The History of Ancient Greece

This history video delves into the history of Ancient Greece and the Greeks.

Today when we speak of the Greek Empire, we usually mean Ancient Greece. A lose term associated with all of Greek history before the Roman Empire. More specifically, historians considered the date of the beginning of Ancient Greek period the same as the first recorded Olympic Games in 776 B.C. The end of this important period occurred at the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. He remains branded in history as one of the most famous Greek kings along with Philip of Macedon. The Greeks dominated a wide stretch of territory from Central Europe to India reaching into Africa. The main city of Ancient Greece are Alexandria, Athens and Sparta. Greece experienced a lot of war there and Alexander the Great never chose a successor. So when the empire broke off after his death, the Romans came to power. The contributions from Ancient Greece provided the foundations for western civilization. Athens became one of the earliest societies to establish democracy. Drama, poetry and philosophy flourished. The vigorous intellectual lives of the Greek stay with us today. Signature works like those of Homer, Aristotle, Plato and Socrates are still taught in universities. The Greeks were also great lovers of art creating sculptures, pottery and fine jewelry that has survived for centuries. They also mastered architecture, building cities that have wasted the forces of nature for thousands of years.