted. 0:04:27.541,0:04:30.624 Now when most people think of Greece, 0:04:31.495,0:04:35.049 they're actually talking[br]about classical Greece. 0:04:35.049,0:04:37.514 So this is the Classical[br]Period right over here. 0:04:37.514,0:04:39.821 And we're gonna do videos[br]on a lot of these events, 0:04:39.821,0:04:44.239 but it's roughly the period[br]between the Persian invasions 0:04:44.239,0:04:46.614 that were successfully put off, 0:04:46.614,0:04:50.903 and the rise of Alexander[br]and the fall of Alexander. 0:04:50.903,0:04:54.001 And that's where you[br]have all of these ideas 0:04:54.001,0:04:58.168 of Greek democracy really[br]kind of coming to the surface. 0:05:01.542,0:05:04.197 Pericles, the Strategos of Athens, 0:05:04.197,0:05:07.847 who had the influence to[br]really help democracy flourish. 0:05:07.847,0:05:10.778 Under his leadership, or[br]during his leadership, 0:05:10.778,0:05:13.395 you have the Acropolis and the Parthenon, 0:05:13.395,0:05:17.958 these famous icons of Greek[br]culture being established. 0:05:17.958,0:05:21.075 But once again, this is in this period. 0:05:21.075,0:05:23.095 That's in this period right over here. 0:05:23.095,0:05:25.190 This is also the period that we associate 0:05:25.190,0:05:27.085 with the famous Greek philosophers. 0:05:27.085,0:05:28.159 These lines right over here 0:05:28.159,0:05:31.094 are the lives of Socrates and Plato, 0:05:31.094,0:05:33.616 who is Socrates' student, 0:05:33.616,0:05:35.158 established the famous academy. 0:05:35.158,0:05:37.275 Aristotle who was Plato's student 0:05:37.275,0:05:40.608 and famous tutor of Alexander the Great. 0:05:41.558,0:05:44.122 Now as I mentioned, you[br]had these city-states, 0:05:44.122,0:05:46.473 and the ones that are worth mentioning, 0:05:46.473,0:05:48.296 all of them are worth mentioning. 0:05:48.296,0:05:49.939 But I have in this diagram, 0:05:49.939,0:05:52.252 the most significant[br]city-states of ancient Greece 0:05:52.252,0:05:53.356 that you'll hear a lot about. 0:05:53.356,0:05:55.051 We talked about the Oracle at Delphi, 0:05:55.051,0:05:56.868 the Olympic Games at Olympia. 0:05:56.868,0:05:59.471 A lot of the conversation[br]tends to focus around Sparta 0:05:59.471,0:06:00.971 and around Athens. 0:06:03.739,0:06:06.818 And then you'll also hear a[br]lot about Corinth and Thebes. 0:06:06.818,0:06:10.651 Sparta is famous for its[br]militaristic society. 0:06:12.011,0:06:13.001 It's often glorified. 0:06:13.001,0:06:15.129 But it's also worth noting that they were 0:06:15.129,0:06:16.516 significant slave owners. 0:06:16.516,0:06:19.268 At different parts in Spartan history, 0:06:19.268,0:06:22.659 they had somewhere between[br]seven and 20 slaves 0:06:22.659,0:06:24.884 for every Spartan. 0:06:24.884,0:06:27.614 Athens is famous for its philosophy. 0:06:27.614,0:06:31.824 It's famous for the[br]birthplace of democracy. 0:06:31.824,0:06:34.001 It's famous for its art, it's[br]famous for its architecture, 0:06:34.001,0:06:36.481 all of these areas are[br]famous for its architecture. 0:06:36.481,0:06:40.112 But it's also worth noting[br]that during the Golden Age, 0:06:40.112,0:06:42.127 and you have the Athenian Empire, 0:06:42.127,0:06:45.097 they were also pretty brutal[br]in putting down rebellion 0:06:45.097,0:06:48.074 and in some ways subjugating[br]different people. 0:06:48.074,0:06:50.935 So it depends how you want to view things. 0:06:50.935,0:06:52.480 And we're gonna have a lot of videos 0:06:52.480,0:06:54.660 on all of these things. 