Find Tom in Time, Ancient Greece - preview

Ancient Greece

About A ncient Greece 4,00 0 founde d more than as w e ec re G t en Anci ost ad vanced came one of the m ye ars ago and it be eks ld. The ancient Gre or w e th in ns io at civilis da y: theatre, ings we still use to develope d many th d the study ience, at hl etics an sc y, ph so ilo ph s, ic polit g buildings built some amazin of history. They also . Some of n sp ecial alphab et ow r ei th d te ea cr ha ve and this bo ok may not in s sit vi m To at th the places ey were all e same time, but th th at er th ge to ed exist ry. ek culture and histo part of ancient G re

Get ready to meet . . .

To m

Gr

a n ny B e a

Di

g by t h e c at

and spot the hidden Athenian owl in every scene!

First published 2021 by Nosy Crow Ltd The Crow’s Nest, 14 Baden Place, Crosby Row, London SE1 1YW www.nosycrow.com ISBN 978 1 78800 658 3 (HB) ISBN 978 1 83994 372 0 (PB) Nosy Crow and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Nosy Crow Ltd. Published in collaboration with the British Museum.

Text © Nosy Crow 2021 Illustrations © Fatti Burke 2021 The right of Nosy Crow to be identified as the author and Fatti Burke to be identified as the illustrator of this work has been asserted.

All rights reserved.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of Nosy Crow Ltd. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Printed in China.

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Contents Page 4 - 5

Page 6 -7

Page 8 - 9

Page 10 -11

Page 12-13

Page 14 -15

Page 16 -17

Page 18 -19

Page 20 -21

Page 22-23

Page 24 -25

Page 26 -27

Page 28 -29

Page 30 - 31

Page 32- 33

Solutions

Page 34 - 38

Glossary

Page 38 - 39

Index

Page 40

Tom was an ordinary boy, most of the time.

He was clever and brave and he loved adventure.

Tom’s grandmother, Bea, was an ordinary grandmother, most of the time. She was clever and brave, and a little bit mischievous, and she loved adventure, too. Which was just as well, since her job was digging in the dust and the dirt to discover how people used to live. Granny Bea was an .

Granny Bea’s cat, Digby, did not like digging in the dust and the dirt. Or getting wet. Or missing his meals. In fact, Digby did not like adventure at all. Especially after what happened last time Tom came to stay . . . but that’s another story.

4

One day, Tom was visiting Granny Bea when she called him into the living room.

Granny Bea was inspecting a pot decorated with battle scenes.

“What’s that?” asked Tom.

Granny’s eyes sparkled. “This is an ancient Greek . It was once used to store oil . . . and it’s 2,500 years old!”

“Wow,” said Tom. “Can I touch it?”

“Of course,” said Granny Bea with a wink.

“But you’ll need this,” and she handed him a bag.

But before Tom had time to ask what it was for, he had touched the pot and . . .

5

Tom was in ancient Greece! He couldn’t believe it. He was standing at the top of a hill, looking down at a spectacular view.

Tom looked around for Granny Bea, but all he could see were people in tunics dancing, playing instruments and carrying objects. Suddenly, he spotted Digby darting off down the hill.

The Acropolis was a sacred hill in Athens and its name means ‘high city’. Within its walls, there were temples built for the gods.

The ancient Greeks believed in many gods and goddesses. They were a bit like humans, but a lot more powerful, and they watched over the ancient Greeks from their home on , interfering with their lives and arguing with each other.

6

The Parthenon was the biggest temple on the Acropolis. It was made from white marble and wood and built to honour , the goddess of wisdom and war. Inside, there was an enormous statue of Athena wearing gold armour. If Athens was attacked, the citizens could hide inside the walls of the Acropolis. The city’s gold was also hidden inside the Parthenon so that it couldn’t be stolen.

• A sa cr ifi cia l bu ll • Tw o ch ild re n pl ay in g wi th a ba ll • Di gb y th e ca t • So m eo ne wa sh in g th ei r ha nd s • To m • So m eo ne wh o ha s sp ill ed a po t of wi ne • A go at ch ew in g so m eo ne 's clo th es

During religious festivals, people travelled along a road called the ‘Panathenaic Way’ to the temples on the Acropolis to pray and give offerings to the gods. Rich people offered sheep or cattle, while poorer people offered wine or wheat. Everyone washed their hands before praying.

7

gi vi ng a sp ee ch • A ph ilo so ph er • To m ng co in s • A m an ch an gi g do nk ey in av eh isb m •A e pl ay in g a ga m n re ild • Th re e ch • Di gb y th e ca t g a ch ick en • A bo y ch as in

8

Tom raced after Digby, all the way down the hill, and soon reached a bustling marketplace. A girl pointed at Tom’s jeans. Uh-oh! He needed a disguise. Tom rummaged in the bag Granny Bea had given him to find a strange tunic.

“That’s weird,” he thought, as he put it on. “It’s almost as if Granny Bea knew I would need this.”

The agora was a marketplace where goods were sold, and people came to catch up on the latest news or to hear a talking. Farmers, stone carvers, jewellers and metal workers all sold their goods at the agora. They could be carried there by donkeys, and meat and fish were placed on slabs of marble to keep them cool.

Around the agora there were open-fronted market buildings called stoas. This is where the more expensive goods were sold, such as beautiful jewellery, gold ornaments, exotic cloth and foreign spices.

Goods were usually paid for with coins.

Each made their own coins, stamped with symbols from the city. Money changers, known as , had tables at the agora where they exchanged one city’s coins for another.

9

Suddenly, Tom spied a flash of orange in the distance. Digby!

Tom pushed his way through the crowd and followed Digby into a round building. But the men inside didn’t look happy to see him . . .

10

The tholos was a round building with a conical roof, located near the agora. It was where the met to issues and decide on whether to put forward new . Only men were allowed to go inside.

• Di gb y th e cat g an ar gu me nt • Tw o pe op le ha vin a na p • An old ma n ta kin g o th e th olo s int g • A mo us e sn ea kin

• To m d so me on e's leg s • A do g hid ing be hin as ed by a go os e • So me on e be ing ch

Inside the tholos there was a big meeting space, a kitchen, a dining room, a to the goddess Hestia, who looked after a sacred fire, and even an area for sleeping!

After the Council had decided what new laws to put forward, they debated them at a much bigger meeting called the . This was where all the men who lived in the city came to speak, debate and vote. It took a very long time, with more than 6,000 people at each meeting.

11