Is Greece in Asia?

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 in Greece in the second millennium BC and early 1 millennium BC reveal that human beings have lived in the Greek mainland since the Paleolithic Age. At the end of 3000 BC, bronze culture appeared in Crete, and at the beginning of 2000 BC, there were countries and characters. Around 2000 BC, some Greek-speaking tribes began to settle in the Greek peninsula. In the middle and late 2000 BC, the Greeks established Mycenae, Tirins, Pailos and other small countries, which had written languages and created splendid Mycenae civilization. From the middle of the second millennium BC, the Greeks gradually expanded to the Aegean islands (including Crete). Legend has it that it happened in Troy, Asia Minor.

The war may have happened in the second half of BC13rd century, or it may have happened in the early stage of Greek expansion in BC12nd century. (See Crete Civilization and Mycenae Civilization)

Mycenaean civilization gradually declined within one or two hundred years after12nd century BC. 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 have disappeared, followed by the "Homeric Age" in which 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 in Greece, 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 foreign countries. 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 regions with superior geographical conditions, such as Corinth, Egina, Miletus, Athens, Hakis, Errett Riya and Jos, commerce and handicrafts, such as oil exploitation, 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. Within a century or two, a number of small countries called "polis" by historians appeared one after another. However, some tribes still stay in the late primitive society.

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 (far from all participating in immigration) have successively established a total of more than 100 immigration areas in a wide area from the east coast of the Black Sea to Marseille, France, including parts of the southern Italian peninsula and Sicily, to the mouth of the Nile River and Libya in the south, and to the Adriatic coast of Albania in the north. Among them, the most famous ones are Syracuse built by the Lins, 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. Their relationship with their mother state is mainly limited to worshipping the same god. 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, immigrants enslaved and exploited aborigines. In a vast area, many immigrant areas have been established closely, and some have met each other. At the same time, in many areas, immigrants enslaved and exploited aborigines. The establishment and development of numerous immigrant areas in a vast area is conducive to the economic and cultural exchanges between Greeks and other ethnic groups, to the development of Greek economy, and to the evolution of social and political systems in various city-States.

ancient Greece

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 the city-states, including the wars in which Sparta conquered Messenia and enslaved the Greeks.

After the middle of the 7th century BC, heavy infantry gradually became the main arms of citizen soldiers in every city-state. The reform of military system affects the political and social development of the city-state. The intensification of the polarization between the rich and the poor has caused the common people to struggle against the exploitation, slavery and political monopoly of clan and nobility, developed the slave possession system which mainly enslaved foreigners, and changed the class structure, social system and political system of many city-states. 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. Except for some tyrants supported by Persians, in Greece in the 7th and 6th centuries BC, the word "tyrant" refers to those who came to power without election. Most of them were supported by the middle and lower class citizens, and took some measures that were beneficial to the lower class, which weakened the power and influence of clan nobles and promoted the development of economy and culture. The most famous tyrants were Periander of Corinth and peisistratus of Athens.

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, and the victory of the Greeks had a far-reaching impact both inside and outside the Greek world (see the Greek-Persian War). In 480 BC, the Greeks in Sicily also won a great victory over Carthage.

In 478 BC or before 477 BC, some Greek city-states headed by Athens formed the Tyrol Union. The establishment of the alliance and the evolution of its nature made the whole political structure of the Greek world increasingly complex. The development of democracy based on slave ownership in Athens had a great influence on the political, ideological and cultural development of the whole Greek world. 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 all weighed the gains and losses, and dealt with the two big city-state groups headed by Sparta and Athens respectively. 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. After the war, the polarization between the rich and the poor in Athens, Sparta, Corinth, Syracuse and other major city-states intensified, and social contradictions became increasingly acute. In some areas, the civil service system gradually disintegrated and the mercenary system continued to develop.

Persia, which was defeated in the Persian War and temporarily withdrew from Europe, became an important force to manipulate the Greek political situation again from the late Peloponnesian War, and supported Sparta with a lot of money to help it defeat Athens. Soon, Sparta had an armed conflict with Persia because of the political status of the Greek city-state in Asia Minor, and the Persians turned to support the Greek States dissatisfied with Sparta's rule. 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 Athenian farmers working in Persia defeated the Spartan navy and quickly cleared the Spartan army stationed in the Aegean Islands. He successfully returned to Athens and rebuilt the Athens wall that was demolished at the request of Sparta in 404 BC. In order to win the support of Persians, the two warring parties in Greece competed to send representatives to negotiate with the Persian king. In 387 BC, under the direct intervention of Persians, Sparta forced many Greek city-states, including Athens, to accept the antar Kidas Peace Treaty in favor of Sparta. Since then, Sparta has unscrupulously interfered in the internal affairs of other city-states, ravaged the sovereignty of other countries and fostered oligarchs.

