When was ancient Greece founded? Greece: holiday season by month. Fall of the Western Greek World

Not only professional historians and students of history faculties are fascinated by ancient Greece. This is a subject of admiration and interest for researchers from related fields of science, tourists and travelers who want to know everything about Ancient Greece. This applies to both historical events and everyday life, culture, philosophy, scientific knowledge, philosophy, mythology.

Ancient Greece is usually understood as a period in world history that began in 3 thousand BC and lasted until the middle of the 1st century AD.

Periodization

Depending on what criteria scientists put into the division of ancient Greek history, this may be the periodization. There are two most common and accepted classifications in science. The first of them involves division into three large periods:

• Preclassical, which began in the 3rd century. BC. and lasted until the 4th century. BC.;
• Classical, covering the 5th-4th centuries. BC.;
• Hellenistic, dating from the second half of the 4th century. – mid 1st century. AD

Archaeologists insist that the pre-classical period should be further divided into three stages - Crete-Mycenaean, Homeric and Archaic. At the Frontier 3-2 thousand BC. The first civilization arose on the island of Crete, which was separated from other periods thanks to various artifacts. The culture of the Cretan-Mycenaean period is not as rich as other eras of Ancient Greece, but it suggests that this civilization requires special attention from researchers.

The Homeric period has been little studied by historians; basic information about it has been preserved in the works of Homer. Chronologically covered the period from the 11th to the 9th centuries. BC.

After it came the archaic stage, in which the foundations of the Greek statehood, mentality, culture, and mythology began to take shape. The period began in the 8th century. BC. and ended at the border of the 5th-4th centuries. BC.

Settlement of Hellas

People began to appear on the southern outskirts of the Balkan Peninsula during the Middle Paleolithic period. Traces of primitive man have been discovered from Macedonia to Elis. In the Neolithic, people were already engaged in agriculture, raised livestock, began to build houses, and a clan system took shape, which in 3-2 thousand BC. developed into an early class society.

During the Aegean period, the settlement of mainland and island Greece took place. In particular, Minoan culture developed on Crete, Helladic culture on the mainland, and Cycladic culture on the islands.

In the Bronze Age, civilization actively developed on the Greek islands. This period was characterized by the following features and achievements:

• Mining of ores, including copper, began;
• People began to actively use silver and lead;
• Weapons, decorations, tools, and religious things were made of metal;
• Ceramic and pottery products were created;
• Construction and crafts associated with it developed. This allowed the development of shipping. The construction of ships contributed to the gradual development of the islands neighboring Greece. As a result, the ancient Greeks established dominance over the coast of the entire Aegean Sea;
• Large cities arose that were the centers of certain tribes. The settlements were located at higher elevations, which indicates the beginning of differentiation of society. Rulers appeared who sought to rise above other people. This sparked the first tribal wars in Ancient Greece.

In the Bronze Age, the center of social and economic development was Crete, where several states emerged. These include Festus, Mallia, Knossos. By their nature, these were early slaveholding states that had their own written language (hieroglyphic). At the very end of the Bronze Age in Crete, the new palace period began, during which the creation of new palaces and the renovation of old ones took place. The Cretan-Mycenaean civilization was one of the most developed in Ancient Greece, during which communications with the outside world, maritime dominance significantly expanded, and cities strengthened. In 1470 BC. An earthquake occurred on the island of Thera, which reached Crete. Cities, palaces, and fleets were instantly destroyed. The entire population of the island also died, after which its territory began to fall into desolation. A hundred years later, the Knossos Palace was restored, but this state no longer achieved its former power.

Other slave-owning centers arose on the mainland, becoming separate city-states. It was Pylos, Tiryns and Mycenae that created the Achaean tribes. They built not only warships, but also large merchant ships, which allowed them to establish dominance over the existing trade routes of the time. Achaean products were sold to such Eastern countries as Phenicia, Syria, and Egypt. Products of the ancient Greeks are found both in Asia Minor and Italy. The Achaeans came up with their own writing, which, unlike the Cretan one, was not hieroglyphic, but syllabic.

