Ancient Greece, the cornerstone of Western civilization, was a northeastern Mediterranean society that flourished from the 12th century B.C. to approximately A.D. 600. Through the centuries, Ancient Greece was the cradle of Western thought and culture as the ideals of philosophy, medicine, mathematics, theater, democracy, and others were conceived and flourished at various times. Ancient Greece was also involved in numerous wars, both as city-states such Athens and Sparta vied for supremacy, and as foreign invaders sought to dominate the Peloponnese, the geographic peninsula that was its nexus.
Ancient Greece
The pages of history tend to dwell on the men who created empires. No matter how ephemeral may be the famed exploits of an Alexander, Caesar or Napoleon, historians have written volumes on their behalf. Read more
Ancient Greece
When we think “catapult,” we imagine the types of weapons used for hurling rocks, dead plague victims, or unlucky cows against a castle. Read more
Ancient Greece
A thin shaft of moonlight played over the broad, deserted boulevard leading to the suburban Athens home of Greek Prime Minister John Metaxas on the night of October 28, 1940. Read more
Ancient Greece
What nation of Asia, did not Xerxes lead against Hellas? —Herodotus
On the Doricus, the vast Thracian plain and beach on the Aegean coast, rose a stronghold. Read more
Ancient Greece
Alexander of Macedon, called “the Great,” died in June of 323 BCE having conquered the mightiest empire yet seen on earth. Read more
Ancient Greece
He was the first Caucasian many of his conquered subjects had ever seen. The empire he established during his short life stretched from Greece to the Indus River in modern Pakistan, an area of about 2 million square miles—more than twice the size of the Louisiana Purchase. Read more
Ancient Greece
It was the autumn of 333 bc and Alexander the Great stood triumphant on the battlefield of Issus. Read more
Ancient Greece
By the middle of the 4th century bc, the Roman Empire had steadily expanded its reach into the southern half of Italy. Read more
Ancient Greece
On a warm summer day in the year 378 BC, a large Spartan army stood baffled on the plain of Boeotia in central Greece. Read more
Ancient Greece
By the spring of 415 bc, a peace treaty between the warring city-states of Athens and Sparta had held firm for six years. Read more
Ancient Greece
By 167 bc, when a full-scale revolt erupted in Judea, it had been more than 400 years since an organized Jewish army had taken up arms against an enemy. Read more
Ancient Greece
The wars fought by Sparta and Athens in the fifth century bc pitted one city-state with ancient Greece’s greatest army against one boasting her most powerful fleet. Read more
Ancient Greece
More than 3,000 years ago, an army of Israelites led by King Saul confronted a force of Philistine invaders in the valley of Elah. Read more
Ancient Greece
The 3rd century BC in Greece was an age of military innovation. The lessons learned in the Peloponnesian War (431-404) led to the increased use of lightly armed troops and cavalry. Read more
Ancient Greece
As the sun rose shortly after dawn on a morning in late September 480 BC, 170 rowers densely packed on three tiers within an Athenian warship strenuously pushed their oars to propel their vessel forward as fast as possible. Read more
Ancient Greece
It was nighttime, and a great battle was soon to be fought at Gaugamela, in the dusty plains and rolling hills of modern-day northern Iraq. Read more
Ancient Greece
The snow-capped peaks of the Ceraunian Mountains stared down on the sturdy barks hunting for a suitable place to land on the coast of Epirus on January 5, 48 bc. Read more
Ancient Greece
As Alexander the Great marched his army south along the Levantine coast in January 332 bc, he must have felt as if the fates were unquestionably on his side. Read more
Ancient Greece
Those rare qualities that set the extraordinary military commanders apart from the average ones were present in Alexander the Great, wrote the Greek historian Arrian, who drew on the account of Alexander’s general, Ptolemy. Read more
Ancient Greece
In 491 bc, heralds sent by Persian Emperor Darius I traveled throughout Greece with a message for each of the city-states of the Greek peninsula. Read more
