Ancient Greece: history, society, and legacy

Homer and Hesiod

In many respects, the archaic period produced foundations for the classical period of ancient Greece. At the beginning, after the "Dark Ages", were the Homeric epics, so important as an early link of the Hellenes, the Iliad and the Odyssey (created somewhat later), which were probably written down around 700 BC (the date is disputed in research, see Homeric question). The poems of Hesiod, which are significant for mythology and world view, were also written. These works subsequently formed an important canon of ancient Greek culture.

The polis

During this time a new state system was formed in Greece, the formation of which may have begun as early as the 12th century BC - possibly the roots of the term even go back to early Mycenaean times - but at the latest in the Geometric period (about 900-700 BC): the polis (city-state) became the dominant form of government (except in parts of northern Greece and parts of the Peloponnese). The nobility, which at first was not yet the aristocracy by birth, gained in influence; at the same time, as a result of this, kingship was pushed back more and more and largely disappeared. Thus, among other things, oligarchies increasingly appeared, while in other city-states the population was more involved in the government. The developed democracy (see also isonomy, the principle of equality of rights) as in the case of Athens, however, did not emerge until classical times. Full citizens were entitled to participate in political life in the polis. The degree of participation varied from city to city. Often poleis had only a narrowly defined surrounding area (chora). Large poleis with extensive chora, such as Athens and Sparta, were the exception. As a rule, each polis had an acropolis as well as an agora, the marketplace, which served as the economic and political center.

The great colonization

As early as the end of the 2nd millennium BC, Greeks are said to have moved to places on the coast of Asia Minor. In the period from about 750-550 B.C. the Great Colonization took place, in the course of which subsidiary cities were founded in large parts of the Black Sea area and in many areas of the Mediterranean. Here, especially in Lower Italy and on Sicily - according to Thucydides, for example, Naxos in 735 BC and Syracuse in 730 BC - many colonies were founded (Magna Graecia). The reasons were overpopulation and the securing of trade routes as well as internal political antagonisms and unrest within a polis. The term colonization is not to be interpreted according to modern standards. The newly founded cities were independent of the mother city and the settlement usually took place where no serious resistance by the natives was to be expected.

Greek settlement thus extended over the entire Mediterranean region - with the Aegean as its centre. From 700 BC, the influence of oriental elements on Greek art increased, with cities on Euboea playing an important mediating role at first, soon followed by the powerful Corinth. The Greeks had already adopted the alphabet of the Phoenicians and modified it for their own purposes.

Ionian philosophy also emerged in this widening horizon. Among its outstanding representatives are the natural philosopher Thales of Miletus, the mathematician Pythagoras of Samos and the dialectician Heraclitus of Ephesus.

Argos and Sparta

Meanwhile, on the Greek mainland, various poleis rivalled for supremacy and often fought each other. On the Peloponnese, Argos was the leader for a long time; but Sparta succeeded in becoming the leading military power of Greece - after the conquest of Messenia in several fiercely fought wars (until 640 BC) as well as on the basis of internal reforms. The military model of hoplite tactics had long since prevailed. Around 550 BC, Sparta finally founded the Peloponnesian League and thus cemented its claim to power.

The Tyranny

In the 7th and 6th centuries BC, the tyrannical form of government became widespread. This happened first in Corinth, where the Cypselids came to power around 660 BC and thus established the earliest tyranny in Greece, and then in Sikyon and Samos, and later also in Athens. The term tyrannis originated in Asia Minor and at first denoted, without valuation, an autocracy. As a rule, a powerful aristocrat took over the leadership within a polis, secured his power militarily and also sought support from other tyrants. Thus, there was no legal basis, but a purely power-political one. In the western Mediterranean area, too, tyrants came to power in later times, whereby the development in Sicily was quite spectacular (see Gelon, Agathokles). In the Greek heartland, Sparta in particular opposed this form of government around 500 and fought it vigorously, though not without the ulterior motive of increasing its own influence in this way.

Community factors

The ancient Greek world knew no "national feeling", even if there was widespread agreement about who was Greek and who was not. Every polis, no matter how small, strictly guarded its own autonomy and was not willing to give it up voluntarily. As a result, war was more the norm in ancient Greece (see the battles between Sparta and Argos or between Athens and Aegina).

Large-scale events, in which Greeks from the various poleis flocked together and expressed their sense of togetherness, took place above all in the form of the Panhellenic Games, the most famous of which were the Olympic Games. Greeks from Lower Italy, for example, also took part in these. Of similar Panhellenic importance was also the Oracle of Delphi.

However, the canon of gods known from the Homeric epics, to which the first temples were built ­in archaic times, had a fundamental community-building effect.­ The ancient Greek poleis were strongly influenced by religion. Although it was not a book religion - religion was determined by myths and heroic stories - almost all public and private actions ­were accompanied by invocations to the gods.

A certain sense of community, which was also expressed politically, only developed on the eve of the Persian Wars. In 510 B.C. the tyranny in Athens was finally eliminated. Athens had already become the supreme power in Attica; Thebes later aspired to supremacy in Boeotia, while the most important power in Greece was still Sparta. In Asia Minor there was finally the Ionian Revolt (500-494 BC), an event that was to write world history.

Greece remained the battleground of the Hellenistic great powers. Especially the Antigonids tried to renew the old Macedonian hegemony. Athens' attempt to become a power again after Alexander's death failed miserably (Lamian War, 323-322 BC). The polis was replaced as a power factor by the Greek federal states. The two most important were the Aitolean League and the Achaian League. Culturally, the focus shifted more to the east, where especially Alexandria in Egypt, later also Pergamon in Asia Minor played an important role (see also Diadochi). The western Greeks, meanwhile, already came under Roman rule in the course of the 3rd century.

Whether after 300 - due to the emigration of Greeks and Macedonians and the recruitment of Greek and Macedonian mercenaries by the Diadochian empires - a partial depopulation of overpopulated regions of Greece, combined with an economic downturn, set in, which only came to a halt in the Roman imperial period, is disputed in recent research. In the meantime, archaeological investigations have shown that many Greek cities experienced an economic boom during Hellenism.

As a result of the fighting between the Greek minor and middle powers among themselves and with and against Macedonia, the Roman Empire intervened against Philip V of Macedonia. In the Second Macedonian-Roman War (200-197 BC), Macedonia was devastatingly defeated. In 196 BC, the Roman general Titus Quinctius Flamininus proclaimed the freedom of Greece, but Rome remained a de facto protectorate power. As the situation remained unstable, Rome was forced to intervene repeatedly in the following period, especially in staseis between Greek "friends of Rome" and "enemies of Rome". After the battle of Pydna in 168 BC, Macedonia, which under King Perseus had once again tried to assert itself in Greece against Rome, was eliminated as a power factor. Rome now became permanently involved in Greece. After the destruction of Corinth, this led to the final subjugation of Greece: in 146 BC the province of Macedonia was established, in 133 BC the province of Asia, which included most of the Greek cities in Asia Minor, and then in 27 BC most of central and southern Greece was also subjected to direct Roman rule as Achaea. Subsequently, more and more Italics settled in Greece and Asia Minor, pursuing economic interests there. Roman rule over the Hellenes was challenged one last time around 88 BC by King Mithridates VI, but this remained an episode.

After the empire of Pergamon had been annexed by Rome in 133 BC, the Seleucid empire in Syria followed in 64/63 BC (which, however, had already been of only regional importance since the late 2nd century and had long since lost its richest provinces), and finally, in 30 BC, the last Hellenistic power, the Egypt of the Ptolemies. Thus ended the epoch of Hellenism in political terms.