The archaic period in the history of Greece is usually called the 8th – 6th centuries. BC e. According to some researchers, this is the time of the most intensive development of ancient society. Indeed, over the course of three centuries many most important discoveries, which determined the nature of the technical basis of ancient society, those socio-economic and political phenomena developed that gave ancient society a certain specificity in comparison with other slave-holding societies: classical slavery; monetary circulation and market system; the main form of political organization is the polis; the concept of popular sovereignty and democratic form of government. At the same time, the main ethical norms and principles of morality, aesthetic ideals that influenced ancient world throughout its history until the emergence of Christianity. Finally, during this period the main phenomena arose ancient culture: philosophy and science, main genres of literature, theater, order architecture, sports.
In order to more clearly imagine the dynamics of the development of society in the archaic period, we present the following comparison. Around 800 BC e. The Greeks lived in a limited territory of the south of the Balkan Peninsula, the islands of the Aegean Sea and the western coast of Asia Minor. Around 500 BC e. they already occupy the shores of the Mediterranean from Spain to the Levant and from Africa to the Crimea. Around 800 BC e. Greece is essentially a village world, a world of self-sufficient small communities, by 500 BC. e. Greece is already a mass of small towns with local markets, monetary relations powerfully invade the economy, trade relations cover the entire Mediterranean, the objects of exchange are not only luxury goods, but also everyday goods. Around 800 BC e. Greek society is a simple, primitive social structure with a predominance of the peasantry, an aristocracy not much different from it, and with an insignificant number of slaves. Around 500 BC e. Greece has already experienced an era of great social change, the slave of the classical type becomes one of the main elements social structure, along with the peasantry, there are other socio-professional groups; Various forms of political organization are known: monarchy, tyranny, oligarchy, aristocratic and democratic republics. In 800 BC. e. There are still practically no churches, theaters, or stadiums in Greece. In 500 BC. e. Greece is a country with many beautiful public buildings, the ruins of which still amaze us. Lyric poetry, tragedy, comedy, and natural philosophy emerge and develop.
The rapid rise prepared by previous development and the spread of iron tools had multiple consequences for society. The increase in labor productivity in agriculture and crafts led to an increase in surplus product. An increasing number of people were released from the agricultural sector, which ensured the rapid growth of crafts. The separation of the agricultural and handicraft sectors of the economy led to regular exchange between them, the emergence of a market and a universal equivalent - minted coins. A new type of wealth - money - begins to compete with the old one - land ownership, disintegrating traditional relations.
As a result, there is a rapid decomposition of primitive communal relations and the formation of new forms of socio-economic and political organization of society. This process occurs differently in various parts Hellas, but everywhere it entails the maturation of social conflicts between the emerging aristocracy and the ordinary population, primarily communal peasants, and then other strata.
Modern researchers usually date the formation of the Greek aristocracy to the 8th century. BC e. The aristocracy of that time was a limited group of people characterized by a special lifestyle and value system that was obligatory for its members. It occupied a predominant position in the sphere of public life, especially in the administration of justice, and played a leading role in war, since only noble warriors had heavy weapons, and therefore the battles were essentially duels of aristocrats. The aristocracy sought to completely bring ordinary members of society under its control, to turn them into an exploited mass. According to modern researchers, the attack of the aristocracy on ordinary fellow citizens began in the 8th century BC. e. Little is known about the details of this process, but its main results can be judged by the example of Athens, where the increased influence of the aristocracy led to the creation of a clearly defined class structure, a gradual reduction in the layer of the free peasantry and an increase in the number of dependents.
Closely related to this situation is the phenomenon of enormous historical significance as "the great Greek colonization". Since the middle of the 8th century BC. e. Greeks were forced to leave their homeland and move to other countries.
Over three centuries, they created many colonies on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Colonization developed in three main directions - western (Sicily, Southern Italy, Southern France and then the eastern coast of Spain), northern (Thracian coast of the Aegean Sea, the area of straits leading from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea, and its coast) and southeastern (the coast of North Africa and the Levant country).
Modern researchers believe that its main stimulus was the lack of land. Greece suffered from both absolute agrarian overpopulation (increase in population due to general economic growth) and relative (lack of land among the poorest peasants due to the concentration of land ownership in the hands of the nobility). Among the causes of colonization also include political struggle, which usually reflected the main social contradiction of the era - the struggle for land, as a result of which those defeated in the civil war were often forced to leave their homeland and move overseas. There were also trade motives - the desire of the Greeks to bring trade routes under their control.
The pioneers of Greek colonization were the cities of Chalkida and Eretria located on the island of Euboea - in the 8th century BC. e., apparently, the most advanced cities of Greece, the most important centers of metallurgical production. Later, Corinth, Megara, and the cities of Asia Minor, especially Miletus, were included in the colonization.
Colonization had a huge impact on the development of ancient Greek society, especially in the economic sphere. The inability to establish the necessary branches of craft in a new place led to the fact that very soon the colonies established the closest economic ties with the old centers of the Balkan Peninsula and Asia Minor From here to the colonies and to the local population neighboring them began to receive products of Greek crafts, especially artistic ones, as well as some types of agricultural products ( the best varieties wines, olive oil, etc.). In return, the colonies supplied grain and other food products, as well as raw materials (timber, metal, etc.) to Greece. As a result, Greek crafts received an impetus further development, and agriculture began to acquire a commercial character. Thus, colonization muffled social conflicts in Greece, bringing a mass of landless population beyond its borders and at the same time contributing to changes in the social and economic structure of Greek society.
The attack of the aristocracy on the rights of the demos reached its apogee in the 7th century BC. e., causing counter-resistance. A special social layer people who acquired, most often through craft and trade, significant wealth, led an aristocratic lifestyle, but did not have the hereditary privileges of the nobility “Money is held in universal esteem. Wealth has mixed the breeds,” the poet Theognis of Megara notes bitterly. This new layer greedily strived for control, thereby becoming an ally of the Peasants in the fight against the nobility. The first successes in this struggle were most often associated with the establishment of written laws that limited the arbitrariness of the aristocracy.
