|
Greece was
the birthplace of European civilisation. The period
from 700BC saw the rise of the great city states
of Athens, Corinth and Sparta, frequently engaged
in long struggles for supremacy, and uniting only
when faced with the common threat of invasion
by the Persian Empire. The zenith was reached
in the fifth century BC when Athens became the
cultural and artistic centre of the Mediterranean,
producing magnificent works of architecture, sculpture,
drama and literature. Athens lost her empire through
a mutually destructive struggle with her arch
rival Sparta. The nation was then forcibly united
under Alexander the Great. After defeating the
sagging military might of Persia in a number of
major battles, the expansion of the empire spread
Greek influence through the East as far as India
and through Egypt. The empire fragmented after
Alexanders death in 323 BC, and the fall of Greek
hegemony was completed when the country came under
the sway of Rome. Under the Roman emperor Constantine,
the empire gained a new capital in Constantinople,
and Greece came under the control of the Eastern
Empire when the empire divided. The Byzantines
were, however, unable effectively to defend the
whole of their empire from invaders, and only
occasionally did Greece enjoy the security of
effective imperial rule. The major beneficiaries
of this were the Venetians, who increased their
influence in Greece and other parts of the empire
|