Features of the Homeric period

The Achaean civilization fell under the onslaught of new tribes - the Dorians, who captured states in the middle and southern regions. Athens survived, where the Achaeans from the Peloponnese moved. Here it was possible to preserve a high culture and develop further, but the rest of Greece was thrown back in development.

This is due to the fact that the Dorian tribes were in the conditions of the formation of a tribal system. Therefore, production, cities and political systems began to change rapidly. Tribal relations again came to the fore, which is why tools and weapons made of iron began to spread in ancient Greek society. Products made of metal and iron caused the formation of a special class of society - artisans, thanks to which at the end of the 9th century. BC. Crafts were finally separated from agriculture and cattle breeding. This is how a market began to form; individual cities began to specialize in the production of only one type of iron products.

Independent communities led by basilei began to emerge. Their power was supported by the clan nobility, which strengthened its influence through land holdings. The population living in such territories fell into slavery. People became dependent on the rich in different ways:

• In Sparta, the dependent categories of the population included the perieci, who formed the basis of the indigenous population of the state; as well as helots - farmers from Messenia. The Perieks had little self-government, continuing to engage in trade and various crafts. The helots were state property, they were attached to plots of land of the Spartiates - representatives of the local nobility;
• In Thessaly, the conquered population was called penesti;
• In Crete these were the Clarotes.

Slavery also existed in Athens during the Homeric period, but people who did not pay their debts became slaves.

Greece in the Archaic Period

The increase in the number of cities and the complication of the social system caused the active development of trade. Residents of populated areas required constant raw materials for work and food. The situation was worsened by the fact that the cities became refuges for peasants whose land had been taken away. The number of representatives of the nobility, who were constantly in need of slaves, also increased. They were used to build palaces, cultivate fields, and do household work.

All this created the preconditions for the beginning of a new stage in the history of Ancient Greece - the colonial one. The impetus for the creation of colonial cities was the aggravation of social struggle within Greek society. During the 8th-6th centuries. BC, colonies were established on the islands of Sicily and Euboea, the coast of the Gulf of Tarentum, the Black Sea, and along the Aegean coast.

The presence of a large number of colonies brought Greek trade to a new level of development - international. The consequences of creating colonies include:

• Growing demand for Greek goods;
• Slaves were constantly arriving in the metropolis;
• The nobility received wealth and luxury goods;
• Coins borrowed from other peoples began to be used in trade;
• The position of many landowners and family nobility strengthened;
• Individual cities in Greece became common religious centers.

The archaic period was characterized by a constant struggle between the demos and the aristocracy. The population of the cities sought to get rid of slavery, and this was done in a number of cities of Hellas.

Resistance was provided by the tribal nobility, which was pacified through the establishment of a regime of tyranny.

During the 8th-6th centuries. BC. A special form of political, social and economic structure of the Greek city also emerged. It was a polis - a free settlement in which only free citizens lived. If people belonged to the polis, then this provided them with rights, including to slaves and land.

The policies were divided into two groups:

• Oligarchic (Sparta and Crete);
• Democratic (Athens).

In the city-states, slavery and elements of the tribal system existed simultaneously. In the south of mainland Greece, agricultural communities that belonged to individual tribes continued to develop.

Hellas in the classical period of development

Greece reached the peak of its development in the 5th-4th centuries. BC. Historians believe that this was a time of flourishing economics, culture, politics, trade, sciences and arts. Trade and craft policies continued to use slaves - in craft workshops, in mines, in the fields, and on the farm.

Small peasant farms and crafts became widespread.

During the classical period, the center of political life was Athens, which was famous for its democratic traditions. This allowed them to win a series of Greco-Persian wars and create the Delian League to fight against the Persians.

In Greece, there was never unity between the poleis, and the struggle for dominance intensified during the classical period. The peak of the confrontation was the Peloponnesian War between Sparta and Athens, which ended in the loss of the latter polis. The Greek cities that supported Athens suffered defeat and losses. But the war caused the rise of Sparta and its supporters.

But this was not the last war in Hellas of that period. Another one flared up in 395-387. BC, and received the name Corinthian. It ended with the defeat of Sparta, and the fall of part of the Greek city-states under the rule of Persia.