Resistance to the growing dominance of the nobility was facilitated by at least three circumstances. Around 675 - 600. BC e. thanks to technological progress, a kind of revolution in military affairs occurs. Heavy armor becomes available to ordinary citizens, and the aristocracy loses its advantage in the military sphere. Due to the scarcity of the country's natural resources, the Greek aristocracy could not catch up with the aristocracy of the East. Due to the peculiarities of historical development in Iron Age Greece, it was not There were such economic institutions (similar to the temple farms of the East), based on which the peasantry could be exploited. Even the peasants who were dependent on the aristocrats were not economically connected with the latter’s farms. All this predetermined the fragility of the dominance of the nobility in society. Finally, the force that prevented the strengthening of the positions of the aristocrats was their ethics. It had an “agonal” (competitive) character: each aristocrat, in accordance with the inherent characteristics of this stratum ethical standards strived to be first everywhere - on the battlefield, in sports competitions, in politics This value system was created by the nobility earlier and transferred to the new historical period when she needed the unity of all forces to ensure dominance. However, the aristocracy was unable to achieve this.
Exacerbation of social conflicts in the 7th – 6th centuries. BC e. led to the birth of tyranny in many Greek cities, that is, the sole power of the ruler.
At that time, the concept of “tyranny” did not yet have the negative connotation inherent in it today. The tyrants pursued an active foreign policy, created powerful armed forces, decorated and improved their cities. However, the early tyranny as a regime could not last long. The historical doom of tyranny was explained by its internal contradictions. The overthrow of the rule of the nobility and the struggle against it were impossible without the support of the masses. The peasantry, who benefited from this policy, initially supported the tyrants, but when the threat posed by the aristocracy waned, they gradually came to realize the uselessness of the tyrannical regime.
Tyranny was not a stage characteristic of the life of all policies. It was most typical for those cities that, back in the archaic era, became large trade and craft centers. The process of formation of the classical polis due to the relative abundance of sources is best known to us from the example of Athens.
History of Athens archaic era is the history of the formation of a democratic polis. The monopoly on political power in the period under review belonged to the nobility here - the eupatrides, who gradually turned ordinary citizens into a dependent mass. This process already in the 7th century led to outbreaks of social conflicts.
Fundamental changes occur at the beginning of the 6th century. BC uh, and they are connected with Solon’s reforms. The most important of them was the so-called sisakhfia (“shaking off the burden”). As a result of this reform, the peasants, who, due to debts, had essentially become sharecroppers of their own land, restored their status as owners. At the same time, it was forbidden to enslave Athenians for debts. The reforms that undermined the political dominance of the nobility were of great importance. From now on, the scope of political rights depended not on nobility, but on the size of property (all citizens of the policy were divided into four property categories). In accordance with this division, the military organization Athens. A new governing body was created - the council (bule), and the importance of the people's assembly increased.
Solon's reforms, despite their radicality, did not solve all the problems. The aggravation of social struggle in Athens led in 560 BC. e. to the establishment of the tyranny of Pisistratus and his sons, which lasted here intermittently until 510 BC. e. Peisistratus pursued an active foreign policy, strengthening the position of Athens on maritime trade routes. Crafts flourished in the city, trade developed, and large-scale construction was carried out. Athens was turning into one of the largest economic centers of Hellas. Under the successors of Pisistratus, this regime fell, which again caused an exacerbation of social contradictions. Soon after 509 BC. e. under the leadership of Cleisthenes, a new series of reforms was carried out, finally establishing the democratic system. The most important of them was the reform of electoral law: from now on, all citizens, regardless of their property status, had equal political rights. The system of territorial division was changed, destroying the influence of aristocrats in the localities.
Sparta offers a different development option. Having captured Laconia and enslaved the local population, the Dorians already in the 9th century. BC e. created a state in Sparta. Born very early as a result of conquest, it retained many primitive features in its structure. Subsequently, the Spartans, during two wars, sought to conquer Messenia, a region in the western Peloponnese. The internal social conflict between the nobility and ordinary citizens, which had already been brewing before, erupted in Sparta during the Second Messenian War. In its main features it resembled the conflicts that existed in other parts of Greece around the same time. The long struggle between ordinary Spartiates and the aristocracy led to the restructuring of Spartan society. A system was created, which in later times was called Lykurgov, after the name of the legislator who allegedly established it. Of course, tradition simplifies the picture, because this system was not created immediately, but developed gradually. Having overcome the internal crisis, Sparta was able to conquer Messenia and became the most powerful state in the Peloponnese and, perhaps, in all of Greece.
All the land in Laconia and Messenia was divided into equal plots - claires, which each Spartiate received for temporary possession; after his death, the land was returned to the state. Other measures also served the desire for complete equality of the Spartiates: a harsh education system aimed at forming an ideal warrior, the strictest regulation of all aspects of the lives of citizens - the Spartiates lived as if they were in a military camp, a ban on farming, crafts and trade, and the use of gold and silver; limiting contacts with outside world. The political system was also reformed. Along with the kings, who performed the functions of military leaders, judges and priests, the council of elders (gerusia) and the people's assembly (apella), a new governing body appeared - the college of five ephors (overseers). The ephorate was the highest control body, ensuring that no one deviated a single step from the principles of the Spartan system, which became the object of pride of the Spartans, who believed that they had achieved the ideal of equality.
In historiography, there is traditionally a view of Sparta as a militarized, militaristic state, and some authoritative experts even call it a “police” state. There is a reason for this definition. The basis on which the “community of equals” was based, i.e. a collective of equal and full-fledged Spartiates, completely unoccupied with productive labor, was the exploited mass of the enslaved population of Laconia and Messenia - the helots. Scientists have been arguing for many years about how to determine the position of this segment of the population. Many tend to consider helots as state slaves. The helots owned plots of land, tools, and had economic independence, but they were obliged to transfer a certain share of the harvest to their masters, the Spartiates, ensuring their existence. According to modern researchers, this share was approximately 1/6-1/7 of the harvest. Deprived of all political rights, the helots belonged entirely to the state, which disposed not only of their property, but also of their lives. The slightest protest on the part of the helots was severely punished.
In the Spartan polis there was another social group - the perieki (“living around”), descendants of the Dorians who were not included in the citizens of Sparta. They lived in communities, had internal self-government under the supervision of Spartan officials, and were engaged in agriculture, crafts and trade. The Perieki were obliged to field military contingents. Similar social conditions and a system close to the Spartan system are known in Crete, Argos, Thessaly and other areas.
Like all other areas of life, Greek culture in the archaic era experienced rapid changes. During these centuries, the development of ethnic self-awareness took place; the Greeks gradually began to recognize themselves as a single people, different from other peoples, whom they began to call barbarians. Ethnic self-awareness was also reflected in some social institutions. According to Greek tradition, starting from 776 BC. e. began to settle down Olympic Games, to which only Greeks were allowed.
