View source for Ancient Greece

{{Short description|Greek civilization from 1200 BC to 600 AD}}
{{About|the civilization|the language|Ancient Greek}}
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{{History of Greece}}
'''Ancient Greece''' ({{langx|grc|Ἑλλάς|Hellás}}) was a northeastern [[Mediterranean]] civilization, existing from the [[Greek Dark Ages]] of the 12th–9th centuries&nbsp;BC to the end of [[classical antiquity]] ({{circa|600 AD}}), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically related [[polis|city-states]] and communities. Prior to the [[Greece in the Roman era|Roman period]], most of these regions were officially unified only once under the [[Kingdom of Macedon]] from 338 to 323&nbsp;BC.{{Efn|This roughly 15-year-long unification, under [[Philip II of Macedon]] and his son [[Alexander the Great]], excludes independent Greek city-states in the western Mediterranean, around the Black Sea, Cyprus, and Cyrenaica.}} In [[Western world|Western history]], the era of classical antiquity was immediately followed by the [[Early Middle Ages]] and the [[Byzantine]] period.<ref name="Thomas1988">{{cite book |first=Carol G. |last=Thomas |title=Paths from ancient Greece |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NAwVAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA27 |year=1988 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-08846-7 |pages=27–50}}</ref>

Three centuries after the decline of [[Mycenaean Greece]] during the [[Bronze Age collapse]], Greek urban [[poleis]] began to form in the 8th century&nbsp;BC, ushering in the [[Archaic Greece|Archaic period]] and [[Greek colonisation|the colonization]] of the Mediterranean Basin. This was followed by the age of [[Classical Greece]], from the [[Greco-Persian Wars]] to the death of [[Alexander the Great]] in 323&nbsp;BC, and which included the [[Golden Age of Athens]] and the [[Peloponnesian War]] between [[Classical Athens|Athens]] and [[Sparta]]. The unification of Greece by [[Rise of Macedon|Macedon]] under [[Philip II of Macedon|Philip II]] and subsequent conquest of the [[Achaemenid Empire]] by Alexander the Great spread Hellenistic civilization across the Middle East. The [[Hellenistic period]] is considered to have ended in 30&nbsp;BC, when the last Hellenistic kingdom, [[Ptolemaic Egypt]], was annexed by the [[Roman Republic]].

Classical [[Greek culture]], especially philosophy, had a powerful influence on [[ancient Rome]], which carried a version of it throughout the Mediterranean and much of Europe. For this reason, Classical Greece is generally considered the cradle of [[Western culture|Western civilization]], the [[wikt:seminal|seminal]] culture from which the modern West derives many of its founding archetypes and ideas in politics, philosophy, science, and art.<ref name="EllynMcGinnis2004">{{cite book |author1=Maura Ellyn |author2=Maura McGinnis |title=Greece: A Primary Source Cultural Guide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N69iOTtVHGYC&pg=PT8 |year=2004 |publisher=Rosen |isbn=978-0-8239-3999-2 |page=8}}</ref><ref name="FindlingPelle2004">{{cite book |author1=John E. Findling |author2=Kimberly D. Pelle |title=Encyclopedia of the Modern Olympic Movement |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QmXi_-Jujj0C&pg=PR23 |year=2004 |publisher=Greenwood |isbn=978-0-313-32278-5 |page=23}}</ref><ref name="ThompsonMullin">{{cite book |author1=Wayne C. Thompson |author2=Mark H. Mullin |title=Western Europe, 1983 |year=1983 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=serMXIpALD0C |publisher=Stryker-Post Publications |page=337 |isbn=978-0-943448-11-4 |quote=for ancient Greece was the cradle of Western culture&nbsp;...}}</ref><!-- <ref name="Copleston2003">{{cite book |author=Frederick Copleston |title=History of Philosophy Volume 1: Greece and Rome |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y08L-MC36JUC&pg=PA13 |year=2003 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-0-8264-6895-6 |page=13 |quote=Part I Pre-Socratic Philosophy Chapter II The Cradle Western Thought}}</ref><ref name="Iozzo2001">{{cite book |author=Mario Iozzo |title=Art and History of Greece: And Mount Athos |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q51-HAiZQwMC&pg=PA7 |year=2001 |publisher=Casa Editrice Bonechi |isbn=978-88-8029-435-1 |page=7 |quote=The capital of Greece, one of the world's most glorious cities and the cradle of Western culture,}}</ref><ref name="Melotti2011">{{cite book |author=Marxiano Melotti |title=The Plastic Venuses: Archaeological Tourism in Post-Modern Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jgIrBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA188 |year=2011 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-3028-7 |page=188 |quote=In short, Greece, despite having been the cradle of Western culture, was then an "other" space separate from the West.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Library Journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TFZVAAAAYAAJ |year=1972 |publisher=Bowker |volume=97 |page=1588 |quote=Ancient Greece: Cradle of Western Culture (Series), disc. 6 strips with 3 discs, range: 44–60 fr., 17–18 min}}</ref><ref name="Burstein2002">{{cite book |author=Stanley Mayer Burstein |title=Current Issues and the Study of Ancient History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=17xmAAAAMAAJ |year=2002 |publisher=Regina Books |isbn=978-1-930053-10-6 |page=15 |quote=and making Egypt play the same role in African education and culture that Athens and Greece do in Western culture.}}</ref><ref name="Jr.2015">{{cite book |author=Murray Milner Jr. |title=Elites: A General Model |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MvYlBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA62 |year=2015 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-7456-8950-0 |page=62 |quote=Greece has long been considered the seedbed or cradle of Western civilization.}}</ref><ref name="Aa.Vv.2011">{{cite book |author=Aa.Vv. |title=Slavica viterbiensia 003: Periodico di letterature e culture slave della Facoltà di Lingue e Letterature Straniere Moderne dell'Università della Tuscia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f9fTPUTPPhkC&pg=PA148 |year=2011 |publisher=Gangemi Editore spa |isbn=978-88-492-6909-3 |page=148 |quote=The Special Case of Greece The ancient Greece was a cradle of the Western culture,}}</ref><ref name="Covert2011">{{cite book |author=Kim Covert |title=Ancient Greece: Birthplace of Democracy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KVMYJNvUiYkC&pg=PP5 |year=2011 |publisher=Capstone |isbn=978-1-4296-6831-6 |page=5 |quote=Ancient Greece is often called the cradle of western civilization.&nbsp;... Ideas from literature and science also have their roots in ancient Greece.}}</ref><ref name="Duchesne2011">{{cite book |author=Ricardo Duchesne |title=The Uniqueness of Western Civilization |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pWmDPzPo0XAC&pg=PA297 |year=2011 |publisher=Brill |isbn=90-04-19248-4 |page=297 |quote=The list of books which have celebrated Greece as the "cradle" of the West is endless; two more examples are Charles Freeman's The Greek Achievement: The Foundation of the Western World (1999) and Bruce Thornton's Greek Ways: How the Greeks Created Western Civilization (2000)}}</ref><ref>[[Bruce Thornton (classicist)|]], ''Greek Ways: How the Greeks Created Western Civilization'', Encounter Books, 2002</ref><ref>Richard Tarnas, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=0n2C299jeOMC&pg=PP1#v=onepage The Passion of the Western Mind]'' (New York: Ballantine Books, 1991).</ref><ref>Colin Hynson, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=hmweq2TyxvsC&pg=PT5#v=onepage Ancient Greece]'' (Milwaukee: World Almanac Library, 2006), 4.</ref><ref>Carol G. Thomas, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=NAwVAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA1#v=onepage Paths from Ancient Greece]'' (Leiden, Netherlands: E.J. Brill, 1988).</ref> -->

== Chronology ==
{{For timeline|Timeline of ancient Greece}}
[[File:Parthenon (30276156187).jpg|thumb|The [[Parthenon]], a temple dedicated to [[Athena]], located on the [[Acropolis]] in [[Athens]], is one of the most representative symbols of the culture and sophistication of the ancient Greeks.]]
[[Classical antiquity]] in the Mediterranean region is commonly considered to have begun in the 8th century&nbsp;BC<ref>{{cite book |last=Osborne |first=Robin |title=Greece in the Making: 1200–479 BC |publisher=Routledge |location=London |year=2009 |page=xvii}}</ref> (around the time of the earliest recorded poetry of Homer) and ended in the 6th century&nbsp;AD.

Classical antiquity in Greece was preceded by the [[Greek Dark Ages]] ({{circa|1200|800 BC}}), [[archaeologically]] characterised by the [[protogeometric]] and [[Geometric art|geometric styles]] of designs on pottery. Following the Dark Ages was the [[Archaic Greece|Archaic period]], beginning around the 8th century&nbsp;BC, which saw early developments in Greek culture and society leading to the [[Classical Greece|Classical period]]<ref>{{harvnb|Shapiro|2007|p=1}}</ref> from the Persian invasion of Greece in 480&nbsp;BC until the death of Alexander the Great in 323&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{harvnb|Shapiro|2007|pp=2–3}}</ref> The Classical period is characterized by a "classical" style, i.e. one which was considered exemplary by later observers, most famously in the [[Parthenon]] of Athens. Politically, the Classical period was dominated by [[Classical Athens|Athens]] and the [[Delian League]] during the 5th century, but displaced by [[Spartan hegemony]] during the early 4th century&nbsp;BC, before power shifted to [[Ancient Thebes (Boeotia)|Thebes]] and the [[Boeotian League]] and finally to the [[League of Corinth]] led by [[Macedon]]. This period was shaped by the [[Greco-Persian Wars]], the [[Peloponnesian War]], and the [[Rise of Macedon]].