In the middle of the 4th century. BC. In the northern Greek regions, a new political force was formed, led by the city-police of Macedonia. Its king, Philip II, gradually captured the coast of Thrace, Thessaly, Hacidica and Phocis. The influence of Macedonia was so strong that pro-Macedonian parties appeared in other states.

In 338-337. BC, Philip II convened the Corinthian Congress, at which Macedonian dominance over island and mainland Greece was formalized. He also created a union of poleis, in which the regime of government was proclaimed oligarchic. Order among the population and in the authorities was maintained by the efforts of the Macedonian army.

Decline of Ancient Greece

At the end of the 4th century. BC Hellas entered a new period of development, which in historiography is called Hellenistic. He was associated with the name of Alexander the Great, son of Philip II. His conquests qualitatively changed all spheres of life in Greece, formed many other states, and enriched Greek culture. Alexander the Great managed to create a huge empire, which ceased to exist immediately after his death in 323 BC.

The Hellenistic period in Greece was characterized by the following events:

• Creation of permanent unions of cities and policies. Such formations were military in nature, and were aimed at challenging the dominance of Macedonia, Sparta or Athens in Greece;
• The policies were headed by oligarchs or kings, who constantly fought among themselves;
• Macedonia won the fight against Athens, ending the famous Athenian democracy;
• Macedonia lost power over the Balkans, since the Achaean and Aetolian military alliances constantly fought against it;
• The death of Alexander the Great unleashed a struggle between his successors, as a result of which cities were destroyed, people died, the sale of people into slavery intensified, and new colonies were created. Pirates also began to attack Greece, the island and coastal cities suffered especially from this;
• The social struggle intensified in the policies, which depended on which political force interfered in the internal affairs of Greece. These were both Romans and Persians.

In 196 BC. The Isthmian Games took place, at which the commander Flaminin announced that the Greeks had freedom. This increased the popularity of Rome in Greece, which effectively became the property of the republic. In 27 BC. Hellas became one of the Roman provinces called Achaia. And this continued for several centuries, until in the 4th century. AD the raids of the barbarians did not destroy the Roman Empire, dividing it into Western and Eastern. On the basis of the latter, a new political force began to form on the Balkan Peninsula - the Byzantine Empire.

Religion and mythology of Ancient Greece

The inhabitants of Hellas had their own unique religion, which linked culture, mythology and art into a single whole. The Greeks believed that the main god was Zeus, sitting on Mount Olympus. Eleven other gods and goddesses lived there with him. Greek religion, like mythology, is interesting because the Greeks represented their gods as people, endowing them with human traits of character and behavior. The gods had the same feelings as people, the vices and desires that were present in the ancient world.

Mythology was formed over several centuries, and reflected all the problems that the Greeks faced in everyday life. In addition to gods, Greek mythology is rich in characters such as mortal heroes, such as Achilles and Hercules, mythical creatures. These were satyrs, oras, nymphs, forest and river monsters, dragons, muses, dragons and vipers.

Art and Science

The inhabitants of Ancient Hellas made a huge contribution to the development of theater, painting, and sculpture. Greek art is present in almost every corner of the globe. First of all, these are temples and architectural styles. The Greeks built temples in honor of the gods so that Zeus and his supporters would have a place to live. But, unlike the Romans, or the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Babylonia, the Greeks built temples that were not large (relatively speaking, judging by their size), placing them in the acropolis of the city. This was the most protected part of the settlement. To make the temple visible from afar, it was built on a mountain or hill. For construction, they tried to use two main materials - limestone and white marble. Each temple, like any Greek building, necessarily had columns located in one or two rows. During the classical period, the art of building temples reached its peak. In the next era – the Hellenistic era – stadiums, sports grounds, walking spaces, and amphitheaters began to appear.

Simultaneously with sculpture, sculpture developed, which changed throughout the entire period of the existence of Ancient Greece. If in the archaic period the sculptures of people necessarily had robes, then in the classical era the masters concentrated their main attention on the human body. It was customary to depict physically developed, strong, athletic people, which emphasized internal and external beauty. In Hellenism, sculptures began to have a metaphorical character, exaggerations and pomp appeared in works of art, which did not exist before.

