Talk:Ancient History/Greece/Introduction

Material that needs to be included in this chapter. The geographical typography of the mainland and islands needs to be included. A history of Greece whether ancient or modern needs to let the reader understand the unique position of this land in relation to the great Empires of Persia and Egypt. Also even in the days of Homer this sea-faring people did not look to Western Europe for trade and culture but instead looked to the East. Also mainland Greece is split down the middle by a continuous mountain range which actually is still a problem to traverse. The history of Greece is one of sea-faring and trade. Also some details on the mineral and natural resources needs to be included since these factors will help the reader to understand why the Greeks settled in Turkey and Southern Italy.

Sluffs (discuss • contribs) 15:33, 17 July 2015 (UTC)

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This material is too detailed for an overview and includes dates for major conflicts and words in Greek. The overview should be general and not date specific or too technically linguistic. There is some relevant material to be included in the overview so placed material here.

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Archaeology has provided us with information about the Minoan and Mycenaean cultures. These civilizations were not even believed to have existed until very recently, when archaeologists began to think the epic poetry of Homer's Iliad might contain more truth than previously thought. During the Classical Period, Greek culture was reborn and flourished, and was spread throughout the Mediterranean Sea by the Athenian Empire, as well as other Greek traders, colonists, and conquerors.

The Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE) between Athens and Sparta, and their respective allies, greatly weakened Greece's collective power, and by 336 BCE, nearly every Greek city-state was under the control of Macedon, and for the first time united into a single political unit. Alexander III, the next king of Macedon, took this united Greece and with it conquered the entire known world, spreading Greek culture (called Hellenism, or ελληνισμος) from Egypt, through Persia, all the way to India. Upon the death of Alexander the Great (as he would come to be known), the Empire was divided by his generals. A united Greece under the regency of Alexander's general Antipater was one of the four new kingdoms created the others being the Seleucid, Ptolemaic and Antigonid. The Hellenistic kingdoms came under Roman rule by 146 BCE when Macedonia after a series of wars with the Roman Republic was finally conquered.. In 529 CE Justinian I ordered the closure of all pagan institutions including Plato's Academy. Pagan philosophy would collapse under the weight of Christian dogma.

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--Sluffs (discuss • contribs) 23:27, 19 August 2015 (UTC)