Ancient Greece

Greece is a mountainous country and the ancient Greeks were a hardy, independent people. Their first civilization, the Mycenaean, rested on agriculture but also extended trade networks. A Dark Age followed the collapse of the Mycenaeans (1100 BC), but by the 8th century BC a growing population saw the emergence of small city-states - urban centers dependent on their local territory. The city-state fostered sophisticated politics, marble temples, drama and philosophy. There were also religious shrines - Olympia and Delphi among them - that offered a cultural focus for all Greeks, including those who migrated through the Mediterranean. After success in the Persian wars (490 and 480 BC) there were no limits to Greek self-confidence, and the 5th century BC saw the achievements of the Classical period. In the late 5th century BC, however, the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta (which Athens lost) heralded the decline of the city-state and Greece was crushed by Macedonian expansion in the late 4th century BC. Following Alexander the Great's conquests, Greek culture spread throughout Asia and into Egypt in the Hellenistic period, and remained intact after absorption into the Roman Empire. The Byzantine empire that emerged in the 6th century AD was still culturally a Greek state.