Who were the Greeks?

Life in Greece was hard. People spent all their time growing food. But slowly the Greeks began to trade with other countries and they grew richer.

Greek foot soldiers were heavily armed and the city-states (cities surrounded by farmland) had their own armies to fight other city-states. The strongest soldiers were from Sparta. Boys were taken from their parents at the age of seven to train to be strong fierce warriors. Even the girls had to keep fit so that they would have strong, healthy babies.

BBC Bitesize - Greeks
Find our who the ancient Greeks were and what it was like to live in ancient Greece.

The first marathon

In 490BC the Greeks were attacked by the Persians. There was a fierce battle at Marathon were the Greeks won. A runner ran over 32km (20 miles) to Athens to tell of the good news. He died of exhaustion but the Marathons we have today are named after this event.

The Persians attacked again. They cleverly built a bridge of boats and crossed a stretch of water called Hellespont. They then got to the city of Athens and destroyed it.

The Greek fought back and trapped a Persian fleet of 200 boats in a narrow channel of water. The army then won a huge land battle against the Persians.

Greek life

Greek men would go out to work, shop or meet their friends while the women stayed at home running the household and looking after the children.

Boys from rich families would start school at the age of seven. They learnt everything but the girls would have to stay at home and be taught by their mothers.

DK Find Out! - Ancient Greece
Explore the Ancient Greeks with this interactive website. Look at Greek art, food and drink, greek clothing and philosphers.

The Olympic Games

The Greeks loved athletics and there were competitions all the time but the biggest competition of all was the Olympic Games. These took place at Olympia every four years. The games included running, long jump, shot put, javelin, boxing, pankration and equestrian events.

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