In the archaic era, the main features of the ethics of ancient Greek society took shape. Its distinctive feature was the combination of the emerging sense of collectivism and the agonistic (competitive) principle. The formation of the polis as a special type of community, replacing the loose associations of the “heroic” era, gave rise to a new, polis morality - collectivist at its core, since the existence of the individual is outside the framework policy was impossible. The development of this morality was also facilitated by the military organization of the polis (phalanx formation). The highest valor of a citizen consisted in the defense of his polis: “It is sweet to lose life, among the valiant warriors who fell, a brave man in battle is glad of his homeland” - these words of the Spartan poet Tyrtaeus expressed it perfectly state of mind new era, characterizing the system of prevailing values at that time. However, the new morality preserved the principles of morality of Homer's time with its leading principle of competition. The nature of the political reforms in the policies determined the preservation of this morality, since it was not the aristocracy that was deprived of its rights, but ordinary citizenship was raised in terms of the scope of political rights to the level of the aristocracy. Because of this, the traditional ethics of the aristocracy spread among the masses, although in a modified form: the most important principle is who will best serve the polis.
Religion also experienced a certain transformation. The formation of a single Greek world, with all its local features, entailed the creation of a pantheon common to all Greeks. Evidence of this is Hesiod’s poem “Theogony”. The cosmogonic ideas of the Greeks were not fundamentally different from the ideas of many other peoples.
The Greek worldview is characterized not only by polytheism, but also by the idea of the universal animation of nature. Every natural phenomenon, every river, mountain, grove had its own deity. From the Greek point of view, there was no insurmountable line between the world of people and the world of gods; heroes acted as an intermediary link between them. Heroes such as Hercules joined the world of the gods for their exploits. The gods of the Greeks themselves were anthropomorphic, they experienced human passions and could suffer like people.
The Archaic era is the time of the formation of architecture. The primacy of public, primarily sacred, architecture is indisputable. The dwellings of that time were simple and primitive, all the forces of society were directed towards monumental buildings, primarily temples. Among them, the temples of the gods - the patrons of the community - took precedence. The emerging sense of unity of the civil collective was expressed in the creation of such temples, which were considered the habitat of the gods. Early temples repeated the structure of the megaron of the 2nd millennium BC. e. A new type of temple was born in Sparta, the oldest city in Hellas. A characteristic feature of Greek architecture is the use of orders, i.e. a special construction system that emphasizes the architectonics of the building, gives expressiveness to the load-bearing and non-supporting elements of the structure, revealing their function. An order building usually has a stepped base; a number of load-bearing vertical supports were placed on it - columns that supported the supporting parts - an entablature that reflected the structure of the beam floor and roof. Initially, temples were built on acropolises - fortified hills, ancient centers of settlements. Later, due to the general democratization of society, changes occurred in the location of temples. They are now erected in the lower city, most often on the agora - the main square, which was the center of social and business life of the polis. The temple as an institution contributed to the development of various types of art. Early on, the custom of bringing gifts to the temple was established; part of the booty captured from enemies, weapons, offerings on the occasion of deliverance from danger, etc. were donated to him. A significant portion of these gifts were works of art. An important role was played by temples that gained panhellenic popularity, especially the temple of Apollo at Delphi. The rivalry of first the noble families and then the policies contributed to the concentration of best works art, and the territory of the sanctuary became something like a museum.
In the archaic era, monumental sculpture arose - a form of art previously unknown to Greece. The earliest sculptures were images crudely carved from wood, often inlaid with ivory and covered with sheets of bronze. Improvements in stone processing techniques not only affected architecture, but also led to the emergence of stone sculpture, and in metal processing techniques - to the casting of bronze sculptures. In the 7th – 6th centuries. BC e. two types dominate in sculpture: a naked male figure and a draped female figure. The birth of the statue type of the male nude figure is associated with the main trends in the development of society. The statue depicts a fine and valiant citizen, a winner in sports competitions, who glorified hometown. Tombstone statues and images of deities began to be made using the same type. The appearance of relief is mainly associated with the custom of placing tombstones. Subsequently, reliefs in the form of complex multi-figure compositions became an indispensable part of the temple entablature. Statues and reliefs were usually painted.
Greek monumental painting is much less well known than the vase painting. The example of the latter best illustrates the main trends in the development of art: the emergence of realistic principles, the interaction of local art and influences coming from the East. In the 7th - early 6th centuries. BC e. Corinthian and Rhodian vases with colorful paintings of the so-called carpet style predominated. They usually depicted floral patterns and various animals and fantastic creatures arranged in a row. In the VI century. BC e. The black-figure style dominates in vase painting: figures painted with black varnish stood out sharply against the reddish background of clay. Paintings on black-figure vases were often multi-figure compositions on mythological subjects: various episodes from the life of the Olympian gods; the labors of Hercules and the Trojan War were popular. Stories related to everyday life people: the battle of hoplites, athletic competitions, feast scenes, round dance of girls, etc.
Since individual images were executed in the form of black silhouettes against a clay background, they give the impression of being flat. Vases made in different cities have their own unique features. The black-figure style reached a special peak in Athens. Attic black-figure vases were distinguished by their graceful forms, high manufacturing techniques, and variety of subjects. Some vase painters signed their paintings, and thanks to this we know, for example, the name of Clytius, who painted a magnificent wine vessel (crater): the painting consists of several belts on which multi-figure compositions are presented. Another magnificent example of painting is the Exekia kylix. The vase painter occupied the entire round surface of the wine bowl with one scene: the god Dionysus reclines on a ship sailing under a white sail, grape vines curl around the mast, and heavy grapes hang down. Seven dolphins are diving around, into which, according to myth, Dionysus turned the Tyrrhenian pirates.
Greatest achievement Greek culture The archaic era was the creation of alphabetic writing. By transforming the Phoenician syllabary system, the Greeks created a simple way of recording information. In order to learn to write and count, years of hard work were no longer needed; there was a “democratization” of the education system, which made it possible to gradually make almost all free residents of Greece literate. Thus, knowledge was “secularized,” which became one of the reasons for the absence of the priestly class in Greece and contributed to the increase in the spiritual potential of society as a whole.
