Introduction to Ancient Greece

More than 200 years ago,ancient Greece was made up of many city-states such as Athens and Sparta. They were small, independent communities each with its own laws and leaders,

The Ancient Greeks built temples, created the Olympic Games and developed ideas in democracy, a type of government where citizens take part in making decisions, along with ideas in art, science and sport that still influence us today.

Important words on Ancient Greece.

Around 2,500 years ago Greece was one of the most important places in the ancient world.

The Greeks became known for their thinking, writing, acting, athletics, art, architecture and politics, as well as for their fighting skills in and battle plans.

The name ‘Greeks’ was given to the people of Greece later by the Romans.

They lived in mainland Greece and the Greek islands, which were spread around the Mediterranean Sea.

Ancient Greece was not one country but was made up of many city-states. Examples included Athens and Sparta.
Each city-state had its own rules and leaders but they shared the same language and Gods.

Greece is in southern Europe. The land contains many mountains and islands, which meant it was hard to travel across. However, it has a long coastline on the Mediterranean Sea. This helped the Ancient Greeks travel by sea and trade.

People have been living in Greece for over 40,000 years.

The earliest settlers lived a simple hunter-gatherer or farming lifestyle, similar to settlers in Prehistoric Britain.

The Minoans were the first great Greek civilisation between 2200BC and 1450BC.

They were known as the Minoans after their king, Minos.

After the Minoans came the Mycenaean civilisation, they were superb builders and traders, but they were also great soldiers.

They are well-known for fighting in the Trojan War.

Homer, an important Greek writer, told stories of the Mycenaean Age in his books The Iliad and The Odyssey.

After the Mycenaean civilisation ended in around 1100BC, Greece entered a Dark Age. It's called a Dark Age because nobody knows much about what happened as most written language and art from the time has disappeared.

In 800BC, almost 300 years after the start of the Dark Age, the Archaic period began when Greek civilisation slowly developed again.

• The Greeks started trading more with the outside world and they held the first Olympic Games.

Around 480BC Greece entered a period which historians call Classical Greece.

• It lasted for 200 years.
• People built fantastic temples, made scientific discoveries and wrote plays.
• People had a bigger say in how their country was run (democracy),

The last period of Greek history is known as the Hellenistic period.

• It lasted from 323BC to 30BC when the Romans conquered Greece.

The Romans respected the Greeks and copied many things about their culture, including their buildings, beliefs and clothes.

There was never one country called ‘Ancient Greece’.

Greece was divided up into the small city-states, some examples of these are:

• Athens
• Sparta
• Corinth
• Olympia

Ancient Greeks living in Sparta considered themselves Spartan or Athenian first, and Greek second.

Alexander the Great, a powerful ruler from Macedon controlled all of Greece by 336BC, and had a huge empire stretching all the way to Ancient Egypt.

Ancient Greece was made up of independent city-states, not one single country.

Each city-state, also known as a polis, had its own laws, leaders and way of life.

Athens became the leading centre for democracy, the arts and philosophy - the study of ideas about life, knowledge and right and wrong.

Sparta was very different, focusing on military strength and discipline.

Even powerful city-states like Athens and Sparta never ruled all of Greece.

Despite being separate, city-states shared language, religion and festivals.

Have a look at the thinking points below and think about your answer to the questions. You could even write it down on a piece of paper or discuss it with somebody else if you want to.

• Why do you think Athens and Sparta developed such different ways of life?

• How might living in independent city-state feel different from living in one big country?

• Why do you think all the city-states shared language and religion, even though they had their own rules?

Click on the map to find out about some of the cities of Ancient Greece.

Let's find out what you know about ancient Greece.

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