The Greeks were also distinguished by their special painting technique, examples of which have practically not survived to this day. But the drawings can be seen on the vases. The Greeks used two methods of painting such items as black-figure and red-figure. The first was characterized by the use of black varnish to depict people and animals. And red-figure meant completely painting over the black background, the figures were made red, and the black varnish also helped to clearly draw the details.

During the celebration of the wine festival, which was dedicated to the god Dionysus, the Greek theater began to take shape. With its emergence, music and literature began to actively develop. Often these directions were not separated from each other, which made both literature and theater an organic whole. In productions, it was customary to use special masks that were worn only by male actors. Women did not take part in the performances.

The special role of theater in the everyday and social life of Greece is evidenced by the large number of theaters and amphitheaters. Neither festivals nor public celebrations were complete without performances. The theater was distinguished by a wide variety of plots, themes, and genres. These were comedies, tragedies, satires, and ironic performances on the topic of the day.

The scientific knowledge of the Greeks developed in various fields - philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, geometry, biology, physics, chemistry, history. A special place among knowledge was occupied by philosophy, which studied the problems of the origin of space, planets, man, and the search for answers to questions related to immortality. Several philosophical schools were formed in Hellas, the prominent representatives of which were Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Thales, Herodotus, etc.

Literature, grammar, mathematics, history, astronomy, and philosophy were taught in the schools of Ancient Greece. Physical education was mandatory so that a person’s personality would develop harmoniously.

The most famous legacy of the Greeks is the Olympic Games, which were created to praise the gods and bring them various honors. At first these were local competitions, which over time developed into pan-Greek ones. Athletes from different cities of Greece competed, trying to gain the status of the best athlete. The main competitions took place in the discipline of pentathlon, which is now also present at the Olympic Games.

We'll tell you which months are the best to vacation in Greece. Different seasons are suitable for different pastimes. Read to be mistaken.

June

July August

The two hottest months in Greece are accompanied not only by rising air temperatures and a busy beach season, but also by a rich cultural program. In July-August, you can visit interesting festivals in almost every region of the country. The Athens Festival, which began back in June, is in full swing in the capital.

Planning a trip? That way!

We have prepared some useful gifts for you. They will help you save money while preparing for your trip.

September

October

Officially becomes the last month of the tourist season in Greece (). At the beginning of the month, many hotels in the north were already closed, but in Rhodes and Crete, where you can swim almost until the end of October, they continue to operate. During the day, the air in the northern regions warms up to +22 °C, in the southern regions - up to +26 °C. The sea in the north cools down to +20 °C, in the south it still warms up to +23 °C. The wind noticeably increases, this is especially noticeable in the evening, when warm clothes come in handy. If the weather is not favorable for a beach holiday, you can go on excursions or give preference to health tourism.

Low season in Greece: weather by month

There are many people who want to see Greece in any season. But there are fewer tourists here - the time has begun for completely different types of recreation.

November

In November, the wind picks up on the coast, the water cools to +18 °C, and the air temperature drops to +20 °C. This month is not conducive to a seaside holiday, so you can safely plan long excursion trips. November is also a great month to visit resorts equipped with wellness centers. For example, Loutraki, Vouliagmeni, Edipsos.

December

The high season begins at the ski resorts - you can go to Seli, Kaimaktsalan, Pelion or Parnassos. The whole month passes under the sign of the approaching Christmas. Cities in Greece are actively preparing for the most important holiday of the year. The Christmas atmosphere is especially felt in Thessaloniki and Athens. Fur coat tours are popular - the city of Kastoria has become the main destination. Here you can not only buy a fur coat, but also stroll along the streets of the fur capital. The average temperature in December is +10 °C in the north and +17 °C in the southern islands. In coastal cities, strong winds and precipitation (rain or sleet) are possible.

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• AirBnb - rent an apartment from locals.

January February

The two coolest months of the year, despite the cold snap, attract tourists to Greece. The air cools to +7 °C, and heavy snowfall or rain is sometimes possible. The weather is more stable in the Peloponnese and Athens - there is less rainfall here than in Thessaloniki. In January-February, you can continue exploring the mountain slopes of Greece, visit the most iconic sights without crowds of tourists and go shopping. All

With summer approaching, many are planning to go on vacation. Some choose their holiday destination on their own, some on the recommendations of tour operators. In both cases, the answer will be the same - Greece at the end of May. And there are several reasons for this.

