Greece, the ancient history

The great variety of the landscapes of Greece that range from Snow Mountains to amazing sandy beaches, and the beautiful seascape of the country with almost one thousand five hundreds islands spread all over the shores of the Aegean and Ionian Seas made the country one of the favorable destinations for travelers coming to spend their holidays in Greece.

The population of Greece that exceeds more than 12 million inhabitants lives in a surface area that is around 51,821 square kilometers. Those people are blessed with the finest temperate climate under the blue sky of the Mediterranean Sea. The fact made many travelers come to spend their vacations in Greece.
The rich history of Greece, which dates back to more than five thousand years, has left many imprints like the Minoan Palaces, Mycenaean fortresses, some classical temples, many Hellenistic tombs, Roman ruins and cities, Byzantine churches, Crusaders castles, and Turkish mosques. Many of these monuments are mainly included in any Greece packages.

This is besides the great variety of several architectural styles ranging from the picturesque islands with its rather simple architectural features to the modernity of the Greek cities and summer resorts that attract travelers from all over the world to spend a tour in Greece.

Another significant feature of Greece is that each region of the country exhibits a characteristic brand or natural and artistic aspects which in the same time serve to emphasis the unity of the ancient European culture. These remarkable features have encouraged many people from around the world to travel to Greece.

A look at Greece ancient history

Between 4000 and 3000 BC, the Minoans have settled in the Island of Crete, with around 3000 square kilometers, it is the largest of the Greek islands. They were able to establish the first civilizations known in European history. Mythology together with history were blended together in the story of the priest King Minos, the legendary son Zeus, rulers of Olympian gods, and even Europa, the beautiful lovely princess after whom the whole continent was named.

From his amazing palace in Knossos, successive Minoan Kings ruled over the most ancient naval empire known in human history. However, this empire was destroyed later by the eruption of the islands of Thira, A Cretan colony, in 1450 BC. This was the famous lost island of Atlantis, according to some historians and the discovery of a while town under 160 feet of lava gives some credibility to this theory.

After this period of glory that the island of Crete, which hosts many travelers who spend their Greece, tours in the island, it was time for the Hellenistic tribes, and many other dynasties like the Pelasigians, the Achaeans, the Aeolians, and the Ionians, to arrive in the mainland of Greece and establish small principalities.
During the 8th century BC, the great most famous epic poet, immortalized the Mycenaean age in his famous Iliad and Odyssey, the tale of the Trojan war where Achilles, Odysseys, and many other heroes, under the leadership of King Agamemnon, were able to invade Troy to rescue Helena, the beautiful wife of the Spartan King, Menelaus.

This story was long believed to be only a fantasy of the author, Home. However, in 1870, Henirich Schliemann, a German amateur archeologist, was able to follow poet geographical indications and he was able to unearth the palaces and towns in the epic cycle. Some of the ruins of these dynasties can still be visited in affordable tours to Greece.

Athens, Crete, and many other regions of the country can be visited in custom tours to Greece to watch the greatness of the ancient Greek history

In 1100 BC, during the Bronze Age, the magnificent civilization of the Mycenaean was defeated by the Durians, coming from the North with their iron weapons. Many kingdoms that were established after a series of wars settled in Greece and they were able to invent every political systems and social concepts that the human mind at the time was able to conceive. Therefore, most of the types of states and governments until today still hold their original Greek names. The country has a rich diverse history that attracts many tourists to travel to Greece.

Ancient Greece knew all types of political systems. All sorts of monarchies, including tribal, feudal, constitutional, and absolute, have ruled over Greece during this period of time. Afterwards, there was the Spartan racism that was followed by a short spell of communism, dictatorship of all kinds, and then democracy with the active participation of all members of the society was possible.

Due to slavery and the weak anachronistic city states started falling one by one in the hands of the unified Macedonian Kingdom of King Philip who ruled over the empire from 359 BC until his death in 336 BC. King Philip laid the foundation for his son, Alexander the Great, to rule the largest empire in history shortly afterwards.

The most important incident during this period were the imposing of a totalitarian way of living on the Spartans by Lycurgus, a lawgiver who lived in the 8th century BC, Solon brining law and order in Athens over a long period of time, Miltiades who was the Athenian ruler who was able to defeat the great Persian armies in the battle Marathon in 409 BC, and Themistocles, an Athenian army general and politician who was able to get the European Asian wars into climax in 419 in the battle of Salamis with a huge powerful fleet that assured that Athens had control of Aegean Sea during the whole period of the 5th century BC.

Afterwards, the brilliant generalship of Kimon has extended the control of Athens on the shores of Asia Minor and other regions in Europe. However, with the end of his ruling, the Golden Age of the Greek civilization has ended with him.

With the outbreak of Peloponnesian war between the Athenians and the Spartans that remained for more than 25 years from 431 till 401, the Athenian power and control over a large empire faded away especially with the death of Alcibiades, Athena was defeated and also we might say humiliated as well by the Spartan forces.

The domination of the Spartans was challenged shortly afterwards by the military genius, Epaminondas, a Theban general who was able to introduce a new fighting force, the Phalanx, or military battalions. This new fighting strategy was then perfected by King Philip who was able in 338 BC to take control over Athena. King Philip, being a kind hearted man and a politician in the same time, forgave all his opponents who persuaded the Greeks to another stand against the Macedonian forces once again after the death of Philip in 336 BC.

When Alexander the Great took control of the Macedonian Empire and forces, he ruthlessly destroyed Thebes and he left Athens due to its cultural prestige. Therefore, he forced the Greek states to follow him in his conquers into Persia and he was able in 334 to cross the Hellespont in the Greatest military victory that human history has known at the time.

In only eleven years, Alexander established an Empire that stretched from the Ionian Sea to Indus and from the Upper Nile to Caspian Sea. Alexander the Great died in Babylon, his new ruling center in 323 and the struggles between the Persians and the Greeks did not come to an end yet. Alexander has left many monuments that can be explored in many group tours to Greece and Egypt.

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