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214-604: Elis is in southern Greece on the Peloponnese , bounded on the north by Achaea , east by Arcadia , south by Messenia , and west by the Ionian Sea . Over the course of the archaic and classical periods, the polis "city-state" of Elis controlled much of the region of Elis, most probably through unequal treaties with other cities; many inhabitants of Elis were Perioeci —autonomous free non-citizens. Perioeci, unlike other Spartans, could travel freely between cities. Thus

428-482: A constitution and representative assembly . Despite the absolutism of Otto's reign, it proved instrumental in developing institutions which are still the bedrock of Greek administration and education. Reforms were taken in education, maritime and postal communications, effective civil administration and the legal code . Historical revisionism took the form of de- Byzantinification and de- Ottomanisation , in favour of promoting Ancient Greek heritage. The capital

642-501: A 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 6.6/10, ranking it 70th globally out of 172 countries. In 2024, Greece became the first country in the European Union to ban bottom trawling in marine protected areas what should protect its marine biodiversity . Rare marine species such as the pinniped seals and the loggerhead sea turtle live in the seas surrounding mainland Greece, while its dense forests are home to

856-636: A Hellenic league in the same vein as Philip   II's League of Corinth, he managed to defeat Sparta at the Battle of Sellasia in 222   BC. Sparta was occupied by a foreign power for the first time in its history, restoring Macedonia's position as the leading power in Greece. Antigonus died a year later, perhaps from tuberculosis , leaving behind a strong Hellenistic kingdom for his successor Philip   V. Philip V of Macedon ( r.  221–179 BC ) faced immediate challenges to his authority by

1070-547: A brother and cousin of Perdiccas   II who had rebelled against him. Thus, two separate wars were fought against Athens between 433 and 431   BC. The Macedonian king retaliated by promoting the rebellion of Athens' allies in Chalcidice and subsequently won over the strategic city of Potidaea . After capturing the Macedonian cities Therma and Beroea , Athens besieged Potidaea but failed to overcome it; Therma

1284-595: A campaign in Magna Graecia (i.e. southern Italy ) against the Roman Republic known as the Pyrrhic War , followed by his invasion of Sicily . Ptolemy Keraunos secured his position on the Macedonian throne by giving Pyrrhus five thousand soldiers and twenty war elephants for this endeavor. Pyrrhus returned to Epirus in 275   BC after the ultimate failure of both campaigns, which contributed to

1498-576: A coalition against Perdiccas in a civil war initiated by Ptolemy's seizure of the hearse of Alexander the Great . Perdiccas was assassinated in 321   BC by his own officers during a failed campaign in Egypt against Ptolemy, where his march along the Nile River resulted in the drowning of 2,000 of his men. Although Eumenes of Cardia managed to kill Craterus in battle, this had little to no effect on

1712-552: A coup in 1967 by the Greek junta , led by Georgios Papadopoulos . Civil rights were suspended, political repression intensified, and human rights abuses, including torture, were rampant. Economic growth remained rapid before plateauing in 1972. The brutal suppression of the Athens Polytechnic uprising in 1973 set in motion the fall of the regime, resulting in a counter-coup that established brigadier Dimitrios Ioannidis as

1926-529: A failed attempt to annex Crete from the Ottomans. He was replaced by Prince Wilhelm of Denmark, who took the name George I and brought with him the Ionian Islands as a coronation gift from Britain. A new Constitution in 1864 changed Greece's form of government from constitutional monarchy to the more democratic crowned republic . In 1875 parliamentary majority as a requirement for government

2140-683: A large degree of autonomy and was never made a satrapy (i.e. province) of the Achaemenid Empire, it was expected to provide troops for the Achaemenid army . Alexander   I provided Macedonian military support to Xerxes I ( r.  486–465 BC ) during the Second Persian invasion of Greece in 480–479 BC, and Macedonian soldiers fought on the side of the Persians at the 479   BC Battle of Platea . Following

2354-525: A new regent (since Philip   III was considered mentally unstable), in effect bypassing the council of the army as well. Forming an alliance with Ptolemy, Antigonus, and Lysimachus , Cassander had his officer Nicanor capture the Munichia fortress of Athens' port town Piraeus in defiance of Polyperchon's decree that Greek cities should be free of Macedonian garrisons, sparking the Second War of

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2568-399: A particularly narrow oligarchy was replaced by a new constitution designed by Phormio of Elis, a student of Plato (Arist. Pol. 1306a12-16; Plut. Mor. 805d, 1126c). The classical democracy at Elis seems to have functioned mainly through a popular Assembly and a Council, the two main institutions of most poleis . The Council initially had 500 members, but grew to 600 members by the end of

2782-462: A population of over 10.4 million. Athens is the nation's capital and largest city , followed by Thessaloniki and Patras . Greece is considered the cradle of Western civilization , being the birthplace of democracy , Western philosophy , Western literature , historiography , political science , major scientific and mathematical principles, theatre , and the Olympic Games . From

2996-625: A possible second wife Gygaea: Archelaus, Arrhidaeus, and Menelaus . Philip   II had Archelaus put to death in 359   BC, while Philip   II's other two half brothers fled to Olynthos, serving as a casus belli for the Olynthian War (349–348   BC) against the Chalcidian League. While Athens was preoccupied with the Social War (357–355 BC) , Philip   II retook Amphipolis from them in 357   BC and

3210-561: A pro-Athenian democracy , the Athenian navy was able to form a blockade against Macedonian seaports and invade Chalcidice in 417   BC. Perdiccas   II sued for peace in 414   BC, forming an alliance with Athens that was continued by his son and successor Archelaus   I ( r.  413–399 BC ). Athens then provided naval support to Archelaus   I in the 410   BC Macedonian siege of Pydna , in exchange for timber and naval equipment. Although Archelaus I

3424-460: A reformed army containing phalanxes wielding the sarissa pike, Philip   II defeated the old powers of Athens and Thebes in the Battle of Chaeronea in 338   BC. Philip   II's son Alexander the Great , leading a federation of Greek states , accomplished his father's objective of commanding the whole of Greece when he destroyed Thebes after the city revolted. During Alexander's subsequent campaign of conquest , he overthrew

3638-724: A resurgent Rome should seek revenge against either Macedonia or Carthage. Although the Macedonians were perhaps only interested in safeguarding their newly conquered territories in Illyria, the Romans were nevertheless able to thwart whatever grand ambitions Philip   V had for the Adriatic region during the First Macedonian War (214–205   BC). In 214   BC, Rome positioned a naval fleet at Oricus , which

3852-565: A revolt against Macedonian authority known as the Chremonidean War (267–261   BC). By 265   BC, Athens was surrounded and besieged by Antigonus   II's forces, and a Ptolemaic fleet was defeated in the Battle of Cos . Athens finally surrendered in 261   BC. After Macedonia formed an alliance with the Seleucid ruler Antiochus II , a peace settlement between Antigonus   II and Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt

4066-719: A ruling minority. As a result, during the centuries that followed a vernacular form of Greek , known as koine , and Greek culture was spread , while the Greeks adopted Eastern deities and cults . Greek science, technology, and mathematics reached their peak during the Hellenistic period. Aspiring to maintain their autonomy and independence from the Antigonid kings of the Macedonians , many poleis of Greece united in koina or sympoliteiai i.e. federations, while after

4280-645: A shortage of provisions in winter. In 424 BC, Arrhabaeus , a local ruler of Lynkestis in Upper Macedonia, rebelled against his overlord Perdiccas, and the Spartans agreed to help in putting down the revolt. At the Battle of Lyncestis the Macedonians panicked and fled before the fighting began, enraging the Spartan general Brasidas , whose soldiers looted the unattended Macedonian baggage train . Perdiccas then changed sides and supported Athens, and he

4494-773: A significant barrier to east–west travel. Its extensions cross through the Peloponnese, ending in the island of Crete. The Vikos Gorge , part of the Vikos-Aoos National Park in the Pindus range, is listed by the Guinness book of World Records as the deepest gorge in the world. Another notable formation are the Meteora rock pillars, atop which have been built medieval Greek Orthodox monasteries. Northeastern Greece features another high-altitude mountain range,

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4708-710: A staged banquet of reconciliation between Persians and Macedonians. Alexander perhaps undercut his own rule by demonstrating signs of megalomania . While utilizing effective propaganda such as the cutting of the Gordian Knot , he also attempted to portray himself as a living god and son of Zeus following his visit to the oracle at Siwah in the Libyan Desert (in modern-day Egypt) in 331   BC. His attempt in 327   BC to have his men prostrate before him in Bactra in an act of proskynesis borrowed from

4922-496: Is 1,160 km (721 mi). The country lies approximately between latitudes 34° and 42° N , and longitudes 19° and 30° E , with the extreme points being: the village Ormenio in the North and the islands Gavdos (South), Strongyli near Kastellorizo /Megisti (East), and Othonoi (West). The island Gavdos is considered the southernmost island of Europe. Approximately 80% of Greece consists of mountains or hills, making

5136-562: Is mostly found in archaic or poetic contexts today. The Greek adjectival form ελληνικός ( ellinikos , [eliniˈkos] ) is sometimes also translated as Hellenic and is often rendered in this way in the formal names of Greek institutions, as in the official name of the Greek state, the Hellenic Republic ( Ελληνική Δημοκρατία , [eliniˈci ðimokraˈti.a] ). The English names Greece and Greek are derived, via

5350-545: Is said to have been founded in 471 BC by synoecism , however it is unclear what the ancient sources mean by this, the city already existed in the same place before and there were separate communities in the region of Elis before and after. The first excavations in Elis were carried out from 1910 to 1914 by the Austrian Archaeological Institute under the direction of Otto Walter . From 1960 to 1981

5564-621: Is today the European Union in 1981 and is part of the eurozone . It is a member of other international institutions, including the Council of Europe , NATO (since 1952), the OECD , the WTO , and the OSCE . Greece has a unique cultural heritage, large tourism industry , and prominent shipping sector . The country's rich historical legacy is reflected in part by its 19 UNESCO World Heritage Sites . Greece

5778-505: The tagus (supreme Thessalian military leader) Alexander of Pherae , capturing the city of Larissa . The Thessalians, desiring to remove both Alexander   II and Alexander of Pherae as their overlords , appealed to Pelopidas of Thebes for aid; he succeeded in recapturing Larissa and, in the peace agreement arranged with Macedonia, received aristocratic hostages including Alexander   II's brother and future king Philip   II ( r.  359–336 BC ). When Alexander