The first reason is to sunbathe. The fact is that Greece is the leader among European countries in terms of the length of sandy beaches. The best in Greece is Navajo on Zikynthos. The landscape of this beach is decorated with a ship that crashed here in 1980. Another beach is Busulas on the Haldiki Peninsula. The hallmark of this beach is its snow-white sand for almost 5 kilometers. But the most popular beach is Psarou on the island of Mykonos. Every celebrity considers it their duty to check in there. To get to this beach, you need to book sun loungers in advance. Otherwise there is a chance you won't pass. More recently, the Greek authorities made all beaches public and free. Therefore, the reason for refusal may be “lack of free sun loungers.” However, if a person decides to sunbathe on his own towel, then no one can prohibit him from doing so. There are many different beaches. Therefore, before traveling, it is best to familiarize yourself with them on the Internet, with the help of reviews from others. You need to enter into the search something like “Greece vacation in May reviews” or “beaches of Greece reviews”

The second reason is Christian shrines. There are 2 main Orthodox places in Greece: the Meteora monasteries and the famous Mount Athos. But to visit Mount Athos you only need to be... a man. The fact is that visiting Mount Athos is the earthly destiny of the Mother of God and none of the women except her should appear there. There is a belief that women who were deceived onto the peninsula went missing. In order for men to get to the peninsula, they need to get a diamonitirion (something like a visa) in advance. And women can only visit the Meteora monasteries, which are located high on the rocks.

The third reason is Greek cuisine. Almost every person is familiar with such a dish as Greek salad. The secret to a Greek salad is that you need fresh vegetables and good olive oil. Therefore, do not be afraid to order this dish at roadside eateries in Greece. Other equally delicious dishes are tzatziki (yogurt with garlic and cucumbers), souvlaki (kebabs) or moussaka (eggplant casserole). Moreover, the further you are from the tourist area and the more inconspicuous the cafe, the tastier the dishes promise to be. For wealthy people, the Spondi or Nammos restaurant is perfect. By the way, Nammos is located near Psarou beach, which was mentioned earlier.

The fourth reason is to have a wedding. The Greek people are incredibly fun-loving. And a wedding is a wonderful occasion. It is best to have a wedding at the St. Hotel. NicolasBay, where the beach chapel is located. A married couple should never have any disagreements after such a wedding. The most picturesque places for a wedding are the islands of Mykonos and Santorini, where the largest number of weddings take place.

The fifth reason is sweets. Greece has a number of its own sweets, which are famous not only there. For example, halva or baklava is familiar to every person. It is recommended to try kaymaki - it is ice cream, but harder than regular ice cream. Another sweet that is worth trying is galaktoboureko. This is puff pastry with mascarpone inside. There are many more reasons for holidays in Greece.

Greece is a country where you have everything! Luxurious beaches, clear waters of the Mediterranean Sea, many amazing architectural monuments, excellent cuisine and cozy hotels... “The Cradle of Civilization,” as Greece is also called, is located in the south of Europe - on part of the Balkan Peninsula and on more than 1,400 islands.

Visa

To travel to Greece you will need. The requirements for a foreign passport are standard - it must be valid for 3 months from the date of completion of the trip, and the document itself must have 2 pages free of marks.

Currency

The currency in Greece is the euro. Until 2000, the Greek drachma was in use. There are many exchange offices and ATMs in the country; at large resorts you can easily pay with a bank card. However, if you are going on holiday to the remote islands of Greece, it is better to stock up on cash.

Weather

Navajo Beach. Zakynthos, Greece

It is best to go to Greece in the warm season - from May to September. The sea swimming season on the island opens at the end of April and ends in October. At other resorts the sea warms up a little later - towards the end of May. In Greece it is almost always warm and sunny; you can come on excursions at any time of the year.

