How many city-states were there in ancient Greece?

From around 2000 BC to 30 BC, the ancient Greeks established a series of slave countries in the whole Mediterranean region, including North Africa, West Asia, southern Italy and Sicily, centering on the Balkans, Aegean Islands and the coast of Asia Minor.

Modern archaeological excavations from 20th century BC to10th century BC show that human beings have lived in the Greek mainland since the Paleolithic. Bronze culture appeared in Crete around 2000 BC, and there was a country and writing in 1000 BC. Around 2000 BC, some Greek-speaking tribes began to settle in the Greek peninsula. From 2000 BC to 1000 BC, the Greeks established Mycenae, Tirins, Pilars and other small countries, and created a splendid Mycenae civilization. At the same time, the Greeks gradually expanded to the Aegean islands, including Crete. Legend has it that the Trojan War in Asia Minor may have occurred in the second half of the third century BC/KLOC-0 or at the beginning of the second century BC 12 when the Greeks expanded outward.

During the period of 1200 years after12 century BC, Mycenae civilization gradually declined. Some Greek-speaking tribes living at the end of primitive society entered the Greek peninsula from the north, which led to the migration of many Greek tribes and tribes in Thessalonica and its south in different directions. Countries, writing and magnificent palaces disappeared, followed by Homer's era, when social organizations and lifestyles at the end of primitive society ruled the Greek peninsula, Aegean islands and the areas inhabited by Greeks in Asia Minor.

From the 8th century BC to the first half of the 4th century BC, and from the beginning of the 8th century BC to the end of the 6th century BC, most parts of the ancient Greek world were in a peaceful environment and were not seriously threatened by foreigners. Due to the increasingly close ties with other civilization centers in the ancient world, the Greeks learned a lot from Egypt and West Asia. Iron tools have been widely used in agriculture and handicrafts. Although agriculture is the main economic sector in all regions, in some areas with superior geographical conditions, such as Corinth and Athens, commerce and handicrafts, such as oil exploration, wine making, metal processing, pottery making and weapons manufacturing, have made great progress. Shipbuilding technology and navigation industry have also made great progress, and three rows of paddle warships have appeared. In the 8th century BC, the Greeks recreated their own characters on the basis of transforming the Phoenician alphabet. In the middle of 6th century BC, Egina, Corinth and Athens minted coins. With the development of productive forces, the increase of population and the emergence and development of cities, countries began to form among the Greeks in the Greek Peninsula, Aegean Islands and the coastal areas of Asia Minor from the 8th century BC. 1200 years, a number of small countries called city-states by historians appeared one after another.

From the middle of the 8th century BC to the end of the 6th century BC, the large-scale migration of Greeks was an important factor of social and economic changes. Businessmen go out to do business, bankrupts go abroad to make a living, and losers in political struggles occupy some colonial sites overseas one after another. With the growth of Greek population and the development of social economy, the scope of colonization has been expanding. Dozens of Greek city-states have successively established more than 100 settlement areas in the vast areas from the east coast of the Black Sea to Marseille, France in the west, including the southern part of the Italian Peninsula and part of Sicily, the mouth of the Nile River and Libya in the south, and the coastal areas of the Adriatic Sea in Albania in the north. Among them, the most famous ones are Syracuse built by Corinthians, the tower built by Spartans (see Great Greece), Byzantium built by Megara and Olbia built by Miletus. The main reasons for most city-state immigrants are population growth and insufficient cultivated land. The main feature of immigrants in this period was that most immigrant areas became independent city-states. With the change of conditions, their relationship is distant and close, and they are in a state of war. At the same time, in many areas, there has been a phenomenon that immigrants enslave and exploit local residents.

While the Greeks expanded outward, they also constantly developed internal exchanges between regions. The establishment of many "Neighborhood Alliances" with religious activities as the main content, as well as the emergence and development of religious centers and competition centers such as Olympia and Delphi, which have gradually taken on all Greek significance, have promoted mutual understanding and economic and cultural exchanges between Greeks. There have also been wars of different natures between city-states.