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 troops occupying 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 Mycenae get rid of the rule of Sparta for a hundred years and regain political independence. Since then, Sparta is no longer the first military power in Greece, and its political influence is also declining. In 362 BC, the rule of Thebes ended after the Battle of Montania. In Thessaly, Ferrer's tyrant Song Ya (reigned from 380 BC to 370 BC) once ruled this country and tried to rule Greece.

Monument to the Battle of Liuktra

Taking advantage of people's general dissatisfaction with Sparta's tyrannical rule, Athens organized a new city-state alliance in 378 BC. At first, it solemnly promised that all states that joined the Union would be equal, would not interfere in other countries' internal affairs, would not station troops in other countries, and would not resettle Athenian military immigrants, which won wide support for a while. However, the second city-state alliance organized by Athens (known as "the second Athens maritime alliance" in history) did not last long. Thebes was dissatisfied with Athens' proximity to Sparta, which led to the split of some supporters. Then, because Athens violated the treaty of alliance, an "alliance war" broke out between the Allies and Athens (357-355 BC). The failure of Athens led to the disintegration of the alliance, which was officially dissolved in 338 BC.

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 ancient Macedonia under Philip II (reigned from 359 BC to 336 BC) 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 in Athens and abroad 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, Macedonia and other countries. 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. With the gradual disappearance of the Hellenistic kingdom, the Romans gradually became the masters of the fate of the Greeks. In 30 BC, Rome perished the last Hellenistic country, the Ptolemaic Dynasty, which ruled Egypt, and the history of ancient Greece ended.

On the basis of absorbing the cultural achievements of West Asia and Egypt, ancient Greek culture has made creative contributions in many fields, including mathematics, astronomy, medicine, architecture, sculpture, drama, poetry, philosophy, history and oratory, according to the needs of production, society and politics. In different periods and in different cultural fields, all Greek states have made efforts to enrich the Greek cultural treasure house. During the Hellenistic period, due to the integration and mutual influence of Greek culture and Asian-African culture under the new historical conditions, the traditional Greek culture has new contents. Ancient Greek culture belongs to the socio-economic form of slave possession system, and its development can not be separated from slave possession system, which has a great influence on later generations.

Ancient Sheila Wenhua

Ancient Greek culture

Ancient Greek civilization

It refers to the culture created by the ancient Greeks who lived in the Balkans and the vast areas around the Mediterranean from the end of 3000 BC to the second half of 1 century BC. Ancient Greek culture is an important part of human cultural heritage, which has a great influence on the development of the whole world, especially on European culture. Since the 4th century BC, "Greek" is not a simple concept of race, but refers to all people who accept Greek culture and speak Greek.

At the end of 3,000 BC and before 2,000 BC, the earliest bronze culture in Europe appeared in the Aegean Islands and the Greek mainland (see Crete civilization and Mycenae civilization). Here we mainly talk about Greek culture in BC 1 millennium. The Greek culture in this period adapted to the needs of the socio-economic development of the Greeks in a certain stage of primitive society and the disintegration of slave ownership, and reflected and served this development; It is the result of the Greeks' extensive absorption of the outstanding cultural achievements of neighboring nationalities, especially the ancient countries of West Asia and North Africa, and their creative transformation and development. It is also the crystallization of the wisdom of Greeks in different regions.

Myth and Religion In the early days of ancient Greek culture, myth and religion were inseparable. The Greeks created many myths with eternal charm. Greek religion worships everything in the universe, ancestors and heroes, and develops from totem worship to personification. Many clans and tribes in ancient Greece once had their own gods, and later they had the gods of city-states and gods that were universally respected throughout the Greek world. Hesiod, a poet from the end of the 8th century BC to the beginning of the 7th century BC, once described the family of gods headed by Zeus, including Poseidon, Apollo, Athena and Hera.

Religion plays a very important role in Greek life, but its role is different in different historical periods. When the class division is not serious and all clan members participate in productive labor, many gods are related to the labor process. Such as Hermes grazing, Athena cultivating olives, Artemis hunting, etc. When the gentry and nobles became the rulers of the commune, God became their protector and source of power. Clan nobles who hold the power of sacrifice use their religious power to control and enslave ordinary clan members. They tried clan members with unwritten laws that were said to come from or be protected by God. When the rule of clans and nobles was weakened or destroyed by the development of city-state system, religion with the nature of the whole city-state came into being, which linked all citizens together. Building temples and festivals for all citizens of the polis is a concrete embodiment. In Athens, all important sacrificial activities are under the control of the state, and various festivals and celebrations have also become an important means to strengthen the unity of citizens. In the Hellenistic era, many religious beliefs in Egypt and West Asian countries had a wide influence on the Greeks. The king of Ptolemy dynasty vigorously promoted the worship of Serabis, which had the characteristics of both Egyptian and Greek gods.