5992-552: The Achaemenid Empire and conquered territory that stretched as far as the Indus River . For a brief period, his Macedonian Empire was the most powerful in the world – the definitive Hellenistic state, inaugurating the transition to a new period of Ancient Greek civilization . Greek arts and literature flourished in the new conquered lands and advances in philosophy , engineering , and science spread across

6206-538: The Aegean Sea . He improved Macedonia's currency by minting coins with a higher silver content as well as issuing separate copper coinage . His royal court attracted the presence of well-known intellectuals such as the Athenian playwright Euripides . When Archelaus   I was assassinated (perhaps following a homosexual love affair with royal pages at his court), the kingdom was plunged into chaos, in an era lasting from 399 to 393   BC that included

6420-535: The Aetolian who invaded there and subjugated the residents. The city of Elis underwent synoecism —as Strabo notes—in 471 BC. Elis held authority over the site of Olympia and the Olympic games . The spirit of the games had influenced the formation of the market: apart from the bouleuterion , the place the boule "citizen's council" met, which was in one of the gymnasia , most of the other buildings were related to

6634-574: The Arcadian confederacy came to the assistance of the Triphylians. In 366 BC, hostilities broke out between them, and though the Eleans were at first successful, they were soon overpowered; their capital very nearly fell into the hands of the enemy, and the territory of Triphylia was permanently ceded to Arcadia in 369 BC. Unable to make headway against their opponents, they applied for assistance to

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6848-503: The Archaeological Society of Athens carried out further excavations under the direction of Nikolaos Yalouris with Austrian participation. Some of the finds are exhibited in the local archaeological museum founded in 1981, for which a new building was built in 2003. Nowadays Elis is a small village of 150 citizens located 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) NE of Amaliada , built over the ruins of the ancient town. It has one of

7062-590: The Balkans , the Persian general Megabazus used diplomacy to convince Amyntas   I to submit as a vassal of the Achaemenid Empire , ushering in the period of Achaemenid Macedonia . Achaemenid Persian hegemony over Macedonia was briefly interrupted by the Ionian Revolt (499–493   BC), yet the Persian general Mardonius brought it back under Achaemenid suzerainty . Although Macedonia enjoyed

7276-616: The Battle of Cynoscephalae . Rome then ratified a treaty that forced Macedonia to relinquish control of much of its Greek possessions outside of Macedonia proper, if only to act as a buffer against Illyrian and Thracian incursions into Greece. Although some Greeks suspected Roman intentions of supplanting Macedonia as the new hegemonic power in Greece, Flaminius announced at the Isthmian Games of 196   BC that Rome intended to preserve Greek liberty by leaving behind no garrisons and by not exacting tribute of any kind. His promise

7490-1068: The Boreal Kingdom and is shared between the East Mediterranean province of the Mediterranean Region and the Illyrian province of the Circumboreal Region . According to the World Wide Fund for Nature and the European Environment Agency , the territory of Greece can be subdivided into six ecoregions : the Illyrian deciduous forests , Pindus Mountains mixed forests , Balkan mixed forests , Rhodope montane mixed forests , Aegean and Western Turkey sclerophyllous and mixed forests , and Crete Mediterranean forests . It had

7704-521: The Cadmea , Alexander left the Illyrian front and marched to Thebes, which he placed under siege . After breaching the walls, Alexander's forces killed 6,000 Thebans, took 30,000 inhabitants as prisoners of war , and burned the city to the ground as a warning that convinced all other Greek states except Sparta not to challenge Alexander again. Throughout his military career, Alexander won every battle that he personally commanded. His first victory against

7918-582: The Cyclades , as well as some areas in the north featuring a cold equivalent climate ( Köppen : BSk ), such as the cities of Thessaloniki and Larissa . The mountainous areas and the higher elevations of northwestern Greece (parts of Epirus , Central Greece , Thessaly , Western Macedonia ) as well as in the mountainous central parts of Peloponnese – including parts of the regional units of Achaea , Arcadia , and Laconia  – feature an Alpine climate ( Köppen : D , E ) with heavy snowfalls during

8132-693: The Danube , forcing their surrender on Peuce Island . Shortly thereafter, the Illyrian chieftain Cleitus , son of Bardylis , threatened to attack Macedonia with the aid of Glaucias , king of the Taulantii , but Alexander took the initiative and besieged the Illyrians at Pelion (in modern Albania ). When Thebes had once again revolted from the League of Corinth and was besieging the Macedonian garrison in

8346-467: The Dardanian Kingdom , invaded Macedonia and defeated an army of Demetrius   II shortly before his death in 229   BC. Although his young son Philip immediately inherited the throne, his regent Antigonus III Doson ( r.  229–221 BC ), nephew of Antigonus   II, was proclaimed king by the army, with Philip as his heir, following a string of military victories against

8560-584: The Gallic ruler Bolgios and driving out the raiding party of Brennus , Sosthenes died and left a chaotic situation in Macedonia. The Gallic invaders ravaged Macedonia until Antigonus Gonatas , son of Demetrius, defeated them in Thrace at the 277   BC Battle of Lysimachia and was then proclaimed king Antigonus II of Macedon ( r.  277–274, 272–239 BC ). In 280 BC, Pyrrhus embarked on

8774-594: The Golden Age of Athens , a seminal period that laid many foundations of Western civilization. Lack of political unity resulted in frequent conflict between Greek states. The most devastating intra-Greek war was the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), which marked the demise of the Athenian Empire and the emergence of Spartan and later Theban hegemony . Weakened by constant wars among them during

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8988-462: The Greek genocide (1914–22), when Ottoman and Turkish officials contributed to the death of several hundred thousand Asia Minor Greeks, along with similar numbers of Assyrians and a larger number of Armenians . The resultant Greek exodus from Asia Minor was made permanent, and expanded, in an official population exchange between Greece and Turkey , as part of the Treaty of Lausanne which ended

9202-526: The Greek victory at Salamis in 480   BC, Alexander   I was employed as an Achaemenid diplomat to propose a peace treaty and alliance with Athens , an offer that was rejected. Soon afterwards, the Achaemenid forces were forced to withdraw from mainland Europe , marking the end of Persian control over Macedonia. Although initially a Persian vassal, Alexander   I of Macedon fostered friendly diplomatic relations with his former Greek enemies,

9416-465: The Hellespont in anticipation of an invasion into Achaemenid Anatolia . In 342   BC, Philip   II conquered a Thracian city in what is now Bulgaria and renamed it Philippopolis (modern Plovdiv ). War broke out with Athens in 340   BC while Philip   II was engaged in two ultimately unsuccessful sieges of Perinthus and Byzantion , followed by a successful campaign against

9630-613: The Italian peninsula . In 216   BC, Philip   V sent a hundred light warships into the Adriatic Sea to attack Illyria, a move that prompted Scerdilaidas of the Ardiaean Kingdom to appeal to the Romans for aid. Rome responded by sending ten heavy quinqueremes from Roman Sicily to patrol the Illyrian coasts, causing Philip   V to reverse course and order his fleet to retreat, averting open conflict for

9844-428: The King of Epirus and the Molossians . This marriage would bear a son who would later rule as Alexander   III (better known as Alexander the Great ) and claim descent from the legendary Achilles by way of his dynastic heritage from Epirus . It is unclear whether or not the Achaemenid Persian kings influenced Philip   II's practice of polygamy, although his predecessor Amyntas   III had three sons with

10058-441: The London Conference of 1832 , Britain, France and Russia installed Bavarian Prince Otto von Wittelsbach as monarch . Otto's reign was despotic , and in its first 11 years of independence Greece was ruled by a Bavarian oligarchy led by Josef Ludwig von Armansperg and, later, by Otto himself, as King and Premier. Greece remained under the influence of its three protecting great powers. In 1843 an uprising forced Otto to grant

10272-478: The Macedonian Struggle , which ended with the Young Turk Revolution in 1908. Amidst dissatisfaction with the seeming inertia and unattainability of national aspirations , military officers organised a coup in 1909 and called on Cretan politician Eleftherios Venizelos , who conveyed a vision of national regeneration. After winning two elections and becoming prime minister in 1910, Venizelos initiated fiscal, social, and constitutional reforms , reorganised

10486-461: The North-West Doric dialect of Elis is, after the Aeolic dialects, one of the most difficult for the modern reader of epigraphic texts. Greece – in Europe  (light green & dark grey) – in the European Union  (light green) Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in Southeast Europe . Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula , Greece shares land borders with Albania to

10700-400: The Persian Empire controlled the Greek city states in Asia Minor and Macedonia. Attempts by Greek city-states of Asia Minor to overthrow Persian rule failed , and Persia invaded the states of mainland Greece in 492 BC, but was forced to withdraw after defeat at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. In response, the Greek city-states formed the Hellenic League in 481 BC, led by Sparta , which

10914-595: The Pythian Games . Athens initially opposed his membership on the council and refused to attend the games in protest, but they eventually accepted these conditions, perhaps after some persuasion by Demosthenes in his oration On the Peace . Over the next few years, Philip II reformed local governments in Thessaly, campaigned against the Illyrian ruler Pleuratus I , deposed Arybbas in Epirus in favor of his brother-in-law Alexander   I (through Philip   II's marriage to Olympias), and defeated Cersebleptes in Thrace. This allowed him to extend Macedonian control over

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11128-403: The Rhodope range, spreading across the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace ; this area is covered with vast, thick, ancient forests, including the famous Dadia Forest in the Evros regional unit , in the far northeast of the country. Extensive plains are primarily located in the regions of Thessaly , Central Macedonia , and Thrace . They constitute key economic regions as they are among

11342-486: The Roman Republic negotiated the Treaty of Phoenice in 205   BC, ending the war and allowing the Macedonians to retain some captured settlements in Illyria. Although the Romans rejected an Aetolian request in 202   BC for Rome to declare war on Macedonia once again, the Roman Senate gave serious consideration to the similar offer made by Pergamon and its ally Rhodes in 201   BC. These states were concerned about Philip   V's alliance with Antiochus III

11556-403: The Roman consul Titus Quinctius Flamininus managed to expel Philip   V from Macedonia in 198   BC, forcing his men to take refuge in Thessaly. When the Achaean League switched their loyalties from Macedonia to Rome, the Macedonian king sued for peace, but the terms offered were considered too stringent, and so the war continued. In June 197   BC, the Macedonians were defeated at

