Tag: Greece

(all dates B.C.) circa 9000 Atlantis disappears. circa 1600 Island of Thera explodes, causing a tidal wave that inundates coastal settlements in the Aegean, and cripples the civilization of Crete. circa 1300 Theseus establishes the city of Athens. circa 1250 Troy falls to Agamemnon and his Greek a...

Embark on a captivating journey through the annals of history as we set sail on a voyage back in time to the awe-inspiring civilizations of Ancient Greece and Rome. These cradles of Western civilization have left an indelible mark on the world, shaping art, philosophy, governance, and culture for ce...

The Reformer of Sparta (reigned 245 - 241 B.C.) AGIS by Plutarch The love of money had virtually destroyed the laws of Lycurgus in Sparta by the time Agis became king. This idealistic young man tried to restore the old way of life that had made Sparta great, but he was defeated by the power of greed...

The Lame King of Sparta (444 - 360 B.C.) AGESILAOS by Plutarch Agesilaus inherited the Spartan throne after Sparta had defeated Athens in the Peloponnesian War. At that time, Sparta was the undisputed master of Greece and the Aegean. Because of his stubborn lust for conquest, Agesilaus violated the ...

...

The Savior of Syracuse (409 - 354 B.C.) DIWN by Plutarch Sicily was an important part of the Greek world. Dion led the struggle against tyranny in its largest city, Syracuse. Ingratitude and betrayal were his reward for indulging the democrats of Syracuse. Dionysius [the Elder] 1 had become tyrant o...

The Athenian Adventurer (circa 1300 B.C.) QHSEUS by Plutarch Theseus suppressed crime and brought the natives of Attica together into the first democracy. He saved the Athenian children from the Minotaur, but his kidnap of the queen of the Amazons brought trouble, and he ended his days in disgrace. ...

"The Last of the Greeks" (252 - 182 B.C.) FILOPOIMHN by Plutarch Philopoemen led the last remnants of resistance to the creeping domination of Rome in Greece. In this austere general, we see an indomitable character, superior to his circumstances. Cleander was a man of high birth and great power in ...

The Slave of Fear (died 413 B.C.) N I K I A S by Plutarch The turning point of the war with Sparta was the disastrous Sicilian Expedition, eagerly undertaken by the greedy Athenians. Superstitious old Nicias was their reluctant leader in this debacle. After the death of Pericles, the democracy of At...

The Lawmaker of Athens (died 559 B.C.) SOLWN by Plutarch Athens, unlike Sparta, was a money-mad commercial city. The constitution written by Solon mitigated the class struggle between rich and poor, and allowed for the growth of democratic institutions. Solon was born into a well-to-do family of Ath...

The Freedom Fighter (410 - 364 B.C.) PELOPIDAS by Plutarch Pelopidas led the Thebans to recover their liberty, then he led them to victory over the invincible Spartans. From beginning to end, his was the life of a hero. Pelopidas, the son of Hippoclus, was born into a prominent family of Thebes. He ...

The Persian Wars were a series of conflicts between the Achaemenid Empire and Greek city-states that started in 499 BC and lasted until 449 BC. The collision between the fractious political world of the Greeks and the enormous empire of the Persians began when Cyrus the Great conquered the Greek-inh...