2/17/14 west civ notes

The First European Civilization: The Greeks

• 2,200-400 B.C.
• LO1: describe the way of life of the barbarian peoples of Europe after the agriculture revolution
• Greeks began as one of many European barbarian peoples, they had a life based on farming and warfare
• In 2000 B.C. people began migrating to into southeastern Europe Greek city states were the first to practice citizen participation in government
• Europeans were the first to use the agricultural plow
• In 3500 B.C. some people lived in western Europe
• Tribes- groups of villages or farmsteads that shared common interest and tradition
• Stonehenge- most famous of megalithic structure that was built by trading and farming people in western Europe in 2000 B.C.
• The Greeks were the first barbarian people of Europe to make contact with civilization
• Megalithic- Greek word meaning large boulder, megalithic structures were huge structures made out of large boulders
• The Greeks believed in many gods and goddesses
• The tribes that occurred would usually battle each other for metals, slaves, and other goods
• tribes usually didn't last very long because the group would usually end up fighting over the goods they won in battle
• The classical Greek civilization that we know today didn't emerge until 800 B.C.
• The Greeks also believed in the afterlife
• The Greeks settled in mainland Greece from about 2000 B.C. and onward, between 1200-800 B.C. they spread to islands and eastern coastlands of the Aegean sea
• As the Greeks began spreading across Europe and Asia the Aegean region still remained the center of the Greeks world