ancient Greek civilization

No, ancient Greece was a civilization. The Greeks had cultural traits, a religion, and a language in common, though they spoke many dialects. The basic political unit was the city-state. Conflict between city-states was common, but they were capable of banding together against a common enemy, as they did during the Persian Wars (492–449 BCE). Powerful city-states such as Athens and Sparta exerted influence beyond their borders but never controlled the entire Greek-speaking world.

Ancient Greek civilization was concentrated in what is today Greece and along the western coast of Turkey. However, ancient Greek colonists established cities all around the Mediterranean and along the coast of the Black Sea.

Each ancient Greek city-state had its own government. Common forms of government included tyranny and oligarchy. In 507 BCE, under the leadership of Cleisthenes, the citizens of Athens began to develop a system of popular rule that they called democracy, which would last nearly two centuries. In their governing body, the Assembly (Ecclesia), all adult male citizens, perhaps 10 to 15 percent of the total population, were eligible to vote.

Ancient Greek civilization flourished from the period following Mycenaean civilization, which ended about 1200 BCE, to the death of Alexander the Great, in 323 BCE. By that time, Greek cultural influence had spread around the Mediterranean and, through Alexander the Great’s campaign of conquest, as far afield as India.

The political, philosophical, artistic, and scientific achievements of ancient Greek civilization formed a legacy with unparalleled influence on Western civilization. Greek political ideas have influenced modern forms of government, Greek pottery and sculpture have inspired artists for millennia, and Greek epic, lyric, and dramatic poetry is still read around the world.