Following the Classical period was the Hellenistic period (323–146&nbsp;BC), during which Greek culture and power expanded into the [[Near East]] from the death of Alexander until the Roman conquest. [[Roman Greece]] is usually counted from the Roman victory over the [[Corinth]]ians at the [[Battle of Corinth (146 BC)|Battle of Corinth]] in 146&nbsp;BC to the establishment of [[Byzantium]] by [[Constantine I|Constantine]] as the capital of the [[Roman Empire]] in 330&nbsp;AD. Finally, [[Late Antiquity]] refers to the period of [[Decline of Greco-Roman polytheism|Christianization]] during the later 4th to early 6th centuries&nbsp;AD, consummated by the closure of the [[Plato's Academy|Academy of Athens]] by [[Justinian I]] in 529.<ref>{{cite book |title=A History of Greek Literature |last=Hadas |first=Moses |year=1950 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-01767-1 |page=273 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dOht3609JOMC&pg=PA273}}</ref>

== Historiography ==
{{Main|Greek historiographers}}

The historical period of ancient Greece is unique in world history as the first period attested directly in comprehensive, narrative [[historiography]], while earlier ancient history or [[protohistory]] is known from much more fragmentary documents such as annals, king lists, and pragmatic [[epigraphy]].

[[Herodotus]] is widely known as the "father of history": his ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]'' are eponymous of [[history|the entire field]]. Written between the 450s and 420s&nbsp;BC, Herodotus' work reaches about a century into the past, discussing 6th-century&nbsp;BC historical figures such as [[Darius I of Persia]], [[Cambyses II]] and [[Psamtik III]], and alluding to some 8th-century&nbsp;BC persons such as [[Candaules]]. The accuracy of Herodotus' works is debated.<ref>{{harvp|Marincola|2001|p=59}}</ref><ref>{{harvp|Roberts|2011|p=2}}</ref><ref>{{harvp|Sparks|1998|p=58}}</ref><ref>{{harvp|Asheri|Lloyd|Corcella|2007}}</ref><ref>{{harvp|Cameron|2004|p=156}}</ref>

Herodotus was succeeded by authors such as [[Thucydides]], [[Xenophon]], [[Demosthenes]], [[Plato]] and [[Aristotle]]. Most were either Athenian or pro-Athenian, which is why far more is known about the history and politics of Athens than of many other cities.
Their scope is further limited by a focus on political, military and diplomatic history, ignoring economic and social history.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Grant |first=Michael |title=Greek and Roman historians: information and misinformation |publisher=Routledge |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-415-11770-8 |page=74 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IUNxvi0kbd8C}}</ref>

== History ==
{{For timeline}}
{{Further|History of Greece}}

=== Archaic period ===
{{Main|Archaic Greece}}
[[File:Prothesis Dipylon Painter A517.jpg|thumb|Dipylon Vase of the late [[Geometric art|Geometric period]], or the beginning of the Archaic period, {{cx|750&nbsp;BC}}.|upright=1.2]]
The archaic period, lasting approximately from 800 to 500&nbsp;BC, saw the culmination of political and social developments which had begun in the Greek Dark Age, with the ''polis'' (city-state) becoming the most important unit of political organisation in Greece.<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|p=65}}</ref> The absence of powerful states in Greece after the collapse of Mycenaean power, and the geography of Greece, where many settlements were separated from their neighbours by mountainous terrain, encouraged the development of small independent city-states.<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|pp=67–68}}</ref> Several Greek states saw tyrants rise to power in this period, most famously at [[Ancient Corinth|Corinth]] from 657&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|p=103}}</ref> The period also saw the founding of Greek colonies around the Mediterranean, with [[Euboea]]n settlements at [[Al-Mina]] in the east as early as 800&nbsp;BC, and [[Ischia]] in the west by 775.<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|pp=69–70}}</ref> Increasing contact with non-Greek peoples in this period, especially in the Near East, inspired developments in art and architecture, the adoption of coinage, and the development of the Greek alphabet.<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|pp=73–74}}</ref>

Athens developed its democratic system over the course of the archaic period. Already in the 7th century, the right of all citizen men to attend the [[ecclesia (ancient Greece)|assembly]] appears to have been established.<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|p=108}}</ref> After a failed coup led by [[Cylon of Athens]] around 636&nbsp;BC, [[Draco (lawgiver)|Draco]] was appointed to establish a code of laws in 621. This failed to reduce the political tension between the poor and the elites, and in 594 [[Solon]] was given the authority to enact another set of reforms, which attempted to balance the power of the rich and the poor.<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|pp=109–110}}</ref> In the middle of the 6th century, [[Pisistratus]] established himself as a tyrant, and after his death in 527 his son [[Hippias]] inherited his position; by the end of the 6th century he had been overthrown, and [[Cleisthenes]] carried out further democratising reforms.<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|pp=112–113}}</ref>

In Sparta, a political system with two kings, a [[gerousia|council of elders]], and five [[ephors]] developed over the course of the 8th and 7th centuries. According to Spartan tradition, this constitution was established by the legendary lawgiver [[Lycurgus]].<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|p=96}}</ref> Over the course of the [[First Messenian War]] and [[Second Messenian War]], Sparta subjugated the neighbouring region of [[Messenia]], enserfing the population.<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|p=98}}</ref>

In the 6th century, Greek city-states began to develop formal relationships with one another, where previously individual rulers had relied on personal relationships with the elites of other cities.<ref>{{harvnb|Osborne|2009|p=270}}</ref> Towards the end of the Archaic period, Sparta began to build a series of alliances, the [[Peloponnesian League]], with cities including [[Corinth]], [[Elis]], and [[Megara]],<ref>{{harvnb|Hammond|1982|p=356}}</ref> isolating Messenia and reinforcing Sparta's position against [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]], the other major power in the Peloponnese.<ref>{{harvnb|Osborne|2009|p=275}}</ref> Other alliances in the 6th century included those between Elis and [[Heraea (Arcadia)|Heraea]] in the Peloponnese; and between the Greek colony [[Sybaris]] in southern Italy, its allies, and the Serdaioi.<ref>{{harvnb|Osborne|2009|p=271}}</ref>

=== Classical Greece ===
{{Main|Classical Greece}}
[[File:EarlyAthenianCoin.jpg|thumb|left|Early Athenian coin, depicting the head of [[Athena]] on the obverse and her owl on the reverse – 5th century&nbsp;BC]]

In 499&nbsp;BC, the [[Ionia]]n city states under Persian rule rebelled against their Persian-supported tyrant rulers.<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|pp=126–127}}</ref> Supported by troops sent from Athens and [[Eretria]], they advanced as far as [[Sardis]] and burnt the city before being driven back by a Persian counterattack.<ref name="martin2013">{{harvnb|Martin|2013|p=127}}</ref> The revolt continued until 494, when the rebelling Ionians were defeated.<ref name="martin2013" /> Darius did not forget that Athens had assisted the Ionian revolt, and in 490 he assembled an armada to retaliate.<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|p=128}}</ref> Though heavily outnumbered, the Athenians—supported by their [[Plataea]]n allies—defeated the Persian hordes at the [[Battle of Marathon]], and the Persian fleet turned tail.<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|pp=128–129}}</ref>

[[File:Map Greco-Persian Wars-en.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|Events of the first phases of the [[Greco-Persian Wars]]]]
[[File:Map athenian empire 431 BC-en.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|The Delian League immediately before the [[Peloponnesian War]] in 431&nbsp;BC]]

Ten years later, a [[Second Persian invasion of Greece|second invasion]] was launched by Darius' son [[Xerxes I|Xerxes]].<ref name="martin131">{{harvnb|Martin|2013|p=131}}</ref> The city-states of northern and central Greece submitted to the Persian forces without resistance, but a coalition of 31 Greek city states, including Athens and Sparta, determined to resist the Persian invaders.<ref name="martin131" /> At the same time, Greek Sicily was invaded by a Carthaginian force.<ref name="martin131" /> In 480&nbsp;BC, the first major battle of the invasion was fought at [[Battle of Thermopylae|Thermopylae]], where a small rearguard of Greeks, led by three hundred Spartans, held a crucial pass guarding the heart of Greece for several days; at the same time [[Gelo]]n, tyrant of Syracuse, defeated the Carthaginian invasion at the [[Battle of Himera (480 BC)|Battle of Himera]].<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|pp=131–133}}</ref>

The Persians were decisively defeated at sea by a primarily Athenian naval force at the [[Battle of Salamis]], and on land in 479&nbsp;BC at the [[Battle of Plataea]].<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|pp=134–136}}</ref> The alliance against Persia continued, initially led by the Spartan [[Pausanias (general)|Pausanias]] but from 477 by Athens,<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|pp=137–138}}</ref> and by 460 Persia had been driven out of the Aegean.<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|p=140}}</ref> During this long campaign, the [[Delian League]] gradually transformed from a defensive alliance of Greek states into an Athenian empire, as Athens' growing naval power intimidated the other league states.<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|pp=137–141}}</ref> Athens ended its campaigns against Persia in 450, after a disastrous defeat in Egypt in 454, and the death of [[Cimon]] in action against the Persians on Cyprus in 450.<ref name="martin147">{{harvnb|Martin|2013|p=147}}</ref>

As the Athenian fight against the Persian empire waned, conflict grew between Athens and Sparta. Suspicious of the increasing Athenian power funded by the Delian League, Sparta offered aid to reluctant members of the League to rebel against Athenian domination. These tensions were exacerbated in 462&nbsp;BC when Athens sent a force to aid Sparta in overcoming a [[helot]] revolt, but this aid was rejected by the Spartans.<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|p=142}}</ref> In the 450s, Athens took control of Boeotia, and won victories over [[Aegina]] and Corinth.<ref name="martin147" /> However, Athens failed to win a decisive victory, and in 447 lost Boeotia again.<ref name="martin147" /> Athens and Sparta signed the [[Thirty Years' Peace]] in the winter of 446/445, ending the conflict.<ref name="martin147" />

