Ancient Greece

The ancient Greeks lived in an area along the northeastern Mediterranean Sea, with a wide variety of topography: mainland, peninsula, and many islands.  Because of this location, it was natural that the Greeks became active in trade by the sea. 

The first civilization in ancient Greece was located on the island of Crete.  Even these early people were sailors who traded in the Mediterranean.  Eventually the culture came to an end when a nearby volcano on the island Thera erupted and destroyed much of the island.

The age of the city-states was between 100 to 700 BC.  Only a few cities had kings, and others were moving toward democracy, where each person had a vote in matters of state.  The wealth of the Greeks grew as they traded more widely in the Mediterranean.  Athens was the greatest city of its time.  As time went on, in the years of 600 BCE, the Greeks sailed the Mediterranean establishing colonies.

As the Persians grew in strength as a civilizations, they tried to conquer Greece.  Alexander the Great fought both the Persians and the Greeks and expanded his empire over a huge area that included the Middle East to the borders of India. He founded many cities and several were named Alexandria after himself.