~Greece~History Know

Introduction to the history of ancient Greece

The earliest residents of ancient Greece came from the Pilaskis in West Asia. They once created the European Neolithic and Copper tools with Crete as the center. Tool culture. Starting from 2000 AD, Indo-Europeans entered the Greek Peninsula in batches. The first group arrived in the southern part of the peninsula around the 17th century BC and were the Achayans. By the 12th century BC, a large number of Indo-Europeans arrived from Traveling from north to south, they entered various parts of the peninsula and caused a long-term wave of immigrants. After these people settled in the peninsula, they were divided into three major groups: Aeolians, Ionians and Dorians according to different dialects. The original residents were gradually replaced by them. assimilation.

However, the Pilaski people on the island of Crete had already created a culture of using gold and stone as early as the early 25th century BC. In 2000B.C, they entered the Bronze Age. As for their heyday, Between 1600B.C and 1450B.C, the famous Knossas Palace was built. This palace covers an area of ??two hectares and is mostly a three-story building. It is equipped with a water supply and drainage system. There are many palaces and complex structures, so it has The name of maze. There are vivid and realistic pictures painted on the walls of the corridor, there is also a theater that can accommodate 500 people, and a large tank as high as a person. Unfortunately, for some unknown reason, the Cretan culture was suddenly destroyed around 1450B.C. The reason is unknown. Some scholars guessed it was because of a tsunami, while others said it was because of an earthquake. After that, the center of Aegean culture moved to Mycenae in the southern part of the peninsula.

The Maicenae culture was created by a group of Greeks called the Akayas. Archaeologists have excavated royal palaces, tombs, clay tablets, and a large number of gold and silver products at the Maicenae site. The most interesting thing is that in the late Mycenae civilization, the Achaeans organized a Greek coalition and launched an expedition against Troy, a wealthy city-state in Asia Minor. The war lasted for ten years. In the end, the Greeks captured the city of Troy with the Trojan horse trick. They won, but Mycenae was severely weakened and was soon conquered by the Dorians in the northern part of the peninsula.

According to the content of Homer’s epic poem, between 11CBC and 9CBC, Greece entered the heroic period during this period. Iron tools were widely used, and plows were used to cultivate fields and fertilize; in addition, In the development of crafts, the division of labor became more refined, and barter transactions became popular. A patriarchal society began, and there is clear evidence that there were many slaves at that time, mostly from wars. There are also other types of poor people such as beggars and hired workers.

During the period from 8CBC to 6CBC, Greek city-states were established, and the famous Sparta and Athens appeared. During this period, Greece's winemaking, oil-pressing, and pottery industries were all leading in the Mediterranean. The shipbuilding industry was more developed and could build three-story fast voyage ships. In 7CBC, many city-states with more developed industry and commerce had begun to mint currency. Yes. These city-states were generally only a hundred square miles in size, with a population of only tens of thousands, and the largest was only about 100,000. There were about two hundred city-states at that time, the most famous of which were Miletus and Ephesus (also translated as Ephesus). ); Delphi and Athens in central Greece, Corinth in Nancy, Argos, Sparta, etc. These city-states are basically independent, and they also form alliances to strengthen their political and military strength. The strange thing is that they basically remain the same in terms of language, religious festivals, and social customs. They all call themselves Greeks.

In 500B.C, a war broke out between Greece and Persia. The cause was the Persian Empire's determined westward expansion. The cause was Miletus on the west coast of Asia Minor resisting Persian rule and asking Sparta and Athens to send troops. Athens sent twenty warships for assistance. The Persian King Darius I had already wanted to attack Greece, so he used this incident as an excuse, so he sent troops to attack Greece in 492B.C. By the time Greece and Persia signed a peace treaty in 449B.C, forty During the three years, the war between the two sides was divided into three stages, and it could only end if Persia was willing to give up its westward policy.

After the Persian War, Athens became the leader of the Greek peninsula. 443B.C to 429B.C was the period when Pericles led Athens, which was also the golden age of Athens. Because soon, Sparta was no longer willing to tolerate the leadership of Athens, and rose up to compete with Athens for the leadership of the peninsula. From 431B.C to 404B.C, the two sides fought many times in 27 years. This is the famous Peloponnesian War. , everyone is severely weakened, the golden age of ancient Greece has passed, everyone can only wait patiently for Alexander (336B.C-323B.C) to come out of Macedonia in the north of the peninsula!