Despite the treaty, Athenian relations with Sparta declined again in the 430s, and in 431 BC the [[Peloponnesian War]] began.<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|p=149}}</ref> The [[Archidamian War|first phase of the war]] saw a series of fruitless annual invasions of Attica by Sparta, while Athens successfully fought the Corinthian empire in northwest Greece and defended its own empire, despite a [[Plague of Athens|plague]] which killed the leading Athenian statesman [[Pericles]].<ref name="hornblower160">{{harvnb|Hornblower|2011|p=160}}</ref> The war turned after Athenian victories led by [[Cleon]] at [[Battle of Pylos|Pylos]] and [[Battle of Sphacteria|Sphakteria]],<ref name="hornblower160" /> and Sparta sued for peace, but the Athenians rejected the proposal.<ref name="hornblower162">{{harvnb|Hornblower|2011|p=162}}</ref> The Athenian failure to regain control of Boeotia at [[Battle of Delium|Delium]] and [[Brasidas]]' successes in northern Greece in 424 improved Sparta's position after Sphakteria.<ref name="hornblower162" /> After the deaths of Cleon and Brasidas, the strongest proponents of war on each side, [[Peace of Nikias|a peace treaty]] was negotiated in 421 by the Athenian general [[Nicias]].<ref>{{harvnb|Hornblower|2011|p=163}}</ref>

The peace did not last, however. In 418&nbsp;BC allied forces of Athens and Argos were defeated by Sparta at [[Battle of Mantinea (418 BC)|Mantinea]].<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|pp=1981–1999}}</ref> In 415 Athens launched an ambitious [[Sicilian Expedition|naval expedition]] to dominate Sicily;<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|p=200}}</ref> the expedition ended in disaster at the harbor of [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]], with almost the entire army killed, and the ships destroyed.<ref>{{harvnb|Hornblower|2011|p=177}}</ref> Soon after the Athenian defeat in Syracuse, Athens' Ionian allies began to rebel against the Delian league, while Persia began to once again involve itself in Greek affairs on the Spartan side.<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|pp=202–203}}</ref> Initially the Athenian position continued relatively strong, with important victories at [[Battle of Cyzicus|Cyzicus]] in 410 and [[Battle of Arginusae|Arginusae]] in 406.<ref>{{harvnb|Hornblower|2011|pp=186–189}}</ref> However, in 405 the Spartan [[Lysander]] defeated Athens in the [[Battle of Aegospotami]], and began to blockade Athens' harbour;<ref name="Martin 2013 205">{{harvnb|Martin|2013|p=205}}</ref> driven by hunger, Athens sued for peace, agreeing to surrender their fleet and join the Spartan-led Peloponnesian League.<ref>{{harvnb|Hornblower|2011|p=189}}</ref> Following the Athenian surrender, Sparta installed an oligarchic regime, the [[Thirty Tyrants]], in Athens,<ref name="Martin 2013 205" /> one of a number of Spartan-backed oligarchies which rose to power after the Peloponnesian war.<ref>{{harvnb|Hornblower|2011|p=203}}</ref> Spartan predominance did not last: after only a year, the Thirty had been overthrown.<ref>{{harvnb|Hornblower|2011|p=219}}</ref>

The first half of the 4th century saw the major Greek states attempt to dominate the mainland; none were successful, and their resulting weakness led to a power vacuum which was eventually filled by Macedon under Philip II and then Alexander the Great.<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|pp=221, 226}}</ref> In the immediate aftermath of the Peloponnesian war, Sparta attempted to extend their own power, leading Argos, Athens, Corinth, and Thebes to join against them.<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|p=224}}</ref> Aiming to prevent any single Greek state gaining the dominance that would allow it to challenge Persia, the Persian king initially joined the alliance against Sparta, before imposing the [[Peace of Antalcidas]] ("King's Peace") which restored Persia's control over the Anatolian Greeks.<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|pp=224–225}}</ref>

[[File:L'atleta di Fano.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|The ''[[Victorious Youth]]'' ({{cx|310 BC}}) is a rare, water-preserved [[bronze sculpture]] from ancient Greece.]]

By 371&nbsp;BC, Thebes was in the ascendancy, defeating Sparta at the [[Battle of Leuctra]], killing the Spartan king [[Cleombrotus I]], and invading Laconia. Further Theban successes against Sparta in 369 led to Messenia gaining independence; Sparta never recovered from the loss of Messenia's fertile land and the helot workforce it provided.<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|pp=225–226}}</ref> The rising power of Thebes led Sparta and Athens to join forces; in 362 they were defeated by Thebes at the [[Battle of Mantinea (362 BC)|Battle of Mantinea]]. In the aftermath of Mantinea, none of the major Greek states were able to dominate. Though Thebes had won the battle, their general Epaminondas was killed, and they spent the following decades embroiled in wars with their neighbours; Athens, meanwhile, saw its second naval alliance, formed in 377, collapse in the mid-350s.<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|p=226}}</ref>

The power vacuum in Greece after the Battle of Mantinea was filled by Macedon, under [[Philip II of Macedon|Philip II]], starting from the [[battle of Crocus field]]. In 338&nbsp;BC, he defeated a Greek alliance at the [[Battle of Chaeronea (338 BC)|Battle of Chaeronea]], and subsequently formed the [[League of Corinth]]. Philip planned to lead the League to invade Persia, but was murdered in 336&nbsp;BC. His son [[Alexander the Great]] was left to fulfil his father's ambitions.<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|p=221}}</ref> After campaigns against Macedon's western and northern enemies, and those Greek states that had broken from the League of Corinth following the death of Philip, Alexander began his campaign against Persia in 334&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|pp=243–245}}</ref> He conquered Persia, defeating [[Darius III]] at the [[Battle of Issus]] in 333&nbsp;BC, and after the [[Battle of Gaugamela]] in 331&nbsp;BC proclaimed himself king of Asia.<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|pp=245–247}}</ref> From 329 BC he led expeditions to [[Wars of Alexander the Great#Bactria|Bactria]] and then [[Indian campaign of Alexander the Great|India]];<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|p=248}}</ref> further plans to invade Arabia and North Africa were halted by his death in 323&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2013|p=250}}</ref>

=== Hellenistic Greece ===
{{Main|Wars of Alexander the Great|Diadochi|Hellenistic period|Hellenistic Greece}}
[[File:Alexander the Great mosaic.jpg|thumb|left|[[Alexander Mosaic]], National Archaeological Museum, Naples]]

The period from the death of Alexander the Great in 323&nbsp;BC until the death of [[Cleopatra]], the last Macedonian ruler of Egypt, is known as the Hellenistic period. In the early part of this period, a new form of kingship developed based on Macedonian and Near Eastern traditions. The first Hellenistic kings were previously Alexander's generals, and took power in the period following his death, though they were not part of existing royal lineages and lacked historic claims to the territories they controlled.{{sfn|Martin|2013|p=253}} The most important of these rulers in the decades after Alexander's death were [[Antigonus I]] and his son [[Demetrius I of Macedon|Demetrius]] in Macedonia and the rest of Greece, [[Ptolemy I Soter|Ptolemy]] in Egypt, and [[Seleucus I]] in Syria and the former Persian empire;{{sfn|Martin|2013|pp=254–255}} smaller Hellenistic kingdoms included [[Epirus (ancient state)|Epirus]] under the reign of [[Pyrrhus of Epirus|Pyrrhus]], the [[Attalid]]s in Anatolia and the [[Greco-Bactrian kingdom]].{{sfn|Martin|2013|p=256}}

[[File:Diadochen1.png|thumb|right|upright=1.35|The major [[Hellenistic civilization|Hellenistic]] realms included the [[Diadochi]] kingdoms:
{{legend|#787CAD|Kingdom of [[Ptolemy I Soter]]}}
{{legend|#50A249|Kingdom of [[Cassander]]}}
{{legend|#C38833|Kingdom of [[Lysimachus]]}}
{{legend|#C3B933|Kingdom of [[Seleucus I Nicator]]}}
{{legend|#AF3662|[[Epirus]]}}
Also shown on the map:
{{legend|#85AB54|[[Greek colonies]]}}
{{legend|#A361BD|[[Carthage]] (non-Greek)}}
{{legend|#70A9BE|[[Ancient Rome|Rome]] (non-Greek)}}

The orange areas were often in dispute after 281&nbsp;BC. The [[Attalid dynasty]] occupied some of this area. Not shown: [[Indo-Greek Kingdom]].]]

In the early part of the Hellenistic period, the exact borders of the Hellenistic kingdoms were not settled. Antigonus attempted to expand his territory by attacking the other successor kingdoms until they joined against him, and he was killed at the [[Battle of Ipsus]] in 301 BC.{{sfn|Martin|2013|p=255}} His son Demetrius spent many years in Seleucid captivity, and his son, [[Antigonus II]], only reclaimed the Macedonian throne around 276.{{sfn|Martin|2013|p=255}} Meanwhile, the Seleucid kingdom gave up territory in the east to the Indian king [[Chandragupta Maurya]] in exchange for war elephants, and later lost large parts of Persia to the [[Parthian Empire]].{{sfn|Martin|2013|p=255}} By the mid-3rd century, the kingdoms of Alexander's successors was mostly stable, though there continued to be disputes over border areas.{{sfn|Martin|2013|p=256}}

The great capitals of Hellenistic culture were [[Alexandria]] in the [[Ptolemaic Kingdom]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Werner |first1=Robert |title=Ptolemaic dynasty |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ptolemaic-dynasty |website=Britannica |access-date=25 August 2024 |date=22 August 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Ptolemaic Kingdom |url=https://www.worldatlas.com/ancient-world/the-ptolemaic-kingdom.html |website=World Atlas |access-date=24 August 2024 |date=16 February 2023}}</ref> and [[Antioch]] in the [[Seleucid Empire]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chrubasik |first1=Boris |title=Chapter 3 – Seleucid Antioch |chapter=Seleucid Antioch |date=2024 |pages=31–42 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/antioch-on-the-orontes/seleucid-antioch/481BB7CE7FA7D1D698E495E99E81F457 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/9781108988988.005 |isbn=978-1-108-98898-8 |access-date=25 August 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Antioch |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Antioch-modern-and-ancient-city-south-central-Turkey |website=Britannica |access-date=25 August 2024 |date=16 August 2024}}</ref>

The conquests of Alexander had numerous consequences for the Greek city-states. It greatly widened the horizons of the Greeks and led to a steady emigration of the young and ambitious to the new Greek empires in the east.<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6930285.stm Alexander's Gulf outpost uncovered]. BBC News. 7 August 2007.</ref> Many Greeks migrated to Alexandria, Antioch and the many other new Hellenistic cities founded in Alexander's wake, as far away as present-day [[Afghanistan]] and [[Pakistan]], where the [[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom]] and the [[Indo-Greek Kingdom]] survived until the end of the 1st century&nbsp;BC.

