Agenda: Monday, Sept. 12, 2011

Quote of the Day: “Why not just live in the moment, especially if it has a good beat?” - Goldie Hawn
Photo Credit: Mr. Campbell Blue 2 Principal.
Texans 34 - Colts 7
Learning Targets:

·          To consider the nature of imperial systems in the classical era
·          To explore why empires developed in some regions but not in others
·          To show the important similarities and differences between imperial systems and the reasons behind them
·          To reflect on the significance that classical empires have for us today
  • Alexander the Great: Alexander III of Macedon (356–323 B.C.E.), conqueror of the Persian Empire and part of northwest India.
  • Athenian democracy: A radical form of direct democracy in which much of the free male population of Athens had the franchise and officeholders were chosen by lot.
  • Cyrus (the Great): Founder of the Persian Empire (r. 557–530 B.C.E.); a ruler noted for his conquests, religious tolerance, and political moderation.
  • Darius I: Great king of Persia (r. 522–486 B.C.E) following the upheavals after Cyrus’s death; completed the establishment of the Persian Empire. (pron. most commonly in American English DAHR-ee-us)
  • Greco-Persian Wars: Two major Persian invasions of Greece, in 490 B.C.E and 480 B.C.E, in which the Persians were defeated on both land and sea.
  • Olympic Games: Greek religious festival and athletic competition in honor of Zeus; founded in 776 B.C.E and celebrated every four years.
  • Hellenistic era: The period from 323 to 30 B.C.E in which Greek culture spread widely in Eurasia in the kingdoms ruled by Alexander’s political successors.
  • Herodotus: Greek historian known as the “father of history” (ca. 484–ca. 425 B.C.E). His Histories enunciated the Greek view of a fundamental divide between East and West, culminating in the Greco-Persian Wars of 490–480 B.C.E (pron. hair- ODD-uh-tus)
  • hoplite: A heavily armed Greek infantryman. Over time, the ability to afford a hoplite panoply and to fight for the city came to define Greek citizenship.
  • Ionia: The territory of Greek settlements on the coast of Anatolia; the main bone of contention between the Greeks and the Persian Empire.
  • Peloponnesian War: Great war between Athens (and allies) and Sparta (and allies), lasting from 431 to 404 B.C.E. The conflict ended in the defeat of Athens and the closing of Athens’s Golden Age.
  • Persepolis: The capital and greatest palace-city of the Persian Empire, destroyed by Alexander the Great. (pron. per-SEP-oh-lis)
  • Persian Empire: A major empire that expanded from the Iranian plateau to incorporate the Middle East from Egypt to India; flourished from around 550 to 330 B.C.E
  • Solon: Athenian statesman and lawmaker (fl. 594–560 B.C.E.) whose reforms led the Athenians toward democracy.
Big Picture Questions
1. What common features can you identify in the empires described in this chapter?
2. In what ways did these empires differ from one another? What accounts for those differences?
3. Are you more impressed with the “greatness” of empires or with their destructive and oppressive features? Why?
4. Do you think that the classical empires hold “lessons” for the present, or are contemporary circumstances sufficiently unique as to render the distant past irrelevant?
Margin Review Questions
Q. How did Persian and Greek civilizations differ in their political organization and values?
Q. Why did semidemocratic governments emerge in some of the Greek city-states?
Q. What were the consequences for both sides of the encounter between the Persians and the Greeks?
Q. What changes did Alexander’s conquests bring in their wake?


Agenda:
1. Quiz - Chapter 4 Reading Check
2. We will discuss Greece and how it rose to empire under Alexander the Great.
Use the Terms, Big Picture Questions and Margin Review Questions to prepare.

We'll also watch a video clip from Engineering an Empire Greece:


And if time, we'll see a bit of "The Last Stand of the 300"
We'll see a bit more of this in class on Tuesday.




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