Greece
Greece
Greece is the land where the greek gods reside, and the residents live out their lives under their protection, but also amusement. People worship these gods and gives them offerings for continued protection and any offering in a temple, will be magically sent to the god who represents that temple. Zeus temple being the most popular by far.
Land, climate, and notable features
Land
Mountainous:
Approximately 70-80% of Greece is mountainous, which created natural barriers and isolated communities.
A long coastline with many islands, gulfs, and bays made maritime trade and naval power crucial for development.
Climate
Mediterranean Climate: Ancient Greece has a mild, wet winter and a hot, dry summer.
Impact on Agriculture: This climate was ideal for growing staple crops like olives, grapes, and grains, which formed the basis of the Greek diet and economy.
Outdoor Life: The warm, dry climate encouraged an outdoor lifestyle and is reflected in their culture, with outdoor public forums, theaters, and athletic games.
Notable Features
Maritime Culture:
The sea was a central part of life, providing food, trade routes, and opportunities for colonization.
Resources:
Natural resources like marble, silver, and timber were abundant and used in their art, architecture, and naval power.
Influence on Religion:
The sea and water featured prominently in Greek mythology, often representing the life cycle and the path to the underworld.
How Greece is run
Greece is a collection of independent city-states, like Athens and Sparta, each with its own government, including forms like democracy, oligarchy, and monarchy. The rule was not unified, but within each city-state, a variety of groups ran the government, though power was typically held by male citizens who were eligible to vote. Ultimately, power within city-states was concentrated in the hands of male citizens, but who they were and how they voted varied significantly by city-state.
City-states:
Instead of one country, ancient Greece was a collection of hundreds of independent city-states, or poleis, each with its own laws, government, and military.
Variety of governments:
Each city-state had a different political structure. Some common forms included:
Democracy: In Athens, a system where male citizens could vote in the Assembly (Ecclesia), although this was a small fraction of the total population.
Oligarchy: A government run by a small group of powerful families.
Monarchy/Kingship: Sparta, for example, had two hereditary kings, while others may have had a single king.
Tyranny: Some city-states were ruled by a single, powerful individual who took control, often through force.
Trade, rivals, and heraldry
Greece trade centeres on maritime commerce, exporting goods like wine and pottery and importing essentials like grain. Rivalries were intense, particularly between city-states like Athens and Sparta, which eventually led to major conflicts like the Peloponnesian War, driven by growing power imbalances and fear. The concept of modern "heraldry" wasn't a distinct system, but city-states and leagues had distinct emblems, and symbols on coins and pottery represented their identity and power.
Who lives here
Greece is home to various people including farmers, fishermen, soldiers, scholars, and artists who live in independent city-states like Athens and Sparta, which are located on the mainland, islands, and colonies around the Mediterranean Sea. Daily life is often hard due to scarce resources, with many people living in rural villages or city-states and participating in trade, farming, or military service. The population includes a majority of farmers, as well as many slaves, and for a select few, a voice in government (for adult male citizens).
Money = status (and how to show it)
In Greece, money is status, primarily shown through the ownership of significant wealth in the form of coinage. Individuals display wealth through tangible assets like large houses, expensive possessions, and investments in land and other goods, while a wealthy household could be described by its total monetary value, like a "three-talent household". The display of wealth also extend to public works, where a wealthy citizen might fund projects as a demonstration of their status and power.
Faith and the law on magic
In Greece, magic is not considered separate from religion, superstition, science, or astrology, and is often viewed as a form of unsanctioned or private religious activity used for personal gain or to manage life's vulnerabilities. Law is less focused on prohibiting magic itself and more on punishing malicious acts, particularly when they led to harm. The practice of magic involves a wide range of actions, including casting spells, making curses on tablets, creating amulets for protection or luck, and using love potions or poisons. It is said that people who are capable of using magic, have been blessed or cursed by the gods, based on the magic they learned.
Faith in Greece is widely known and respected. People who does not have faith are viewed as corrupted and destroyers of religion. But these people didn't want to destroy religion, only find logical reasons for the things that happens like rain, thunder, earthquakes and other occurrences rather than blame the gods. There are philosophers who believe in the gods, but are being accused of atheism because the faithful view their philosophy as a rejection of Athens' traditional gods and questioning of the city's religious and social norms as an act of impiety.