Some city-states within Greece formed themselves into two major leagues; the [[Achaean League]] (including Corinth and Argos)<ref>{{cite web |title=Achaean League |url=https://www.livius.org/articles/misc/achaean-league/ |website=Livius.org |access-date=25 August 2024 |date=12 October 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Spawforth |first1=Antony J. S. |title=Corinth, Argos, and the imperial cult |url=https://www.ascsa.edu.gr/uploads/media/hesperia/148112.pdf |website=American School of Classical Studies at Athens |access-date=25 August 2024}}</ref> and the [[Aetolian League]]. For much of the period until the Roman conquest, these leagues were at war, often participating in the conflicts between the [[Diadochi]]'s successor states to Alexander's empire.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

The Antigonid Kingdom became involved in a war with the Roman Republic in the late 3rd century. Although the [[First Macedonian War]] was inconclusive, the Romans, in typical fashion, continued to fight Macedon until it was completely absorbed into the Roman Republic (by 149&nbsp;BC). In the east, the unwieldy Seleucid Empire gradually disintegrated, although a rump survived until&nbsp;64 BC, whilst the Ptolemaic Kingdom continued in Egypt until 30&nbsp;BC when it too was conquered by the Romans. The Aetolian league grew wary of Roman involvement in Greece, and sided with the Seleucids in the [[Roman–Seleucid War]]; when the Romans were victorious, the league was effectively absorbed into the Republic. Although the Achaean league outlasted both the Aetolian league and Macedon, it was also soon [[Achaean War#War|defeated and absorbed by the Romans]] in 146&nbsp;BC, bringing Greek independence to an end.

=== Roman Greece ===
{{Main|Greece in the Roman era}}
{{Further|Byzantine Greece}}

The Greek peninsula came under Roman rule during the 146&nbsp;BC conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth. [[Macedonia (Roman province)|Macedonia]] became a [[Roman province]] while southern Greece came under the surveillance of Macedonia's [[prefect]]; however, some Greek ''poleis'' managed to maintain a partial independence and avoid taxation. The [[Aegean Islands]] were added to this territory in 133&nbsp;BC. Athens and other Greek cities revolted in 88&nbsp;BC, and the peninsula was crushed by the Roman general [[Sulla]]. The Roman civil wars devastated the land even further, until [[Augustus]] organized the peninsula as the province of [[Achaea (province)|Achaea]] in 27&nbsp;BC.

Greece was a key eastern province of the Roman Empire, as the [[Roman culture]] had long been in fact [[Greco-Roman]]. The [[Koine Greek|Greek language]] served as a ''[[lingua franca]]'' in the East and in [[Italia (Roman province)|Italy]], and many Greek intellectuals such as [[Galen]] would perform most of their work in Rome.

== Geography ==
=== Regions ===
{{Main|Regions of ancient Greece}}
[[File:Ancient Regions Mainland Greece.png|thumb|upright=1.25|Major regions of mainland ancient Greece and adjacent "barbarian" lands]]

The territory of Greece is mountainous, and as a result, ancient Greece consisted of many smaller regions, each with its own dialect, cultural peculiarities, and identity. Regionalism and regional conflicts were prominent features of ancient Greece. Cities tended to be located in valleys between mountains, or on coastal plains, and dominated a certain area around them.

In the south lay the [[Peloponnese]], consisting of the regions of Laconia (southeast), Messenia (southwest), Elis (west), Achaia (north), Korinthia (northeast), Argolis (east), and Arcadia (center). These names survive to the present day as [[regional units of Greece|regional units of modern Greece]], though with somewhat different boundaries. Mainland Greece to the north, nowadays known as [[Central Greece (geographic region)|Central Greece]], consisted of [[Aetolia]] and [[Acarnania]] in the west, [[Locris]], [[Doris (Greece)|Doris]], and [[Phocis (ancient region)|Phocis]] in the center, while in the east lay [[Boeotia]], [[Attica]], and [[Megaris]]. Northeast lay [[Thessaly]], while [[Epirus]] lay to the northwest. Epirus stretched from the [[Ambracian Gulf]] in the south to the [[Ceraunian Mountains]] and the [[Aoos]] river in the north, and consisted of [[Chaonia]] (north), [[Molossia]] (center), and Thesprotia (south). In the northeast corner was [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonia]],<ref name=britannica>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/354266/Macedonia |title=Macedonia |year=2008 |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica Online |access-date=3 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208092317/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/354266/Macedonia |archive-date=8 December 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> originally consisting [[Lower Macedonia]] and its regions, such as [[Emathia (Macedonia)]], [[Pieria (regional unit)|Pieria]], and [[Bottiaea]], and later [[Almopia]], [[Amphaxitis]]. The original capital of Macedon was [[Aegae (Macedonia)|Aigai]] and then moved to [[Pella]] in the 4th century BC. Around the time of [[Alexander I of Macedon]], the [[Argead dynasty|Argead kings of Macedon]] started to expand into [[Eordaia]] and the rest of [[Upper Macedonia]], lands inhabited by independent Upper [[Ancient Macedonians|Macedonian]] tribes like the [[Lyncestae]], [[Orestae]] and the [[Elimiotis|Elimiotae]] and to the east, beyond the [[Axius river]], into [[Mygdonia]] and regions settled by Thracian tribes.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=vx251bK988gC&pg=RA6-PA750 ''The Cambridge Ancient History: The fourth century B.C.''] edited by D. M. Lewis et al. I. E. S. Edwards, Cambridge University Press, D. M. Lewis, John Boardman, [[Cyril John Gadd]], Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond, 2000, {{ISBN|0-521-23348-8}}, pp.&nbsp;723–724.</ref> To the north of Macedonia lay various non-Greek peoples such as the [[Paeonians]] due north, the [[Thracians]] to the northeast, and the [[Illyrians]], with whom the [[Ancient Macedonians|Macedonians]] were frequently in conflict, to the northwest. [[Chalcidice]] was settled early on by southern Greek colonists and was considered part of the Greek world, while from the late 2nd millennium BC substantial Greek settlement also occurred on the eastern shores of the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]], in [[Anatolia]].

=== Colonies ===
{{Main|Greek colonisation}}
{{further|Magna Graecia|Greeks in pre-Roman Gaul|List of ancient cities in Thrace and Dacia#Greek}}
[[File:Greek Colonies in the 8th-6th centuries BC.png|thumb|upright=1.6|[[Greek colonisation|Ancient Greek colonies]] in the [[Archaic Greece|archaic period]]]]
[[File:Agrigento-Tempio della Concordia01.JPG|thumb|The [[Temple of Concordia, Agrigento|Temple of Concordia]], [[Valle dei Templi]], [[Magna Graecia]], present-day Italy]]

During the [[Archaic Greece|Archaic period]], the Greek [[Classical demography#Ancient Greece and Greek colonies|population]] grew beyond the capacity of the limited [[arable land]] of Greece proper, [[Greek colonisation|resulting in the large-scale establishment of colonies]] elsewhere: according to one estimate, the population of the widening area of Greek settlement increased roughly ten-fold from 800 to 400&nbsp;BC, from 800,000 to as many as {{frac|7|1|2}}–10&nbsp;million.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.umsystem.edu/upress/fall2006/hansen.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070305112612/http://www.umsystem.edu/upress/fall2006/hansen.htm |title=Population of the Greek city-states |archive-date=5 March 2007}}</ref> This was not simply for trade, but also to found settlements. These [[Greek colonies]] were not, as Roman colonies were, dependent on their mother-city, but were independent city-states in their own right.<ref name=BoardmanHammond-xiii>{{harvnb|Boardman|Hammond|1982|p=xiii}}</ref>

Greeks settled outside of Greece in two distinct ways. The first was in permanent settlements founded by Greeks, which formed as independent poleis. The second form was in what historians refer to as ''[[emporium (antiquity)|emporia]]''; trading posts which were occupied by both Greeks and non-Greeks and which were primarily concerned with the manufacture and sale of goods. Examples of this latter type of settlement are found at [[Al Mina]] in the east and [[Pithekoussai]] in the west.<ref>{{harvnb|Antonaccio|2007|p=203}}</ref> From around 750 to 500&nbsp;BC, Greeks settled colonies in all directions. To the east, the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]] coast of [[Asia Minor]] was colonized first, followed by [[Ancient history of Cyprus|Cyprus]] and the coasts of [[Thrace]], the [[Sea of Marmara]] and south coast of the [[Black Sea]].

Eventually, Greek colonization reached as far northeast as present-day [[Ukraine]] and Russia ([[Taganrog]]). To the west the coasts of [[Illyria]], [[Southern Italy]] (called "[[Magna Graecia]]") were settled, followed by [[Southern France]], [[Corsica]], and even eastern [[Spain]]. Greek colonies were also founded in [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]] and [[Ancient Libya|Libya]]. Modern [[Syracuse, Italy|Syracuse]], [[Naples]], [[Marseille]] and [[Istanbul]] had their beginnings as the Greek colonies Syracusae ({{lang|grc|Συράκουσαι}}), Neapolis ({{lang|grc|Νεάπολις}}), Massalia ({{lang|grc|Μασσαλία}}) and [[Byzantion]] ({{lang|grc|Βυζάντιον}}). These colonies played an important role in the spread of Greek influence throughout Europe and also aided in the establishment of long-distance trading networks between the Greek city-states, boosting the [[economy of ancient Greece]].