The archaic era is associated with a phenomenon of exceptional importance for European culture- the emergence of philosophy. Philosophy is a fundamentally new approach to understanding the world, sharply different from the one that dominated in the Near East and Greece more early period. The transition from religious and mythological ideas about the world to its philosophical understanding meant a qualitative leap in the intellectual development of mankind. Setting and formulating problems, relying on the human mind as a means of knowledge, focusing on searching for the causes of everything that happens in the world itself, and not outside it - this is what significantly distinguishes the philosophical approach to the world from religious and mythological views. In modern scientific literature, there are two main views on the emergence of philosophy. According to one, the birth of philosophy is a derivative of the development of science; the quantitative accumulation of positive knowledge resulted in a qualitative leap. According to another explanation, early Greek philosophy was practically no different, except for the method of expression, from the stage-wise earlier mythological system of knowledge of the world. However, in last years a view was expressed that seems to be the most correct: philosophy was born from the social experience of a citizen of the early polis. The polis and the relations of citizens in it are the model by analogy with which Greek philosophers saw the world. This conclusion is confirmed by the fact that the emergence of philosophy in its earliest form - natural philosophy (i.e. philosophy addressed primarily to the knowledge of the most general patterns world) - takes place in the most advanced cities of Asia Minor. It is with them that the activities of the first philosophers are connected - Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes. Natural philosophical teachings about the primary elements made it possible to build a general picture of the world and explain it without resorting to the help of the gods. The emerging philosophy was spontaneously materialistic, the main thing in the work of its first representatives was the search for the material fundamental principles of all things.
The founder of Ionian natural philosophy, Thales, considered water, which is in continuous movement, to be such a fundamental principle. Its transformations created and create all things, which in turn turn back into water. Thales imagined the earth as a flat disk floating on the surface of primordial water. Thales was also considered the founder of mathematics, astronomy and a number of other specific sciences. Comparing records of successive solar eclipses, he predicted an eclipse of the sun in 597 (or 585) BC. e. and explained it by the fact that the Moon obscured the Sun. According to Anaximander, the fundamental principle of everything is apeiron, indefinite, eternal and limitless matter, in constant motion. Anaximander gave the first formulation of the law of conservation of energy and created the first geometric model of the Universe.
The materialism and dialectics of the Ionian natural philosophers were opposed by the Pythagoreans - followers of the teachings of Pythagoras, who created a religious and mystical community in Southern Italy. The Pythagoreans considered mathematics to be the basis of their principles, believing that it was not quality, but quantity, not substance, but form that determined the essence of everything. Gradually they began to identify things with numbers, depriving them of material content. They thought of the abstract number transformed into an absolute as the basis of the immaterial essence of the world.
At the beginning of the archaic era, the dominant genre of literature was the epic, inherited from the previous era. The recording of Homer's poems, carried out in Athens under Pisistratus, marked the end of the "epic" period. The epic, as a reflection of the experience of the entire society in the new conditions, had to give way to other types of literature. In this era, filled with turbulent social conflicts, lyrical genres are developing that reflect the experiences of the individual. Citizenship distinguishes the poetry of Tyrtaeus, who inspired the Spartans in their struggle for the possession of Messenia. In his elegies, Tyrtaeus praised military virtues and set out standards of behavior for warriors. And in later times they were sung during campaigns; they were also popular outside of Sparta as a hymn to the patriotism of the city. The work of Theognis, an aristocratic poet who realized the death of the aristocratic system and suffered from it, is permeated with hatred of the lower classes and a thirst for revenge:
Firmly trample the empty-hearted people with your heel, mercilessly
If you stab me with a sharp stick, crush me with a heavy yoke!
One of the first lyric poets, Archilochus, lived a life full of hardships and suffering. The son of an aristocrat and a slave, Archilochus, driven by poverty, went from his native Paros with the colonists to Thasos, fought with the Thracians, served as a mercenary, visited “beautiful and happy” Italy, but found happiness nowhere:
My bread is kneaded in a sharp spear.
And in the spear is wine from under Ismar. I drink, leaning on a spear.
The work of another great lyricist, Alcaeus, reflected the turbulent political life of that time. Along with political motives, his poems also contain table songs, they contain the joy of life and the sadness of love, reflections on the inevitability of death and calls for friends to enjoy life:
The rains are raging. Great cold
Carries from the sky. The rivers are all bound...
Let's drive away winter. Blazing bright
Let's light the fire. Give me sweets generously
Pour some wine. Then under the cheek
Give me a soft pillow.
“Sappho is violet-haired, pure, with a gentle smile!” - the poet addresses his great contemporary Sappho.
At the center of Sappho's work was a woman suffering from love and tormented by the pangs of jealousy, or a mother tenderly loving her children. Sappho’s poetry is dominated by sad motifs, which gives it a peculiar charm:
Fortunately, it seems to me equal to God
The man who is so close
Sitting in front of you, your sounding tender
Listens to the voice
And a lovely laugh. At the same time I have
My heart would immediately stop beating.
Anacreon called his work poetry of beauty, love and fun. He did not think about politics, wars, civil strife:
My dear is not the one who, while feasting, speaks at his full cup
It only talks about litigation and a regrettable war,
Dear to me, who, Muses and Cypris, combining good gifts,
He makes it his rule to be more cheerful at the feast.
Anacreon's poems, marked by undeniable talent and enchanting in their form, had a huge influence on European, including Russian, poetry.
The end of the archaic era marks the birth of artistic prose, represented by the works of logographers who collected local legends, genealogies of noble families, and stories about the founding of policies. At the same time, theatrical art appeared, the roots of which lie in the folk rituals of agricultural cults.
Archaic period
The term refers to the early stage of civilization. For example, in Egypt, Egypt covers the first two dynasties (3200–2800 BC), during which the country was united and its culture first flourished. In Greece, AP corresponds to the formation of civilization (from 750 BC to the Persian invasion in 480 BC). In the understanding of Americanists, the term means not so much a chronological period as a stage in development. It is characterized by hunting and gathering as the basis of the economy in the post-Pleistocene environment. Under certain circumstances, tribes may switch to a sedentary lifestyle, making pottery and even farming, but in addition to collecting wild plants. The term was developed for certain woodland crops of eastern North America (dating to 8000–1000 BC), but was soon applied (often uncritically) to any other crops that showed a similar level of development without regard to their dating.
Archaeological Dictionary. - M.: Progress. Warwick Bray, David Trump. Translation from English by G.A.Nikolaev. 1990 .
