Ancient Greece

Civilization of ancient Greece is made up of the history of small city-states, often at odds with each other, which included, among others, Athens and Sparta. Their achievements in the fields of culture, science and politics formed the basis of European civilization.

From the period of the so-called. dark ages Greece has emerged as a country made up of small, usually self-sufficient farming communities. They served as a source of supply for the city, which was the administrative center and commercial, as well as a place of refuge in case of danger. Cities such as Athens, Sparta, Corinth and Thebes gave the name of the small states, or rather the States cities (polis), which consisted of the whole ancient Greece. Despite its small size, the Greek city-states today are of interest because it is within them some of the political and social ideas were first "tested".

Out of the Dark Ages

During the dark ages the Greek settlements spread to the whole Aegean Sea and along the coast of Asia Minor (now Turkey). By the eighth century BC the Greeks were able to play their trade relations with other nations, exporting such characteristic products as olive oil, wine, ceramics and metal products. With a relatively new invention of the Phoenician, the alphabet, the Greeks again possessed the ability to write, lost during the dark ages. However, peace and prosperity led to rapid population growth which made it difficult to feed all the agricultural city-states.

Therefore, the Greeks began to migrate in search of land where they could found new self-sufficient cities. In this way, a number of colonies in southern Italy and Sicily - the area later called the Great Greece – were created. Over the next two centuries, the Greeks colonized many areas along the Mediterranean coast and around the Black Sea. Many of the established colonies were to be soon absorbed by the neighboring nations, but they usually did not cease to exist, which suggests that Greek culture had a large impact.

During this time, the city-state have undergone substantial political transformation. Monarchies gave way aristocracies - governments exercised by a group of large landowners. However, their position was becoming less stable with the development of trade relations and the introduction of the monetary system (about 600 BC) derived from the Lydians who lived in the western part of Asia Minor. The sixth century BC was characterized by a large number of internal strife in the policies on which the government was often taken over by tyrants. Both "aristocracy" and "tyrant" are words of Greek origin, but the Greeks used them without negative connotations relating to the cruel an unwanted ruler. The tyrant was just the person who took power by force, sometimes in order to carry out the necessary reforms and often with the support of the general public.

Regardless of the reforms carried out by the famous legislator Solon, power in Athens also has been taken over by a tyrant named Pisistratus. However, Pisistratus's successor was banished from Athens in 510 BC, and within policies introduced democracy - that is, the power of citizens (Greek: Demokratia). Due to the fact that the poleis were relatively small, power wasn't exercised by a select group of people, but by all the residents who gathered to take key decisions or pass new laws. However, the Greek democracy was limited, because women and slaves did not have the right to vote.

In the fifth century BC in many city-states there were conflicts between supporters of democracy and oligarchy. Supporters of the oligarchy argued for the authority exercised by the rich and privileged social group.

Athens and Sparta

While Athens were the model of democracy, Sparta was an example of oligarchy. However, in many ways Sparta was a unique polis. In most Greek city-states the difference between the amount of free citizens and the number of slaves was relatively small. In contrast Spartans were a small group of "supermen", outnumbered by potentially dangerous population of non-free peasants (helots). In order to maintain its dominance, Spartans turned into a caste of warriors, taught to bear suffering and live in harsh conditions from an early age. Though Spartan lifestyle was austere and not very prolific culturally, many Greeks looked up to it. Obedience, discipline and unwavering moral rules of Spartans were often shown as a contrast to cynical, destructive individualism of Athenians.

The Greeks were loyal primarily to their poleis, but they were aware that they all belonged to one nation of the Hellenes. They shared the poetry of Homer, the belief in Zeus and the other gods and the belief in spiritual and bodily development, as evidenced by the gymnasiums and the Olympic Games. They also had a sense of their individuality, as opposed to other nations - whose representatives grouped under the name "barbarians" - their social life was governed by the law. Both in oligarchy and democracy, citizens possessed certain rights and they could not be executed on the king's or emperor's whim, as was the case among the Persians whom the Greeks called barbarians, disregarding their powerful empire and advanced culture.

Meanwhile, Persian expansion that began in the sixth century BC seemed unstoppable - Greek cities of Asia Minor fell victim to it. However, the Persians showed little interest in native Greek territory that they regarded as poor and located too far beyond the Aegean Sea. But it was only until Athens provided support to the Greeks from Asia Minor during their uprising against the tyranny of the invaders. The uprising was crushed, and in 490 BC the Persian king Darius sent an expedition aimed to punish Athens. However, the Athenians had a famous victory at Marathon, located about 40 km from the city. The feat of the Greek soldier who ran to Athens with the news of the victory and fell dead from exhaustion is to this day commemorated in the form of a long-distance course during the Olympic Games. Ten years later, the son of Darius, Xerxes, carried a much more powerful attack, building a bridge of boats across the Hellespont Strait (today's Dardanelles) - connecting Asia Minor to Europe that allowed his massive army to cross the waters. Since the invaders posed a threat to all Greek cities, they decided to create a defensive Panhellenic Association. When Xerxes was approaching from the north, the armies pulled out of various poleis tried to delay his march. 300 Spartans led by Leonidas were killed while trying to stop the aggressor in the narrow pass of Thermopylae.