== Politics and society ==
=== Political structure ===
{{Further|History of citizenship#Ancient Greece}}
[[File:Bust Pericles Chiaramonti.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Marble bust of Pericles with a [[Corinthian helmet]], Roman copy of a Greek original, [[Museo Chiaramonti]], Vatican Museums; Pericles was a key [[populist]] political figure in the development of the radical [[Athenian democracy]].<ref>Ruden, Sarah (2003). ''Lysistrata''. Hackett, p. 80. {{ISBN|0-87220-603-3}}.</ref>]]

Ancient Greece consisted of several hundred relatively independent [[city-state]]s (''[[poleis]]''). This was a situation unlike that in most other contemporary societies, which were either [[tribal]] or [[Realm|kingdoms]] ruling over relatively large territories. Undoubtedly, the [[geography of Greece]]—divided and sub-divided by hills, mountains, and rivers—contributed to the fragmentary nature of ancient Greece. On the one hand, the ancient Greeks had no doubt that they were "one people"; they had the same [[State religion|religion]], same basic culture, and same language. Furthermore, the Greeks were very aware of their tribal origins; [[Herodotus]] was able to extensively categorise the city-states by tribe. Yet, although these higher-level relationships existed, they seem to have rarely had a major role in Greek politics. The independence of the ''poleis'' was fiercely defended; unification was something rarely contemplated by the ancient Greeks. Even when, during the second Persian invasion of Greece, a group of city-states allied themselves to defend Greece, the vast majority of ''poleis'' remained neutral, and after the Persian defeat, the allies quickly returned to infighting.<ref>Holland, T. ''Persian Fire'', Abacus, pp. 363–370 {{ISBN|978-0-349-11717-1}}</ref>

Thus, the major peculiarities of the ancient Greek political system were its fragmented nature (and that this does not particularly seem to have tribal origin), and the particular focus on urban centers within otherwise tiny states. The peculiarities of the Greek system are further evidenced by the colonies that they set up throughout the [[Mediterranean]], which, though they might count a certain Greek ''polis'' as their 'mother' (and remain sympathetic to her), were completely independent of the founding city.

Inevitably smaller ''poleis'' might be dominated by larger neighbors, but conquest or direct rule by another city-state appears to have been quite rare. Instead the ''poleis'' grouped themselves into leagues, membership of which was in a constant state of flux. Later in the Classical period, the leagues would become fewer and larger, be dominated by one city (particularly [[Athens]], [[Sparta]] and [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]]); and often ''poleis'' would be compelled to join under threat of war (or as part of a peace treaty). Even after [[Philip II of Macedon]] conquered the heartlands of ancient Greece, he did not attempt to annex the territory or unify it into a new province, but compelled most of the ''poleis'' to join his own [[Corinthian League]].

=== Government and law ===
{{Main|Ancient Greek law}}
[[File:Law Code Gortyn Louvre Ma703.jpg|thumb|left|Inheritance law, part of the [[Gortyn code]], Crete, fragment of the 11th column. Limestone, 5th century&nbsp;BC]]

Initially many Greek city-states seem to have been petty kingdoms; there was often a city official carrying some residual, ceremonial functions of the king (''[[basileus]]''), e.g., the ''[[archon basileus]]'' in Athens.<ref>Holland T. ''Persian Fire'', p. 94 {{ISBN|978-0-349-11717-1}}</ref> However, by the Archaic period and the first historical consciousness, most had already become aristocratic [[oligarchies]]. It is unclear exactly how this change occurred. For instance, in Athens, the kingship had been reduced to a hereditary, lifelong chief magistracy (''[[Archon of Athens|archon]]'') by {{cx|1050&nbsp;BC}}; by 753&nbsp;BC this had become a decennial, elected archonship, and finally an annually elected archonship by 683&nbsp;BC. Through each stage, more power would have been transferred to the aristocracy as a whole, and away from a single individual.

Inevitably, the domination of politics and concomitant aggregation of wealth by small groups of families was apt to cause social unrest in many ''poleis''. In many cities a [[tyrant]] (not in the modern sense of repressive autocracies), would at some point seize control and govern according to their own will; often a populist agenda would help sustain them in power. In a system wracked with [[class conflict]], government by a 'strongman' was often the best solution.

Athens fell under a tyranny in the second half of the 6th century&nbsp;BC. When this tyranny was ended, the Athenians founded [[Athenian democracy|the world's first democracy]] as a radical solution to prevent the aristocracy regaining power. A [[Popular assembly|citizens' assembly]] (the ''[[Ecclesia (ancient Athens)|Ecclesia]]''), for the discussion of city policy, had existed since the reforms of [[Draco (lawgiver)|Draco]] in 621&nbsp;BC; all citizens were permitted to attend after the reforms of [[Solon]] (early 6th century), but the poorest citizens could not address the assembly or run for office. With the establishment of the democracy, the assembly became the ''de jure'' mechanism of government; all citizens had equal privileges in the assembly. However, non-citizens, such as [[metic]]s (foreigners living in Athens) or [[Slavery in ancient Greece|slaves]], had no political rights at all.

After the rise of democracy in Athens, other city-states founded democracies. However, many retained more traditional forms of government. As so often in other matters, Sparta was a notable exception to the rest of Greece, ruled through the whole period by not one, but two hereditary monarchs. This was a form of [[diarchy]]. The [[Kings of Sparta]] belonged to the Agiads and the Eurypontids, descendants respectively of [[Eurysthenes]] and [[Procles]]. Both dynasties' founders were believed to be twin sons of [[Aristodemus]], a [[Heraclid]] ruler. However, the powers of these kings were held in check by both a council of elders (the ''[[Gerousia]]'') and magistrates specifically appointed to watch over the kings (the ''[[Ephor]]s'').

=== Social structure ===
Only free, land-owning, native-born men could be citizens entitled to the full protection of the law in a city-state. In most city-states, unlike the situation in [[Ancient Rome|Rome]], social prominence did not allow special rights. Sometimes families controlled public religious functions, but this ordinarily did not give any extra power in the government. In Athens, the population was divided into four social classes based on wealth. People could change classes if they made more money. In Sparta, all male citizens were called ''[[homoioi]]'', meaning "peers". However, Spartan kings, who served as the city-state's dual military and religious leaders, came from two families.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Powell |first1=Anton |title=A Companion to Sparta |date=2017 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-119-07237-9 |page=187 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QqA6DwAAQBAJ |access-date=4 July 2022}}</ref>

[[Women in Greece#Women in ancient Greece|Women in Ancient Greece]] appear to have primarily performed domestic tasks, managed households, and borne and reared children.

==== Slavery ====
{{Main|Slavery in ancient Greece}}
[[File:Grabstein einer Frau mit Dienerin.jpg|thumb|Gravestone of a woman with her slave child-attendant, {{cx|100&nbsp;BC}}]]
Slaves had no power or status. Slaves had the right to have a family and own property, subject to their master's goodwill and permission, but they had no political rights. By 600&nbsp;BC, [[chattel slavery]] had spread in Greece. By the 5th century&nbsp;BC, slaves made up one-third of the total population in some city-states. Between 40 and 80% of the population of [[Classical Athens]] were slaves.<ref>[http://student.britannica.com/comptons/article-201729/ANCIENT-GREECE Slavery in Ancient Greece] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201123710/http://student.britannica.com/comptons/article-201729/ANCIENT-GREECE |date=1 December 2008 }}. ''Britannica Student Encyclopædia''.</ref> Slaves outside of Sparta almost never revolted because they were made up of too many nationalities and were too scattered to organize. However, unlike later [[Western culture]], the ancient Greeks did not think in terms of [[race (human categorization)|race]].<ref>{{Cite book |publisher=W. W. Norton |isbn=978-0-393-04934-3 |last=Painter |first=Nell |title=The History of White People |location=New York |date=2010 |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofwhitepe00pain/page/5 5] |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofwhitepe00pain/page/5}}</ref>

Most families owned slaves as household servants and laborers, and even poor families might have owned a few slaves. Owners were not allowed to beat or kill their slaves. Owners often promised to free slaves in the future to encourage slaves to work hard. Unlike in Rome, [[freedmen]] did not become citizens. Instead, they were mixed into the population of ''[[metic]]s'', which included people from foreign countries or other city-states who were officially allowed to live in the state.

City-states legally owned slaves. These public slaves had a larger measure of independence than slaves owned by families, living on their own and performing specialized tasks. In Athens, public slaves were trained to look out for [[counterfeit coinage]], while temple slaves acted as servants of the temple's [[Lists of Greek mythological figures|deity]] and [[Scythian]] slaves were employed in Athens as a police force corralling citizens to political functions.

Sparta had a special type of slaves called ''[[helots]]''. Helots were [[Messenians]] enslaved en masse during the [[First Messenian War|Messenian Wars]] by the state and assigned to families where they were forced to stay. Helots raised food and did household chores so that women could concentrate on raising strong children while men could devote their time to training as [[hoplite]]s. Their masters treated them harshly, and helots [[slave rebellion|revolted]] against their masters several times. In 370/369&nbsp;BC, as a result of [[Epaminondas]]' liberation of Messenia from Spartan rule, the helot system there came to an end and the helots won their freedom.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cartledge |first=Paul |title=The Spartans: An Epic History |year=2002 |publisher=Pan Macmillan |page=67}}</ref> However, it persisted in Laconia until the 2nd century&nbsp;BC.

=== Education ===
{{Main|Education in ancient Greece}}
[[File:Plato's Academy mosaic from Pompeii.jpg|thumb|left|Mosaic from [[Pompeii]] depicting [[Plato]]'s [[Platonic Academy|Academy]]]]

For most of Greek history, education was private, except in Sparta. During the Hellenistic period, some city-states established [[Public school (government funded)|public schools]]. Only wealthy families could afford a teacher. Boys learned how to read, write and quote literature. They also learned to sing and play one musical instrument and were trained as athletes for military service. They studied not for a job but to become an effective citizen. Girls also learned to read, write and do simple arithmetic so they could manage the household. They almost never received education after childhood.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bloomer |first=W. Martin |title=A Companion to Ancient Education |publisher=Willey-Blackwell |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-118-99741-3 |location=Malden, MA |page=305}}</ref>

Boys went to school at the age of seven, or went to the barracks, if they lived in Sparta. The three types of teachings were: grammatistes for arithmetic, kitharistes for music and dancing, and Paedotribae for sports.

