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ancient Greek civilization
Table of Contents
ancient Greek civilization
Table of Contents
Introduction & Top Questions
The early Archaic period
The post-Mycenaean period and Lefkandi
Colonization and city-state formation
The Olympic Games
Overseas projects
The beginnings of the polis
Early Archaic Greek civilization
The sources
Society and values
Bacchiadae and Eupatridae
Symposia and gymnasia
Formal relationships
The Lelantine War
The later Archaic periods
The rise of the tyrants
The decline of the aristocracy
Changes in warfare
The early tyrannies
Sparta and Athens
Sparta
The distinctiveness of Sparta
The Rhetra
The helot factor
The Peloponnesian League
Athens
The distinctiveness of Athens
Solon
The Peisistratid tyranny
The reforms of Cleisthenes
The world of the tyrants
Intermarriage between the great houses
Poetry and art
International influences
Classical Greek civilization
The Persian Wars
The Ionian revolt
Causes of the Persian Wars
Economic factors
Political factors
Athenian support of Ionia
The position of Sparta
Sparta’s foreign relations
The role of Cleomenes
The Battle of Marathon
The administration of democracy
The appointment of archons
The system of ostracism
The last Persian Wars
Greek preparations for war
Greek alliances
Thermopylae
Salamis
Plataea
The Athenian empire
Emerging Athenian independence
The fortification of Athens
The ambition of Pausanias
The Delian League
Paying tribute to Athens
Strains on Greek unity
Mounting Athenian aggression
Cimon’s actions
Athens’s moves against other Greeks
Athens’s moves northward
Sparta’s responses
The reforms of Ephialtes
Legal reforms
Political reforms
The rejection of Cimon
Athenian expansion
Friction between Athens and Corinth
The subjugation of Aegina
The scale of Athenian ambition
Sparta’s resistance
Peace with Persia
Revolts of Athens’s tributary states
Economic sources of resentment
Political and legal sources of resentment
The Euboean revolt
Greek communities in Italy and Sicily
The Peloponnesian War
Causes
The initial phase, 431–425
Pericles
Sparta’s role
Continuing strife
Mytilene and Plataea
Speculation and unease
The years 425–421
Spartan calls for peace
Cleon’s influence
Spartan recovery
Athenian aggression outside the Peloponnese
Entanglement with Persia
Harsh treatment of Melos
The Sicilian disaster
The second phase of the war, 413–404
Greek civilization in the 5th century
Intellectual achievements
The effect of the Persian Wars on philosophy
The rise of democracy
Hippocrates and the fluidity of genres
Greek tragedy
The liturgy system
The roles of slaves and women
Slaves
Women
Military technology
The 4th century
To the King’s Peace (386
bce
)
Dionysius I of Syracuse
The Corinthian War
The King’s Peace
From 386
bce
to the decline of Sparta
Spartan adventures
The Second Athenian Confederacy
Theban expansion
Athens and Thebes
The rise of Macedon
Macedonian supremacy in Greece
Alexander the Great
Alexander and the Greeks
Alexander in Egypt
To the Persian Gates
The conquest of Bactria and the Indus valley
The final phase
Greek civilization in the 4th century
Historical writings
Architecture and sculpture
Social and commercial exchanges
Organized settlements
Conclusion
Fast Facts
ancient Greek civilization summary
Facts & Related Content
Top Questions
Is ancient Greece a country?
Was ancient Greece a democracy?
Why is ancient Greece important?
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Ancient Greece
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Videos
How did a corpse win an ancient Olympic event?
Learn interesting facts about ancient Greek sports.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Follow ancient Greek civilization from Philip II of Macedonia's unification to the Roman Empire's conquest
An overview of ancient Greek civilization.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Learn about the history of the Battle of Marathon, 490
bce
Overview of the Battle of Marathon.
Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz
Visit the ruins of the ancient Greek colony of Paestum and discover its history, culture, and society
A video tour of the ruins of the ancient Greek colony of Paestum, Italy.
© Open University (
A Britannica Publishing Partner
)
Hear about the ancient Greek's holistic approach to medicine and how it can help us rethink on the relevant medical issues of today
Learn about ancient Greek medicine.
© Open University (
A Britannica Publishing Partner
)
Learn about the Colossus of Rhodes on the harbor of the Greek island of Rhodes
Overview of the Colossus of Rhodes.
Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz
Learn about the evolution of the definition of a hero from ancient Greeks to modern times
A look at how the definition of a hero has changed through the ages.
© Open University (
A Britannica Publishing Partner
)
Behold the Athenian Acropolis and Roman Colosseum and drive down Appian Way on the Roman road system
Infrastructure and influences of the Roman and Greek civilizations of old can still...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Discover the history of Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights
Learn about the history of Hanukkah.
Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz
Learn about the origins of the first Olympic Games held in Olympia, Greece
Overview of the first Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece.
Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz
Learn how the ancient Greeks and later Romans used barbarian to refer to peoples outside Greece and Rome
Learn how the word
barbarian
originated.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Examine the Theatre of Dionysius's layout and how it affected productions of ancient Greek drama and democracy
The ancient Greeks created drama, and the Theatre of Dionysius was their vessel.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Images
Athens: Acropolis
The Acropolis, Athens.
© sborisov— iStock/Getty Images
ancient Greece
Ancient Greece.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Ephesus, Turkey: Temple of Artemis
Site of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, Turkey.
© Sergii Figurnyi/stock.adobe.com
Greek expansion
Greek expansion (9th–6th centuries
bc
).
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Theseus slaying the Minotaur
Theseus slaying the Minotaur, detail of a vase (
stamnos
) painting by the...
Courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum
Solon
Solon.
© Photos.com/Thinkstock
Peisistratus
Peisistratus, copper engraving, 1832.
Interfoto/Alamy
remains of the Temple of Olympian Zeus
Remains of the Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens, Greece.
Brand X Pictures/Jupiterimages
Doric temple, Selinus
Aerial view of the 5th-century Doric temple at Selinus, near Selinunte, Sicily, Italy....
© kubais/stock.adobe.com
Battle of Salamis
The Battle of Salamis (480 bce), in which Greece...
Classic Vision/age fotostock
Athenian empire at its greatest extent
The Athenian empire at its greatest extent.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Acropolis: Temple of Athena Nike
Temple of Athena Nike on the Acropolis, Athens.
© Ron Gatepain (
A Britannica Publishing Partner
)
ancient Greece
This map shows the chief cities and divisions of ancient Greece, which included settlements...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
The Age of Pericles
The Age of Pericles
, coloured print showing Pericles delivering a speech...
akg-images/Newscom
Peloponnesian War
Athenian naval forces in the harbour of Syracuse, Sicily, during the Peloponnesian...
Chronicle/Alamy
Philippe, Pieter:
Portrait of Hippocrates
Portrait of Hippocrates
, detail of an engraving by Pieter Philippe,
c.
...
Courtesy of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Euripides
Euripides holding the mask of tragedy, sculpture,
c.
480–406 bce.
© Image Asset Management/age fotostock
Acropolis: Propylaea
The Propylaea, the entrance gate at the ancient ruins of the Acropolis, Athens.
© Ron Gatepain (
A Britannica Publishing Partner
)
Erechtheum: caryatid
Caryatids supporting the porch of the Erechtheum, on the Acropolis, Athens.
Icedlake
Corinthian-style helmet
Corinthian-style helmet, bronze, Greek, c. 600–575 bce;...
Photograph by Stephen Sandoval. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, Dodge Fund, 1955 (55.11.10)
Megalopolis
Ancient ruins (foreground) with a thermal-power station in the distance, Megalopolis,...
© ollirg/Shutterstock.com
Philip II
Philip II, king of Macedon, detail of a medallion.
Marka/fototeca gilardi/age fotostock
Demosthenes
Demosthenes, marble statue, detail of a Roman copy of a Greek original of
c.
...
Courtesy of the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen
Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great, marble bust, 2nd–1st century bce;...
© Tony Baggett/Fotolia
Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great as Zeus Ammon on a silver tetradrachm of Lysimachus, 297–281...
Reproduced with permission of the trustees of the British Museum; photograph, Ray Gardner for The Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited
Battle of Issus
Alexander the Great leading his forces against the retreating Persian army led by...
Photos.com/Thinkstock
Alexander's empire at its greatest extent
Alexander's empire at its greatest extent.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Marriage of Alexander and Roxane
Marriage of Alexander and Roxane
, fresco by Sodoma,
c.
1511–12;...
SCALA/Art Resource, New York
Epidaurus: amphitheatre
Amphitheatre at the site of the ancient city of Epidaurus, Greece.
© Martin D. Vonka/Shutterstock.com
Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great in battle, detail from the so-called Alexander Sarcophagus, marble,...
Hirmer Fotoarchiv, Munich
Figure 7: Grecian charioteer wearing long chiton. Bronze statue from the Sanctuary...
Toni Schneiders
mathematicians of the Greco-Roman world
This map spans a millennium of prominent Greco-Roman mathematicians, from Thales...
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Hellenistic world, 2nd century
bce
Egypt as part of the Hellenistic world,
c.
188 bce.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Sites associated with ancient Mesopotamian history
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Aegean civilization sites
Principal sites associated with Aegean civilizations.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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