Opposite Citizen Soldiers
This bronze figure (c. 510-500 B. C.E.) was once part of a vessel. It shows a ho-plite with his shield-his raised am once held a spear. Hoplites were part-time volunteer soldiers, and therefore had some influence over public policy; if they were not satisfied with their rulers, they would not fight.
HISTORIANS CONSIDER THE EARLIEST EVIDENCE OF GREEK culture to be a group that are now known as the Mycenaeans because archaeologists first found artifacts belonging to them near the ancient town of Mycenae on the Peloponnese Peninsula. Like the Classical Greeks who came after them, the Mycenaeans lived in independent kingdom-communities but shared a common language and culture.
The Mycenaean civilization began about 1600 B. C.E., though it is not clear just how it originated. Their language was Indo-European, which means it has a shared ancestry with languages from both Europe and India. Whether the Mycenaeans settled Greece thousands of years before their recorded history began, or whether they conquered people already there in about 2000 b. c.e., is not known for sure. But they are connected to the later Greeks by language and religion.
The Mycenaeans were influenced by their neighbors, the Minoans, who lived on the large island of Crete, south of the Greek mainland and not far from the northern shores of Africa. The Minoans became wealthy through their sophisticated agricultural system and trade with other Mediterranean peoples. Some of their arts and handicrafts share similarities with those of the Mycenaeans, as well.
Mycenaean chieftains or kings lived in heavily walled palaces-unlike the seemingly peaceful Minoans, whose excavated towns and palaces on Crete show no walls. An array of bronze weapons and armor has been found at Mycenaean burial sites, along with leather helmets and shields, some bronze drinking cups, and even a bronze comb with gold teeth. Weapons do not seem to have been passed down to sons and future sol-diers-an indication of these ancient warriors’ wealth.
By the mid-14th century B. C.E. the Mycenaeans were the most powerful force on the Aegean Sea. Warfare was rather small-scale compared to the advanced armies of the Egyptians and the Hittites, but the aggressive Mycenaeans were successful in their corner of the Mediterranean world and most likely overran and absorbed the Minoan society. The kingdom of Troy, once located along the Aegean coast in today’s Turkey, was destroyed about 1230 b. c.e. While Homer wrote in the The Iliad of one long war between Troy and the Greeks, archaeologists think Troy probably endured several attacks over many years.
The Mycenaean towns were much more centralized than the Greek city-states that would arise in a few centuries. Everything the society produced theoretically belonged to the king, and then local rulers apportioned the wealth as they saw fit. Large palaces were built for the Mycenaean kings, and the one at Mycenae may have been that of the overall king. Striking out from densely populated towns in Greece and across the Aegean in modern-day Turkey, the Myce-naeans traveled far and wide at the peak of their civilization in the 13th century B. C.E.
The Earliest Greeks
Historians consider the Mycenaens to be the earliest Greek culture. This bronze dagger, with gold decoration is from a 16th century b. c.e. Mycenaean tomb.
World History