The sacrifice appeared to be in vain, as the Greeks had to give way. The population of Athens was evacuated and the invaders burned the temples of the city, located on the Acropolis. Although the Greek leader Themistocles, anticipating war with the Persians, strengthened the Athenian fleet, it was still outnumbered by that of the Persians. However, the Greeks managed to lure the enemy into a narrow bay near the city Salamis where room for maneuvers was very limited. The Greek charge caused panic among the Persian ships, which resulted in total destruction of the invading fleet.

Breakthrough battle

Battle of Salamis is one of the most famous battles in history. It was of key importance - in the next year, the Persian army was defeated at Plataea and ultimately Hellas was free. The Athenians and their allies continued to fight, freeing other Greek cities in Asia Minor one after another.

Athens secured at that time a leading position among the Greek cities. In 478 BC, Delian League was established - its aim was to combine the forces of Athens and its allies to continue the war with the Persians. Relationship soon became the instrument of political pressure. Athens allies were forced to establish a democratic system modeled upon the Athenian one and increasing expenditures on an expanding fleet. When in 449 years BC the war with Persia ended, the union has not ceased to exist and any attempt to leave it was severely punished.

Athens in the classical era

Fifth century BC was the golden age of Greek culture, equated mainly with Athens. Of course, both during this period and prior to it, other cities had a significant contribution to the culture of Greece in the form of poetry, ceramics or sculpture. For example, the first philosophers who tried to explain the nature of the world in a more physical than magical way, came from Miletus.

However, the greatest intellectual and artistic achievements were related primarily to Athens. Among the reconstructed temples on the Acropolis is the Parthenon with its perfect proportions and carved decorations. The first drama evolved from ritual in honor of the Greek god Dionysus. Philosophers coming from Athens, primarily Socrates and Plato, were the first to explore inquisitive problems of ethics and politics. It was in Athens where Herodotus of Halicarnassus wrote - it was perhaps the first historian who instead of just citing rumors and stories, employed analysis and critically examined facts.

An equally great historian, Thucydides, was a strategist who commanded the Athenian troops during the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC) which is later described. Alarmed by the growing power of Athens, Sparta created the Peloponnesian League whose members came from the Peloponnese peninsula located in the southern Greece. The first fight between the two leagues was inconclusive and it seems such status would continue for a long time. However, Athens began to give way after the city was by an epidemic that also claimed life the city's outstanding leader - Pericles. The Spartans managed to ravage the territory around Athens (Attica), but could not break through the famous Athenian Long Walls, protecting the road leading to the port of Piraeus. As the Athens retained dominance at sea, the port allowed fresh supplies to reach the city.

Reversing the roles

After a seven-year truce war broke out anew. Athens besieged Syracuse, an important center of Greek Sicily. Once the roles were reversed and the besieging troops were in the lap, the whole expedition was shattered. Loss of a large number of ships and men was also a turning point in the war against Sparta. Athens were surrounded and the Athenian League's fleet destroyed. In 404 BC famine forced the inhabitants to surrender.

Sparta and Thebes

Sparta was able to achieve at least one goal - Athens never managed to rebuild its power. But with a limited manpower, Spartans were not able to control the whole of Greece despite the fact that in many cities they handed over the power to allied oligarchies. The advantage of Sparta did not last long, as the Athens, Thebes and Corinth joined forces to challenge its authoritarianism. In 371 BC Thebes, under the leadership of Epaminondas, crushed Spartan army near Leuctra. The military reputation of Sparta waned forever.

Hegemony of Thebes was even shorter and Greece entered the second half of the fourth century BC as divided as usual. Many Greeks lost their heart for warfare, relying on mercenaries in military matters. But it was not the case with Macedonia whose society might have been backward, but it was ruled a gifted king commanding a strong army. Philip II of Macedon gradually expanded his power by attacking several Greek cities, sometimes with help from neighboring poleis that counted on their share in looting. In 338 BC the Macedonian army smashed the combined forces of Athens and Thebes at Chaeronea. This defeat eventually put an end to the independence of Greece, as well as the classical period of its culture.

Important dates

• 776 BC
  The first Olympic Games
• 600 BC
  The origins of the military caste Spartans
• 594 BC
  The reforms of Solon in Athens
• 499-94 BC
  Rise of the Greeks against the Persians in Asia Minor
• 490 BC
  The victory of the Greeks over the Persians at Marathon expedition
• 480 BC
  Persian invasion: victory of the Greek fleet at the Battle of Salamis
• 479 BC
  The victory over the Persians on land (at Plataea) and sea (at cape Mykale)
• 478 BC
  Establishment of the Maritime Union of Athens
• 431 BC
  The outbreak of the Peloponnesian War
• 404 BC
  The capitulation of Athens end the Peloponnesian War, the hegemony of Sparta
• 371 BC
  Sparta defeated by Thebes in the Battle of Leuctra
• 338 BC
  Battle of Chaeronea, after which Philip II of Macedon achieved hegemony in Greece