Architecture and Art The sacrificial ceremonies of the Greeks were generally held in front of the temple, not in the temple, so the scale of the temple was not large. The earliest temples were wooden structures, and later developed into stone structures, mostly marble buildings rich in Greece. Before the 7th century BC, primitive temples appeared in Corinth and other places, and their structures were obviously born out of the "Megaron" (main hall) in Mycenae. In the 7th century BC, there were two ways to build temples, Dorian and Ionian. The former prevailed in the Balkan Peninsula, Greater Greece and the Greek region of Sicily, while the latter was widely adopted by the Greeks in Asia Minor. As the foundation of Greek architecture, column structure is a great creation of Greeks and has a far-reaching influence on later generations. At the end of 5th century BC, Corinthian order was formed on the basis of Ionian order which was widely adopted in 4th century BC. The decoration of the temple is from scratch. For a long time, shaping gods and decorating temples and altars were the main aspects for Greek painters and sculptors to display their talents. Ancient Greek Statues-In addition to creating statues, discus throwers also created many idealized human statues, including a large number of statues showing outstanding athletes. As early as the 7th century BC, a stone statue of naked youth named "Kuros" appeared. In terms of techniques, Greek sculptors have long been committed to expressing the posture of the human body in sports and have made great achievements. Sculptors in the 4th century BC began to pay attention to expressing people's feelings. In the Hellenistic era, there appeared some works describing the daily life of ordinary people.

The representative figures of Greek sculpture art in the 5th century BC include Miron, who is famous for expressing athletes in sports, Polly Cletus, who is famous for his exquisite bronze statues of young athletes, and phidias, who is famous for his sculptures (the activity period is about 490-430 BC). The statue of Zeus in temple of olympian zeus created by phidias is known as one of the "Seven Wonders of the World". Under his leadership, the Parthenon (designed by Ektino and Caliklatus) standing on the Acropolis is still regarded as the highest achievement of ancient Greek architecture. The statue of Athena he created for this temple is also famous. Outstanding sculptors in the 4th century BC included plessy Thales, Scopas and Leigh Sipos.

Pottery modeling and paintings on various vessels are important parts of ancient Greek art treasures. Since the 7th century BC, Greek pottery painting has shown different local characteristics. In the second half of the 6th century BC, the pottery painting in Athens was highly developed. Black painted pottery painted with black on the natural red surface of pottery was first famous, and then it was replaced by red painted pottery which is more convenient to realistically express human body and movements, that is, the picture itself is the natural red of pottery, and the rest of the space is black.

Writing, Poetry and Drama In the 8th century BC, the Greeks created the Greek alphabet on the basis of transforming the Phoenician alphabet, which was an important contribution of the Greeks to human civilization. The present Greek alphabet is the crystallization of the continuous improvement of ancient Greeks in different regions. This letter, which can represent both consonants and vowels, became the predecessor of Latin letters.

The ancient Greeks left immortal Homer's epics Iliad and Odyssey. Poems with different themes, such as teaching metaphor poems and lyric poems, shone brilliantly in ancient Greece, and talented poets such as hesiod, Sappho, Pindaros, Simonides Of Ceos and Kalimarcos appeared. Their poems have different styles, which reflect the style of their times from different angles.

Tragedy and comedy creation are another great contribution of the ancient Greeks in culture. Tragedy and comedy were both born in Athens in the second half of the 6th century BC, and both were related to the worship of Dionysus, the god of wine. Organizing theatrical performances is one of the important tasks of Athens. In the 5th century BC, Aeschylus, Sophocles and euripides, the great tragic writers in Athens, constantly improved the expressions of tragedy, profoundly reflected the concerns of citizens in reality through myths and legends, and had a wide social impact. The works of comedian aristophanes, with its rich imagination and unique structure, express the author's views on pressing social and political issues. Christian era

The works of the famous playwright Minand in the second half of the 4th century provided a lot of valuable information about the society at that time. In the 4th century BC, the amphitheater became the most popular building in Greece. In the Hellenistic era, gymnasiums and theaters were indispensable public buildings in every city. In the second half of the 4th century BC, the theater built by Epi Darus in the Peloponnesian Peninsula is still well preserved, and there are often ancient Greek dramas staged there in summer.

