Topics: Greco-Roman World - Greece (3650 BC-146 BC)

Greece (3650 BC-146 BC)

The topic Greece refers to the primeval Aegean civilization from the Bronze Age (Mainland Helladic civilization, Crete and Cyclades), from 3650 to 1100 BC, and the Ancient Greece from the 12th century BC to the Roman conquest in 146 BC.

Aegean civilization is a general term for the Bronze Age civilizations of Greece and the Aegean. There are in fact three distinct but communicating and interacting geographic regions covered by this term: Crete, the Cyclades and the Greek mainland. Crete is associated with the Minoan civilization from the Early Bronze Age, while the Cyclades and the mainland have distinct cultures. The Cyclades converge with the mainland during the Early Helladic ("Minyan") period and with Crete in the Middle Minoan period. From ca. 1450 (Late Helladic, Late Minoan), the Greek Mycenaean civilization spreads to Crete.

The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth. It is generally considered to be the seminal culture which provided the foundation of Western civilization and shaped cultures throughout Southwest Asia and North Africa. Greek culture had a powerful influence on the Roman Empire, which carried a version of it to many parts of the Mediterranean region and Europe. The civilization of the ancient Greeks has been immensely influential on language, politics, educational systems, philosophy, science, and the arts, inspiring the Islamic Golden Age and the Western European Renaissance, and again resurgent during various neo-Classical revivals in 18th and 19th century Europe and the Americas.