After the middle of the 7th century BC, heavy infantry gradually became the main arms of citizen soldiers in every city-state. The class structure and social and political system of many city-states have changed. Its outstanding performance is the formation of equal commune in Sparta and the rise and fall of tyrant politics in many city-States. At the same time, there have been some activities of "legislators" who stipulated the basic system of the city-state by statute law, such as the reforms of Lycurgos in Sparta, Solon in Athens and Cleisthenes.

From the middle of the 6th century BC, Sparta in the south of the Peloponnesian Peninsula gradually united with most peninsula city states, forming the Peloponnesian League and becoming the leader of a Greek city-state group.

The Greek city-state uprising in Asia Minor (500-494 BC), headed by Miletus, overthrew Persian rule and opened the prelude to Greek history in the 5th century BC. Persian troops invaded Greece in 492 BC, 490 BC and 480 BC respectively, all of which ended in failure. In the marathon, Salamis, Platia and other battles, the people of dozens of Greek city-states who resisted aggression showed a high degree of patriotism (see the Greek-Persian War).

In 478 BC or before 477 BC, some Greek city-states headed by Athens formed the Tyrol Union. Sparta became more and more uneasy about the continuous growth and expansion of Athens' military and economic strength, and tried to limit it. Thebes, Corinth, Argos and other big city-states are all balancing gains and losses between the two big city-state groups headed by Sparta and Athens. After the end of the Greek-Persian War in 449 BC, the contradictions among Greek states became more prominent. Athens reached its peak during the reign of Pericles. The contradiction between the city-states eventually led to the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War. This war not only involved many city-states on the Greek peninsula, but also touched many Greek city-states scattered in Sicily, Aegean islands, Thrace coast and Asia Minor to a great extent. The war ended in the defeat of Athens.

In 395 BC, the Corinthian War (which ended in 387 BC) broke out when Athens and other countries jointly opposed Sparta. In the same year, the fleet commanded by Kang Nong of Samos, an Athenian working in Persia, defeated the Spartan navy and quickly cleared the troops stationed in the Aegean Islands. In 378 BC, the Democrats in Thebes, with the support of the Athenians, overthrew the oligarchy established by Sparta in 382 BC and expelled the Spartan army that occupied the Acropolis. The Viotia League headed by Thebes, under the leadership of Epaminondas and others, temporarily became the leading force of Greek local political situation. After the Battle of Luctra in 37 1 BC, the Spartan army was expelled from central Greece. Subsequently, Epaminondas led the army into the Peloponnesian Peninsula, which contributed to the independence of Acadia and made Messenia get rid of the rule of Sparta for a hundred years and regain its political independence.

With the rise of the kingdom of Macedonia and the Hellenistic era, the residents of Macedonia, Greece's northern neighbor, are very close to the Greeks in race and language, and are deeply influenced by the advanced Greek culture. The rapid rise of Macedonia under the rule of Philip II not only greatly promoted the development of Macedonian history, but also integrated Macedonian history with Greek history for a long time. Macedonia's external expansion during the reign of Philip II seriously damaged the interests of many Greek city-states and threatened their survival. The anti-Macedonian faction in Athens, represented by Demosthenes (384-322 BC), resolutely opposed Macedonian aggression inside and outside Athens from the 1950s, but ended in failure. In 338 BC, the allied forces of Greek states were defeated in the Battle of Caronia. Since then, most Greek city-states have gradually lost their political independence and fell under the rule of Macedonian kingdom.

The expedition of Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia, which began in 334 BC, was essentially an invasion of Asia and North Africa by Macedonian and Greek troops. After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, Greek history entered the Hellenistic era. After decades of war, a number of Hellenistic countries have emerged in Europe, Asia and Africa, mainly Ptolemy, Seleucia and Macedonia. In the Hellenistic era, most Greek city-states became local autonomous units with certain autonomy under the rule of kings or tyrants to varying degrees. In Greece, only Aetolian League, Ahaia League and Sparta have maintained political independence for a long time. In 299 BC, Roman troops began to invade the Balkans. Conquered the kingdom of Macedonia in BC 168. In 146 BC, Corinth fell and Greece was incorporated into Roman territory. In 30 BC, Rome perished the last Hellenistic country, the Ptolemaic Dynasty, which ruled Egypt, and the history of ancient Greece ended.