11770-415: The Russian -instigated Orlov Revolt in 1770. These uprisings were put down by the Ottomans with great bloodshed. Many Greeks were conscripted as Ottoman subjects to serve in the Ottoman army and especially the navy, while the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, responsible for the Orthodox, remained in general loyal to the Empire. In the 18th century, Greek merchants came to dominate trade within

11984-532: The Second Hellenic Republic declared. In 1935, a royalist general-turned-politician Georgios Kondylis took power after a coup and abolished the republic, holding a rigged referendum , after which King George II was restored to the throne. An agreement between Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas and George II followed in 1936, which installed Metaxas as head of a dictatorship known as the 4th of August Regime , inaugurating authoritarian rule that would last until 1974. Greece remained on good terms with Britain and

12198-545: The Seleucid Empire , and Lysimachus ( r.  306–281 BC ), King of Thrace , defeated the Antigonids at the Battle of Ipsus in 301   BC, killing Antigonus and forcing Demetrius into flight. Cassander died in 297 BC, and his sickly son Philip   IV died the same year, succeeded by Cassander's other sons Alexander V of Macedon ( r.  297–294 BC ) and Antipater II of Macedon ( r.  297–294 BC ), with their mother Thessalonike of Macedon acting as regent. While Demetrius fought against

12412-417: The Seleucid Empire , and the Attalid kingdom . Important cities such as Pella , Pydna , and Amphipolis were involved in power struggles for control of the territory. New cities were founded, such as Thessalonica by the usurper Cassander (named after his wife Thessalonike of Macedon ). Macedonia's decline began with the Macedonian Wars and the rise of Rome as the leading Mediterranean power. At

12626-446: The Slavic invasion in the 7th century resulted in a collapse in imperial authority in the Greek peninsula . The imperial government retained control of only the islands and coastal areas, particularly the populated walled cities such as Athens, Corinth and Thessalonica. However, the view that Greece underwent decline, fragmentation and depopulation is considered outdated, as cities show institutional continuity and prosperity between

12840-442: The Strymon River near the Kingdom of Macedonia, where the colonial city of Amphipolis was founded in 437/436   BC so that it could provide Athens with a steady supply of silver and gold as well as timber and pitch to support the Athenian navy . Initially Perdiccas II did not take any action and might have even welcomed the Athenians, as the Thracians were foes to both of them. This changed due to an Athenian alliance with

13054-414: The Susa weddings in 324   BC. Meanwhile, in Greece, the Spartan king Agis III attempted to lead a rebellion of the Greeks against Macedonia. He was defeated in 331   BC at the Battle of Megalopolis by Antipater, who was serving as regent of Macedonia and deputy hegemon of the League of Corinth in Alexander's stead. Before Antipater embarked on his campaign in the Peloponnese , Memnon,

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13268-559: The United Kingdom , each sent a navy. The allied fleet destroyed the Ottoman–Egyptian fleet at the Battle of Navarino , and the Greeks captured Central Greece by 1828. The nascent Greek state was recognised under the London Protocol in 1830. In 1827, Ioannis Kapodistrias , was chosen by the Third National Assembly at Troezen as the first governor of the First Hellenic Republic . Kapodistrias established state, economic and military institutions. Tensions appeared between him and local interests and, following his assassination in 1831 and

13482-517: The comitia centuriata finally voted in approval of the Roman Senate's declaration of war in 200   BC and handed their ultimatum to Philip   V, demanding that a tribunal assess the damages owed to Rhodes and Pergamon, the Macedonian king rejected it. This marked the beginning of the Second Macedonian War (200–197   BC), with Publius Sulpicius Galba Maximus spearheading military operations in Apollonia. The Macedonians successfully defended their territory for roughly two years, but

13696-506: The commander-in-chief ( strategos autokrator ) of a forthcoming campaign to invade the Achaemenid Empire. Philip's plan to punish the Persians for the suffering of the Greeks and to liberate the Greek cities of Asia Minor as well as perhaps the panhellenic fear of another Persian invasion of Greece, contributed to his decision to invade the Achaemenid Empire. The Persians offered aid to Perinthus and Byzantion in 341–340   BC, highlighting Macedonia's strategic need to secure Thrace and

13910-496: The diadochi were declared kings of their respective territories. The beginning of Hellenistic Greece was defined by the struggle between the Antipatrid dynasty , led first by Cassander ( r.  305–297 BC ), son of Antipater, and the Antigonid dynasty , led by the Macedonian general Antigonus I Monophthalmus ( r.  306–301 BC ) and his son, the future king Demetrius   I ( r.  294–288 BC ). Cassander besieged Athens in 303   BC, but

14124-405: The election . In 2020, Greece's parliament elected a non-partisan candidate, Katerina Sakellaropoulou , as the first female President of Greece . In February 2024, Greece became the first Orthodox Christian country to recognise same-sex marriage and adoption by same-sex couples. Located in Southern and Southeast Europe, Greece consists of a mountainous, peninsular mainland jutting out into

14338-476: The legend that the Macedonian kings of the Argead dynasty were descendants of Temenus , king of Argos , and could therefore claim the mythical Heracles as one of their ancestors as well as a direct lineage from Zeus , chief god of the Greek pantheon . Contradictory legends state that either Perdiccas I of Macedon or Caranus of Macedon were the founders of the Argead dynasty, with either five or eight kings before Amyntas   I. The assertion that

14552-415: The region of Macedonia in modern Greece . It gradually expanded into the region of Upper Macedonia , inhabited by the Greek Lyncestae and Elimiotae tribes, and into regions of Emathia , Eordaia , Bottiaea , Mygdonia , Crestonia , and Almopia , which were inhabited by various peoples such as Thracians and Phrygians . Macedonia's non-Greek neighbors included Thracians, inhabiting territories to

14766-463: The rise of Rome because Greek cities in southern Italy such as Tarentum now became Roman allies. Pyrrhus invaded Macedonia in 274   BC, defeating the largely mercenary army of Antigonus   II at the 274   BC Battle of Aous and driving him out of Macedonia, forcing him to seek refuge with his naval fleet in the Aegean. Pyrrhus lost much of his support among the Macedonians in 273   BC when his unruly Gallic mercenaries plundered

14980-489: The tyrannies installed in Greece were to be abolished and Greek freedom was to be restored. When Alexander the Great died at Babylon in 323   BC, his mother Olympias immediately accused Antipater and his faction of poisoning him, although there is no evidence to confirm this. With no official heir apparent , the Macedonian military command split, with one side proclaiming Alexander's half-brother Philip   III Arrhidaeus ( r.  323–317 BC ) as king and

15194-474: The war elephants of King Porus of the Pauravas threatened Alexander's troops, he had them form open ranks to surround the elephants and dislodge their handlers by using their sarissa pikes. When his Macedonian troops threatened mutiny in 324   BC at Opis , Babylonia (near modern Baghdad , Iraq ), Alexander offered Macedonian military titles and greater responsibilities to Persian officers and units instead, forcing his troops to seek forgiveness at

15408-454: The 19th century, many "crypto-Christians" returned to their old religious allegiance. The nature of Ottoman administration of Greece varied, though it was invariably arbitrary and often harsh. Some cities had governors appointed by the Sultan , while others, like Athens, were self-governed municipalities. Mountainous regions in the interior and many islands remained effectively autonomous from

15622-426: The 2nd and 3rd centuries, and Christianity's early leaders and writers were mostly Greek-speaking, though not from Greece itself. The New Testament was written in Greek, and some sections attest to the importance of churches in Greece in early Christianity . Nevertheless, much of Greece clung to paganism, and ancient Greek religious practices were still in vogue in the late 4th century AD, when they were outlawed by

15836-590: The 4th and 6th centuries. In the early 6th century, Greece had approximately 80 cities according to the Synekdemos chronicle, and the 4th to the 7th century is considered one of high prosperity. Until the 8th century almost all of modern Greece was under the jurisdiction of the Holy See of Rome . Byzantine Emperor Leo III moved the border of the Patriarchate of Constantinople westward and northward in

16050-559: The 4th century BC, the Greek poleis were subjugated to the rising power of the kingdom of Macedon under king Philip II into an alliance known as the Hellenic League . After Philip's assassination in 336 BC, his son and king of Macedon , Alexander , set himself leader of a Panhellenic campaign against the Persian Empire and abolished it. Undefeated in battle, he marched, until his untimely death in 323 BC, to

16264-544: The 5th century, is known as the Byzantine Empire , but called "Kingdom of the Romans" in its own time. With its capital in Constantinople , its language and culture were Greek and its religion was predominantly Eastern Orthodox Christian . The Empire's Balkan territories, including Greece, suffered from the dislocation of barbarian invasions ; raids by Goths and Huns in the 4th and 5th centuries and

16478-541: The 8th century. The Byzantine recovery of lost provinces during the Arab–Byzantine wars began in the 8th century and most of the Greek peninsula came under imperial control again. This process was facilitated by a large influx of Greeks from Sicily and Asia Minor to the Greek peninsula, while many Slavs were captured and re-settled in Asia Minor. During the 11th and 12th centuries the return of stability resulted in

16692-557: The Aegean Sea against increasing Achaemenid encroachment, as the Persian king Artaxerxes III further consolidated his control over satrapies in western Anatolia . The latter region, yielding far more wealth and valuable resources than the Balkans, was also coveted by the Macedonian king for its sheer economic potential. When Philip II married Cleopatra Eurydice , niece of general Attalus , talk of providing new potential heirs at

16906-569: The Antipatrid forces in Greece, Antipater   II killed his own mother to obtain power. His desperate brother Alexander   V then requested aid from Pyrrhus of Epirus ( r.  297–272 BC ), who had fought alongside Demetrius at the Battle of Ipsus, but was sent to Egypt as a hostage as part of an agreement between Demetrius and Ptolemy   I. In exchange for defeating the forces of Antipater   II and forcing him to flee to

17120-684: The Argeads descended from Temenus was accepted by the Hellanodikai authorities of the Ancient Olympic Games , permitting Alexander I of Macedon ( r.  498–454 BC ) to enter the competitions owing to his perceived Greek heritage. Little is known about the kingdom before the reign of Alexander   I's father Amyntas I of Macedon ( r.  547–498 BC ) during the Archaic period . The kingdom of Macedonia