Resorts

Chania, Crete island, Greece

The most popular resorts in Greece are the islands and. Here you can easily choose a suitable tour option - a wide variety of beaches and hotels, fairly inexpensive prices, and there are good hotels for families with children. If you are going to Greece for the first time, then it is better to choose these resorts. Crete is associated with ancient Greek myths and the homeland of the minotaur. Rhodes is famous for the fact that it was here that one of the wonders of the world was located - the Colossus of Rhodes.

Round-trip flights to Greece

Prices for tickets per person departing from Berlin are shown.

Attractions

Parthenon. Athens, Greece

In terms of the number of attractions, Greece confidently holds its place in the top ten countries in the world. Ancient ruins, picturesque islands, magnificent beaches, amazing excursions, hospitable taverns... There are perhaps even more attractions in Greece than residents and tourists combined!

Many famous attractions are located on the Greek mainland. Athens is a museum capital where you literally cannot take a step without discovering traces of history. In central Greece are the ruins of the ancient city of Delphi. Tourists also go to Greece on pilgrimage tours to monasteries.

On the islands, vacationers are interested in ancient ruins, architectural monuments and stunning landscapes. The most famous attractions of island Greece are located on and.

Kitchen

In the national cuisine of Greece, kebabs souvlaki and moussaka take pride of place - they will be on the menu of any restaurant. In Greece, the famous Greek salad is called “horiatiki”, that is, “country”. For a quick snack, pita is a good option - a flatbread stuffed with meat and vegetables.

Portions in Greece are very generous, so take this into account when ordering. Before serving the main course, the café offers free freshly baked bread and olive oil.

You should definitely try snails (escargot), sartsa (beef with tomatoes, garlic and special sheep cheese ladotiri), pastitsia (lasagna with a Greek accent) or swordfish kebab (xifias souvlaki), white eggplant with grilled octopus.

Greeks love to drink coffee - both hot and cold, with ice. For a large dinner or lunch, people often order retsina (white wine), ouzo (aniseed vodka) or Greek Mythos beer. If you're there, be sure to try kumquat liqueurs, and wine from the Assyrtiko variety.

What to bring

The main Greek souvenir is olives. Butter, soap, pate - what only the Greeks do not make from the fruits of the nurse olive. Olive oil costs about 10 euros per liter.

Sweets take second place in the ranking of Greek souvenirs. Nougat and Turkish delight (2-5 euros per box) here are not at all the same as in. Local honey is especially interesting - a small jar will cost 8-10 euros. Many people bring alcohol from Greece - ouzo, metaxa, rakia, kumquat liqueur.

The famous handmade Greek leather sandals will cost 30-60 euros per pair. You can take measurements and have shoes made exactly to fit your feet for 120-200 euros. In addition to them, you can look for linen clothes with a national pattern - a meander.

Another souvenir from Orthodox Greece is an icon. The faces of saints, made on a cypress board and consecrated in one of the country’s monasteries, will be a wonderful gift for yourself or your believing loved ones.

Prices for souvenirs in Greece depend on the resort and the distance of the retail outlet from the center - the further from the beaten tourist path, the cheaper.

Good to know

• The flight from Moscow to Athens takes 3.5-4 hours. Flight time to Crete or Rhodes is 3-3.5 hours.
• In winter, time in Greece lags behind Moscow by one hour; in summer there is no time difference.
• Restaurants and taverns in Greece are open from 12:00 to 16:00 and from 20:00 to midnight, and some of them serve guests until 2:00 am.
• Greek hotels are not assigned “stars”, but categories: deluxe (5*), A (4*), B (3*) and C (2*).
• In Greece, it is customary to leave a tip of 10-20% of the bill. In places popular with tourists, the surcharge is already included in the bill.
• Museums throughout Greece are free to visit on all Sundays between November 1st and March 31st. On major holidays (both secular and religious), admission to museums is also free.
• Greece has an excellent bus service. Tickets are sold at newsstands or small shops near stops. On the islands you can negotiate and buy a ticket from the driver - but it will cost more. “Vote” - otherwise the bus will not stop.
• Taxis in Greece are not very expensive. The color of the cars is different: in Athens they are yellow, in Thessaloniki they are blue or white, and in Rhodes they are black.
• Only men are allowed to enter Athos. There are no exceptions, even female animals are not allowed on Mount Athos - for more than a thousand years. To get there, men need to apply for a special visa and written permission - diamontirion.

