For instance Coptic, the language that Ancient Egyptian evolved into, was written in Greek-derived letters until it died out in the 17th century. Some elements of Greek culture endured for centuries after the last Greek polity had disappeared. This late bloom of Greek culture, which was later partially supplanted by the Roman Empire, is known as the Hellenic era.Īccording to the Biblical book of Acts, the Apostle Paul traveled to the region in the 1st century AD and brought Christianity to the area. Starting with the conquests of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC, the Greek culture spread as far east as modern-day Afghanistan, and Egypt (see Ancient Egypt) was ruled for three centuries by the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty, which was founded by one of Alexander's generals. In Ancient Greece's apogee, the dominant cities of Greece were Athens and Sparta, which often were at war against each other. Through colonization and conquest, Greek language and culture came to stretch far beyond the territory of modern Greece, with especially strong footprints in Sicily and across Asia Minor (today, the Asian part of Turkey). Greece later entered a golden age for philosophy, drama, and science.
GREECE ANCIENT CITIES SERIES
During this period, the Greeks defended themselves against the mighty Persian Empire in a series of wars which became legendary in Western culture. The period of the 5th and 4th centuries are today known as Classical Greece. Among them are the Iliad and the Odyssey, which describe the Trojan War, which supposedly happened in the 12th century BC. The first written records from the Greek city-states, poleis, date to the 9th century BC. However, there are no surviving historical records from these societies. Since the 27th century BC, the Minoan culture had flourished on Crete, until displaced by the Mycenaeans around the 16th century BC. Understand See Prehistoric Europe for background.Ĭlassical Greece was not the first civilization around the Aegean Sea. The Olympic Games are originally an ancient Greek tradition. Ancient Greece is remembered for its architecture, philosophy and other ideas, which became the foundation of modern Europe. Ancient Greece or Classical Greece was a civilization which emerged around the 8th century BC, and was annexed by the Roman Empire in the second century BC.