Tom Sutro, age 15, of E1 Paso, Texas, for his question:
WHO WERE THE HELLENES?
Ancient Greeks called themselves Hellenes and their land Hellas. They never formed a national government but they were united by a common culture, religion and language.
Greeks called anyone whose native language was Greek a Hellene, even if he did not live in Greece, and anyone not speaking Greek a barbarian.
The ancient Greeks were the first to develop a democratic way of life. More than 2,000 years ago, they started the idea that every citizen should take an active part in government. Historians regard them as the founders of Western civilization.
Greek civilization was far more advanced than any that had come before. The world's first great dramatists, historians, orators, philosophers and poets were Greek. The ancient Hellenes were the first people to study botany, geometry, medicine, physics and zoology on a scientific basis. They also held the first athletic games.
Hellene civilization developed on a rocky, mountainous peninsula that juts into the Mediterranean Sea from southeastern Europe, and on the islands in the nearby sea. The people on each plain and island formed an independent community called a city state. No city state had enough good land to support all its people. Eventually communities quarreled with one another instead of uniting. Athens and Sparta became the most famous city states.
The main part of ancient Greece was a little smaller than the state of Maine. The country included what are now the central and southern parts of modern Greece.
In addition, the Hellenes regarded all the colonies they founded overseas as Greek lands. These included many towns in Sicily and southern Italy, wealthy cities in what is now Turkey and scattered trading posts around the Black Sea. Greek colonists made settlements as far away as India, Portugal and Sudan.
Ancient Greeks spoke many different dialects. After about 330 B.C., a common dialect called koine developed.
The people of ancient Greece had a mixed European ancestry. No more than 2 million persons ever lived in the country, because there was not enough land to support more than that. As a result, many persons who were born in Greece moved to overseas colonies.
The classes in Greek society varied from one city state to another. Athens had three classes: citizens, who were the most numerous, slaves and metises, or resident aliens. Sparta also had three classes: citizens, helots or serfs who were the most numerous and perioeci or noncitizens.
The Greek limited citizenship to persons whose fathers were citizens. Only citizens took part in the government and only citizens could own land.
Most slaves belonged to individual owners, but several city states used slaves in the state mines. A serf could own personal property but he could not move from the place where he was born. Metis and perioeci~had no political rights, but they enjoyed personal freedom and were protected by law.
Farming was the chief occupation of the Hellenes. They harvested barley and wheat in spring and picked grapes and olives in the fall. They grew figs, apples and pomegranates and raised sheep and goats.