Hellas and Hellenes. The country we call ancient Greece was located in the south of the Balkan Peninsula. Although in ancient times it was never a single state, its inhabitants recognized themselves as a single people and called their country Hellas and themselves Hellenes. They called all foreigners barbarians, and at first this word did not have a contemptuous connotation, as the Greeks designated all those who did not speak their language and muttered something, from their point of view, incomprehensible (from the onomatopoeic “bar-bar” the Greek comes from "barbara", i.e. barbarians).

Main parts of ancient Greece. Ancient Greece was divided into three parts: mainland, island and Asia Minor. Mainland Hellas consisted of Northern, Central and Southern Greece. Northern Greece consists of two regions: Thessaly in the east and Epirus in the west. To the north of Thessaly were Macedonia and Thrace (their population, although related to the Greeks in language and culture, was not Hellenic). On the border of Macedonia and Thessaly is Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece, on the top of which, as the Greeks believed, were the palaces of their gods, led by Zeus, “the father of gods and men.” Illyrian tribes lived north of Epirus.

From Thessaly, through the narrow Thermopylae Gorge, the road led to Central Greece, which also consisted of several regions, the main of which were Attica (its center is Athens) and Boeotia, the largest city of which was Thebes. To the west of Boeotia lay Phokis, on whose territory, in Delphi, there was a temple of Apollo with the oracle of this god. Without the prophecies given by the priestess of Apollo, Pythia, the Greeks did not begin any important business. The rulers of the states neighboring Greece also listened to the oracle of Apollo.

The narrow Isthmus of Corinth (Isthmus) separated Central Greece from Southern or Peloponnese (Peloponnese - “the island of Pelops” - was named after the mythical hero, the grandson of Zeus himself). The most significant regions of the Peloponnese: Laconia, the center of which was the famous Sparta, Argolis with Argos and Elis, where in Olympia there was a temple of Zeus with a statue of this god, which was considered one of the wonders of the world, and the Olympic Games were held every four years in honor of the supreme god of the Hellenes .

Greek Islands and Asia Minor. The insular part of Greece consisted of many large and small islands, almost all of them were in the Aegean Sea. The largest of them is Crete, which seems to close the Aegean Sea from the south. A kind of bridge connecting two continents, Europe and Asia, is the Cyclades archipelago between the south of the Balkans and the west of Asia Minor. The islands of another archipelago, called the Sporades, are scattered along the coast of Asia Minor.

The western coast of Asia Minor was colonized by the Greeks at the end of the 2nd millennium BC, and they lived there until 1922, when after the Greco-Turkish War they were forced to move out of there. Greek Asia Minor was divided into Ionia and Aeolia, located to the north of it. The largest of the Greek cities in Asia Minor was Miletus.

Periods of Greek history. The history of ancient Greece is usually divided into five periods:

• Cretan-Mycenaean (Aegean) - late III-late II millennium BC;
• Homeric - XI-IX centuries. BC.;
• archaic - VIII-VI centuries. BC.;
• classic - 500-323 BC.;
• Hellenistic - 323-30 BC.

Achaean civilization. In the ancient Cretan-Mycenaean period, the first civilizations in Europe dating back to the Bronze Age arose: the Minoan on Crete and, under its influence, somewhat later in the Peloponnese and Central Greece - the Achaean or Mycenaean (after the name of its most famous center, the kingdom of the famous Agamemnon) . The Achaean civilization was the first, created by the Greeks, whom Homer calls the Achaeans or Danaans. She died at the end of the 12th and beginning of the 11th centuries. BC, and Greece found itself thrown back in its development a whole millennium ago.

The Homeric period is so named because for a long time the main source for its study was Homer's poems "Iliad" and "Odyssey". Now the results of archaeological excavations carried out since the second half of the 19th century have become equally important. At this time, Greek society was slowly recovering from the catastrophe of the end of the 2nd millennium BC. and accumulated strength for a powerful leap forward - the creation of a completely different type of civilization, unlike either the Cretan or Mycenaean one. The Iron Age of Hellas begins in the Homeric period.