Boys from wealthy families attending the private school lessons were taken care of by a ''paidagogos'', a household slave selected for this task who accompanied the boy during the day. Classes were held in teachers' private houses and included reading, writing, mathematics, singing, and playing the lyre and flute. When the boy became 12 years old the schooling started to include sports such as wrestling, running, and throwing discus and javelin. In Athens, some older youths attended academy for the finer disciplines such as culture, sciences, music, and the arts. The schooling ended at age 18, followed by military training in the army usually for one or two years.<ref>Angus Konstam: "Historical Atlas of Ancient Greece", pp.&nbsp;94–95. Thalamus, UK, 2003, {{ISBN|1-904668-16-X}}</ref>

Some of Athens' greatest such schools included the [[Lyceum]] (the so-called [[Peripatetic school]] founded by [[Aristotle]] of [[Stageira]])<ref>{{cite web |title=Lyceum |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lyceum-Greek-philosophical-school |website=Britannica |access-date=21 August 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Lyceum |url=https://iep.utm.edu/lyceum/ |website=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy |access-date=21 August 2024}}</ref> and the [[Platonic Academy]] (founded by [[Plato]] of Athens).<ref name="Lindberg 2007 70">{{cite book |url=http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/B/bo5550077.html |last=Lindberg |first=David C. |title=The Beginnings of Western Science |page=70 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-226-48205-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Kampouris |first1=Nick |title=Plato's Academy: The World's First University |url=https://greekreporter.com/2023/10/26/plato-academy-athens-first-university-world/ |website=Greek Reporter |access-date=21 August 2024 |date=26 October 2023}}</ref> The education system of the wealthy ancient Greeks is also called [[Paideia]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Woodruff |first1=Paul |title=Nine Education (Paideia) |chapter=Education (Paideia) |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/8502/chapter-abstract/154343006?redirectedFrom=fulltext |access-date=21 August 2024 |date=March 2006 |pages=191–210 |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195304541.003.0009 |isbn=978-0-19-530454-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last1=López |first1=Raquel |title=Did sons and daughters get the same education in ancient Greece? |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/history-magazine/article/education-in-ancient-greece |magazine=National Geographic |access-date=21 August 2024 |date=28 August 2019}}</ref>

=== Economy ===
{{Main|Economy of ancient Greece|Agriculture in ancient Greece|Slavery in ancient Greece}}

At its economic height in the 5th and 4th centuries&nbsp;BC, the free citizenry of [[Classical Greece]] represented perhaps the most prosperous society in the ancient world, some economic historians considering Greece one of the most advanced pre-industrial economies. In terms of wheat, wages reached an estimated {{cvt|7–12|kg}} daily for an unskilled worker in urban Athens, 2–3 times the {{cvt|3.75|kg}} of an unskilled rural labourer in Roman Egypt, though Greek farm incomes too were on average lower than those available to urban workers.<ref>W. Schiedel, "Real slave prices and the relative cost of slave labor in the Greco-Roman world", ''Ancient Society'', vol. 35, 2005, p 12.</ref>

While slave conditions varied widely, the institution served to sustain the incomes of the free citizenry: an estimate of economic development drawn from the latter (or derived from urban incomes alone) is therefore likely to overstate the true overall level despite widespread evidence for high living standards.

=== Warfare ===
{{Main|Ancient Greek warfare|Ancient Macedonian army}}
[[File:Greek-Persian duel.jpg|thumb|Greek [[hoplite]] and Persian warrior depicted fighting, on an ancient [[kylix]], 5th century&nbsp;BC]]

At least in the Archaic period, the fragmentary nature of ancient Greece, with many competing city-states, increased the frequency of conflict but conversely limited the scale of warfare. Unable to maintain professional armies, the city-states relied on their own citizens to fight. This inevitably reduced the potential duration of campaigns, as citizens would need to return to their own professions (especially in the case of, for example, farmers). Campaigns would therefore often be restricted to summer. When battles occurred, they were usually set piece and intended to be decisive. Casualties were slight compared to later battles, rarely amounting to more than five percent of the losing side, but the slain often included the most prominent citizens and generals who led from the front.

The scale and scope of warfare in ancient Greece changed dramatically as a result of the [[Greco-Persian Wars]]. To fight the enormous armies of the [[Achaemenid Empire]] was effectively beyond the capabilities of a single city-state. The eventual triumph of the Greeks was achieved by alliances of city-states (the exact composition changing over time), allowing the pooling of resources and division of labor. Although alliances between city-states occurred before this time, nothing on this scale had been seen before. The rise of Athens and Sparta as pre-eminent powers during this conflict led directly to the [[Peloponnesian War]], which saw further development of the nature of warfare, strategy and tactics. Fought between leagues of cities dominated by Athens and Sparta, the increased manpower and financial resources increased the scale and allowed the diversification of warfare. Set-piece battles during the Peloponnesian war proved indecisive and instead there was increased reliance on attritionary strategies, naval battles and blockades and sieges. These changes greatly increased the number of casualties and the disruption of Greek society.

Athens owned one of the largest war fleets in ancient Greece. It had over 200 [[trireme]]s each powered by 170 oarsmen who were seated in 3 rows on each side of the ship. The city could afford such a large fleet—it had over 34,000 oarsmen—because it owned a lot of silver mines that were worked by slaves.

According to [[Josiah Ober]], Greek city-states faced approximately a one-in-three chance of destruction during the archaic and classical period.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ober |first=Josiah |url=https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691146249/democracy-and-knowledge |title=Democracy and Knowledge |date=2010 |isbn=978-0-691-14624-9 |pages=81–82 |publisher=Princeton University Press}}</ref>

== Culture ==
=== Philosophy ===
{{Main|Ancient Greek philosophy}}
[[File:British Museum - Four Greek philosophers.jpg|thumb|left|The carved busts of four ancient Greek philosophers, on display in the British Museum. From left to right: [[Socrates]], [[Antisthenes]], [[Chrysippus]], and [[Epicurus]].]]

Ancient Greek philosophy focused on the role of [[reason]] and [[inquiry]]. In many ways, it had an important influence on modern philosophy, as well as modern science. Clear unbroken lines of influence lead from ancient Greek and [[Hellenistic philosophers]], to medieval [[Early Islamic philosophy|Muslim philosophers]] and [[Islamic science|Islamic scientists]], to the European [[Renaissance]] and [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]], to the secular sciences of the modern day.

Neither reason nor inquiry began with the ancient Greeks. Defining the difference between the Greek quest for knowledge and the quests of the elder civilizations, such as the [[ancient Egypt]]ians and [[Babylonia]]ns, has long been a topic of study by theorists of civilization.

The first known philosophers of Greece were the [[pre-Socratic]]s, who attempted to provide naturalistic, non-mythical descriptions of the world. They were followed by [[Socrates]], one of the first philosophers based in Athens during [[fifth-century Athens|its golden age]] whose ideas, despite being known by second-hand accounts instead of writings of his own, laid the basis of Western philosophy. Socrates' disciple [[Plato]], who wrote ''[[The Republic (Plato)|The Republic]]'' and established a radical difference between ideas and the concrete world, and Plato's disciple [[Aristotle]], who wrote extensively about nature and ethics, are also immensely influential in Western philosophy to this day. The later [[Hellenistic philosophy]], also originating in Greece, is defined by names such as [[Antisthenes]] ([[cynicism (philosophy)|cynicism]]), [[Zeno of Citium]] ([[stoicism]]) and [[Plotinus]] ([[Neoplatonism]]).

=== Literature and theatre ===
{{Main|Ancient Greek literature|Theatre of ancient Greece}}
[[File:The great theater of Epidaurus, designed by Polykleitos the Younger in the 4th century BC, Sanctuary of Asklepeios at Epidaurus, Greece (14015010416).jpg|thumb|left|The [[ancient Theatre of Epidaurus]], 4th century&nbsp;BC]]

The earliest Greek literature was poetry and was composed for performance rather than private consumption.<ref>{{harvnb|Power|2016|p=58}}</ref> The earliest Greek poet known is [[Homer]], although he was certainly part of an existing tradition of oral poetry.<ref>{{harvnb|Kirk|1985|p=44}}</ref> Homer's poetry, though it was developed around the same time that the Greeks developed writing, would have been composed orally; the first poet to certainly compose their work in writing was [[Archilochus]], a [[Greek lyric|lyric poet]] from the mid-7th century&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{harvnb|Kirk|1985|p=45}}</ref> [[Greek tragedy|Tragedy]] developed around the end of the archaic period, taking elements from across the pre-existing genres of late archaic poetry.<ref>{{harvnb|Power|2016|p=60}}</ref> Towards the beginning of the classical period, comedy began to develop—the earliest date associated with the genre is 486&nbsp;BC, when a competition for comedy became an official event at the [[City Dionysia]] in Athens, though the first preserved ancient comedy is [[Aristophanes]]' ''[[Acharnians]]'', produced in 425.<ref>{{harvnb|Handley|1985|p=355}}</ref>

[[File:Hypnos Thanatos BM Vase D56 full.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|A scene from the ''[[Iliad]]'': [[Hypnos]] and [[Thanatos]] carrying the body of [[Sarpedon (Trojan War hero)|Sarpedon]] from the battlefield of [[Troy]]; detail from an Attic [[white-ground]] [[lekythos]], {{cx|440&nbsp;BC}}]]