0:06:54.660,0:06:57.032 But at that time, we talk[br]about these city-states, 0:06:57.032,0:06:59.452 even though they shared a common language 0:06:59.452,0:07:00.319 and common culture, 0:07:00.319,0:07:02.945 they sent folks to the Olympic games, 0:07:02.945,0:07:05.891 they went to the Oracle of Delphi, 0:07:05.891,0:07:08.296 they were independent states. 0:07:08.296,0:07:11.591 And it wasn't until you[br]have Philip of Macedonia 0:07:11.591,0:07:15.302 in the fourth century right over here, 0:07:15.302,0:07:19.061 where he starts to really[br]unify these Greek city-states, 0:07:19.061,0:07:22.144 and it culminates with his[br]son, Alexander the Great. 0:07:22.144,0:07:25.288 And Alexander the Great[br]not only unifies Greece, 0:07:25.288,0:07:27.690 but he takes over the Persian Empire, 0:07:27.690,0:07:30.057 and really kind of with his death, 0:07:30.057,0:07:31.492 and he has a very short life, 0:07:31.492,0:07:33.696 he ushers in the Hellenistic period, 0:07:33.696,0:07:36.258 where you have Greek culture influencing 0:07:36.258,0:07:37.718 that entire region. 0:07:37.718,0:07:41.740 Not only Greece, not only[br]what was the Persian Empire, 0:07:41.740,0:07:43.313 the Middle East, Egypt, 0:07:43.313,0:07:47.802 that whole region gets[br]influenced by Greek culture. 0:07:47.802,0:07:50.958 And Greece, I guess you[br]could say, at the end, 0:07:50.958,0:07:53.230 finally gets under Roman control, 0:07:53.230,0:07:55.484 and it depends which[br]date you wanna use it. 0:07:55.484,0:07:58.415 In the middle of the second century BCE 0:07:58.415,0:08:01.273 is when Greece itself falls to Rome, 0:08:01.273,0:08:04.242 but then other parts of,[br]I guess you could say, 0:08:04.242,0:08:07.907 the Hellenistic world,[br]finally succumb to Rome. 0:08:07.907,0:08:12.189 For example, Ptolemaic Egypt[br]in the first century BCE. 0:08:12.189,0:08:13.290 But even then, 0:08:13.290,0:08:15.692 even when it becomes[br]part of the Roman Empire, 0:08:15.692,0:08:19.859 it influences the Roman Empire[br]very, very, very heavily. 0:08:20.874,0:08:23.415 Now other things that you[br]will hear us talk about 0:08:23.415,0:08:24.664 when we discuss the Greeks, 0:08:24.664,0:08:28.130 besides the democracy and the philosophy, 0:08:28.130,0:08:30.353 we're gonna talk a lot about wars. 0:08:30.353,0:08:35.323 And it's worth noting what[br]Greek warriors looked like. 0:08:35.323,0:08:37.715 So this is a depiction of Hoplites, 0:08:37.715,0:08:41.752 which are Greek citizen[br]soldiers in ancient Greece. 0:08:41.752,0:08:44.211 And you'll also here about a phalanx. 0:08:44.211,0:08:46.197 A phalanx is a formation where they walked 0:08:46.197,0:08:48.753 or they marched very tightly together. 0:08:48.753,0:08:51.423 And when archers came they[br]would put all their shields up, 0:08:51.423,0:08:53.933 and they'd almost be[br]like this armored tank. 0:08:53.933,0:08:58.227 And it was a very effective[br]method of warfare. 0:08:58.227,0:09:00.178 Another word that you will hear associated 0:09:00.178,0:09:02.637 with Sparta and those slaves is Helots. 0:09:02.637,0:09:04.341 Those were the names of those slaves. 0:09:04.341,0:09:06.162 They weren't owned by individuals, 0:09:06.162,0:09:09.155 they were actually owned by the state. 0:09:09.155,0:09:11.020 Now some of the other cities here, 0:09:11.020,0:09:13.031 Corinth, will come up a lot. 0:09:13.031,0:09:15.058 It has a very strategic location 0:09:15.058,0:09:16.601 in the Isthmus of Corinth. 0:09:16.601,0:09:18.767 Notice to get from the mainland, 0:09:18.767,0:09:22.733 or I guess into the[br]Peloponnesian Peninsula, 0:09:22.733,0:09:25.170 you have to go through this Isthmus. 