Ancient Greece ( Ancient Greece ) in a narrow sense refers to the Greek region from the destruction of the Mycenaean civilization in the 12th century BC to the conquest of the Greek region by the Roman Republic in 146 BC . In a broad sense, it refers to the entire history of the Aegean civilizations before the Roman conquest.
Cretan civilization: As early as about 3650 BC, the splendid Minoan civilization (or Cretan civilization) was born in the Aegean Sea region.
Mycenaean civilization: Around the 16th century BC, the Minoan civilization was replaced by the Mycenaean civilization, and the center of civilization shifted from Crete to mainland Greece.
Dark Ages: Around 1200 BC , the Dorians invaded and destroyed the Mycenaean civilization, and Greek history entered the Dark Ages, or Middle Ancient Greece.
Antiquity era: At the end of the 9th century BC , maritime trade flourished again, and new city-states were established one after another.
Golden age: In the early 5th century BC , under the leadership of Athens and Sparta, the coalition forces of the Greek city-states defeated Persia in the two Hippo-Persian wars. At this time, Greek civilization reached its peak. Classical philosophy, science and technology, art and democratic politics were highly developed, known as the " golden age " . The Peloponnesian War ended the Athenian democracy, and the Greek city-states fell into melee.
Hellenistic period: At the end of the 4th century BC, King Alexander the Great of Macedon conquered Greece, and ancient Greek culture spread to a vast area from Egypt to the Indus River Basin, known as the Hellenistic period.
Ancient Greece is not a unified political entity, but a general title. Due to the great influence of ancient Greek civilization in the Mediterranean world, its culture was absorbed by ancient Rome and brought to many parts of Europe. Therefore, it is generally believed that ancient Greek civilization laid the foundation for Western civilization.
1. The Bronze Age
The Indo-European tribes who went south around 3000 years ago merged with the Indo-European peoples from Anatolia (Asia Minor) and the natives of Greece, the Pilaszis, and settled on the coast of the Aegean Sea, becoming the ancestors of the Greeks. Greece enters the Bronze Age.
Three civilizations existed in Bronze Age Greece: the Minoan civilization of Crete, the Cyclades civilization of the Cyclades in the Aegean Sea, and the Hellas civilization of mainland Greece (also known as the Greek Bronze Age) .
Around 1600 BC, another group of Indo-Europeans came to Mycenae in southern Greece. In the next 500 years, they established the Mycenaean civilization, and Greece entered the era in Homer's epic . The Mycenaean civilization perished in the Dorian invasion around the 12th century BC.
2. Dark Ages/Medieval Greece
The Greek Dark Ages, from about 1200 BC to 800 BC, refers to the rise of the earliest Greek city-states in Greek history from the twelfth century BC when the supposed Dorian invasion and the fall of Mycenaean civilization were assumed.
In the eighth century BC, Homer's epic poems and early Greek writing appeared.
The population decreased during this period, the magnificent buildings and tombs of the Mycenaean period disappeared, and iron was introduced (probably by invaders).
3. Antique Era
In the 8th century BC, the Greek city-state ( Polis ) rose up. The city-state is the basic unit of politics, and the word politics ( politics ) means " the affairs of the city-state " . The two most famous city-states are Sparta and Athens .
The legend of Sparta was reformed by the legislator Lycurgu in the 7th century before, and the militarization system was implemented.
Athens was reformed by Solon in the 6th century BC to expand the rights of citizens of Athens.
Classical Philosophy, Theatre, Poetry Development
The reintroduction of a written language lost in the Dark Ages
Greek city-states established colonies on the Mediterranean and Black Sea coasts
Notable ones are Syracuse, Taranto and Naples.
In 776 BC, the city-states held the first Olympic Games in Olympia.
4. Classical era (peak period)
4.1 Hippo-Persian Wars
In 492 and 480 BC, the Persian Empire made two major invasions of the Greek world, both of which were foiled.
In the process, the Delian League led by Athens was formed, which completely drove the Persian army out of Europe and liberated all of Ionia.
The hostility between the two sides finally ended with the signing of the Peace of Callias between Athens and Persia in 449 BC.
4.2 Democratic reforms in Athens
The era of Pericles formally completed democratic reforms
Unprecedented development of commerce, crafts, philosophy, science and art
Famous figures: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Democritus, Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, etc.
4.3 Peloponnesian War
From 431 BC to 404 BC, the war between the Delian League headed by Athens and the Peloponnesian League headed by Sparta was called the " Peloponnesian War " .
During this period, the two sides ceased fighting several times, and finally Sparta won the victory and introduced oligarchy in Athens.
Influence: It ended the classic era of Athens and the democratic era of Greece, which strongly influenced the Greek city-states. Almost all Greek city-states participated in this war.
