Timeline of events | |
2500BC | The great Minoan civilisation |
1200BC | The Trojan War and the destruction of Troy |
1050-750BC | The Dark Ages of Greece |
830-600BC | Development of the first Greek Alphabet |
776BC | The First Olympic Games are staged |
650BC | The Rise of the Greek tyrants |
600BC | Greek Coin currency introduced |
500-323BC | The Greek Classical Period |
490BC | Greek/ Persian Wars led by Xerxes |
333BC | Alexander the Great defeats the Persians at Issus and is given Egypt by the Persian Satrap |
Key vocabulary | |
Acropolis | a fortified citadel within a larger city |
Assembly | In Athens, an Assembly consisted of a group of citizens who turned up to vote |
Democracy | A form of government in which citizens have a say in how they are ruled. |
Oligarchy | A type of government where the power is held by a few people |
Olympics | An athletic event held by the Ancient Greeks every four years |
Titans | The Titans were the first Greek gods |
Tyrant | The ruler of a Greek city-state like a king |
Key individuals | |
Aristotle | Student of Plato. Ideas of philosophy influenced Western Culture for centuries. |
Archimedes | Scientist and mathematician famous for reportedly yelling ‘eureka!’ |
Alexander the Great | King of Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia. United Greece |
Plato | Philosopher and student of Socrates. |
Socrates | Known as the father of philosophy. |
Knowledge Organiser - Ancient Greece
Has Greece always been in the news? How can we know so much about Ancient Greece? What was the role of women in Ancient Greece? Would you like to be an idiot in Ancient Greece? Why was Athens able to be so strong at the time? Would you prefer to live in Athens or Sparta? What was entertainment like in Ancient Greece? How does Ancient Greece influence us today?
About 2,500 years ago, Greece was one of the most important places in the ancient world. The Greeks were great thinkers, warriors, writers, actors, athletes, artists, architects and politicians. The Greeks called themselves Hellenes and their land was Hellas. The name ‘Greeks’ was given to the people of Greece later by the Romans. They lived in mainland Greece and the Greek islands, but also in colonies scattered around the Mediterranean Sea.