Like poetry, Greek prose had its origins in the archaic period, and the earliest writers of Greek philosophy, history, and medical literature all date to the 6th century&nbsp;BC.<ref name="mcglew79">{{harvnb|McGlew|2016|p=79}}</ref> Prose first emerged as the writing style adopted by the [[presocratic]] philosophers [[Anaximander]] and [[Anaximenes of Miletus|Anaximenes]]—though [[Thales of Miletus]], considered the first Greek philosopher, apparently wrote nothing.<ref>{{harvnb|McGlew|2016|p=81}}</ref> Prose as a genre reached maturity in the classical era,<ref name="mcglew79" /> and the major Greek prose genres—philosophy, history, rhetoric, and dialogue—developed in this period.<ref>{{harvnb|McGlew|2016|p=84}}</ref>

The Hellenistic period saw the literary centre of the Greek world move from Athens, where it had been in the classical period, to Alexandria. At the same time, other Hellenistic kings such as the [[Antigonids]] and the [[Attalids]] were patrons of scholarship and literature, turning [[Pella]] and [[Pergamon]] respectively into cultural centres.<ref>{{harvnb|Mori|2016|p=93}}</ref> It was thanks to this cultural patronage by Hellenistic kings, and especially the Museum at Alexandria, that so much ancient Greek literature has survived.<ref name="bulloch542">{{harvnb|Bulloch|1985|p=542}}</ref> The [[Library of Alexandria]], part of the Museum, had the previously unenvisaged aim of collecting together copies of all known authors in Greek. Almost all of the surviving non-technical Hellenistic literature is poetry,<ref name="bulloch542" /> and Hellenistic poetry tended to be highly intellectual,<ref>{{harvnb|Bulloch|1985|pp=542–543}}</ref> blending different genres and traditions, and avoiding linear narratives.<ref>{{harvnb|Mori|2016|p=99}}</ref> The Hellenistic period also saw a shift in the ways literature was consumed—while in the archaic and classical periods literature had typically been experienced in public performance, in the Hellenistic period it was more commonly read privately.<ref>{{harvnb|Mori|2016|p=98}}</ref> At the same time, Hellenistic poets began to write for private, rather than public, consumption.<ref>{{harvnb|Bulloch|1985|p=543}}</ref>

With Octavian's victory at Actium in 31&nbsp;BC, Rome began to become a major centre of Greek literature, as important Greek authors such as [[Strabo]] and [[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]] came to Rome.<ref>{{harvnb|Bowersock|1985|pp=642–643}}</ref> The period of greatest innovation in Greek literature under Rome was the "long second century" from approximately 80&nbsp;AD to around 230&nbsp;AD.<ref name="konig113">{{harvnb|König|2016|p=113}}</ref> This innovation was especially marked in prose, with the development of the novel and a revival of prominence for display oratory both dating to this period.<ref name="konig113" />

=== Music and dance ===
{{Main|Music of ancient Greece}}
In Ancient Greek society, music was ever-present and considered a fundamental component of civilisation.{{sfn|West|1994|pp=1, 13}} It was an important part of public religious worship,{{sfn|West|1994|p=14}} private ceremonies such as weddings and funerals,{{sfn|West|1994|p=21}} and household entertainment.{{sfn|West|1994|p=24}} Men sang and played music at the [[symposium]];{{sfn|West|1994|p=25}} both men and women sang at work; and children's games involved song and dance.{{sfn|West|1994|pp=27–28}}

Ancient Greek music was primarily vocal, sung either by a solo singer or a chorus, and usually accompanied by an instrument; purely instrumental music was less common.{{sfn|West|1994|p=39}} The Greeks used stringed instruments, including lyres, harps, and lutes;{{sfn|West|1994|p=48}} and wind instruments, of which the most important was the {{Transliteration|grk|aulos}}, a [[reed instrument]].{{sfn|West|1994|p=81}} Percussion instruments played a relatively unimportant role supporting stringed and wind instruments, and were used in certain religious cults.{{sfn|West|1994|p=122}}

=== Science and technology ===
{{Main|List of Graeco-Roman geographers|Greek astronomy|Greek mathematics|Ancient Greek medicine|Ancient Greek technology|Science in classical antiquity}}
[[File:0142 - Archaeological Museum, Athens - Antikythera mechanism - Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto, Nov 11 2009.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Antikythera mechanism]] was an [[analog computer]] from 150 to 100&nbsp;BC designed to calculate the positions of astronomical objects.]]

Ancient Greek mathematics contributed many important developments to mathematics, including the basic rules of [[geometry]], the idea of [[formal proof|formal mathematical proof]], and discoveries in [[number theory]], [[mathematical analysis]], [[applied mathematics]], and approached close to establishing [[integral calculus]]. The discoveries of several Greek mathematicians, including [[Pythagoras]], [[Euclid]], and [[Archimedes]], are still used in mathematical teaching today.

The Greeks developed astronomy, which they treated as a branch of mathematics, to a highly sophisticated level. The first geometrical, three-dimensional models to explain the apparent motion of the planets were developed in the 4th century&nbsp;BC by [[Eudoxus of Cnidus]] and [[Callippus of Cyzicus]]. Their younger contemporary [[Heraclides Ponticus]] proposed that the Earth rotates around its axis. In the 3rd century&nbsp;BC, [[Aristarchus of Samos]] was the first to suggest a [[heliocentric]] system. Archimedes in his treatise [[The Sand Reckoner#Estimation of the size of the universe|The Sand Reckoner]] revives Aristarchus' hypothesis that ''"the fixed stars and the Sun remain unmoved, while the Earth revolves about the Sun on the circumference of a circle"''. Otherwise, only fragmentary descriptions of Aristarchus' idea survive.<ref>Pedersen, ''Early Physics and Astronomy'', pp.&nbsp;55–56</ref> [[Eratosthenes]], using the angles of shadows created at widely separated regions, estimated the [[circumference of the Earth]] with great accuracy.<ref>Pedersen, ''Early Physics and Astronomy'', pp.&nbsp;45–47</ref> In the 2nd century&nbsp;BC [[Hipparchus]] of Nicea made a number of contributions, including the first measurement of [[precession]] and the compilation of the first star catalog in which he proposed the modern system of [[apparent magnitude]]s.

The [[Antikythera mechanism]], a device for calculating the movements of planets, dates from about 80&nbsp;BC and was the first ancestor of the astronomical computer.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}} It was discovered in an ancient shipwreck off the Greek island of [[Antikythera]], between [[Kythera]] and [[Crete]]. The device became famous for its use of a [[differential gear]], previously believed to have been invented in the 16th century, and the miniaturization and complexity of its parts, comparable to a clock made in the 18th century. The original mechanism is displayed in the Bronze collection of the [[National Archaeological Museum of Athens]], accompanied by a replica.

The ancient Greeks also made important discoveries in the medical field. Hippocrates was a physician of the Classical period, and is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the [[history of medicine]]. He is referred to as the "[[List of persons considered father or mother of a field#Natural and social sciences|father of medicine]]"<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Grammaticos |first1=P. C. |last2=Diamantis |first2=A. |title=Useful known and unknown views of the father of modern medicine, Hippocrates and his teacher Democritus |journal=Hellenic Journal of Nuclear Medicine |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=2–4 |year=2008 |pmid=18392218}}</ref><ref>[http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761576397/Hippocrates.html Hippocrates], Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2006. Microsoft Corporation. [https://web.archive.org/web/20091029181928/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761576397/Hippocrates.html Archived] 31 October 2009.</ref> in recognition of his lasting contributions to the field as the founder of the Hippocratic school of medicine. This intellectual school revolutionized [[medicine in ancient Greece]], establishing it as a discipline distinct from other fields that it had traditionally been associated with (notably [[theurgy]] and philosophy), thus making medicine a profession.<ref name="garrison9293">{{Cite book |last=Garrison |first=Fielding H. |year=1966 |title=History of Medicine |publisher=W. B. Saunders |location=Philadelphia |pages=92–93}}</ref><ref name="nuland5">{{Cite book |last=Nuland |first=Sherwin B. |year=1988 |title=Doctors |publisher=Knopf |isbn=978-0-394-55130-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/doctorsbiography00nula/page/5 5] |url=https://archive.org/details/doctorsbiography00nula/page/5}}</ref>

=== Art and architecture ===
{{Main|Ancient Greek art|Ancient Greek architecture}}
[[File:Sicily Selinunte Temple E (Hera).JPG|thumb|The Temple of [[Hera]] at [[Selinunte]], Sicily]]

The art of ancient Greece has exercised an enormous influence on the culture of many countries from ancient times to the present day, particularly in the areas of [[sculpture]] and architecture. In the West, the art of the [[Roman Empire]] was largely derived from Greek models. In the East, Alexander the Great's conquests initiated several centuries of exchange between Greek, Central Asian and Indian cultures, resulting in [[Greco-Buddhist art]], with ramifications as far as Japan. Following the Renaissance in Europe, the [[humanist]] aesthetic and the high technical standards of Greek art inspired generations of European artists. Well into the 19th century, the classical tradition derived from Greece dominated the art of the Western world.

=== Religion ===
{{Main|Ancient Greek religion}}
[[File:Θερμαικος με θεα τον Ολυμπο!.jpg|thumb|[[Mount Olympus]], home of the [[Twelve Olympians]]]]

Religion was a central part of ancient Greek life.{{sfn|Ogden|2007|p=1}} Though the Greeks of different cities and [[ancient Greek tribes|tribes]] worshipped similar gods, religious practices were not uniform and the gods were thought of differently in different places. The Greeks were [[polytheistic]], worshipping many gods, but as early as the 6th century&nbsp;BC a pantheon of [[twelve Olympians]] began to develop.{{sfn|Dowden|2007|p=41}} Greek religion was influenced by the practices of the Greeks' near eastern neighbours at least as early as the archaic period, and by the Hellenistic period this influence was seen in both directions.{{sfn|Noegel|2007|pp=21–22}}

The most important religious act in ancient Greece was [[animal sacrifice]], most commonly of sheep and goats.{{sfn|Bremmer|2007|pp=132–134}} Sacrifice was accompanied by public prayer,{{sfn|Furley|2007|p=121}} and prayer and hymns were themselves a major part of ancient Greek religious life.{{sfn|Furley|2007|p=117}}

== Legacy ==
{{Further|Classics}}

The civilization of ancient Greece has been immensely influential on language, politics, educational systems, philosophy, science, and the arts. It became the ''[[Leitkultur]]'' of the Roman Empire to the point of marginalizing native [[Iron Age Italy|Italic]] traditions. As [[Horace]] put it,
{{blockquote|{{lang|la|Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit et artis / intulit agresti Latio}} (''[[Epistles (Horace)|Epistulae]]'' 2.1.156f.){{pb}}Captive Greece took captive her uncivilised conqueror and instilled her arts in rustic [[Latium]].}}
Via the Roman Empire, Greek culture came to be foundational to [[Western culture]] in general.
The [[Byzantine Empire]] inherited Classical Greek-Hellenistic culture directly, without Latin intermediation, and the preservation of Classical Greek learning in medieval Byzantine tradition further exerted a strong influence on the [[Slavs]] and later on the [[Islamic Golden Age]] and the Western European Renaissance. A modern revival of Classical Greek learning took place in the [[Neoclassicism]] movement in 18th- and 19th-century Europe and the Americas.

