The end of a golden era

Still, the Mycenaean culture in Hellas continued. It reached its peak during the thirteenth century BC. This period is the historical reality behind the Greek mythology. As always times of prosperity are followed by times of decline and around 1200 BC most Mycenaean structures were destroyed. Hellas was in the same position as Crete had been after the destruction of Cnossus: the population concentrated in small groups. These slowly evolved into the famous city-states.

We can only guess how all these enormous strongholds got destroyed. Some say that the trade with the East stopped, and that overseas settlements were lost because of this. After a while also the motherland had to face the consequences of this. Others believe that it was the work of invaders who travelled from north to south without settling down. Most likely is that a combination of factors as overpopulation, internal wars, famine and epidemics was the true cause. A fascinating era ended with the final destruction of the citadel of Mycenae in 1150, and the unity of Hellas ended with it. The great days of Mycenae and Crete were soon forgotten in the confusion of a time filled with uncertainty. Only in the form of myths, in a twisted way though, was the memory of this heroic and golden era kept alive.

The end of the Minoic civilisation

Around 1500 Thera was hit by an earthquake. The western half of the island was the top of a vulcano which exploded and completely destroyed most of the island. The results were noticeable in a large part of the Mediterranean: the whole Aegean area was hit by a huge tsunami. The Cretan fleet probably got destroyed for the biggest part. The rain of vulcanic ashes covered Crete in a grey layer of 10 centimetres thick, and had a catastrophic effect on the crop for many years. Because of this, and more reasons, many believe that Crete was the legendary Atlantis.

Fifty years later Crete was struck by another disaster. Everywhere on the island the palaces went up in flames. Only Cnossus was saved. The only logical explanation for this is that the Acheans from Hellas had attacked Crete for unknown reasons, and settled themselves down in Cnossus. The explosion of Thera had decreased the strength of Crete so much that they did not find much resistance. This theory gets more convincing as you know that Cnossus is the only place outside Hellas where Linear-B tablets were found. We do not know for how long the Acheans controlled Crete, but somewhere around 1400 BC Cnossus got destroyed. The destructions were so spread out over the island that it seems most likely that Crete was not attacked by a foreign force, but that a revolt against the Mycenaean rulers had take place. Whatever the reason might have been, this was the end of the Minoic culture.

The late Helladic and Minoic periods

Since 1700 BC the Acheans became more and more influenced by Crete. Out of this interaction between the Cretan and Helladic cultures developed a Mycenaean palace culture, which was initially dependent on Cretan models. This new culture was named after the powerful city of Mycenae, the city of the legendary Agamemnon who was one of the leaders of the expedition against Troy. Soon Mycenae, with its palace on a fortified acrois, surrounded by cyclopean walls and its marvellous Gate of Lions, became the dominating power in the Peloponesse.

This period is different from the middle Helladic one, not only because a sudden explosion of wealth took place, but also because throughout Hellas palaces were built. These palaces had a more logical ground-plan than the ones on Crete, and they were in fact huge fortifications unlike the palaces on Crete. The most famous Greek palace of this period was found at Mycenae, but other palaces were found in Pylos, Thebe, Athens and Iolkos. Another difference with the Minoic culture was that the Acheans developed their own script. It was called Linear-B, and was based on the Cretan Linear-A script, but it eventually became a script on its own. Linear-B is a syllable-script, and the language was Greek. The Linear-B tablets which were found do not tell us much about life in the palaces as it was just like Linear-A only used for accountancy.

Of course there were also resemblances. The Acheans were just like the Cretans excellent tradesmen. Their pottery was found in Sicily, Rhodes, Cyprus, Italy, Asia Minor, northern Syria and Milete. In some of these places their influence seems so strong that it is not unlikely that they had permanent strongholds there. However, they could not enter Asia Minor very far as the Hittities were still too strong. That is the reason why their colonisation, if we can even speak of a colonisation, was very limited. Both nations also shared the same form of government: monarchy. The Cretan and Mycenaea monarchies were based on a wide-spread feudal system of lords with a strongly centralised and bureaucratic palace-economy.

Greece history - The early and middle Minoic

The early and middle Minoic period.
Since the beginning of this century excavations on Crete have revealed the remains of an until then completely unknown civilisation. It was a discovery that shocked the whole archaeological world. After all, we knew a lot about the old empires in Egypt and Mesopotamia, but nobody would have thought that a total unknown civilisation would be discovered which could compare with these old empires.

This ancient culture is nowadays known as the Minoic culture, named after the legendary king Minos. It started around 2800 BC, but the roots of the founders of this astonishing civilisation are unknown. It is most likely that they came from the south-east of Asia Minor. On Crete itself they probably mixed with the Libyans who arrived from the south. It is however a fact that their language was not an Indo-European language, so their roots were clearly in a different tribe than those of the early Greeks. The Minoic culture flourished during the first millennium BC, for more than a thousand years.

They exploited the natural resources of Crete by cultivating corn, grapes and olives, and by raising sheep's, goats and ox's. Furthermore they became very handy at pottery and metal-working. This way they created a culture that showed of great civilisation, and which even became a worldpower thanks to the increasing number of inhabitants and wealth. Of major importance for this was the central position of Crete in the Mediterranean. As most people who live on an island they became masters in the construction of ships, and soon their ships reached the coasts of Egypt, Asia Minor, Hellas, Cyprus and Syria. Egyptian paintings of the fifteenth century BC already show Cretan tradesmen. It is not likely that we can speak of a Cretan colonisation of the Mediterranean, the Cretans were first of all tradesmen.