17334-606: The Athenian and Spartan -led coalition of Greek city-states. His successor Perdiccas   II ( r.  454–413 BC ) led the Macedonians to war in four separate conflicts against Athens, leader of the Delian League , while incursions by the Thracian ruler Sitalces of the Odrysian kingdom threatened Macedonia's territorial integrity in the northeast. The Athenian statesman Pericles promoted colonization of

17548-522: The Black in 328   BC is described as "vengeful and reckless" by Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington. Continuing the polygamous habits of his father, Alexander encouraged his men to marry native women in Asia, leading by example when he wed Roxana , a Sogdian princess of Bactria. He then married Stateira II , eldest daughter of Darius   III, and Parysatis II , youngest daughter of Artaxerxes III , at

17762-727: The Bulgarians 40,000, and the Italians 9,000. Following liberation, Greece annexed the Dodecanese Islands from Italy and regained Western Thrace from Bulgaria. The country descended into a civil war between communist forces and the anti-communist Greek government, which lasted until 1949, with the latter's victory. The conflict, one of the earliest struggles of the Cold War , resulted in further economic devastation, population displacement and political polarisation for

17976-697: The Chalcidice, and Amphipolis in return for the release of the enslaved Athenians as well as guarantees that Philip   II would not attack Athenian settlements in the Thracian Chersonese . Meanwhile, Phocis and Thermopylae were captured by Macedonian forces, the Delphic temple robbers were executed, and Philip   II was awarded the two Phocian seats on the Amphictyonic Council and the position of master of ceremonies over

18190-702: The Dark Ages is traditionally dated to 776 BC, the year of the first Olympic Games . The Iliad and the Odyssey , the foundational texts of Western literature , are believed to have been composed by Homer in the 7th or 8th centuries BC. Poetry shaped beliefs to the Olympian gods , but ancient Greek religion had no priestly class or systematic dogmas and encompassed other currents, such as popular cults, like that of Dionysus , mysteries and magic . At this time there emerged kingdoms and city-states across

18404-516: The Diadochi (319–315   BC). Given a string of military failures by Polyperchon, in 317   BC, Philip   III, by way of his politically engaged wife Eurydice II of Macedon , officially replaced him as regent with Cassander. Afterwards, Polyperchon desperately sought the aid of Olympias in Epirus. A joint force of Epirotes, Aetolians, and Polyperchon's troops invaded Macedonia and forced

18618-607: The Epeians, Minyae and Eleans. Before the end of the 8th century BC, however, the Eleans had vanquished both their rivals, and established their supremacy over the whole country. Among the other advantages which they thus gained was the right of celebrating the Olympic games , which had formerly been the prerogative of the Pisatans . Olympia was in Elian land, and tradition dates the first recorded games to 776 BC. The Hellanodikai ,

18832-463: The Great in 323 BC they renounced the Macedonian alliance. At a subsequent period they joined the Aetolian League . When the whole of Greece fell to Rome, the sanctity of Olympia secured for the Eleans a certain amount of indulgence. The games still continued to attract large numbers of visitors, until they were finally ended by Theodosius in 394 AD, two years before the utter destruction of

19046-555: The Great of the Seleucid Empire, which invaded the war-weary and financially exhausted Ptolemaic Empire in the Fifth Syrian War (202–195   BC) as Philip   V captured Ptolemaic settlements in the Aegean Sea. Although Rome's envoys played a critical role in convincing Athens to join the anti-Macedonian alliance with Pergamon and Rhodes in 200   BC, the comitia centuriata (people's assembly) rejected

19260-620: The Great Powers, however, Greece lost little territory, while Crete was established as an autonomous state under Prince George of Greece . With state coffers empty, fiscal policy came under International Financial Control . The government, aiming to quell Komitadjis and detach the Slavophone peasants of the region from Bulgarian influence, sponsored a guerrilla campaign in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia , known as

19474-679: The Greek peninsula benefiting from economic growth. The Greek Orthodox Church was instrumental in the spread of Greek ideas to the wider Orthodox world . Following the Fourth Crusade and fall of Constantinople to the " Latins " in 1204, mainland Greece was split between the Greek Despotate of Epirus and French rule (the Frankokratia ). The re-establishment of the imperial capital in Constantinople in 1261

19688-537: The Greek peninsula, which spread to the shores of the Black Sea , Magna Graecia in southern Italy , and Asia Minor . These reached great prosperity that resulted in an unprecedented cultural boom, that of classical Greece , expressed in architecture , drama , science , mathematics and philosophy . In 508 BC, Cleisthenes instituted the world's first democratic system of government in Athens . By 500 BC,

19902-720: The Illyrian Dardani and Aetolian League. Philip   V and his allies were successful against the Aetolians and their allies in the Social War (220–217 BC) , yet he made peace with the Aetolians once he heard of incursions by the Dardani in the north and the Carthaginian victory over the Romans at the Battle of Lake Trasimene in 217   BC. Demetrius of Pharos is alleged to have convinced Philip   V to first secure Illyria in advance of an invasion of

20116-647: The Illyrians in the north and the Aetolians in Thessaly. Aratus sent an embassy to Antigonus III in 226   BC seeking an unexpected alliance now that the reformist king Cleomenes III of Sparta was threatening the rest of Greece in the Cleomenean War (229–222   BC). In exchange for military aid, Antigonus   III demanded the return of Corinth to Macedonian control, which Aratus finally agreed to in 225   BC. In 224   BC, Antigonus   III's forces took Arcadia from Sparta. After forming

20330-623: The Ionian Islands, located to the west of the mainland in the Ionian Sea. The climate of Greece is primarily Mediterranean ( Köppen : Csa ), featuring mild to cool, wet winters and hot, dry summers. This climate occurs at most of the coastal locations, including Athens , the Cyclades , the Dodecanese , Crete , the Peloponnese , the Ionian Islands , and parts of mainland Greece . The Pindus mountain range strongly affects

20544-584: The Ionian islands and Constantinople lived in prosperity, and Greeks of Constantinople ( Phanariots ) achieved power within the Ottoman administration, much of Greece suffered the economic consequences of Ottoman conquest. Heavy taxes were enforced, and in later years the Ottoman Empire enacted a policy of creation of hereditary estates, effectively turning the rural Greek populations into serfs , while

20758-586: The Latin Graecia and Graecus , from the name of the Graeci ( Γραικοί , Graikoí ; singular Γραικός , Graikós ), one of first ancient Greek tribes to settle Magna Graecia in southern Italy . The Apidima Cave in Mani , in southern Greece, has been suggested to contain the oldest remains of early modern humans outside of Africa, dated to 200,000 years ago. However others suggest

20972-460: The Macedonian throne. Amyntas III was forced to flee his kingdom in either 393 or 383   BC (based on conflicting accounts), owing to a massive invasion by the Illyrians led by Bardylis . The pretender to the throne Argaeus ruled in his absence, yet Amyntas   III eventually returned to his kingdom with the aid of Thessalian allies. Amyntas   III was also nearly overthrown by

21186-459: The Macedonians. Demetrius   II also lost an ally in Epirus when the monarchy was toppled in a republican revolution . Demetrius   II enlisted the aid of the Illyrian king Agron to defend Acarnania against Aetolia, and in 229   BC, they managed to defeat the combined navies of the Aetolian and Achaean Leagues at the Battle of Paxos . Another Illyrian ruler, Longarus of

21400-590: The Ottoman Empire, established communities throughout the Mediterranean, the Balkans, and Europe, and used their wealth to fund educational activities that brought younger generations into contact with Western ideas. In the 18th century, an increase in learning during the Modern Greek Enlightenment led to the emergence among Westernized Greek-speaking elites of the notion of a Greek nation . A secret organization formed in this milieu

21614-665: The Ottoman conquest had cut Greece off from European historical developments. The Greek Orthodox Church and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople were considered by the Ottoman governments as the ruling authorities of the entire Orthodox Christian population of the Ottoman Empire, whether ethnically Greek or not. Although the Ottoman state did not force non-Muslims to convert to Islam , Christians faced discrimination. Discrimination, particularly when combined with harsh treatment by local Ottoman authorities, led to conversions to Islam, if only superficially. In

21828-515: The Ottomans in 1453 and by 1460, Ottoman conquest of mainland Greece was complete. While most of mainland Greece and the Aegean islands was under Ottoman control by the end of the 15th century, Cyprus and Crete remained Venetian and did not fall to the Ottomans until 1571 and 1669 respectively and Venice maintained control of the Ionian Islands until 1797, after which they fell under first French, then British control. While some Greeks in

22042-459: The Ottomans in 1877 , Greek sentiment rallied to Russia, but Greece was too poor and concerned about British intervention, to enter the war. Greeks in Crete continued to stage revolts, and in 1897, the Greek government, bowing to popular pressure, declared war on the Ottomans. In the ensuing Greco-Turkish War of 1897 , the badly trained and equipped Greek army was defeated. Through the intervention of

22256-423: The Persian kings was rejected as religious blasphemy by his Macedonian and Greek subjects after his court historian Callisthenes refused to perform this ritual. When Alexander had Parmenion murdered at Ecbatana (near modern Hamadan , Iran ) in 330   BC, this was "symptomatic of the growing gulf between the king's interests and those of his country and people", according to Errington. His murder of Cleitus

22470-472: The Persians in Asia Minor at the Battle of the Granicus in 334   BC used a small cavalry contingent as a distraction to allow his infantry to cross the river followed by a cavalry charge from his companion cavalry . Alexander led the cavalry charge at the Battle of Issus in 333   BC, forcing the Persian king Darius III and his army to flee. Darius   III, despite having superior numbers,

22684-609: The Polytechnic uprising. A democratic and republican constitution was promulgated in 1975 following a referendum which chose not to restore the monarchy. Meanwhile, Andreas Papandreou , George Papandreou's son, founded the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) in response to Karamanlis's conservative New Democracy party, with the two political formations dominating government over the next four decades. Greece rejoined NATO in 1980. Greece became

22898-598: The Roman Senate decided in 184/183   BC to force Philip   V to abandon Aenus and Maronea , since these had been declared free cities in the Treaty of Apamea. This assuaged the fear of Eumenes   II that Macedonia could pose a threat to his lands in the Hellespont. Perseus of Macedon ( r.  179–168 BC ) succeeded Philip   V and executed his brother Demetrius , who had been favored by