See what the “Archaic period” is in other dictionaries:
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Woodland period- Woodland period, English. The Woodland period in the pre-Columbian chronology of North America dates back to approximately 1000 BC. e. to 1000 AD e. in eastern North America. The term "Woodland" ... ... Wikipedia
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Archaic Greece
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Books
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The archaic period occupies a special place in Greek history. At this time, the foundations of culture and the development of society were laid, which were continuously improved over the next centuries. Greece of the archaic period is the improvement of crafts and shipbuilding, the emergence of real money and the widespread use of iron. There is debate about the time frame of the Archaic period. It is customary to consider it within the 8-5 centuries BC.
Culture and crafts
During the archaic period, the culture of Greece was renewed. The center of the new value system was human personality, new literary genres appeared. The epic was replaced by lyrical poetry, which described joy, grief and feelings. Philosophy originated as a science as a result of the attempts of Greek thinkers to understand what place man has in this world.
Painting developed in Greece at that time, and the best example is ceramics, which preserved amazingly beautiful paintings. During the Archaic era, the main types of ancient Greek vases developed widely: hydria for carrying water, voluminous craters for mixing wine with water, oval amphorae with two handles and a narrow neck, in which grain, oil, wine and honey were stored. The shape of the vessels fully corresponded to their purpose, and the painting acquired flexible lines. Scenes and plant motifs were increasingly depicted on ceramics.
The development of painting on vases is especially noticeable in the late archaic period, when the black-figure style became widespread, and the plotless ornament completely lost its significance. The technique of execution gradually becomes more complex - it requires greater skill from the artist.
Greek sculpture and architecture
Architecture developed rapidly during the archaic period. More attention was paid to the decoration of temples and public buildings. Temples were built in the most prominent places, since they were the center of not only spiritual, but also political activity. It was at this time that an order system was created, which predetermined the development of Greek architecture. During the Archaic period, two orders emerged: Ionic and Doric. The latter is characteristic of the Greek colonies in Southern Italy and the Peloponnese, and its origin is associated with the cities of Ionia.
Temples of the Archaic era are decorated with sculptures mythological heroes and gods. In them the Greeks embodied their ideas of physical perfection. The so-called archaic smile was used as a means of expressiveness - limited facial expressions, a playful and not entirely natural smile. Therefore, the sculptures began to resemble a living person. Artists of that period sought to spiritualize the image and fill it with content. Realism was enhanced by bright colors - the archaic sculptures that have reached us have preserved only traces of paint.
Economy and Society
Changes in all areas were driven by economic growth. The use of iron made it possible to develop viticulture and increase the amount of olive production. As a result, surpluses began to be exported outside Greece, and profits stimulated agriculture. Connections between the policies were strengthened, and economic transformations significantly changed Greece. The natural result is the appearance of money, and the amount of land is no longer an indicator of wealth. In all Greek city-states, the number of artisans, traders, workshop owners increased, peasants sold their products at public meetings - the cities of Greece began to form a culturally, politically and economically complete society.
The pace of the economy grew rapidly, and stratification in society grew just as rapidly. Appeared in Greek city-states social groups and classes. Somewhere such processes proceeded more intensely, somewhere more slowly - for example, in areas where higher value had agriculture. The very first class to emerge was the class of traders and artisans. This layer gave rise to “tyranny” - coming to power using force. But among the tyrants there were many who strongly supported the development of trade, crafts, and shipbuilding. And only then real despots appeared, and the phenomenon acquired a negative connotation.
A special stage of the archaic period is the Great Greek colonization. The poor, unable to accept stratification, sought a better life in the new Greek colonies. This state of affairs was beneficial for the rulers: it made it easier to extend influence to new lands. The most widespread colonization was in the southern direction: eastern Spain, Sicily, part of Italy, Corsica and Sardinia. North Africa and Phenicia were settled in the south-eastern direction, and the shores of the Black and Marmara Seas were settled in the north-eastern direction. An event that subsequently influenced the course of history was the founding of Byzantium, the ancestor city of the great Constantinople. But its development and growth belong to other, subsequent eras.
The archaic period is the time of the most intensive development of ancient society, when it acquired certain specifics in comparison with other slave-owning societies. It was then that classical slavery, the polis as the main form of political organization, and a democratic form of government were formed. Ethnic self-awareness is being developed: the Greeks are beginning to recognize themselves as a single people. Concepts are bornHellenes, Hellas - on the one hand, andbarbarians - with another. At the same time, the foundations of ancient culture were laid.
The Archaic era - the time of the formation of Greekarchitecture , whose main achievements are related to the construction of temples. Greek temples were the centers of social and business life of the polis. They were originally built onacropolises - fortified hills of the city, later they began to be erected on the main city squares. Unlike Christian churches, ancient Greek sanctuaries were not intended for gatherings of believers. During religious activities, the people remained outside the temple premises, seeing it only from the outside. This caused special attention to the external appearance of the building.
The main type of ancient Greek temple isperipter (“feathered”), a rectangular temple surrounded on all sides by a colonnade. Already in the early buildings, the desire for harmony and proportionality of all elements of the architectural whole was clearly expressed. The construction of the temple was subject to certain rules that ensured the balance of the parts of the structure. This is how Greek architecture developsorder (from Latin "ordo" - "order") - a system of proportional relationship between the load-bearing and supported parts of the building. Order knowledge has a stepped base, a number of vertical supports - columns (load-bearing elements) and a beam ceiling -entablature (carryable part).
In the archaic era, the order developed in two versions - Doric and Ionic.Doric the style is more masculine, simple and powerful,ionic more elegant, lighter and more elegant. The Doric column is heavy, slightly thicker below the middle. The top of the column iscapital - consists of two stone slabs, a round bottom and a square top. Subsequently, the columns of Doric temples were often replaced by male figures (Atlantes).
Compared to the Doric, the Ionic order column is more slender and elegant. It has a basis -base , the capital is decorated with two graceful curls -in volutes . Cornice - a horizontal projection on the wall supporting the roof of the building - richly decorated.
In the Hellenistic era, when architecture began to strive for greater pomp,Corinthian style, generously decorated with plant motifs.
During the Archaic era, many temples of the Doric and Ionic styles were erected in various Greek cities. The buildings of the Doric oredar are the temples of Hera and Olympia, Apollo in Corinth, Demeter in Poseidonia (2nd half of the 6th century BC). Ionian temples - Artemis in Ephesus, Hera on the island of Samos. All ancient Greek temples were covered with multi-colored paintings, sparkling in the sun with many colors.
