Fleecy Togas
It was pretty much a nothing burger today. We had thought we might head out to UBC for the Beaty pay-what-you-can night, but it was so very soggy and grey. I didn't want to brave the bus and the cold. So we stuck around home and concentrated on our studies. It was good thought.
In Social Studies, we took a look once again at the complete time line of Ancient Greece, starting with the Minoans and ending with the Roman conquest. We contrasted the idea of duration with the pace of a civilization and its culture/ I found this handy video to put it all together.
From our studies ...
The duration of ancient Greece up until it was conquered by Rome could be said to be around 2200 years, from the start of the Minoan city-states on Crete, to the conquering of the lands of the Hellenistic empire, more than 2 millennia later.
Different historians include different civilizations among the ancient Greeks. Some historians do not include the Minoans (2200-1450)BCE and the Mycenaeans (1600-1100) BCE. The culture here maintained a steady or constant state/pace of development and change. Much like the ancient Egyptians, there was little change to culture and how the civilizations were governed. The Mycenaeans replaced the Minoans as the dominant culture and governing city-states, as a result of conquer or natural disaster or both. Both cultures had a lot in common.
The pace of civilization/cultural development stopped and went into reverse during the Dark Age of Greece, after the fall of Mycenae. Many people returned to a nomadic or small settlement existence until the beginning of the Archaic Period (800-500) BCE.
Now we see the pace of cultural development speed up again. The first Olympic Games were held. There were also great developments in mathematics( Pythagorus’ Theorem).
However, it was during the Classical Period that the pace of civilization development really took off. The Athenians in their Golden Age developed ideas in theatre, democracy, philosophy, physics, architecture, and mathematics.
The Classical Period’s duration was short but its pace of development was fast. It came to an end with the advent of empire.
Alexander the Macedonian conquered all the independent city-states and surrounding nations to herald in the Hellenistic Period (323 - 30) BCE, spreading the influence of Greek culture, governance, science and mathematics. The Romans would later conquer those same lands and bring an end to the ancient Greek civilization. The Greek culture, however, would conquer the Romans and speed up the pace of Roman development. The influence of ancient Greek culture persist today.
The project got me thinking about what defines a culture or civilization. Is it the political organization, borders, or the longevity of its arts and learning? From that second perspective, the one I will choose, we are all the countrymen of Socrates and Sophocles; Alexander is our type A cousin; and we are but a rainy laundry day away from wearing a toga, on this grey chilly April, a fleecy one, I hope.
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