23112-415: The Roman Senate's proposal for a declaration of war on Macedonia. Meanwhile, Philip   V conquered territories in the Hellespont and Bosporus as well as Ptolemaic Samos , which led Rhodes to form an alliance with Pergamon , Byzantium , Cyzicus , and Chios against Macedonia. Despite Philip   V's nominal alliance with the Seleucid king, he lost the naval Battle of Chios in 201   BC and

23326-621: The Roman emperor Theodosius I in 391–392. The last recorded Olympic games were held in 393, and many temples were destroyed or damaged in the century that followed. The closure of the Neoplatonic Academy of Athens by Emperor Justinian in 529 is considered the end of antiquity, although there is evidence that the academy continued. The Roman Empire in the east, following the fall of the Western Roman Empire in

23540-555: The Romans but was charged by Perseus with high treason . Perseus then attempted to form marriage alliances with Prusias II of Bithynia and Seleucus IV Philopator of the Seleucid Empire, along with renewed relations with Rhodes that greatly unsettled Eumenes   II. Although Eumenes   II attempted to undermine these diplomatic relationships, Perseus fostered an alliance with the Boeotian League , extended his authority into Illyria and Thrace , and in 174   BC, won

23754-690: The Scythians along the Danube and Macedonia's involvement in the Fourth Sacred War against Amphissa in 339   BC. Thebes ejected a Macedonian garrison from Nicaea (near Thermopylae) , leading Thebes to join Athens, Megara , Corinth, Achaea , and Euboea in a final confrontation against Macedonia at the Battle of Chaeronea in 338   BC. After the Macedonian victory at Chaeronea, Philip   II installed an oligarchy in Thebes, yet

23968-765: The Seleucids in the 191   BC Battle of Thermopylae as well as the Battle of Magnesia in 190   BC, forcing the Seleucids to pay a war indemnity , dismantle most of its navy, and abandon its claims to any territories north or west of the Taurus Mountains in the 188   BC Treaty of Apamea . With Rome's acceptance, Philip   V was able to capture some cities in central Greece in 191–189   BC that had been allied to Antiochus   III, while Rhodes and Eumenes II ( r.  197–159 BC ) of Pergamon gained territories in Asia Minor. Failing to please all sides in various territorial disputes,

24182-465: The Seleucids by divorcing Stratonice of Macedon . Although the Aetolians formed an alliance with the Achaean League as a result, Demetrius   II was able to invade Boeotia and capture it from the Aetolians by 236   BC. The Achaean League managed to capture Megalopolis in 235   BC, and by the end of Demetrius   II's reign most of the Peloponnese except Argos was taken from

24396-573: The Spartans, who invaded Arcadia and forced the Arcadians to recall their troops from Elis. The general result of this war was the restoration of their territory to the Eleans, who were also again invested with the right of holding the Olympic games. During the Macedonian supremacy in Greece they sided with the victors, but refused to fight against their countrymen. After the death of Alexander

24610-480: The Turks and Egyptians ravaged the islands, committing massacres . This galvanized opinion in western Europe in favour of the Greeks. The Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II negotiated with Mehmet Ali of Egypt , who agreed to send his son Ibrahim Pasha with an army, in return for territorial gain. By the end of 1825, most of the Peloponnese was under Egyptian control. Three great powers , France , Russian Empire , and

24824-528: The Upper Macedonian aristocracy as well as the Illyrian princess Audata to ensure a marriage alliance. To establish an alliance with Larissa in Thessaly, he married the Thessalian noblewoman Philinna in 358   BC, who bore him a son who would later rule as Philip III Arrhidaeus ( r.  323–317 BC ). In 357   BC, he married Olympias to secure an alliance with Arybbas ,

25038-482: The adoption of the euro, Greece could no longer devalue its currency to regain competitiveness. In the 2012 elections, there was major political change, with new parties emerging from the collapse of the two main parties, PASOK and New Democracy. In 2015, Alexis Tsipras was elected as prime minister, the first outside the two main parties. The Greek government-debt crisis , and subsequent austerity policies, resulted in social strife. The crisis ended around 2018, with

25252-812: The banks of the Indus . Alexander's empire fragmented, inaugurating the Hellenistic period . After fierce conflict amongst themselves, the generals that succeeded Alexander and their successors founded large personal kingdoms in the areas he had conquered, such as that of the Ptolemies in Egypt and of the Seleucids in Syria , Mesopotamia and Iran . The newly founded poleis of these kingdoms, such as Alexandria and Antioch , were settled by Greeks as members of

25466-408: The behest of Larissa ended in two disastrous defeats by the Phocian general Onomarchus . Philip   II in turn defeated Onomarchus in 352   BC at the Battle of Crocus Field , which led to Philip   II's election as leader ( archon ) of the Thessalian League, provided him a seat on the Amphictyonic Council, and allowed for a marriage alliance with Pherae by wedding Nicesipolis , niece of

25680-558: The birthplace of Western civilisation. The earliest of them was the Cycladic culture which flourished on the islands of the Aegean Sea , starting around 3200 BC, and produced an abundance of folded-arm and other marble figurines . From c.  3100 BC to 1100 BC, Crete , a major cultural and economic centre, was home to the Minoan civilization known for its colourful art , religious figurines , and monumental palaces . The Minoans wrote their undeciphered language using scripts known as Linear A and Cretan hieroglyphs . On

25894-401: The central Ottoman state for centuries. The 16th and 17th centuries are regarded as a "dark age" in Greek history, with the prospect of overthrowing Ottoman rule appearing remote. However, prior to the Greek Revolution of 1821, there had been wars which saw Greeks fight against the Ottomans, such as the Greek participation in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, the Morean War of 1684–1699, and

26108-540: The city and treated the inhabitants cordially, unlike the Potidaeans, who had been enslaved. Philip II then involved Macedonia in the Third Sacred War (356–346   BC). It began when Phocis captured and plundered the temple of Apollo at Delphi instead of submitting unpaid fines, causing the Amphictyonic League to declare war on Phocis and a civil war among the members of the Thessalian League aligned with either Phocis or Thebes. Philip   II's initial campaign against Pherae in Thessaly in 353   BC at

26322-411: The climate of the country, as areas to the west of the range are considerably wetter on average (due to greater exposure to south-westerly systems bringing in moisture) than the areas lying to the east of the range (due to a rain shadow effect), resulting to some coastal areas in the south falling to the hot semi-arid climate ( Köppen : BSh ) category, such as parts of the Athens Riviera and some of

26536-416: The close of the 11th century BC the Dorians invaded the Peloponnese , and Elis fell to the share of Oxylus and the Aetolians . These people, amalgamating with the Epeians, formed a powerful kingdom in the north of Elis. After this many changes took place in the political distribution of the country, till at length it came to acknowledge only three tribes, each independent of the others. These tribes were

26750-425: The country by the Gothic invasion under Alaric I . Elis was a traditional ally of Sparta , but the city state joined Argos and Athens in an alliance against Sparta around 420 BC during the Peloponnesian War . This was due to Spartan support for the independence of Lepreum . As punishment following the surrender of Athens, Elis was forced to surrender Triphylia in 399 BC Eric W. Robinson has argued that Elis

26964-482: The country one of the most mountainous in Europe. Mount Olympus , the mythical abode of the Greek Gods , culminates at Mytikas peak 2,918 metres (9,573 ft), the highest in the country. Western Greece contains a number of lakes and wetlands and is dominated by the Pindus mountain range. The Pindus, a continuation of the Dinaric Alps , reaches a maximum elevation of 2,637 m (8,652 ft) at Mt. Smolikas (the second-highest in Greece) and historically has been

27178-541: The court of Lysimachus in Thrace, Pyrrhus was awarded the westernmost portions of the Macedonian kingdom. Demetrius had his nephew Alexander   V assassinated and was then proclaimed king of Macedonia, but his subjects protested against his aloof, Eastern-style autocracy . War broke out between Pyrrhus and Demetrius in 290   BC when Lanassa, wife of Pyrrhus , daughter of Agathocles of Syracuse , left him for Demetrius and offered him her dowry of Corcyra . The war dragged on until 288   BC, when Demetrius lost

27392-415: The dominant state of Hellenistic Greece . The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by the royal Argead dynasty , which was followed by the Antipatrid and Antigonid dynasties. Home to the ancient Macedonians , the earliest kingdom was centered on the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula , and bordered by Epirus to the southwest, Illyria to the northwest, Paeonia to the north, Thrace to

27606-432: The dowry was abolished, while education and foreign policy doctrines changed. However, Papandreou's tenure has been associated with corruption, high inflation, stagnation and budget deficits that later caused problems. The country adopted the euro in 2001 and successfully hosted the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens. In 2010, Greece suffered from the Great Recession and related European sovereign debt crisis . Due to

27820-422: The east and Thessaly to the south. Before the 4th century BC, Macedonia was a small kingdom outside of the area dominated by the great city-states of Athens , Sparta and Thebes , and briefly subordinate to Achaemenid Persia . During the reign of the Argead king Philip   II (359–336 BC), Macedonia subdued mainland Greece and the Thracian Odrysian kingdom through conquest and diplomacy. With

28034-446: The eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into various independent city-states known as poleis (singular polis ) that spanned the Mediterranean and Black seas. Philip II of Macedon united most of present-day Greece in the fourth century BC, with his son Alexander the Great rapidly conquering much of the known ancient world from the eastern Mediterranean to northwestern India. The subsequent Hellenistic period saw

28248-419: The empire and beyond. Of particular importance were the contributions of Aristotle , tutor to Alexander, whose writings became a keystone of Western philosophy . After Alexander's death in 323   BC, the ensuing wars of the Diadochi , and the partitioning of Alexander's short-lived empire, Macedonia remained a Greek cultural and political center in the Mediterranean region along with Ptolemaic Egypt ,

28462-490: The end of the Third Macedonian War in 168   BC, the Macedonian monarchy was abolished and replaced by Roman client states . A short-lived revival of the monarchy during the Fourth Macedonian War in 150–148   BC ended with the establishment of the Roman province of Macedonia . The Macedonian kings, who wielded absolute power and commanded state resources such as gold and silver, facilitated mining operations to mint currency , finance their armies and, by

28676-399: The end of the bailout mechanisms and return of growth. Simultaneously, Tsipras, and the leader of North Macedonia, Zoran Zaev , signed the Prespa Agreement , solving the naming dispute that had strained the relations and eased the latter's way to become a member of the EU and NATO. In 2019, Kyriakos Mitsotakis became Greece's new prime minister, after his centre-right New Democracy won