0:09:25.170,0:09:29.083 Thebes right here was a[br]significant rival to Athens 0:09:29.083,0:09:31.585 at different periods of Greek history. 0:09:31.585,0:09:34.459 It was the dominant city. 0:09:34.459,0:09:35.442 Now the last thing I wanna mention 0:09:35.442,0:09:38.757 is there is a ton of culture[br]that comes from the Greeks, 0:09:38.757,0:09:41.654 and a lot of words that we even use today. 0:09:41.654,0:09:43.182 For example, the word draconian, 0:09:43.182,0:09:46.202 which is used for something[br]that's very harsh. 0:09:46.202,0:09:48.052 Well that comes from Draco's law, 0:09:48.052,0:09:52.796 which came in the seventh[br]century BCE from Athens. 0:09:52.796,0:09:55.213 He was an Athenian legislator 0:09:56.134,0:09:59.013 who composed a very harsh series of laws. 0:09:59.013,0:10:01.139 That's where the word[br]draconian comes from. 0:10:01.139,0:10:02.751 When people say something is spartan, 0:10:02.751,0:10:05.683 they kind of imagine it's[br]something that's very basic 0:10:05.683,0:10:07.920 or you just have the necessities. 0:10:07.920,0:10:11.193 And it comes from the[br]idea of Spartan culture 0:10:11.193,0:10:13.317 that they really, 0:10:13.317,0:10:16.684 everything revolved[br]around military necessity. 0:10:16.684,0:10:18.611 Even the word laconic, 0:10:18.611,0:10:22.066 which means someone who says just enough 0:10:22.066,0:10:23.646 to get their meaning across. 0:10:23.646,0:10:27.653 It comes from the region[br]where Sparta is, Laconia. 0:10:27.653,0:10:29.574 The Spartans were famous for their kind of 0:10:29.574,0:10:31.074 very terse speech. 0:10:31.954,0:10:33.679 Famously, when Philip of Macedon 0:10:33.679,0:10:34.848 was threatening the Spartans, 0:10:34.848,0:10:37.410 and he's saying, "If you[br]don't come on to my side 0:10:37.410,0:10:39.122 "I'm going to do this and that to you 0:10:39.122,0:10:42.512 "if you don't become part[br]of my kingdom, my empire, 0:10:42.512,0:10:43.686 "I'm going to do this to your city, 0:10:43.686,0:10:45.649 "I'm going to do that to your people." 0:10:45.649,0:10:49.780 And the Spartan's famous reply was, "If." 0:10:49.780,0:10:53.180 which is kind of a good[br]example of laconic speech. 0:10:53.180,0:10:57.166 With that one word they[br]were able to convey a lot. 0:10:57.166,0:10:58.981 So I'm going to leave you there. 0:10:58.981,0:11:00.465 In the next few videos, 0:11:00.465,0:11:02.642 we're going to go into some depth on this. 0:11:02.642,0:11:04.112 But it's important to realize 0:11:04.112,0:11:05.564 that when people talk[br]about ancient Greece, 0:11:05.564,0:11:07.682 they're talking about a[br]large span of history, 0:11:07.682,0:11:09.924 and most of what we associate[br]with ancient Greece, 0:11:09.924,0:11:14.065 the Acropolis, the[br]Parthenon, the Persian Wars, 0:11:14.065,0:11:16.246 the great Greek philosophers, 0:11:16.246,0:11:19.759 most of that is associated[br]with the classical period, 0:11:19.759,0:11:21.684 often associated with the Golden Age. 0:11:21.684,0:11:24.017 Which is right around there. 0:11:26.004,0:11:27.566 Well before this period, 0:11:27.566,0:11:29.845 the Greeks weren't all these philosophers 0:11:29.845,0:11:31.192 sitting around in togas. 0:11:31.192,0:11:32.388 They might've been wearing togas, 0:11:32.388,0:11:34.071 but at these earlier periods 0:11:34.071,0:11:37.023 they were more adventurers and conquerors, 0:11:37.023,0:11:39.002 and they might have[br]been in small villages. 0:11:39.002,0:11:42.224 And eventually those[br]evolved into the city-states 0:11:42.224,0:11:44.373 that especially in Athens and Sparta 0:11:44.373,0:11:47.880 had their Golden Age in[br]this period right over here.