Chapter 4

1. The Greeks and Persians had far more in common than they realized. They both spoke languages belonging to the same Indo-European family of languages found throughout Europe and western and southern Asia. Many scholars also believe that they have the same social organization and religious outlooks from their shared past. 2. The Persians believed that the world was created by Ahuramazda and was threatened by Angra Mainyu backed by a host of demons. The struggle between good and evil plays out over twelve thousand years, after which good is destined to prevail, and the world will return to the pure state of creation. 3. Geography affected Greek development by how Greece was surrounded by sea. This made travel in Greece very easy because the Greeks could get what they could not grow. They were also able to bring back innovative ideas from other countries. Also because the Greek were cut off by mountains, this led to the formation of city-states. There was limited interaction and unity of the city-states, which ultimately created rivalries amongst themselves. Such physical barriers prevented a unified Greece. 4. The polis of Athens and Sparta both were city-states and they were both very jealous of each other. What they didn t have in common was that Athens possessed unusually large and populous territory while Sparta had superior army as opposed to many in Greece. The poor soil that covered much of Greece encouraged migration to the Aegean islands and the shore of Asia Minor, where city-states were formed. 5. The Greek democracy also called the Athenian democracy was developed and first used by the Athens. Other Greek cities set up democracies, but were not up to the standards of the Athenians. It remains a unique and intriguing experiment in direct democracy where the people do not elect representatives to vote on their behalf but vote on legislation and executive bills in their own right.

6. The ancient Greek philosophers gave us the basic categories of philosophy, beginning with metaphysics. Socrates was held responsible for the actions of several of his aristocratic students who had tried to overthrow the Athenian Democracy. 7. The Hellenistic age was the period between the conquest of the Persian empire by Alexander the Great and the establishment of Rome supremacy, in which Greek culture and learning prominent in the Mediterranean and the middle east. 8. The political system of Greece was based on democracy, while the political system of the Persian Empire was based on freedom. 9. The fierce competition that was created by having dozens of city-states all fighting each other for power creating such a high level of competition that great achievements resulted. It has been observed throughout time that civilizations make great leaps in ideas and technology during times of war and fierce competition. 10. There were tensions along the borders of the Greek city-states and the Persian Empire. The Greeks had colonies along the borders of the Aegean Sea, named Ionia. These colonies were governed under the Persian Empire. The Greeks were forced to pay heavy taxes and there was a revolt named the Ionian Revolt. The Persians tried to conquer Greece but Greece proved superior and won the war. 11. Sparta feared that Athens was becoming too powerful but tried to prevent war. If the Athenians would yield to Sparta's request, they would in fact accept Spartan orders. This was unacceptable, and war broke out: Athens and its Delian League were attacked by Sparta and its Peloponnesian League. Diodorus mentions that the Spartans did not just declare war, but decided to declare war and ask for help in Persia. 12. I would say that each influenced the other equally once the trade routes were opened, however if you are looking at earlier standpoint then I would have to say that the Greeks being a seafaring people had the greatest influence from a standpoint of education, law and the arts. They were more able to spread their accomplishments and advances to other peoples throughout the Mediterranean while the Persians were more of warfare,

acquiring lands type of conquering type peoples their influences were not as society advancing. 13. As the Greek city-states declined in power, the backward northern Greek kingdom of Macedonia was developing into a great military power. This showed that the relationship between power, artistic, and literacy in the G Greek world were all connected.

Map Questions
1. Iran seems to be by a lot of mountainous regions such as the Zagros Mountains their also seems to be more rivers going west to Mesopotamia and Assyria. The lack of cities contributed to this isolation because many other civilizations couldn t trade as much with Iran. 2. Greece is mostly a mountainous region with gulfs and bays. The mainly mountainous region of Greece made it inevitably possible for the creation of polis or city-states as opposed to a unified country because of the isolation that came from the mountains. 3. The first battle was located in Thessaly, the second and third one was in Boeotia, the fourth one was in Athens, the fifth on was in Thessaly, and the final one was in Miletus. The battles were fought in this location because of codes. 4. During Alexander's life he expanded the empire to stretch through Egypt and parts of India. Alexander targeted mainly Persians and Greeks. 5. Alexander s unification led to the fostering of cultural exchange because of the amount of impact that his empire stretched from nation to nation. 6. After the death of Alexander his vast empire soon split apart into a number of large and small political entites.