|
According to historical evidences and archaeological excavations, Greece history commences with the Stone Age Civilization. Settlements in Greece began from The Palaeolithic Age that covers between 11.000 BC to 3.000 BC. Thereafter, the civilizations of Greece began to acquire more complex structure with the formation of larger villages and new forms of social organisation. Approximately during 3.000 BC, the art of metal work emerged in Greece and this marked the beginning of The Bronze Age. The second millennium B.C saw the birth of some glorious Greek civilizations like Minoan Civilization on Crete Islands, the Mycenean Civilization on the Mainland with the Cycladic Civilization flourishing on the island of Centre Aegean.
During the 12th century BC, the Dorians descending from the North, massacred the Mycenean people, disintegrating the entire control system. With this began The Dark Age and The Bronze Age civilizations came to an abrupt end. From about 1000 BC, the Greeks again started to reconstruct their civilizations and this marked the beginning of the Archaic Period. The Classical Period that followed the Archaic Period is unanimously considered to be the Golden Age of Greece history. This period is particularly remembered as the time when some of best mathematicians and philosophers of Greece lived. It was also during The Classical Period that democracy as a form of government came into being.
After The Classical period, Greek history primarily revolves around numerous conquests and dominations. During the Hellenistic Period that extended between 404 to 146 BC, Alexander the Great emerged as the king. Another important era in the history of Greece is the Roman Period that followed the Hellenistic Period marked by expansionist strategies of the Romans. When the Carthagians supported by the Greeks lost against the Romans, Greece began to be gradually conquered by the Roman Empire. The period between 31 BC to 180 AD, when Greece was under the control of Roman Empire is termed as the period of the Pax Romana. The following Byzantine Period was also a critical epoch in the history of Greece. With the beginning of the 3rd century, Pax Romana was in danger of violation as Greece came to be conquered by tribes such as the Goths, the Heruli and the Franks. Christianity gradually emerged as the religions of the Empire.
The Byzantine Empire ended with the invasion of the Turks followed by the Ottoman era that continued for four hundred years. The war for independence against Turkish oppression began in 1821 and ended with the setting up of independent Greek State.
For more information on Greece History please look into the following links:
|
