Ancient Greek History

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The Ancient Greeks Ancient Greek history starts around 2000 BCE and with the arrival of Indo-European settlers in the Aegean Rim. These are the settlers that the Ancient Greeks take for their ancestors. The Ancient Greeks have a deep and expansive history. The Greeks rose from individual settlers to developing entire armies and colonies. Ancient Greeks also developed some of the first philosophers and saw a deep passion for the arts and humanities. It was the Ancient Greeks who founded the powerful cities of Sparta, Athens, and Miletus. The history of Ancient Greece is long and prosperous, and is one of the most fascinating times in history to study. This topic is interesting to me because I have always enjoyed the Ancient Greek …show more content…
The city of Mycenae was a arrogant militaristic society. The city was held back by internal division, as the geography of Greece created valleys and platues in which a ruler could practically close off and develop a small kingdom, where the common citizens were basically no better off than a slave. Life was centered around agriculture and farms, but they were also deeply involved in trade: “the Mycenaean civilization had trading contact with other Aegean cultures is evidenced by the presence of foreign goods in Mycenaean settlements” (www.ancient.eu/Mycenaean_civilization/). The Mycenaeans were able to trade to and from each other and competed for the ever so important trade routes and markets. As with much of Ancient Greek history, it is found that separate settlements are within constant communication with each other. During the Mycenaean age, the settlements were fighting each other, however, but this emphasizes the civilizations militaristic attitudes. The Mycenaeans also contributed to the arts, creating somewhat a new style of art, having a “more schematic and less life-like representation. This style would become the dominant one throughout the Mediterranean” (www.ancient.eu/Mycenaean_civilization/). Frescos from this age often depicted battle scenes, warriors, and powerful animals.(ancient.eu) It seems as if the militarism of the …show more content…
Around the time period 750-500 BCE the Poleis began colonization around the Aegean Rim. These colonies expanded the reach of the ancient Greek influence, creating a “society built for war” (110). Many social changes would be seen throughout this period, including changes to political systems and social structure. Perhaps different from colonization of different times, Archaic colonization was not for military means. Instead, the settlers were on the search for new, undiscovered lands and resources. Many of the settlers were landowners and capital owners looking for new investments. Much of Greek colonization was driven by “an entrepreneurial spirit, not an exploitative one” (110). Groups of these people would colonize new settlements for commercial ties and connections and, unsurprisingly, these new settlements often shared many characteristics of the home polis (111). Countless amounts of settlements were created

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