This is the essay for the 1st week of the 7th Grade Ron Paul Curriculum. It’s about Ancient Greece.

 

Ancient Greece:

 

The first Greeks were the Myceneans and Minoans. The Myceneans lived on the rocky Greek mainland, while the Minoans lived on the island of Crete.

The Myceneans were warlike people who colonized when they had food shortages.

The Minoans were the polar opposites of the Myceneans, because they were a peaceful society, which focused on culture. The Minoans, also built the Palace of Knossos.

The Minoans started about 2600 BC. The Minoan civilization ended around 1400 BC when the Myceneans invaded and took over the Minoans. The Myceneans came after the Minoans settled in Crete around 1600 BC. The Myceneans were defeated in 1100 BC by other Greek tribes.

 

The Dorians, which came after the Mycenaeans, started living in the old Mycenaean cities. The Dorians, also abandoned the Minoan and Mycenaean writing style as they wrote in what we call the Greek language today.  The Dorians started the Greek dark ages. The reason people call it the dark ages is, because the Dorians didn’t get as excited about culture, the same way the Minoans and Mycenaeans did.

 

The High Greek culture of the Mycenaeans returned at 800 BC, because that is when written records started.  The Greek City-States started as small agricultural communities and then became full blown City-States. The Greek City-States each had their own government. The City-States worked toward a common goal, but they were only loosely connected politically. When  Persia attacked Greece the City-States combined their forces and defended against Persia. The Greco-Persian wars started in 499 BC and ended in 449 BC. At the end Greece won and the Persians never invaded Greece again. After that in 431 BC the Peloponnesian war started, because Sparta and Athens wanted to know who was the most powerful City-State. Sparta won the war and after that Athens declined in power.

 

Alexander the Great’s empire(AKA, the seleucid empire) started in Greece although Alexander the Great was born in Macedonia. The empire began in 336 BC and started falling apart when he died in 323 BC. After that Greece started going in to the downfall. Later in 146 BC the Romans took over Greece at the Battle of Corinth. Now under Roman control the Greeks were had very little power and even after they became independent again they never got powerful again.