During the archaic period there arosemonumental sculpture - a new type of art, previously unknown to Greece. The most typical examples of archaic monumental sculpture werekouros And bark. Kouros is a statue of a naked young athlete, kora is a statue of a slender girl in long robes. This is how both mere mortals and gods were depicted, and not an individualized, but a generalized image was created. In male figures, athletic build, strength, and courage were emphasized, in female figures, noble restraint and gentleness were emphasized. All kouros and koras stand straight, with their arms tightly pressed to their body. The eyes are wide open, the corners of the lips are slightly raised (the so-called “archaic smile”).
In the archaic era, the art of artists who were engaged inpainted clay vases. These drawings were executed in various techniques, for example, black-figure or red-figure. INblack-figure In vases, a design made with thick black varnish was applied to a reddish clay background. INred-figure On the contrary, the background was covered with black varnish, while the figures retained the natural color of the clay, which made it possible to draw the forms in more detail. Masters used lines to outline folds of clothing, muscles, and facial features. The content of the paintings is usually associated with mythology, the Homeric epic, and depictions of everyday scenes.
The most significant masters of black-figure vase painting wereClytius And Exekius (among his most famous works is an amphora depicting Achilles and Ajax playing dice). The largest representative of the red-figure style wasEuphronius .
The shapes of the vessels are as different as their functions: amphoras and craters were used to store and mix wine with water, kylixes and rhytons were intended for drinking, lekythos served for cult purposes, and so on.
The main achievement of the archaic era in the field of literature was the creationlyric poetry (7th century BC), which replaced the heroic epic. For the first time in the history of ancient culture, poetry spoke about a person’s personal experiences.
Term lyrics associated with the lyre: ancient Greek poets did not just read, but sang their poems, accompanying themselves on the lyre or cithara. This is probably why the lyre became a symbol of poetry and musical art. Another name for poetry performed to musical accompaniment isMelika , from the Greek word "melos" - song, melody.
The island of Lesbos became the center of the lyricism. Here, early on, their own music and poetry studios arose, where people came to study from different areas of the Hellenic world. One of these schools, for noble girls, was headed bySappho (Sappho), who lived in the 6th century BC. - a brilliantly gifted poetess of antiquity, smart, beautiful. Her work can be considered a classic example of love poetry.
Another remarkable representative of the musical and poetic school of Lesvos wasAlkay , contemporary of Sappho. Favorite themes of his work - political struggle, exile, feast, love.
The glory of ancient lyricism was also achieved by the worksArchilochus , who, instead of the hexameter, introduced new poetic meters (iamb, trochae) into literature,Anacreonta - singer of worldly pleasures,Tyrtea , which became a symbol of poetry inspiring warriors to fight,Pindara - creator of solemn ode-hymns in honor native fatherland, winners of pan-Greek sports games.
The greatest cultural achievements of the Greek archaic also include the birth of drama, which became a synthesis of previously established types of literature, and the emergence of the “science of all sciences” - philosophy. Finally, the creation of alphabetic writing is associated with the archaic era: having supplemented and transformed the Phoenician syllabary system, the Greeks invented affordable way recording information, which formed the basis of European alphabets.
Epoch VIII-VI centuries. BC e. - This is the time of the most intensive development of ancient Greek civilization. During this period, changes in all areas of life in ancient Greece - from economics to culture - were so large-scale and radical that their totality is often called archaic revolution. The entire face of Greek society is changing. If at the beginning of the archaic era it was a traditional, almost non-progressive, immobile society, quite simple in its structure, then by the end of this era one can rightfully speak of a society in highest degree mobile, complex, in a short period of time by historical standards, having caught up with, and in a number of respects even surpassed in its development, the countries of the Ancient East. The foundations of statehood are being formed again on Greek soil. But new state formations do not take the form of palace kingdoms, as in the Mycenaean era, but of apolis (states of the ancient type in the form of a civil community), which later determined the specifics of the entire ancient Greek civilization.
As a result of a number of reasons (not all of them are completely clear to scientists), the population in Greece increased sharply already in the first centuries of the Archaic era (this is recorded by archaeological data, in particular by quantitative analysis of burials). A real demographic explosion occurred: over the course of a century, the population of Hellas increased several times. There is no doubt that significant population growth was a consequence of processes that began in the previous, pre-polis era. Thanks to the absence of an external threat during this period, the gradual but steady increase in prosperity as a result of the introduction of iron products into all spheres of life, the Greek world was granted several centuries of stable life.
It should be noted that population growth was observed in a region poor in natural resources, including fertile soils. As a result, in some areas of Greece a phenomenon called stenochory arose (i.e., “agrarian” overpopulation, leading to “land famine”). Stenochory manifested itself most acutely on Isthmus (the isthmus connecting the Peloponnese with Central Greece) and in the adjacent areas, as well as on some islands of the Aegean Sea (especially Euboea), in Ionia Minor. In these densely populated areas, the size of the chora (i.e. agricultural land) was negligibly small. To a lesser extent, stenochory was felt in Attica. In Boeotia, Thessaly, and the southern Peloponnese, due to the large areas of cultivated land and high (by Greek standards) soil fertility, the population explosion did not lead to negative consequences. It is characteristic that in these areas the pace of economic and political transformations was, as a rule, lower: need is a powerful engine of progress.
An extremely important process that largely determined the development of archaic Greece was urbanization - town planning, the formation of an urban way of life. From now on until the end of the existence of ancient civilization, one of its most specific features was its urban character. The Greeks themselves were already aware of this to some extent, for whom the word “polis” (meaning “city”) became one of key characteristics of their entire existence, and the small
states with a city as a center were called policies.
If at the beginning of the archaic era in the Greek world there were almost no centers of urban life, then by its end Greece had truly become a “country of cities”, many of which (Athens, Corinth, Thebes, Argos, Miletus, Ephesus, etc.) became the largest economic , political and cultural centers. Cities could be formed in various ways. One of the most common was the so-called synoikism (literally “settlement”) - the merging into one political unit of several small rural-type settlements located close to each other, on the territory of one region. This process could be accompanied by the actual relocation of residents of several villages to one city. Thus, synoicism in Attica, which tradition attributes to the legendary Athenian king Theseus (although this process took place in the first half of the 1st millennium BC and continued for several centuries), did not at all lead to the resettlement of everything rural population to a single center. Even in the classical era, more than half of the Athenian citizens lived in the choir; in Athens itself there were only general government bodies.