28890-462: The endangered brown bear , the Eurasian lynx , the roe deer , and the wild goat. Macedonia (ancient kingdom) Macedonia ( / ˌ m æ s ɪ ˈ d oʊ n i ə / MASS -ih- DOH -nee-ə ; Greek : Μακεδονία , romanized :  Makedonía ), also called Macedon ( / ˈ m æ s ɪ d ɒ n / MASS -ih-don ), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece , which later became

29104-410: The establishment of economic relations with the East, a stratum of wealthy euergetai dominated their internal life. From about 200 BC the Roman Republic became increasingly involved in Greek affairs and engaged in a series of wars with Macedon . Macedon's defeat at the Battle of Pydna in 168 BC signalled the end of Antigonid power. In 146 BC, Macedonia was annexed as a province by Rome, and

29318-501: The extent to which his ideas were influenced by his adolescent years of captivity in Thebes as a political hostage during the Theban hegemony , especially after meeting with the general Epaminondas . The Macedonians, like the other Greeks, traditionally practiced monogamy , but Philip   II practiced polygamy and married seven wives with perhaps only one that did not involve the loyalty of his aristocratic subjects or new allies. His first marriages were to Phila of Elimeia of

29532-399: The few arable places in the country. Greece features a vast number of islands —between 1,200 and 6,000, depending on the definition, 227 of which are inhabited. Crete is the largest and most populous island; Euboea , separated from the mainland by the 60 m-wide Euripus Strait , is the second largest, followed by Lesbos and Rhodes . The Greek islands are traditionally grouped into

29746-438: The fifth century (Thuc. 5.47.9). There was also a range of public officials such as the demiourgoi who regularly submitted to public audits. As described by Strabo, Elis was divided into three districts: Koilē Elis, the largest and most northern of the three, was watered by the river Peneus and its tributary, the Ladon. The district was famous during antiquity for its cattle and horses. Pisatis extended south from Koilē Elis to

29960-406: The following clusters: the Argo-Saronic Islands in the Saronic gulf near Athens; the Cyclades, a large but dense collection occupying the central part of the Aegean Sea; the North Aegean islands , a loose grouping off the west coast of Turkey; the Dodecanese, another loose collection in the southeast between Crete and Turkey; the Sporades , a small tight group off the coast of northeast Euboea; and

30174-415: The following year recaptured Pydna and Potidaea, the latter of which he handed over to the Chalcidian League as promised in a treaty. In 356   BC, he took Crenides , refounding it as Philippi , while his general Parmenion defeated the Illyrian king Grabos II of the Grabaei . During the 355–354   BC siege of Methone, Philip   II lost his right eye to an arrow wound, but managed to capture

30388-403: The forces of the Chalcidian city of Olynthos , but with the aid of Teleutias , brother of the Spartan king Agesilaus II , the Macedonians forced Olynthos to surrender and dissolve their Chalcidian League in 379   BC. Alexander II ( r.  370–368 BC ), son of Eurydice   I and Amyntas   III, succeeded his father and immediately invaded Thessaly to wage war against

30602-438: The formation of the Achaean League in 251   BC pushed Macedonian forces out of much of the Peloponnese and at times incorporated Athens and Sparta. While the Seleucid Empire aligned with Antigonid Macedonia against Ptolemaic Egypt during the Syrian Wars , the Ptolemaic navy heavily disrupted Antigonus   II's efforts to control mainland Greece. With the aid of the Ptolemaic navy, the Athenian statesman Chremonides led

30816-408: The games, including two gymnasia, a palaestra , and the House of the Hellanodikai . The original inhabitants of Elis were called Caucones and Paroreatae. They are mentioned by Homer for the first time in Greek history under the title of Epeians (Epeii), as setting out for the Trojan War, and they are described by him as living in a state of constant hostility with their neighbours the Pylians. At

31030-484: The governor of Thrace, was dissuaded from rebellion by use of diplomacy. Antipater deferred the punishment of Sparta to the League of Corinth headed by Alexander, who ultimately pardoned the Spartans on the condition that they submit fifty nobles as hostages. Antipater's hegemony was somewhat unpopular in Greece due to his practice (perhaps by order of Alexander) of exiling malcontents and garrisoning cities with Macedonian troops, yet in 330   BC, Alexander declared that

31244-404: The height of Greek culture and influence in antiquity. Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century BC, becoming an integral part of the Roman Empire and its continuation, the Byzantine Empire , which was predominately Greek in culture and language . The Greek Orthodox Church , which emerged in the first century AD, helped shape modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to

31458-430: The increasing prosperity of its ally, availed itself of the first pretext to pick a quarrel. At the Battle of Mantinea (418 BC) , the Eleans fought against the Spartans, who later took vengeance upon them by depriving them of Triphylia and the towns of the Acroreia . The Eleans made no attempt to re-establish their authority over these places until Thebes rose in importance after the Battle of Leuctra (371 BC). However,

31672-572: The induction of Corinth into the Achaean League. Antigonus   II made peace with the Achaean League in 240   BC, ceding the territories that he had lost in Greece. Antigonus   II died in 239   BC and was succeeded by his son Demetrius II of Macedon ( r.  239–229 BC ). Seeking an alliance with Macedonia to defend against the Aetolians, the queen mother and regent of Epirus, Olympias II , offered her daughter Phthia of Macedon to Demetrius   II in marriage. Demetrius II accepted her proposal, but he damaged relations with

31886-426: The institution of the army, while a few municipalities within the Macedonian commonwealth enjoyed a high degree of autonomy and even had democratic governments with popular assemblies . The name Macedonia ( Greek : Μακεδονία , Makedonía ) comes from the ethnonym Μακεδόνες ( Makedónes ), which itself is derived from the ancient Greek adjective μακεδνός ( makednós ), meaning "tall, slim", also

32100-412: The judges of the Games, were of Elian origin. The attempts which the Pisatans made to recover their lost privilege, during a period of nearly two hundred years, ended at length in the total destruction of their city by the Eleans. From the time of this event in 572 BC until the Peloponnesian War , the peace of Elis remained undisturbed. In the war, Elis sided at first with Sparta . But Sparta, jealous of

32314-449: The mainland, the Mycenaean civilization developed around 1750 BC and lasted until c.  1100 BC. The Mycenaeans possessed advanced military and built large fortifications . They worshiped many gods and used Linear B to write the earliest attested form of Greek known as Mycenaean Greek . The collapse of the Mycenean civilization ushered in the Greek Dark Ages , from which written records are absent. The end of

32528-400: The military, made Greece a member of the Balkan League , and led it through the Balkan Wars . By 1913, Greece's territory and population had doubled, annexing Crete, Epirus , and Macedonia . The struggle between King Constantine I and charismatic Venizelos over foreign policy on the eve of First World War dominated politics and divided the country into two opposing groups . During parts of

32742-411: The most well-preserved ancient theaters in Greece. Built in the fourth century BC, the theater had a capacity of 8,000 people; below it, Early Helladic , sub-Mycenaean and Protogeometric graves have been found. Athletes In mythology Intellectuals Eleans were labelled as the greatest barbarians barbarotatoi by musician Stratonicus of Athens And when he was once asked by some one who were

32956-635: The name of a people related to the Dorians ( Herodotus ), and possibly descriptive of Ancient Macedonians . It is most likely cognate with the adjective μακρός ( makrós ), meaning "long" or "tall" in Ancient Greek . The name is believed to have originally meant either "highlanders", "the tall ones", or "high grown men". Linguist Robert S. P. Beekes claims that both terms are of Pre-Greek substrate origin and cannot be explained in terms of Indo-European morphology, however Filip De Decker rejects Beekesʼ arguments as insufficient. The Classical Greek historians Herodotus and Thucydides reported

33170-415: The new junta strongman. On 20 July 1974, Turkey invaded the island of Cyprus in response to a Greek-backed Cypriot coup, triggering a crisis in Greece that led to the regime's collapse and restoration of democracy through Metapolitefsi . The former prime minister Konstantinos Karamanlis was invited back from self-exile and the first multiparty elections since 1964 were held on the first anniversary of

33384-456: The next thirty years. Although post-war was characterised by social strife and marginalisation of the left, Greece experienced rapid economic growth and recovery, propelled in part by the U.S. Marshall Plan . In 1952, Greece joined NATO , reinforcing its membership in the Western Bloc of the Cold War. King Constantine II 's dismissal of George Papandreou 's centrist government in 1965 prompted political turbulence, which culminated in

33598-405: The northeast, Illyrians to the northwest, and Paeonians to the north, while the lands of Thessaly to the south and Epirus to the west were inhabited by Greeks with similar cultures to that of the Macedonians. A year after Darius I of Persia ( r.  522–486 BC ) launched an invasion into Europe against the Scythians , Paeonians , Thracians , and several Greek city-states of

33812-401: The northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the east. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland , the Ionian Sea to the west, and the Sea of Crete and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin , featuring thousands of islands . The country comprises nine traditional geographic regions , and has

34026-494: The other siding with the infant son of Alexander and Roxana, Alexander   IV ( r.  323–309 BC ). Except for the Euboeans and Boeotians, the Greeks also immediately rose up in a rebellion against Antipater known as the Lamian War (323–322   BC). When Antipater was defeated at the 323   BC Battle of Thermopylae , he fled to Lamia where he was besieged by the Athenian commander Leosthenes . A Macedonian army led by Leonnatus rescued Antipater by lifting

34240-407: The outcome of the 321   BC Partition of Triparadisus in Syria where the victorious coalition settled the issue of a new regency and territorial rights. Antipater was appointed as regent over the two kings. Before Antipater died in 319   BC, he named the staunch Argead loyalist Polyperchon as his successor, passing over his own son Cassander and ignoring the right of the king to choose

34454-420: The polis of Elis was formed. The local form of the name was Valis, or Valeia, and its meaning, in all probability was, "the lowland" (compare with the word "valley"). In its physical constitution Elis is similar to Achaea and Arcadia; its mountains are mere offshoots of the Arcadian highlands, and its principal rivers are fed by Arcadian springs. According to Strabo , the first settlement was created by Oxylus

34668-467: The possible role of Alexander   III "the Great" and his mother Olympias in the assassination of Philip   II, noting the latter's choice to exclude Alexander from his planned invasion of Asia, choosing instead for him to act as regent of Greece and deputy hegemon of the League of Corinth, and the potential bearing of another male heir between Philip   II and his new wife, Cleopatra Eurydice. Alexander   III ( r.  336–323 BC )

