Ancient Greece

Introduction:

Greece is located in the Mediterranean Sea, the peninsula and 2,000+ islands provide thousands of kilometers of coastline. Much of the interior and islands are quite infertile due to the mountainous, dry, rocky terrain. The first Greek civilizations began on Crete about 1,000 years after Egyptian civilization began due to the excellent harbours and fertile soil. Over time, Greece grew to become a great ancient civilization, spreading their ideas and culture over vast areas. Many of their accomplishments still influence us today, particularly the concept of citizens, democracy, their art, architecture, philosophies, and writers.

There were no major rivers or fertile valleys like in Egypt or Mesopotamia, so people settled along the coast where they could grow olives, figs, and barley. Goats and sheep grazed the hillside. The mountainous geography protected Greece from invaders, but also isolated communities, which caused Greece to develop as a large number of city states, not a unified nation (Athens, Sparta). Greek city states relied on foreign trade for wealth and supplies.

The Minoans

The Minoans flourished on Crete during the Bronze Age. The civilization peaked between 2000 and 1450 BCE (During the Middle Kingdom in Egypt). The society is named after the legendary ruler King Minos. As far as we know, they were peaceful, agricultural people. The palace at Knossos was the centre of government, and had intricate metalwork, indoor plumbing, beautiful frescos, a writing system, food storage, and beautiful architecture. The most famous story is that of the Minotaur.

Despite having a writing system - Linear A - we do not know exactly what caused the Minoans’ society to falter. Some common theories include:

  • Invasion by the Micenaeans
  • Over-cultivation of the land
  • Destruction from the eruption of Thera on the island of Santorini, sometime between 1650 - 1550 BCE. 
  • Combination of all.

However, one thing is certain; the Minoans were an advanced civilization which evolved on fertile Crete from Neolithic times.

The main achievements of the Minoan civilization were:

  • King Minos of Crete dominated a large part of the Aegean with his powerful Navy.
  • Light-wells were built in many bigger architectural projects (i.e. the Knossos Palace).
  • Plumbing, flushing toilets, baths, and an advanced draining system was discovered.
  • Linear A and Linear B writing.

The Mycenaeans

On the mainland of Greece, small groups of people were dealing with Northern invaders. Eventually, these invaders took over the main city on the mainland called Mycenae and built up a society that dominated the Mediterranean between 1600 - 1100 BCE. 

The Mycenaeans adopted many parts of Minoan civilization during their flourishing time in Greece; their wall art painting style (frescoes), style of dress, vase designs, and writing forms. The biggest difference between the two was the creation of the vault-style burial called tholos tombs. Mycenaeans also constructed their civilizations on the mainland of Greece, while the Minoans had kept to Crete.

The Mycenaeans were traders and pirates, but they were most famous for their attack on the city of Troy around 1250 BCE. The stories from the Trojan War were recorded in the famous ancient texts The Iliad and The Odyssey, written by Homer over 500 years after the attack happened. There is much debate about what led to the collapse of this civilization:

  • Civil Wars
  • Famine
  • Drought
  • Coronavirus
  • Disease
  • Outside Invaders

The Bronze Age

The Bronze Age (3300 - 1200 BCE) began during the Neolithic Revolution when metal tools were created instead of stone, in the region called The Fertile Crescent.

Nobody knows why people stopped making advanced plumbing systems like the ones found in the Knossos Palace for 3600 years, how exactly the Minoans were defeated by the Mycenaeans, or how the Mycenaeans’ civilization collapsed. But, for many, many years, the only information we had about these civilizations came from writings from the BC era until archaeology really stepped foot in Greece. There is no doubt that when we have more technology, newer ideas and bigger expansions, we will find more and more about these age-old civilizations.

The Dark Ages

After the collapse of the Mycenaeans, the Greek Dark Ages began. The population of the region declined due to famine and much of the achievements of the Mycenaeans were lost. There are no written records of this time period from 1100 - 800 BCE.

Expansion

As Greece came out of the Dark Ages, some Greeks moved across the Aegean Sea to the islands and Asia Minor to either escape warring Doric Greeks from the Aegean. ‘Polis’s began to emerge on the mainland, in Asia Minor and islands in the Aegean Sea. These were generally the size of large towns; however, Athens and Sparta were quite a bit larger in size and population. The city states were independent of each other and had various forms of rule.

Greek traders travelled across the Mediterranean, in particular, to Southern Italy and around the Black Sea, which were able to supply Crimean Wheat. Greek colonies from Spain to Libya and Egypt provided trade goods as well as food products, and a middle class of traders grew. Laws were drawn up for the people of the polis’, Greek sculpture was born, distinctive pottery, and major architectural projects begun.

The Persian Wars

Cyrus the Great was the king of the large and powerful Persian Empire, which stretched from Afghanistan to Mesopotamia in the South and the Black Sea in the North. He set his sites on the now flourishing Greek communities in Asia Minor and defeated Croesus in 546 BCE, thus giving himself control over all Greeks in Asia Minor. The Persians are sometimes depicted as evil barbarians in Western History; however, they were not the worst people to be conquered by. They didn’t allow slaves (which the Greeks did) and they generally let their conquered keep their customs and way of life as long as they paid their taxes.

The Greeks valued their independence, and in 499 BCE, the polis of Miletus in Asia Minor revolted unsuccessfully against the Persians, who, after a five year battle, eventually ransacked Miletus. The Persians then decided to travel across the Aegean and take over, particularly Darius, who had