The Greek city of the archaic period played the role of an administrative center for the territory surrounding it, or more precisely, an administrative and religious center, since religion in antiquity was closely connected with state life. But at the same time, the city was also the most important economic center, the center of handicraft production and trade. Thus, it is necessary to note a certain duality of functions of the ancient Greek city (however, this is typical for a city of any historical era). It was expressed in the presence of two centers in almost every city. One of them was the kropolis (from akros – upper +polis – city), which was a fortress. It was usually located on a hill or on a more or less inaccessible rock and had a complex of defensive structures. The Acropolis was the heart of the city and the entire state; The main temples were located on it, and the main religious cults were performed. On the acropolis there were originally also buildings of the governing bodies of the policy. In addition, in the event of an enemy attack, the acropolis served as a citadel, the last stronghold of the defenders.
The second “center” of the city was the agora, which most often arose at the foot of the acropolis
- the main city square, where the market was located and where people gathered for gatherings. The agora, like the acropolis, was considered a sacred space. Around the agora were crowded the city quarters proper, in which lived artisans, traders (who, however, constituted a minority of the population), as well as peasants who went to work every day on their land located near the city.
Once established, the city underwent a certain evolution throughout the archaic era. First of all, it is necessary to mention the gradual increase in the importance of the agora, the transfer to it of the main administrative functions from the acropolis, which ultimately becomes almost exclusively a place for religious rituals. In different Greek cities this process took place with varying degrees of intensity, correlating mainly with the pace of political development of a particular polis.
Bronze helmets (VI century BC)
The Acropolis was also losing its defensive function, which was a consequence of another process characteristic of that time - the increasing security of cities in general. The rapid development of military art urgently required the creation of a system of fortifications in cities that would cover not only the citadel of the acropolis, but the entire territory of the city. By the end of the archaic era, many cities, at least the largest and most prosperous ones, were surrounded by defensive walls along their entire perimeter.
However, not all regions of the Greek world achieved high levels of urbanization. In areas such as Elis, Aetolia, Acarnania, Achaia, life in cities remained at a rather primitive level for a long time. A special case was the largest center of the Southern Peloponnese - Sparta, which ancient authors called a non-Sinoikized polis. Not only in the archaic era, but also later (until the Hellenistic period) this policy did not have defensive walls at all. And in general, the appearance of Sparta was far from urban, since it was, in fact, a collection of several rural settlements.
Extremely important changes have occurred in military affairs. In the VIII-VI centuries. BC e. The martial arts of aristocratic heroes described in Homer's poems became a thing of the past. From now on, the collective principle became the main thing in the art of war, and detachments of hoplites - heavily armed infantrymen - began to play the most important role on the battlefields. Hoplite armor consisted of a bronze helmet, a carapace (either entirely made of bronze or leather covered with bronze plates), bronze greaves that protected the warrior's shins, and a round shield made of several layers of oxhide on a wooden frame, usually covered with bronze plates. The hoplite was armed with a short (about 60 centimeters long) iron sword and a longer wooden spear with an iron tip. The hoplite had to purchase both armor and weapons at his own expense, therefore, in order to serve in this branch of the army, one had to be a wealthy person, a citizen-landowner (initially, full hoplite weapons - panoplia - were generally available only to aristocrats).
Panoplia (hoplite armor from Argos) (8th century BC)
In battle, hoplites acted in a special closed formation - a phalanx. The warriors stood shoulder to shoulder in several ranks in a rectangle very elongated along the front. The length of the Greek phalanx varied depending on the total number of the detachment and could reach one kilometer, the depth was usually 7-8 rows. Having lined up and prepared for battle, the hoplites covered themselves with shields, put their spears forward and moved towards the enemy, trying to deliver the most powerful blow possible. Like a living wall, sweeping away everything in its path, the phalanx remained for centuries the most perfect way to build troops. Most strong point The phalanx was, perhaps, precisely its unstoppable onslaught; in addition, the heavy armor protected the hoplite well, which kept the number of casualties among the combatants to a minimum. This formation also had disadvantages: poor maneuverability, vulnerability from the flanks, and inability to cope with combat operations on rough terrain. Both hoplite weapons and the phalanx appeared at the turn of the 8th-7th centuries. BC e., most likely in Argos, one of the largest centers of the Peloponnese. In any case, it was in Argolis that archaeologists found the most ancient version of panoplia in one of the graves. Naturally, from Argos the new method of warfare very quickly spread throughout the Peloponnese, and then almost throughout the entire Greek world.
Trier. Drawing
The poorest citizens, unable to purchase hoplite armor and weapons, during the war constituted auxiliary units of lightly armed warriors - gymnets. Among them
there were archers, slingers, bludgeoners, and javelin (short spear) throwers. Gymnets, as a rule, began the battle, and then ran away to the sides, making room for the clash of the main forces - the hoplite phalanxes. Gymnets were considered the least valuable part of the army, and sometimes the policies even entered into agreements with each other prohibiting the use of bows, slings, etc. during military clashes.
The cavalry, staffed exclusively by representatives of the aristocracy, played a small role in battles: the cavalrymen mainly had to protect the phalanx on the left and right in order to avoid its encirclement. More active actions of the cavalry were hampered, in particular, by the fact that the saddle with stirrups had not yet been invented, and therefore the position of the rider on the horse was very unstable. Only in some Greek regions (especially in Thessaly) did cavalry units occupy a truly significant place in the structure of the army.
Along with the art of war, maritime affairs developed. In the archaic era, the Greeks developed warships of a combined sailing and rowing type. The earliest type of such ship was the pentecontera, which was a very large boat with a sail and about fifty oars, each of which was driven by an oarsman. In the VI century. BC e. The pentekontere was replaced by a triera - a ship with three rows of oars (up to 170 oars in total) on each side. According to ancient authors, triremes were first built by masters from Corinth. The sailing rigging on a trireme was extremely simple and was rarely used; the ship mainly moved by oars, especially during a naval battle. At the same time, the ability to reach speeds of up to 10 knots, combined with high maneuverability, made the trireme a very effective weapon. Throughout the Archaic and most of the Classical eras, it remained the most common type of warship.
