Trireme

Nurtured on the tribute of vassal states in the Aegean, Athens did not mothball its triremes; instead, they became a “benign” police force of sorts for its Greek subject allies overseas. Like the Spartans, imperial Athens too saw little need to limit warfare to a single afternoon, or indeed, given the success of its evacuation before Xerxes…

After the Persian wars where Athens and Sparta defeated the Persian empire in 479 BC the golden age of Greece was born an age of great military, political and philosophical advancement. The Peloponnesian Wars were caused by Sparta’s fear of the spread of democracy, coupled with Athenian expansion goals, these great ambitions led to the loss of the Peloponnesian war and brought about the collapse of the Athenian empire. The approach that will be used to examine this is by examining the…

Athens and Sparta are the two most well known poleis of ancient Greece and each was known for the structure of its society. In this essay I will discuss how people in those societies obtained the right to participate in public life and make community decisions, identify who held public office, and how public office holders were elected. How those two societies were similar and how they differed will also be discussed throughout this essay. Both Athens and Sparta had a societal structure based…

Themistocles was arguable one of the most significant political and military figures of Athens during the fifth century. He is often remembered for his emphasis on naval power and for his influence on the success of the Greeks during the Persian wars. However, more can be learned from studying Themistocles than war strategy and political conduct. In his work, Themistocles, Plutarch examines the role ambition plays throughout Themistocles’ life. His evaluation serves to highlight the boundaries…

had a large amount of warships. The Athenian Naval army consisted of 80,000 men which were running 400 ships. The rowers of the ships were slaves or poor people from Athens or local city-states. The main vessels the Athenian navy used were called triremes. The Spartan religion was a polytheistic which means worshipped many gods and goddess. The main gods for Sparta were in olympus. Their main god was Zeus which was the ruler over the sky and thunder storms. The spartans believed the gods were…

Greece was the forefront in progressive technology at the time, with innovative ideals such as democracy, and a wealth of famous philosophers such as Socrates. There were many technological advancements, such as better siege weapons, aqueducts, and triremes. In Polynesia, the austronesians used their advanced outrigger canoes to spread their people and their culture across many miles of open water. These technological advances and cultural progressiveness helped these expanding civilizations…

Imagine you are a citizen of ancient Greece, where would you live? Strong Sparta or artistic Athens? Athens and Sparta were both powerful civilizations seen as utopias by their people. These city- states had a plethora of contrasting characteristics, with few similarities. Athens’ and Sparta’s government and social standards may be polar opposites but they come from the same cultural origin, Greece. Both civilizations had undeniably strong governments, however the ruled their citizens on…

University of the People Greek and Roman Civilization Assignment Unit 5 Trace how Carthage became almost the equal of Rome. Be sure to show the strength of both and how this conflict led to Rome becoming a naval power. The foreign policy of Carthage was very different from that of the motherland. The Phoenicians had maintained an army of mercenaries, but had used them only to protect their country from the robber kings of Damascus and Jerusalem. They had many ships of war, but had used them only…

mere historical curiosity. Written about events occurring almost twenty five hundred years ago, one would assume this lengthy text could not serve any contemporary purpose. Modern mechanized arms have advanced far beyond the hoplite and chariot. Triremes more resemble a third world fishing vessel rather than an aircraft carrier or a destroyer. However, examining beyond these superficial military means, one would discover Thucydides’ words a timeless study of human interaction on both…

A nation’s capability to adapt to its terrain and to utilize its natural resources is often critical in determining the ability people to survive in its land. This was evident in numerous successful ancient civilizations like the Egyptian civilization, organized around the Nile River, which ruled from 3200-1640 BCE. To the south, and a few millennia later, the Aksum Empire adapted to its mountainous terrain and long seacoast to dominate trade and agriculture from 100-750 CE. Just before the…