Due to the need of political struggle and numerous lawsuits, a series of famous orators appeared in ancient Greece, leaving a lot of precious speeches. Such as Lucias, Isolates, Demosthenes and aeschines.

Philosophy and History Ancient Greek philosophy represented by Thales, Pythagoras, Heraclitus, democritus, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus (34 1 ~ 270 BC) and Zhi Nuo (335 ~ 263 BC) occupies a lofty position in the history of human thought development.

Status, for later philosophers of various schools provided a very rich source of ideas.

Ancient Greece produced many famous historians, such as Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Polybius and so on. Their works widely record various events and are excellent literary works.

Culture in the Hellenistic era; In the Hellenistic era, science gradually separated from philosophy and tended to be classified. Alexandria, Pagama, Rhodes and other places have become new cultural centers. Great progress has been made in geography, medicine, astronomy, mathematics, botany, anatomy, physics and other disciplines. Sorting out the classics of the past dynasties has achieved remarkable results. Academic representatives include geographer Eratosthenes, botanist Theophrastos, mathematician Euclid, physicist Archimedes, astronomer arista Coase who was born in Samos Island, astronomer Hipachas who was born in Nicaya and others. They all made indelible contributions in the history of academic thought development. The works of Archimedes and Euclid still apply today.

After Hellenistic countries were successively reduced to Roman provinces, Greek culture occupied a dominant position in the Eastern Mediterranean for a long time, which had a great influence on the development of Roman culture. But on the whole, Greek culture declined with the decline of the city-state.

Crete He Wenming Masini Wen Ming

Crete civilization and Mycenaean civilization

Crete civilization and Mycenaean civilization

The bronze age culture distributed in Crete and its surrounding areas and the Greek mainland before the end of 3000 BC and 2000 BC. History is called Aegean civilization.

German scholar H. Sheriman, Greek scholar C. Tsongtas, British scholars A.J. Evans and A.J.B. Weiss and others are in Mycenae, Crete and

Archaeological excavations on other Aegean islands and the interpretation of linear letter B by British scholar M.G.F Winteris have greatly promoted the study of the above-mentioned civilizations by scholars all over the world.

Crete culture in the middle and late bronze age. Also known as "Minoan civilization" (from the name of Crete Island in northern Wang Mi in ancient Greek mythology). Crete in the eastern Mediterranean is the birthplace of ancient Aegean civilization and the earliest center of ancient civilization in Europe. Bronze culture appeared at the end of 3 thousand BC, and the earliest slave-holding country in Europe with Knossos as the center appeared at the beginning of 2 thousand BC. Knossos is located in the northern part of Crete, where the earliest palace was built in Neolithic settlement around 1900 BC. During this period, the political, economic and social organizations were developed, and trade with the eastern Mediterranean coast was frequent, with extensive contacts with Egypt, Phoenicia, Asia Minor, Sicily, Italy and other places. Then palaces appeared in Festus, Tus, Maria, Zakros and other places. The harem of Knossos was destroyed by an earthquake or a war disaster, and it was rebuilt and even more magnificent. This is a perfect building complex, which consists of several buildings with more than two floors, and there is also a special place to hold sacrifices (see Caitu Knossos Palace). Around 1500 BC, the palaces of Knossos and Faistos were destroyed at the same time. Some people think this is because of the volcanic eruption near Scylla. Around 1450 BC, the palace was destroyed, probably due to the Greek invasion in the Balkans. From then on, the Greeks became the masters of Crete, and gradually merged with the original local residents, and the Crete civilization ended.

All kinds of exquisite pottery have been unearthed in Crete, including the famous "eggshell pottery", as well as a large number of bronze weapons, gold wares and gem carvings. There are many vivid and colorful murals in the palace of Knossos.

At the beginning of the second millennium BC, hieroglyphics appeared in Crete. Later, hieroglyphics were simplified to linear characters with lines as outlines. The early linear character, called linear character A, was found on many objects in Crete, but it has not been explained so far. After the Greek invasion in the middle of 2000 BC, linear characters B appeared, which were used to record Greek documents and were mostly written on clay tablets. This kind of clay tablet literature is only found in Knossos, Crete.