34882-407: The reign of Philip   II, a Macedonian navy. Unlike the other diadochi successor states , the imperial cult fostered by Alexander was never adopted in Macedonia, yet Macedonian rulers nevertheless assumed roles as high priests of the kingdom and leading patrons of domestic and international cults of the Hellenistic religion . The authority of Macedonian kings was theoretically limited by

35096-475: The reign of four different monarchs: Orestes , son of Archelaus   I; Aeropus   II , uncle, regent , and murderer of Orestes; Pausanias , son of Aeropus   II; and Amyntas   II , who was married to the youngest daughter of Archelaus   I. Very little is known about this turbulent period; it came to an end when Amyntas   III ( r.  393–370 BC ), son of Arrhidaeus and grandson of Amyntas   I, killed Pausanias and claimed

35310-410: The remains represent archaic humans . All three stages of the Stone Age are represented in Greece, for example in the Franchthi Cave . Neolithic settlements in Greece, dating from the 7th millennium BC, are the oldest in Europe, as Greece lies on the route by which farming spread from the Near East to Europe. Greece is home to the first advanced civilizations in Europe and is often considered

35524-407: The rest of Greece became a Roman protectorate. The process was completed in 27 BC, when emperor Augustus annexed the rest of Greece and constituted it as the senatorial province of Achaea . Despite their military superiority, the Romans admired and became heavily influenced by Greek culture. Greek-speaking communities of the Hellenised East were instrumental in the spread of Christianity in

35738-405: The right bank of the river Alpheios , and was divided into eight departments named after as many towns. Triphylia stretched south from the Alpheios to the river Neda. The city of Elis ( Ancient Greek : Ἦλις ) was the capital of the city state of Elis. It was located at the exit of the river Peneios from the mountains into the plain in the area of today's Ilida Municipality north of Kalyvia. It

35952-458: The royal cemetery of Aigai. Pyrrhus pursued Antigonus   II in the Peloponnese, yet Antigonus   II was ultimately able to recapture Macedonia. Pyrrhus was killed while besieging Argos in 272   BC, allowing Antigonus   II to reclaim the rest of Greece. He then restored the Argead dynastic graves at Aigai and annexed the Kingdom of Paeonia . The Aetolian League hampered Antigonus   II's control over central Greece , and

36166-443: The royal family, King Alexander   IV and the queen mother Roxana. The conflict that followed lasted until the winter of 312/311   BC, when a new peace settlement recognized Cassander as general of Europe, Antigonus as "first in Asia", Ptolemy as general of Egypt, and Lysimachus as general of Thrace. Cassander had Alexander   IV and Roxana put to death in the winter of 311/310   BC, and between 306 and 305   BC

36380-401: The sea at the southern end of the Balkans , ending at the Peloponnese peninsula (separated from the mainland by the canal of the Isthmus of Corinth ) and strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Its highly indented coastline and numerous islands give Greece the 11th longest national coastline in the world, with 13,676 km (8,498 mi); its land boundary

36594-478: The siege. Antipater defeated the rebellion, yet his death in 319   BC left a power vacuum wherein the two proclaimed kings of Macedonia became pawns in a power struggle between the diadochi , the former generals of Alexander's army. A council of the army convened in Babylon immediately after Alexander's death, naming Philip   III as king and the chiliarch Perdiccas as his regent. Antipater, Antigonus Monophthalmus , Craterus , and Ptolemy formed

36808-524: The support of the Macedonians and fled the country. Macedonia was then divided between Pyrrhus and Lysimachus, the former taking western Macedonia and the latter eastern Macedonia. By 286   BC, Lysimachus had expelled Pyrrhus and his forces from Macedonia. In 282   BC, a new war erupted between Seleucus   I and Lysimachus; the latter was killed in the Battle of Corupedion , allowing Seleucus   I to take control of Thrace and Macedonia. In two dramatic reversals of fortune, Seleucus   I

37022-538: The surrender of Philip   III and Eurydice's army, allowing Olympias to execute the king and force his queen to commit suicide. Olympias then had Nicanor and dozens of other Macedonian nobles killed, but by the spring of 316   BC, Cassander had defeated her forces, captured her, and placed her on trial for murder before sentencing her to death. Cassander married Philip II's daughter Thessalonike and briefly extended Macedonian control into Illyria as far as Epidamnos (modern Durrës , Albania). By 313   BC, it

37236-415: The tenth member of the European Communities in 1981, ushering in sustained growth. Investments in industrial enterprises and heavy infrastructure, as well as funds from the European Union and growing revenue from tourism, shipping, and a fast-growing service sector raised the standard of living . In 1981, the election of Andreas Papandreou resulted in reforms over the 1980s. He recognised civil marriage,

37450-459: The time being. In 215 BC, at the height of the Second Punic War with the Carthaginian Empire , Roman authorities intercepted a ship off the Calabrian coast holding a Macedonian envoy and a Carthaginian ambassador in possession of a treaty composed by Hannibal declaring an alliance with Philip   V. The treaty stipulated that Carthage had the sole right to negotiate the terms of Rome's hypothetical surrender and promised mutual aid if

37664-399: The tyrant Jason of Pherae . Philip II had some early involvement with the Achaemenid Empire, especially by supporting satraps and mercenaries who rebelled against the central authority of the Achaemenid king. The satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia Artabazos II , who was in rebellion against Artaxerxes III , was able to take refuge as an exile at the Macedonian court from 352 to 342 BC. He

37878-469: The war, Greece had two governments: A royalist pro-German one in Athens and a Venizelist pro- Entente one in Thessaloniki . They united in 1917, when Greece entered the war on the side of the Entente. After the war, Greece attempted expansion into Asia Minor , a region with a large native Greek population, but was defeated in the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) , contributing to a flight of Asia Minor Greeks . These events overlapped, happening during

38092-417: The war. The following era was marked by instability, as over 1.5 million propertyless Greek refugees from Turkey (some of whom could not speak Greek) had to be integrated into Greek society. The refugees made a dramatic population boost, as they were more than a quarter of Greece's prior population. Following the catastrophic events in Asia Minor, the monarchy was abolished via a referendum in 1924 and

38306-436: The wedding altogether and exiled Alexander's advisors Ptolemy , Nearchus , and Harpalus . To reconcile with Olympias, Philip   II had their daughter Cleopatra marry Olympias' brother (and Cleopatra's uncle) Alexander   I of Epirus, but Philip   II was assassinated by his bodyguard, Pausanias of Orestis , during their wedding feast and succeeded by Alexander in 336   BC. Modern scholars have argued over

38520-449: The wedding feast infuriated Philip   II's son Alexander, a veteran of the Battle of Chaeronea, and his mother Olympias. They fled together to Epirus before Alexander was recalled to Pella by Philip   II. When Philip   II arranged a marriage between his son Arrhidaeus and Ada of Caria , daughter of Pixodarus , the Persian satrap of Caria , Alexander intervened and proposed to marry Ada instead. Philip   II then cancelled

38734-443: The wickedest people, he said, "That in Pamphylia , the people of Phaselis were the worst; but that the Sidetae were the worst in the whole world." And when he was asked again, according to the account given by Hegesander , which were the greatest barbarians , the Boeotians or the Thessalians he said, "The Eleans." In Hesychius (s.v. βαρβαρόφωνοι ) and other ancient lexica, Eleans are also listed as barbarophones . Indeed,

38948-421: The wider Orthodox world . After the Fourth Crusade in 1204, Latin possessions were established in parts of the Greek peninsula, but most of the area fell under Ottoman rule by the mid-15th century. Following a protracted war of independence , which started in 1821, Greece emerged as a modern nation state in 1830. Over the first hundred years, the Kingdom of Greece sought territorial expansion , which

39162-610: The winter of 1941–42, tens of thousands more died because of reprisals by Nazis and collaborators , the economy was ruined, and most Greek Jews (tens of thousands) were deported and murdered in Nazi concentration camps. The Greek Resistance , one of the most effective resistance movements, fought against the Nazis. The German occupiers committed atrocities, mass executions, and wholesale slaughter of civilians and destruction of towns and villages in reprisals. Hundreds of villages were systematically torched and almost 1 million Greeks left homeless. The Germans executed around 21,000 Greeks,

39376-510: The winter. Most of the inland parts of northern Greece, in Central Macedonia , the lower elevations of Western Macedonia and Eastern Macedonia and Thrace feature a humid subtropical climate ( Köppen : Cfa ) with cold, damp winters and hot, moderately dry summers with occasional thunderstorms. Snowfalls occur every year in the mountains and northern areas, and brief periods of snowy weather are possible even in low-lying southern areas, such as Athens . Phytogeographically , Greece belongs to

39590-405: Was restored in 1974–75, leading to the current parliamentary republic . It was a belligerent on the side of the Greek Cypriots in the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974. Having achieved record economic growth from 1950 through the 1970s , Greece is a developed country with an advanced high-income economy . A founding member of the United Nations , Greece was the tenth member to join what

39804-424: Was a democracy by around 500 BC, on the basis of early inscriptions which suggest that the people (the dāmos ) could make and change laws. Robinson further believes that literary sources imply that Elis continued to be democratic until 365, when an oligarchic faction seems to have taken control (Xen. Hell. 7.4.16, 26). At some point in the mid-fourth century, democracy may have been restored; at least, we hear that

40018-460: Was able to put down Arrhabaeus's revolt. Brasidas died in 422 BC, the year Athens and Sparta struck an accord, the Peace of Nicias , that freed Macedonia from its obligations as an Athenian ally. Following the 418   BC Battle of Mantinea , the victorious Spartans formed an alliance with Argos , a military pact Perdiccas   II was keen to join given the threat of Spartan allies remaining in Chalcidice. When Argos suddenly switched sides as

40232-418: Was accompanied by the empire's recovery of much of the Greek peninsula, while the islands remained under Genoese and Venetian control. During the Paleologi dynasty (1261–1453) a new era of Greek patriotism emerged accompanied by a turning back to ancient Greece. In the 14th century much of the Greek peninsula was lost by the Byzantine Empire to the Serbs and then the Ottomans . Constantinople fell to

