Ancient Greece, part 7 – Greek Drama
The Origins of Greek Drama
If there is one thing that we know to definitely have been invented for the first time in the city...
Ancient Greece, part 6 – Greek Religion and Philosophy
Understanding Greek Religion
In order to understand Greek religion, it is necessary for us to make a leap of the imagination.
One of the barriers to...
Ancient Greece, part 5 – Athenian Society
Citizens and Hoplites
Although citizenship brought with it many privileges, it was not without its obligations.
Throughout the fifth century, the Athenians maintained what was essentially...
Ancient Greece, part 4 – Athenian Democracy
The Origins of Athenian Democracy
Before the introduction of democracy in 508 BC, Athens was ruled by a tyrant.
(In Ancient Greece, the word ‘tyrannos’ did...
Ancient Greece, part 3 – Pericles and the Athenian Empire
The Delian League
With the final defeat of the Persians, mainland Greece was safe from invasion.
But now a most extraordinary thing happened.
In the winter of...
Ancient Greece, part 2 – Herodotus and the Persian Wars
At the beginning of the fifth century BC, the Achaemenid Persian Empire was the most powerful state in the Ancient Near East.
The term ‘Achaemenid’...
Ancient Greece, part 1 – The Origins of Athens
Up to the middle of the twentieth century, students of Ancient History had always been taught that the Greeks were actually ‘Aryan’ invaders from...