== See also ==
{{Portal|Ancient Greece|Civilizations|History}}
* [[List of ancient Greek writers]]
* [[Classical demography]]
* [[List of adjectival and demonymic forms of place names#Regions in Greco-Roman antiquity|Regions in Greco-Roman antiquity]]
* [[Science in classical antiquity]]
* [[List of archaeologically attested women from the ancient Mediterranean region]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
=== Notes ===
{{Reflist|19em}}

=== Bibliography ===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book |last=Antonaccio |first=Carla M. |chapter=Colonization: Greece on the Move 900–480 |year=2007 |title=The Cambridge Companion to Archaic Greece |editor-last=Shapiro |editor-first=H. A. |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge}}
* {{cite book |last1=Asheri |first1=David |last2=Lloyd |first2=Alan |last3=Corcella |first3=Aldo |year=2007 |title=A Commentary on Herodotus, Books 1–4 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-814956-9}}
* {{cite book |last1=Boardman |first1=John |last2=Hammond |first2=N. G. L. |chapter=Preface |year=1982 |title=The Cambridge Ancient History – Volume 3, part 3 |editor1-last=Boardman |editor1-first=John |editor2-last=Hammond |editor2-first=N. G. L. |volume=III |edition=2 |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}
* {{cite book |last=Bowersock |first=G. W. |title=The Cambridge History of Classical Literature |chapter=The literature of the Empire |editor1-last=Easterling |editor1-first=P. E. |editor1-link=P. E. Easterling |editor2-last=Knox |editor2-first=Bernard M. W. |editor2-link=Bernard Knox |year=1985 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge}}
* {{cite book |last=Bremmer |first=Jan M. |chapter=Greek Normative Animal Sacrifice |year=2007 |title=A Companion to Greek Religion |publisher=Blackwell |editor-last=Ogden |editor-first=Daniel}}
* {{cite book |last=Bulloch |first=A. W. |title=The Cambridge History of Classical Literature |chapter=Hellenistic Poetry |editor1-last=Easterling |editor2-last=Knox |editor1-first=P. E. |editor2-first=Bernard M. W. |year=1985 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge}}
* {{cite book |last=Cameron |first=Alan |year=2004 |title=Greek Mythography in the Roman World |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-803821-4}}
* {{cite book |last=Dowden |first=Ken |chapter=Olympian Gods, Olympian Pantheon |year=2007 |title=A Companion to Greek Religion |publisher=Blackwell |editor-last=Ogden |editor-first=Daniel}}
* {{cite book |last=Furley |first=William D. |chapter=Prayers and Hymns |year=2007 |title=A Companion to Greek Religion |publisher=Blackwell |editor-last=Ogden |editor-first=Daniel}}
* {{cite book |last=Hammond |first=N. G. L. |chapter=The Peloponnese |year=1982 |title=The Cambridge Ancient History |editor1-last=Boardman |editor1-first=John |editor2-last=Hammond |editor2-first=N. G. L. |volume=III.iii |edition=2 |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}
* {{cite book |last=Handley |first=E. W. |title=The Cambridge History of Classical Literature |chapter=Comedy |editor1-last=Easterling |editor2-last=Knox |editor1-first=P. E. |editor2-first=Bernard M. W. |year=1985 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge}}
* {{cite book |last=Hornblower |first=Simon |title=The Greek World: 479–323 BC |edition=4 |publisher=Routledge |location=Abingdon |year=2011}}
* {{cite book |last=Kirk |first=G. S. |title=The Cambridge History of Classical Literature |chapter=Homer |editor1-last=Easterling |editor2-last=Knox |editor1-first=P. E. |editor2-first=Bernard M. W. |year=1985 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge}}
* {{cite book |last=König |first=Jason |title=A Companion to Greek Literature |chapter=Literature in the Roman World |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2016 |editor1-last=Hose |editor1-first=Martin |editor2-last=Schenker |editor2-first=David}}
* {{cite book |last=Marincola |first=John |year=2001 |title=Greek Historians |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-922501-9}}
* {{cite book |last=Martin |first=Thomas R. |title=Ancient Greece: From Prehistoric to Hellenistic Times |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven |year=2013 |edition=2}}
* {{cite book |last=McGlew |first=James |title=A Companion to Greek Literature |chapter=Literature in the Classical Age of Greece |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2016 |editor1-last=Hose |editor1-first=Martin |editor2-last=Schenker |editor2-first=David}}
* {{cite book |last=Mori |first=Anatole |title=A Companion to Greek Literature |chapter=Literature in the Hellenistic World |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2016 |editor1-last=Hose |editor1-first=Martin |editor2-last=Schenker |editor2-first=David}}
* {{cite book |last=Noegel |first=Scott B. |chapter=Greek Religion and the Ancient Near East |year=2007 |title=A Companion to Greek Religion |publisher=Blackwell |editor-last=Ogden |editor-first=Daniel}}
* {{cite book |last=Ogden |first=Daniel |chapter=Introduction |year=2007 |title=A Companion to Greek Religion |publisher=Blackwell |editor-last=Ogden |editor-first=Daniel}}
* {{cite book |last=Power |first=Timothy |title=A Companion to Greek Literature |chapter=Literature in the Archaic Age |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2016 |editor1-last=Hose |editor1-first=Martin |editor2-last=Schenker |editor2-first=David}}
* {{cite book |last=Roberts |first=Jennifer T. |year=2011 |title=Herodotus: a Very Short Introduction |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-957599-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Shapiro |first=H. A. |chapter=Introduction |year=2007 |title=The Cambridge Companion to Archaic Greece |editor-last=Shapiro |editor-first=H. A. |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge}}
* {{cite book |last=Sparks |first=Kenton L. |year=1998 |title=Ethnicity and Identity in Ancient Israel: Prolegomena to the Study of Ethnic Sentiments and their Expression in the Hebrew Bible |location=Winona Lake, IN |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-033-0}}
* {{cite book |last=West |first=M. L. |title=Ancient Greek Music |year=1994 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientgreekmusi0000west}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin|30em}}
*{{cite book |last1=Shanks |first1=Michael |title=Classical Archaeology of Greece |date=1996 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=0-203-17197-7 |url=https://www.academia.edu/4032788}}
* Brock, Roger, and Stephen Hodkinson, eds. 2000. ''Alternatives to Athens: Varieties of political organization and community in ancient Greece''. Oxford and New York: Oxford Univ. Press.
* Cartledge, Paul, Edward E. Cohen, and Lin Foxhall. 2002. ''Money, labour and land: Approaches to the economies of ancient Greece''. London and New York: Routledge.
* Cohen, Edward. 1992. ''Athenian economy and society: A banking perspective''. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press.
* Hurwit, Jeffrey. 1987. ''The art and culture of early Greece, 1100–480 B.C.'' Ithaca, NY: Cornell Univ. Press.
* Kinzl, Konrad, ed. 2006. ''A companion to the Classical Greek world''. Oxford and Malden, MA: Blackwell.
* Morris, Ian, ed. 1994. ''Classical Greece: Ancient histories and modern archaeologies''. Cambridge, UK, and New York: Cambridge Univ. Press.
* [[Sarah B. Pomeroy|Pomeroy, Sarah]], Stanley M. Burstein, Walter Donlan, and Jennifer Tolbert Roberts. 2008. ''Ancient Greece: A political, social, and cultural history''. 2d ed. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.
* Rhodes, Peter J. 2006. ''A history of the Classical Greek world: 478–323 BC''. Blackwell History of the Ancient World. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
* Whitley, James. 2001. ''The archaeology of ancient Greece''. Cambridge, UK, and New York: Cambridge Univ. Press.
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Ancient Greece}}
{{Wikivoyage|Ancient Greece}}
{{Library resources box |by=no |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |about=yes |label=Ancient Greece
 |viaf= |lcheading= |wikititle= }}
* [http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/exhibitions/civil/greece/gr0000e.shtml The Canadian Museum of Civilization—Greece Secrets of the Past]
* [http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/ Ancient Greece] website from the [[British Museum]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060502201333/http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/engen.greece Economic history of ancient Greece] (archived 2 May 2006)
* [http://www.fleur-de-coin.com/currency/drachma-history The Greek currency history]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110511090038/http://www.limenoscope.ntua.gr/index.cgi?lan=en Limenoscope], an ancient Greek ports database (archived 11 May 2011)
* [http://www.whitman.edu/theatre/theatretour/home.htm The Ancient Theatre Archive], Greek and Roman theatre architecture
* [http://people.hsc.edu/drjclassics/lectures/history/history.shtm Illustrated Greek History], Janice Siegel, Department of Classics, [[Hampden–Sydney College]], Virginia

{{Ancient Greece topics|state=collapsed}}
{{Classical antiquity}}
{{Ancient Greek Wars}}
{{Western culture}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Ancient Greece| ]]
[[Category:Articles which contain graphical timelines]]