Ancient Greek Towns

Ancient Greece had different kinds of buildings and cities that were set close to the Mediterranean Sea.

These cities had roads and homes and they were built so that they could use the sun to keep their homes warmer and they faced so that the wind blew away from the homes and not at them.

Homes

Many of the areas in Greece were made so that the city was full of homes.

These homes might be places where the soldiers would live or other people that had jobs in the city.

Some of the people that lived in these homes were craftsmen, farmers, court workers and more.

The homes were not exciting and were considered to be plain but open inside.

The homes were in an area where they were closed off from the outside world and they would have a large courtyard in the center of these home areas.

Gods

There were many temples in Greece that were built to worship gods.

Each god was given a city and that city would have a special temple where the gods would be worshipped.

Some of the gods were Athena, Zeus, Artimis and more.

Some of the cities that had the gods were Sparta, Corinth, Olympia and other towns.

Each of these towns were considered to be blessed because the gods looked over them and protected them from their enemies.

Defense

Around the cities of Greece was a wall that was built so that the people would be protected from intruders and from attacks.

The walls were large and they would go all the way down to the city’s sea port where supplies could be brought into the city if there was a war.

Sport Center

The Ancient Greeks loved sports and sports were part of their everyday life.

They had gyms and stadiums called hippodrome that were used to hold games and chariot races.

Since sports were such a big deal in the Greek’s life, they stadiums were large and would hold many people that would come and watch the sports.

Theater

Festivals and plays were a fun part of the life of the Ancient Greeks and so there were theater’s that were built.

These theaters were large and open and would hold thousands of people.

There were different forms of entertainment in these theaters and it was the center of life for many people.

Cemeteries

No one was ever buried in the city and so there were special areas that were built outside of the town so that cemeteries could be made.  These cemeteries were built to bury the dead.

Some towns had sanctuaries close to their city and each of these sanctuaries were dedicated to an Ancient Greek god.

When someone was sick, they would go to the sanctuary and would try to get a healing from the gods.

Some teachers would speak in the sanctuaries and tell prophecies about the future and try to heal people.

Towns

Some of the towns of Ancient Greece were popular such as the town of Agora.  Agora was the place where people would go to shop at the marketplace or to meet in the town.

This city was considered the town center and most people would be in Agora at some time during the week.

Agora held town meetings and had buildings that were called stoas.  Stoas were long buildings that were open and there were stores or shops in the back of each of these.

Agora was a place where people could come and listen to teachings, politics or to buy food or other merchandise.

Most of the towns had their own government that was ruled by kings or small groups of people that were powerful.

Language

The towns had similar languages and cultures and the towns mostly looked the same with the homes having the same things.

City

Most people lived in the towns instead of the country and most of the towns had their own public place where people gathered so there could be many gymnasiums, theaters or stadiums in Greece.

Acropolis

Another important town was Acropolis.

This was a city that was on top of a hill and people would go there if there was war or if the city was under attack.

This was the last area where there would be defense when invaders came.

Corinth

Corinth was the wealthiest city that was in Ancient Greece for much of the time.

Thebes

Thebes was known for being a political city.

This town was known in myths written about Ancient Greek.

Sparta

Sparta was a very important city and was the only city in Ancient Greece that was not protected by a wall.

 

Facts About Ancient Greek Towns:

• The towns were made up of women, men, slaves, children, freed slaves and foreign people.
• Men who owned land were considered to be citizens of Greece.
• Most towns that very few families that help important political positions.
• People in towns were separated in class depending on how much land and money they had.
• Some cities had their own festivals and laws.
• Many Greek cities had places where the people made their own money or coins, this was called a mint.
• Cities were known for their individual talents such as Corinth was known for pottery and for growing food.
• Once town called Megara was known for making textiles.
• The town Rhodes was a town that built ships.
• People from Spartan and Athens were considered to be very intelligent and were scholars and warriors.

What Did You Learn?

1. What were some interesting things about Ancient Greek towns?  Some interesting things about Ancient Greek towns was that they had walls built around them and they had a city center, stadiums, theaters and more.
2. What was an agora? An agora was the center of the town where people would come and shop and listen to speeches and have political meetings.
3. Why were there stadiums? Stadiums were built because Ancient Greece was the center of sports.  The stadiums would have sports and chariot races.
4. What was the purpose of the temples? The temples would be built in each city so the Ancient Greek gods could protect the people.
5. Where were the dead buried? No one was buried in the town and so there were cemeteries built outside of the town where people would be buried after they died.