The Greek historian Thucydides recorded this war in detail in "History of the Peloponnesian War", calling it "the war between the Peloponnesians and the Athenians", and the records ended before Winter of 411 . After Thucydides, Xenophon continued Thucydides' work in his History of Greece, recording events after 411 BC.
4.4 The end of the classical era
The Spartan victory did not last long, and the Greek city-states fell into melee.
In 335 BC, the Macedonian king Alexander the Great razed Thebes, and all the Greek city-states except Sparta surrendered, and the classical era ended.
5. The Hellenistic Age
The so-called Hellenistic countries mainly include the Antigonian Dynasty in Macedonia, the Ptolemaic Dynasty in Egypt, the Seleucid Kingdom in West Asia , the Pergamon Kingdom in Asia Minor and the Pontus Kingdom. These places were originally within the scope of the Alexander Empire. After the collapse of the Alexander Empire, the regime was established by Alexander's generals or relatives.
5.1 Starting point
The beginning of the Hellenistic era is usually seen as the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and ended with the conquest of mainland Greece by the Roman Republic in 146 BC, or the end of the last successor kingdom , the Ptolemaic Kingdom , in 30 BC .
5.2 The reason for the name
After the 19th century, Western historians believed that the ancient Greek civilization dominated the civilization along the entire eastern Mediterranean coast, so this period was called the Hellenistic Age.
5.3 Major Countries
After the death of Alexander the Great, the successor war broke out. After his subordinates fought, only three kingdoms remained: the Antigonid Dynasty, the Seleucid Empire and the Ptolemaic Kingdom, which became the main countries in the Hellenistic era.
Antigonid dynasty: (inherited Macedonian territories)
It was mainly a dynasty of the Kingdom of Macedon during the Hellenistic period, and the members of the royal family were descendants of Antigonus, a general under Alexander the Great.
The Antigonid dynasty ruled the Macedonian kingdom for more than a hundred years and was conquered by the Roman Republic.
Seleucid Empire: (called "tiaozhi" in ancient China):
Founded by Seleucus I, the general of Alexander the Great, it is a Hellenistic country centered on Syria, including Iran and Mesopotamia (including part of India in the early days).
Conquered by Rome in 64 BC.
Ptolemaic Kingdom: (inherited the territory of Egypt)
The founder was Ptolemy I, a general of the Alexander Empire. Following the War of the Lords, he proclaimed himself king in 305 BC and declared himself Pharaoh of Egypt.
At its peak, the Kingdom's territory included Egypt, Cyrene, southern Anatolia, southern Syria, and some Aegean islands, and its southernmost territory reached Nubia.
Alexandria was the capital of the Ptolemaic Kingdom and an important center of civilization and trade hub in the Hellenistic world at that time.
The Ptolemaic dynasty ruled Egypt until it was conquered by Rome in 30 BC, and the Egyptian queen Cleopatra VII (Cleopatra VII) committed suicide after defeating the army, which lasted for 274 years.
5.4 Features
Cultural activities have developed substantially, and the cultures of Greece, Egypt, and West Asia began to influence each other. In addition, the promotion and funding of the kings of the Hellenistic ages led to the close integration and exchange of these three cultures, which is of far-reaching significance in the history of world culture. big event.
This period is considered to be a transitional period between the Greek classical era and Roman culture. Compared with the Greek classical era, it is culturally declining.
Colonial activities: A new wave of Greek colonial movements emerged, mainly focusing on the establishment of colonial cities in Egypt and Hellenistic kingdoms in West Asia.
[History of Macedonia] Macedonia is located in northern Greece and has always been regarded as a barbarian by the Greeks. From the 4th century BC, Macedonia gradually became an important country in northern Greece. In 359 BC, Philip II came to the throne. Under Philip, Macedonia became the leading military power in the Balkans. Facing the rise of Macedonia, Greece established an anti-Macedonian alliance headed by Athens. In 338 BC, Macedonia defeated the Greek coalition forces in Chaeronia and gained control of the whole of Greece. In 336 BC, Philip was assassinated and his son Alexander ascended the throne. After Alexander came to the throne, he quickly quelled the uprising of the Greek city-states and consolidated the regime. In 334 BC, Alexander led his army across the sea and marched eastward, which opened the prelude to his conquest of the world. Alexander's greatest enemy was the mighty Persian Empire. Alexander defeated the Persian army at the Granicus River and Issus successively, captured Syria and Egypt from the Persians, and captured Babylon in 331 BC, and the Persian Empire perished. Alexander's expedition did not return until the Indus Valley. In 323 BC, Alexander died of illness, and his huge empire was also divided. The classical era ended and the Hellenistic era began.
6. Conclusion
Although the Hellenistic era came to an end, its cultural heritage has been passed down to the Middle Ages.