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
Where Western civilisation
began
Ancient Greece is called 'the
birthplace of Western
civilisation'. About 2500 years
ago, the Greeks created a way of
life that other people admired
and copied. The Romans copied
Greek art and Greek gods, for
example. The Ancient Greeks
tried out democracy, started the
Olympic Games and left new
ideas in science, art and
philosophy (thinking about
life).and find new land, Greeks
took their way of life to many
places.
The timeline will show you some
of the important events in the
history of Ancient Greece.
Primary History
Ancient Greeks
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The Wooden Horse
The Wooden Horse
was the trick the
Greeks used to
capture Troy. First
they pretended to
sail away, but left.

The Greek states often fought
each other. Sparta and Athens
fought a long war, called the
Peloponnesian War, from 431 to
404 BC. Sparta won. Only the
threat of invasion by a foreign
enemy made the Greeks forget
their quarrels and fight on the
same side. Their main enemy
was Persia.
The wars against Persia lasted
on and off from 490 to 449 BC.
The Persian kings tried to
conquer Greece and make it
part of the Persian Empire. In
the end, it was Greece which
defeated Persia, when
Alexander the Great defeated
the Persian Empire in the 330s
BC.

The Battle of Marathon
The Battle of Marathon was a
famous Greek victory against
the Persians. About 10,000
Greeks, mostly from Athens,
fought an army of 20,000
Persians led by King Darius. The
Greeks surprised their enemies
by charging downhill straight at
the Persians.
Marathon is remembered for the
heroism of a Greek named
Pheidippides. Before the battle,
he'd run for 2 days and nights over 150 miles (240 km) - from
Athens to Sparta to fetch help.
Then he fought at Marathon.
After the battle, he ran 26 miles
(42 km) non-stop to Athens, but
died as he gasped out the news
of victory. The modern
Marathon race is over the same
distance as his epic run from
Marathon to Athens.

Fighting in formation
The backbone of the Greek army
was the hoplite. He was a footsoldier, and his weapons were a
long spear and a sword. He also
had a round shield. Hoplites
fought in lines or ranks. Eight to
ten ranks made a formation
called the phalanx. Each soldier
held his long spear underarm.
Enemy soldiers saw only a mass
of spears and shields, that was
A
19th-century painting of the Wooden Horse
hard to break through - and
hard to stop once it started
moving forward. Lots of
phalanxes massed together
became like a giant human
tank. The Greeks had archers
and cavalry, but it was the
phalanx that won many famous
battles.

What armour did Greek
soldiers wear?
A hoplite had to pay for his
armour, unless his father was
killed in battle. Then he was
given his father's weapons and
armour. Rich men had metal
armour, shaped to the chest, but
others wore cheap armour
made.