| A | B |
|---|
| peninsula | body of land with water on three sides |
| colony | settlement in a new territory that keeps close ties with its homeland |
| polis | the early Greek city-state, made up of a city and the surrounding countryside and run like an independent country |
| acropolis | fortified hill in ancient Greek cities |
| agora | an open area that served as both a market and a meeting place |
| Sparta | had the strongest army in Greece |
| Athens | developed into an emerging democracy; had the strongest navy in Greece |
| aristocrats | nobles |
| helots | person who was conquered and enslaved by the ancient Spartans |
| perioeci | merchants and artisans who lived in the Spartan villages |
| ephors | Spartan managers |
| Council of Elders | served as Sparta's high court |
| oligarchy | form of government in which a few people have the ruling power |
| constitution | set of principles and rules for governing |
| democracy | government in which all citizens share in the ruling power |
| triremes | warships that had 3 levels of rowers on each side, one above the other |
| defensive league | protective group |
| mercenaries | hired soldiers |
| enlightenment | understanding |
| Thebes | overthrew Spartan rule |
| Peloponnesian War | fought between Sparta and Athens |
| Spartans | ruled Greece until 371 B. C. |
| Philip II of Macedonia | conquered Greece in 338 B. C. |
| Olympic Games | festival to honor Zeus |
| oracles | persons who, it was believed, could speak with the gods |
| prophecy | statement of what might happen in the future |
| pancratium | a combination of boxing and wrestling in which no holds were barred between the two fighters |
| pentathlon | made up of five events |
| soliloquy | talk in which personal thoughts and feelings are expressed to the audience |
| tragedies | stories about suffering |
| comedy | a play with a happy ending |
| intellect | the ability to learn and reason |
| philosopher | thinker who seeks wisdom and ponders questions about life |
| Socratic method | Socrates asked questions designed to make a person arrive step by step at a final conclusion |
| The Republic | Plato set down his ideas about an ideal state in a book called The Republic |
| political science | the study of government |
| scientific method | process used by scientists to study something |
| hypothesis | possible explanation |
| Crete | island off the southeast coast of mainland Greece; birthplace of Minoan civilization |
| bull leaping | a form of bullfighting |
| labyrinth | network of paths through which it is difficult to find one's way |
| parchment | thin animal skin |
| shrines | sacred places to worship |
| Minotaur | huge monster that had the body of a man and the head of a bull and lived on human flesh |
| megaron | a square room with a fireplace in its center |
| tenants | people who live on and work another person's land |
| civil wars | wars between opposing groups of citizens |
| Trojan War | war fought over Helen of Troy |
| frescoes | water color paintings made on damp plaster |
| tyrant | person who takes power by force and rules with total authority |
| satrap | official who ruled a state in the Persian Empire under Darius |
| Zoroastrianism | Persian religion founded by Zoroaster; taught that humans had the freedom to choose between right and wrong |
| direct democracy | system of government in which people gather at mass meetings to decide on government matters |
| representative democracy | system of government in which people elect leaders to make laws |
| Mycenae | ancient city on the peninsula of mainland Greece |
| Peloponnesus | peninsula in the southern part of mainland Greece |
| Agamemnon | the Mycenaean king in Greek mythology who used trickery to win the Trojan War |
| Solon | a Greek man who reformed society in Athens by canceling farmers' debts and freeing those who had become slaves |
| Pesistratus | Greek tyrant; he divided large estates among landless farmers and gave jobs and money to the poor |
| Cleisthenes | Greek leader credited with making the government of Athens a democracy |
| Persia | area which is now southwestern Iran |
| Marathon | a plain located a short distance from Athens where the Athenians defeated the Persians |
| Thermopylae | a narrow mountain pass where the Greeks valiantly fought but lost a battle against the Persians |
| Salamis | the strait where the Greeks attacked and destroyed almost the entire Persian fleet in a ferocious battle |
| Plataea | a site northwest of Athens where the largest Greek army ever assembled crushed the Persian army and saved their homeland in 479 B.C. |
| Cyrus the Great | ruler who united the Persians into a powerful empire in the 6th century B.C. |
| Darius | Persian king who reorganized the Persian government by dividing the empire into 20 states |
| Xerxes | son of Darius; Persian king that took the throne in 486 B.C. |