The age of the palaces.
The middle-Minoic era was the time of prosperity for Crete. Cities started to develop in the period between 2200 and 1450 BC, but they were more huge blocks of palaces like the Syrians built them, rather than conglomerations of private houses. Examples of these palaces are Cnossus, Phaistos and Hagia Triada. The palace of Cnossus was spread out over two hectares, and counted so many rooms that it formed the basis for the famous myth about the labyrinth of the Minotaur. It seems that Crete has been a collection of local kingdoms, mostly subsidiary to the dominating Cnossus where the profits of the ruler were collected, managed and distributed. Remarkable are the huge store-rooms with the big pots for products like corn, wine and olive-oil.

The wallpaintings in the palaces have given us an impression how the Cretans lived: the way they dressed, the jewellery they wore, their rituals with bulls, etcetera. Evidently their style of living, or at least in the higher classes, was elegant and sophisticated. The way they worked the metal and their way of pottery shows that they enjoyed life. However, later on demons with the heads of animals become a part of their religion, which was till then centered around a mother goddess and nature. This remarkable change shows a less optimistic view on life and can be explained by events that happened later on.

Of their literature, if they already had any, is nothing left. However, we do have prove that they knew how to write. At first they used symbols, but later on this was replaced by the so-called Linear-A writing. It is called linear as the lines were divided by horizontal lines. Very likely this Linear-A was only used for the accountancy of the stocks in the palaces, as the clay tablets found had enumeration's of goods on them. So the palaces were not only the residences of the kings, but also the political and economical centres of a highly bureaucratic culture. Another sign that everything in the Cretan society evolved around the palaces. Nobody has managed to decipher the Linear-A language, but it is sure that it was not a Greek language.

Life seemed to have been very peaceful most of the time, as the palaces did not have any defences, and the suits of armour that were found date from later periods. The Cretans did not really need any of them, as they controlled the seas. However, during the fifteenth century BC an important event took place. To understand this change we first have to know more about the history of Hellas in the same period.

Greece history The early and middle of Helladic

The early and middle Helladic period.
In the third millennium BC a tribe, which strongly resembled the original inhabitants of Crete, invaded Hellas over the sea from the south-east. They spoke a non-Greek language, and remains of this language can be found in some Greek words, mostly geographical names.

Around 2100 BC Indo-European tribes conquered Hellas. It is not known where these tribes came from, some say the north while others say that they had their roots in Asia Minor. This invasion formed the start for the middle Helladic period. At some places, like Lerna and Tiryns, this meant destruction, but quite often it only meant changes in the culture.

This whole process is known as "the coming of the Greeks", or at least of people who spoke an Indo-European language that mixed with the original language and formed the Greek language. The Acheans, the name used by the later Greeks for these people, did not reach Crete, but Hellas became very much influenced by its powerful neighbour.

Not much is know about this era as it was one with a low cultural level, with at first contrast between the different tribes, which was later on replaced by integration.

Greece history Stone age and early

The Archaic period (800-500)
Corinth became the most advanced city in Hellas around 730 BC, but other cities also became important. Soon the cities became so big that they could no longer support all their inhabitants. Sparta tried to solve the problem by conquering most of the Peloponesse during the second Messenian war, but most cities found daughtercities througout the Mediterranean. The big colonization had begun.

General aspects:

• The emergence of the Polis
• The colonization (750-550)
• Tyranny
• Sparta

Athens Classical period:
fifth century (500-404)In the year 546 the Mede came: the conquest of the Greek colonies in Asia Minor by the Persians proved to be a turning-point, and the conflict with the mighty Persian empire dominates the next fifty years. The final victory for the Greeks was an impuls for the Greek culture, and it flourished as never before. Athens founded its Attic League and evolved the most extreme form of democracy the world has ever known. However, conflicts between Sparta and Athens in their struggle for hegemony form

The stone age.

Unfortunately not much is known about this era. What we know is that large areas of Hellas were already habitated in the paleo- and mesolithicum. The neolithic way of living was most likely introduced by migration from Asia Minor. Wellknown neolithic find-spots are for example Sesklo and Dimini in Thesally, Lerna in Argolis and of course Cnossus at Crete. The oldest of these settlements already existed in 6000 BC. The stoneage was followed by a period were copper became more and more used besides the traditional stone. We know this period as the copper-stone age, or chalcolithicum that comes from the Greek word for copper: chalkos. This phase in history was followed by the actual bronze age. Bronze is an alloy of 90% copper, and 10% tin. It is better for the construction of tools and weaponry as it was harder than copper. Copper was imported from Asia Minor and Cyprus, but the origins of the tin are unknown.

Introduction to Greece History

Greece/Hellas

The history of Hellas starts somewhere in the prehistory, but the Glory of Greece starts with the Mycenaean civilisation which was influenced by a "forgotten" civilisation: the Minoic kingdom. Dark ages follow this golden era, but the pattern for the future is set with the invasion of the Dorians and the rise of the Polis. Several conflicts with the immense Persian empire show the power of city-states. However, internal conflicts for hegemony push Hellas into the hands of Macedon who ends the indepency of Hellas by conquering it. Greek culture is spread out over Asia Minor with Macedonian conquests, but eventually it is Rome who becomes the new worldpower.

Prehistory and Earliest history (till 800BC) The Minoic civilisation flourished during this period and was the cause for the birth of the Mycenaean civilisation on the mainland of Hellas. It was the time of the palace cultures: enormous strongholds on hills. A coalition of these cities formed an expedition and destroyed Troy. Everybody has heard of this as Homer wrote one of the most succesfull books in history about it: the Illiad.

Stone age (6000-3000)
Bronze age (2800-1050)
Early and middle Helladic (2800-1550)
Early and middle Minoic (2800-1550)
Late Helladic and Minoic (1550-1050)
Troy and the Troyan war The Dorian invasion (1100-950)
The Homeric society (1000-800)