40446-482: Was accompanied in exile by his family and by his mercenary general Memnon of Rhodes . Barsine , daughter of Artabazos, and future wife of Alexander the Great, grew up at the Macedonian court. After campaigning against the Thracian ruler Cersobleptes , in 349   BC, Philip   II began his war against the Chalcidian League, which had been reestablished in 375   BC following a temporary disbandment. Despite an Athenian intervention by Charidemus , Olynthos

40660-408: Was again forced to flee the Battle of Gaugamela in 331   BC. The Persian king was later captured and executed by his own satrap of Bactria and kinsman, Bessus , in 330   BC. The Macedonian king subsequently hunted down and executed Bessus in what is now Afghanistan , securing the region of Sogdia in the process. At the 326   BC Battle of the Hydaspes (modern-day Punjab ), when

40874-569: Was also able to make peace with the Illyrians who had threatened his borders . Philip II spent his initial years radically transforming the Macedonian army . A reform of its organization, equipment, and training, including the introduction of the Macedonian phalanx armed with long pikes (i.e. the sarissa ), proved immediately successful when tested against his Illyrian and Paeonian enemies. Confusing accounts in ancient sources have led modern scholars to debate how much Philip   II's royal predecessors may have contributed to these reforms and

41088-631: Was assassinated by his brother-in-law Ptolemy of Aloros , the latter acted as an overbearing regent for Perdiccas   III ( r.  368–359 BC ), younger brother of Alexander   II, who eventually had Ptolemy executed when reaching the age of majority in 365   BC. The remainder of Perdiccas III's reign was marked by political stability and financial recovery. However, an Athenian invasion led by Timotheus , son of Conon , managed to capture Methone and Pydna, and an Illyrian invasion led by Bardylis succeeded in killing Perdiccas   III and 4,000 Macedonian troops in battle. Philip II

41302-400: Was assassinated in 281   BC by his officer Ptolemy Keraunos , son of Ptolemy   I and grandson of Antipater, who was then proclaimed king of Macedonia before being killed in battle in 279   BC by Celtic invaders in the Gallic invasion of Greece . The Macedonian army proclaimed the general Sosthenes of Macedon as king, although he apparently refused the title. After defeating

41516-443: Was assaulted along with Apollonia by Macedonian forces. When the Macedonians captured Lissus in 212   BC, the Roman Senate responded by inciting the Aetolian League, Sparta, Elis , Messenia , and Attalus I ( r.  241–197 BC ) of Pergamon to wage war against Philip   V, keeping him occupied and away from Italy. The Aetolian League concluded a peace agreement with Philip   V in 206   BC, and

41730-454: Was blockaded at Bargylia by the Rhodian and Pergamene navies. While Philip V was busy fighting Rome's Greek allies, Rome viewed this as an opportunity to punish this former ally of Hannibal with a war that they hoped would supply a victory and require few resources. The Roman Senate demanded that Philip   V cease hostilities against neighboring Greek powers and defer to an international arbitration committee for settling grievances. When

41944-479: Was captured by Philip   II in 348   BC, and its inhabitants were sold into slavery , including some Athenian citizens . The Athenians, especially in a series of speeches by Demosthenes known as the Olynthiacs , were unsuccessful in persuading their allies to counterattack and in 346   BC concluded a treaty with Macedonia known as the Peace of Philocrates . The treaty stipulated that Athens would relinquish claims to Macedonian coastal territories,

42158-504: Was delayed by negotiations with the Spartan king Nabis , who had meanwhile captured Argos, yet Roman forces evacuated Greece in 194   BC. Encouraged by the Aetolian League and their calls to liberate Greece from the Romans, the Seleucid king Antiochus   III landed with his army at Demetrias , Thessaly, in 192   BC, and was elected strategos by the Aetolians. Macedonia, the Achaean League, and other Greek city-states maintained their alliance with Rome. The Romans defeated

42372-411: Was faced with some internal revolts and had to fend off an invasion of Illyrians led by Sirras of Lynkestis, he was able to project Macedonian power into Thessaly where he sent military aid to his allies. Although he retained Aigai as a ceremonial and religious center, Archelaus   I moved the capital of the kingdom north to Pella , which was then positioned by a lake with a river connecting it to

42586-446: Was finally struck in 255   BC. In 251 BC, Aratus of Sicyon led a rebellion against Antigonus   II, and in 250   BC, Ptolemy   II declared his support for the self-proclaimed King Alexander of Corinth . Although Alexander died in 246   BC and Antigonus was able to score a naval victory against the Ptolemies at Andros , the Macedonians lost the Acrocorinth to the forces of Aratus in 243   BC, followed by

42800-417: Was forced to retreat to Macedonia when Demetrius invaded Boeotia to his rear, attempting to sever his path of retreat. While Antigonus and Demetrius attempted to recreate Philip   II's Hellenic league with themselves as dual hegemons, a revived coalition of Cassander, Ptolemy I Soter ( r.  305–283 BC ) of Egypt's Ptolemaic dynasty , Seleucus I Nicator ( r.  305–281 BC ) of

43014-424: Was immediately proclaimed king by an assembly of the army and leading aristocrats, chief among them being Antipater and Parmenion. By the end of his reign and military career in 323   BC, Alexander would rule over an empire consisting of mainland Greece , Asia Minor , the Levant , ancient Egypt , Mesopotamia , Persia , and much of Central and South Asia (i.e. modern Pakistan ). Among his first acts

43228-475: Was introduced, curbing the power of the monarchy to appoint minority governments . Corruption, coupled with increased spending to fund infrastructure like the Corinth Canal , overtaxed the weak economy and forced the declaration of public insolvency in 1893. Greeks were united, however, in their determination to liberate the Hellenic lands under Ottoman rule; the Cretan Revolt (1866–1869) had raised nationalist fervour. When war broke out between Russia and

43442-420: Was lenient toward Athens, wishing to utilize their navy in a planned invasion of the Achaemenid Empire. He was then chiefly responsible for the formation of the League of Corinth that included the major Greek city-states except Sparta. Despite the Kingdom of Macedonia's official exclusion from the league, in 337   BC, Philip   II was elected as the leader ( hegemon ) of its council ( synedrion ) and

43656-473: Was mainly realized in the early 20th century during the Balkan Wars and up until the catastrophic defeat of its Asia Minor Campaign in 1922. The short-lived republic that was established in 1924 was beset by the ramifications of civil strife and the challenge of resettling refugees from Turkey . In 1936 a royalist dictatorship inaugurated a long period of authoritarian rule, marked by military occupation , civil war and military dictatorship . Democracy

43870-423: Was moved from Nafplio , where it had been since 1829, to Athens , then a smaller town. The Church of Greece was established as Greece's national church and 25 March, the day of Annunciation , was chosen as the anniversary of the Greek War of Independence to reinforce the link between Greek identity and Orthodoxy . Otto was deposed in 1862 because of the Bavarian-dominated government, heavy taxation, and

44084-541: Was not allied with the Axis . In October 1940, Fascist Italy demanded the surrender of Greece, but it refused , and, in the Greco-Italian War , Greece repelled Italian forces into Albania. French general Charles de Gaulle praised the fierceness of the Greek resistance, but the country fell to urgently dispatched German forces during the Battle of Greece . The Nazis proceeded to administer Athens and Thessaloniki, while other regions were given to Fascist Italy and Bulgaria. Over 100,000 civilians died of starvation during

44298-536: Was retaken by the Illyrian king Glaucias of Taulantii . By 316   BC, Antigonus had taken the territory of Eumenes and managed to eject Seleucus Nicator from his Babylonian satrapy, leading Cassander, Ptolemy, and Lysimachus to issue a joint ultimatum to Antigonus in 315   BC for him to surrender various territories in Asia. Antigonus promptly allied with Polyperchon, now based in Corinth, and issued an ultimatum of his own to Cassander, charging him with murder for executing Olympias and demanding that he hand over

44512-409: Was returned to Macedonia and much of Chalcidice to Athens in a peace treaty brokered by Sitalces, who provided Athens with military aid in exchange for acquiring new Thracian allies. Perdiccas   II sided with Sparta in the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) between Athens and Sparta, and in 429 BC Athens retaliated by persuading Sitalces to invade Macedonia, but he was forced to retreat owing to

44726-401: Was situated along the Haliacmon and Axius rivers in Lower Macedonia , north of Mount Olympus . Historian Robert Malcolm Errington suggests that one of the earliest Argead kings established Aigai (modern Vergina ) as their capital in the mid-7th century   BC. Before the 4th century   BC, the kingdom covered a region corresponding roughly to the western and central parts of

44940-507: Was the Filiki Eteria , in 1814. They engaged traditional strata of the Greek Orthodox world in their liberal nationalist cause. The first revolt began on 6 March 1821 in the Danubian Principalities , but was put down by the Ottomans. This spurred the Greeks of the Peloponnese and on 17 March the Maniots declared war on the Ottomans. By October 1821 the Greeks had captured Tripolitsa . There were revolts in Crete, Macedonia and Central Greece , which were suppressed. In 1822 and 1824

45154-405: Was the burial of his father at Aigai. The members of the League of Corinth revolted at the news of Philip   II's death, but were soon quelled by military force alongside persuasive diplomacy, electing Alexander as hegemon of the league to carry out the planned invasion of Achaemenid Persia. In 335 BC, Alexander fought against the Thracian tribe of the Triballi at Haemus Mons and along

45368-421: Was the first recorded union of Greek states since the mythical union of the Trojan War . The second Persian invasion of Greece was decisively defeated in 480–479 BC, at Salamis and Plataea , marking the eventual withdrawal of the Persians from all their European territories. The Greek victories in the Greco-Persian Wars are a pivotal moment in history, as the 50 years of peace afterwards are known as

45582-430: Was the ninth most-visited country in the world in 2023. The native name of the country in Modern Greek is Ελλάδα ( Elláda , pronounced [eˈlaða] ). The corresponding form in Ancient Greek and conservative formal Modern Greek ( Katharevousa ) is Ἑλλάς ( Hellas , classical: [hel.lás] , modern: [eˈlas] ). This is the source of the English alternative name Hellas , which

45796-453: Was twenty-four years old when he acceded to the throne in 359   BC. Through the use of deft diplomacy, he was able to convince the Thracians under Berisades to cease their support of Pausanias , a pretender to the throne, and the Athenians to halt their support of another pretender . He achieved these by bribing the Thracians and their Paeonian allies and establishing a treaty with Athens that relinquished his claims to Amphipolis. He

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