Crete statue

Late bronze age culture of Mycenae civilization. Distributed in mainland Greece and Aegean Islands. It was named after the most powerful kingdom in Greece at that time and its capital Mycenae. Around 2000 BC, the Greeks began to settle in the southern tip of the Balkans. From 65438 BC to the first half of the 6th century, some slave countries gradually formed, and Mycenae civilization appeared. There have been acropolis, palaces and large domes in Mycenae, Tirins and Pailos in the Peloponnesus, Thebes, Ochman North, Glass and Athens in central Greece, and Yorkos in Thessaloniki. Among them, Mycenae's architecture is the most magnificent, and its entrance to the Acropolis is the famous Lion Gate. (See the site of Lions Gate in Mycenae)

Mycenae tomb site

Linear B clay tablets were found in Thebes and Mycenae, among which Pyros was the most unearthed. Most of these clay tablets come from13rd century BC. The number of words on each block ranges from three or four to more than one hundred, and most of them are very short. The linear letter B consists of three symbols, namely phonetic symbol, ideographic symbol and counting symbol. The contents of the document can basically be summarized as a property list, involving the number of workers, livestock and agricultural products, the number of land, the number of sacrifices, the number of weapons and so on. To some extent, these materials are helpful to understand the economic, political, religious and social structure at that time, indicating that there were slave countries at that time, and free people were divided into rich and poor. The styles of exquisite handicrafts, bronze weapons, gold wares and pottery unearthed in Mycenae, Tirins and Pailos were strongly influenced by Crete civilization, especially the early artifacts of Mycenae civilization. However, the modeling and decoration of the artifacts in Mycenae civilization have their own distinct characteristics, and the theme of war plays an important role in murals. For more than 100 years after 1400 BC, the center of Mycenae civilization had frequent commercial exchanges with many places in the Mediterranean region. According to Homer's epic and other legends, the armies of Greek states, led by King Mycenae, fought against Troy in Asia Minor for ten years. Years of excavation of the old site of Troy, started by Sherman, show that it has been a center of civilization for a long time. Most scholars believe that the Trojan War may have occurred in the second half of BC13rd century or the first half of BC12nd century. Since12nd century BC, Mycenae civilization has gradually declined, and palaces, scripts and countries have disappeared one after another, so that the history of many countries related to Crete civilization and Mycenae civilization only existed in legends for a long time. As for the reasons for the decline of Mycenae civilization, it is either due to civil strife, Dorian invasion, or both. Crete civilization and Mycenae civilization had a great influence on the development of Greek history.

Hippo times

Homer era

Homer era

Refers to the historical stage from 1 1 BC to the disintegration of the ancient Greek clan system in the 9th century BC. Because the main historical materials reflecting the social situation in this period are Homer's historical poems Iliad and Odyssey (also translated as Odessa), it was named. Because epic describes the story of "hero", it is also called "heroic age". Homer era is a temporary tortuous period in Greek history after the decline of Mycenae civilization, so it is also called "dark age" and "Greek Middle Ages". At the end of the clan society, this era has sprouted classes. Although there is primitive democracy, the power of military leaders is increasing day by day, which belongs to the period of military democracy in the stage of social development. In a tribe or tribal alliance, there are generally three institutions: the Council of Elders, the People's Assembly and the military leaders. In Homer's time, the cities, palaces, scripts, economic organizations and bureaucracies centered on palaces in Mycenae Civilization Center disappeared. The Greeks mastered the technology of smelting iron more and more widely, and used iron tools widely in agriculture and handicrafts. Agriculture and animal husbandry are the main production departments, and commune land is cultivated by every household. The polarization between the rich and the poor has become increasingly serious, and private ownership and slavery have begun to appear. However, as slave owners, clan nobles have not divorced from productive labor. Clans and nobles played an important role in the war. With the formation of class society, the first Greek city-states appeared in the 9th-8th century BC, and the Homer era ended.

Sila Cheng Bang

Greek polis

Polei, the city-state of ancient Greece

City-state, or city-state, is a kind of citizen collective that evolved from primitive commune under certain historical conditions. The remarkable characteristics of ancient Greek history from the 8th century BC to the 4th century BC are the unbalanced development of economy, politics and culture in various regions, the coexistence of hundreds of city-states, and the emergence of many city-state alliances. Generally speaking, a city-state includes two parts: the city and the countryside. The city mentioned here refers to a political and religious center that is easy to keep and often has walls. A large number of polis were established by immigrants sent by the original polis.

The size and inhabitants of the city-states All Greek city-states are small countries. In its heyday, Sparta was the leading power in Greece at that time, with only about 8,400 square kilometers of land. Athens covers an area of about 2,550 square kilometers, and Argos covers an area of about 1400 square kilometers. There are nearly 100 city-states in Crete, covering an area of about 8,260 square kilometers, and there are 22 in the Fokis region in central Greece, covering an area of about 1.650 square kilometers.