City-states of Greece. During the archaic period, the formation of polis civilization took place in Greece. A new form of state appeared - the polis, which is usually called the city-state. In total, there were several hundred such states in Hellas, the area of ​​some of them was measured in tens of square kilometers, but, despite their small size, they were completely independent. Polis was a slave state: as you know, the ancient world was a world devoid of machines and full of slaves, the majority of whom were engaged in hard physical labor. At the expense of slaves, free citizens of the policy had free time for the development of physical and spiritual culture, military training, holidays and entertainment.

The free population of the polis consisted of citizens and non-citizens, immigrants from other places and their descendants. Citizens, in turn, were divided into the aristocracy (nobility), which traced their origins to gods and heroes, and demos (farmers, artisans, merchants).

Types of power among the Greeks. Depending on the characteristics of their structure, Greek city policies were divided into democratic, aristocratic and oligarchic. In democratic ones, power belonged to the demos, in aristocratic ones - to the entire nobility, in oligarchic ones - to a narrow circle of people from among the same aristocracy. In any polis there was a people's assembly, a council and elected officials, but in a democratic one all important issues were decided by the people's assembly, in which all citizens participated, while in an aristocratic or oligarchic it existed only for show and met rarely, only to approve what it had already been decided by those who held power. An example of a democratic polis was Athens, an aristocratic one, which later degenerated into an oligarchic one - Sparta.

Greek warriors. The armed forces of the polis consisted of the militia of all citizens. They bought weapons with their own money, so the richest served in the cavalry (maintaining a horse was very expensive), the wealthy - in the heavily armed infantry, the poor made up the light infantry and ship crews (the ships themselves were built either at the expense of the state or on its instructions by the rich, whom were appointed captains of the ships they built).

Aristocrats and oligarchs did not trust their own fellow citizens, so they preferred to rely not on them, but on mercenary warriors who offered their services to the highest bidder. But it also happened that one of the aristocrats, planning to seize power, bribed mercenaries, with their help destroyed or expelled his opponents and became a tyrant - that’s what the Greeks called someone who established sole power illegally. There was a time when tyrants ruled in many Greek cities, but by the end of the archaic period, tyranny was destroyed everywhere, only to be reborn in a different environment many decades later.

The fourth (classical) period begins with the clash of the Greek city-states with the powerful Persian power (Greco-Persian wars), and ends with the conquests of Alexander the Great, who destroyed this power.

Persian kingdom. It was ruled by the Achaemenid dynasty from the time of its emergence until its death, and the state itself extended from India to the Aegean Sea. King Darius divided it into regions - satrapies, each of which was headed by a satrap. The population of each satrapy had to pay taxes and, by order of the king, appear in the army. Thus, the Persian army was a huge number of warriors with different weapons, different styles of fighting, and speaking different languages. It was very difficult to control such an army. The Persians did not have their own fleet; the Phoenicians, Egyptians and Ionian Greeks supplied them with ships.

Elinistic period. The last period of the history of ancient Greece is called Hellenistic, it lasted from the death of Alexander the Great until the Roman conquest of Egypt. At this time, both the Greek city-states and the former Achaemenid power became part of the new states founded by Alexander's generals, who, many years after his death, proclaimed themselves kings. One of the famous Hellenistic kings was Pyrrhus, whom the Romans had to meet on the battlefield.

How do we know about the wars and battles of the ancient Greeks? We know about the battles of the Greco-Persian wars mainly from Herodotus’s work “History”. The information reported by Herodotus is supplemented and enlivened by Plutarch, who lived many centuries later. His “Comparative Lives” represent several dozen biographies of famous Greeks and Romans and are therefore an important source on the history of not only ancient Greece, but also Rome.

Battles of the first half of the 4th century. BC. described by their contemporary, the Athenian writer and historian Xenophon and Plutarch, already known to us. On the history of the campaigns of Alexander the Great, in addition to the biographies of the great Macedonian and his contemporaries, ancient historians who already lived in Roman times, Arrian and Quintus Curtius Rufus, created special works that have survived to this day and were translated into Russian. Much interesting information about the Greek struggle for freedom against Macedonia is contained in the speeches of Demosthenes.