The Greeks were considered the greatest sailors in the world at that time; already in the archaic era, the pronounced “maritime” orientation of their civilization was clearly defined. Along with ships intended for warfare, the Greeks had commercial and transport ships. Merchant ships were shorter and wider than
penteconters and triremes, which had an elongated shape. The movement of such a vessel was carried out primarily with the help of sails. However, the sailing equipment of ancient Greek ships was still very simple. Therefore, excessive distance from the coast threatened such a vessel with almost inevitable death, as did sailing in winter, during the storm season. However, progress in mastering maritime spaces was obvious.
Of course, all innovations in the field of urban planning, military and naval affairs would have been impossible if they had not been accompanied by rapid economic development. True, in agriculture, which was the basis of the economic life of ancient Greece, these changes were felt less strongly. Agricultural production continued to be based on the cultivation of crops of the so-called “Mediterranean triad” (cereals, grapes, olives), as well as on cattle breeding, which played a mainly auxiliary role.
Significant changes took place in the VIII-VI centuries. BC e. in handicraft production, already separated from agriculture.
Corinthian pottery (c. 600 BC)
Technological progress has affected many manufacturing industries, such as shipbuilding, mining and metal processing. The Greeks began to build mines, discovered welding and soldering of iron, developed new technologies for bronze casting, etc. All this contributed to the development of weapons making. In the field of ceramic production, it is worth noting the expansion of the range of vessels. Elegant and stylish decoration with the help of painting turned these utilitarian items into real works of art. In the most developed Greek city-states, monumental stone buildings for religious and public purposes appeared: temples, altars, buildings for government work, port facilities, water supply, etc.
Economic achievements would have been impossible without overcoming the isolation of Greek communities characteristic of the Homeric period. Trade, including foreign trade, contributed to the restoration of ties with the ancient civilizations of the East. For example, in Al-Mina (on the Syrian coast) there was a Greek merchant trading post. In other words, Greece has finally emerged from isolation. However, the level of trade development in
the archaic era should not be exaggerated. The marketability of the Greek economy, i.e. market orientation, was low. Foreign trade exchange was aimed primarily not at selling the products of the ancient Greek policies, but, on the contrary, at obtaining from other places what was not available on its own territory: raw materials, handicrafts and food products, especially bread, which the Greeks always needed. The lack of sufficient natural resources in Greece led to the fact that the main component of foreign trade was imports.
Rhodian pottery (7th century BC)
Trade and economic contacts entailed interaction in the cultural sphere. The increasing eastern influence on the Greek world during the archaic era gives rise to some scientists even talking about an oriental (i.e., oriented towards the East) period of the development of civilization in Ancient Greece. Indeed, the alphabet came to the Greek city-states from Phenicia, the technology for making monumental statues from Egypt, and coins from Asia Minor. The Hellenes readily accepted all the useful innovations from their more experienced eastern neighbors. However, they followed a completely new path of development, unknown to Eastern civilizations.
A very important factor in the economic life of the Greek world was the emergence of money.
IN At the beginning of the archaic era in some areas of Hellas (especially in the Peloponnese), the role of money was played by iron and copper bars in the form of rods - obols. Six obols made up a drachma (that is, a handful - so many of them could be grabbed with one hand).
IN VII century BC e. a minted coin appeared. It was invented in Lydia, a small, wealthy kingdom in western Asia Minor. The Greeks very quickly adopted the innovation. At first, the largest Greek cities of Asia Minor began to mint coins following the Lydian model, and then the coins came into circulation in Balkan Greece (primarily in Aegina). Both the Lydian and the first Greek coins were minted from electra, a natural alloy of gold and silver, and therefore their denominations were quite high, and it is unlikely that these coins could be used in trade. Most likely, they served to make large payments to the state (for example, to pay for services mercenary warriors). However, over time, small denominations of the coin appeared and it entered active trade.
Athenian silver tetradrachm (5th century BC)
By the end of the Archaic era, silver became the main material for minting coins. It was only in the classical era that small change coins began to be made from copper. Gold coins were minted in extremely rare cases. It is characteristic that the new money retained the old names. The main monetary unit in most policies was the drachma (6 obols). The weight of the Athenian silver drachma was approximately 4.36 grams. Coins of intermediate denominations were also minted - between the drachma and the obol. There were also coins weighing more than the drachma: the didrachm (2 drachmas), the very widespread tetradrachm (4 drachmas) and the extremely rarely issued decadrachm (10 drachmas). The largest measures of value were mina (100 drachmas) italant (60 min, i.e. about 26 kilograms of silver); Naturally, there were no coins of this denomination.
Some ancient Greek cities had their own coin system, based on the monetary unit stater (approximately 2 drachmas). Each policy, being an independent state, issued its own coin. The authorities certified its state status by placing a special image on the coin, which was a symbol, or emblem, of the policy. Thus, on the coins of Athens the head of Athena and an owl, considered the sacred bird of the goddess, were depicted, on the coins of Aegina - a turtle, on the coins of Boeotia - a shield, etc.
Sources The history of Ancient Greece in the archaic era is evidenced by various
sources, the value of which, however, is not the same. The central place is occupied by written data contained in the works of ancient authors. At the same time, the most valuable are the monuments that were created during the archaic era itself, for these are testimonies of contemporaries, and sometimes even eyewitnesses of the events described.
Historical works provide important information: after all, ancient historians set themselves the goal of telling about the events not only of their contemporary era, but also of an earlier time. As is known, historical literature first appeared in Greece precisely in the archaic era, in the second half of the 6th century. BC e. However, the works of the first logographers - writers who worked in the historical genre (Hecataeus of Miletus, Charon of Lampsacus, Akusilaus of Argos, etc.) - unfortunately, were preserved only in the form of a few and scattered fragments quoted by the “later” authors. Of course, some valuable information can be obtained from these fragments, but in general the information in them is rather meager and, in any case, does not allow us to recreate a complete picture of the development of Greece in the archaic era.
For any complete reconstruction of the history of this time, one must actively use written monuments a variety of genres, for example, the works of poets who were in Hellas in the 8th - 6th centuries. BC e. there were many. We find very important material in Hesiod, the largest representative of didactic
(instructive) epic. His poem “Works and Days” contains a description of the entire working life of a peasant with a unique poetic code of economic instructions, religious instructions and moral rules of life for a poor Greek of the early archaic era. The world of “rural Greece” emerges from the pages of the poem in all its fullness and color, and, it should be said, this world contrasts sharply with the world of Homer - with its warlike heroes and almost constant battles.
The source of information is numismatic evidence. The very first coins of the Greek city policies make it possible to judge the nature of money circulation, the routes of interstate trade, the systems of weights and measures, etc.
