Empire · 800–146 BCE · Europe
Greek city-states
Also known as Greek colonies
After the collapse of the Mycenaean palaces, Greek communities slowly revived, and by about 800 BCE hundreds of independent city-states, or poleis, had emerged. Each polis was a city with its surrounding farmland, governed by kings, aristocrats, tyrants or citizen assemblies.
Greeks founded colonies around the Mediterranean and Black Sea, from Marseille to Crimea. Athens developed the first democracy, while Sparta became a militarised state. Briefly united, the Greeks defeated the invading Persians at Marathon, Salamis and Plataea between 490 and 479 BCE. Rivalry between Athens and Sparta then led to the long Peloponnesian War. Weakened by constant conflict, the city-states fell under Macedonian domination after 338 BCE, and Rome took control of mainland Greece in 146 BCE.
- Years
- 800–146 BCE
- Capital
- No single capital; leading poleis included Athens, Sparta, Corinth, Thebes and Syracuse
- Greatest extent
- 500 BCE, about 250,000 km²
- Region
- Europe
Mainland Greece, the Aegean and colonies from Spain to the Black Sea
Legacy
Greek philosophy, democracy, drama, history writing, mathematics and the Olympic Games lie at the foundations of Western civilisation.
Rulers
- Solon of Athens archon 594 BCE
Lawgiver who reformed Athenian society
- Cleisthenes of Athens c. 508 BCE
Founded Athenian democracy
- Leonidas I of Sparta c. 489 – 480 BCE
Died holding the pass at Thermopylae
- Pericles of Athens c. 461 – 429 BCE
Leading statesman of Athens' golden age
- Epaminondas of Thebes d. 362 BCE
Broke Spartan power at Leuctra in 371 BCE
Realms on the map
- Greek City-States 800–146 BCE
- Greek Colonies 271–226 BCE