Byzantine Greece has a history that mainly coincides with that of the Byzantine Empire itself.
63-511: The Greek peninsula became a Roman protectorate in 146 BC, and the Aegean islands were added to this territory in 133 BC. Athens and other Greek cities revolted in 88 BC, and the peninsula was crushed by the Roman general Sulla . The Roman civil wars devastated the land even further, until Augustus organized the peninsula as the province of Achaea in 27 BC. Greece was a typical eastern province of
126-469: A Greek lover, Antinous . At the same time, Greece and much of the rest of the Roman east came under the influence of Christianity . The apostle Paul had preached in Corinth and Athens, and Greece soon became one of the most highly Christianized areas of the empire. During the second and third centuries, Greece was divided into provinces including Achaea , Macedonia , Epirus vetus and Thracia . During
189-615: A durable building material in many buildings such as the Parthenon . Greece has substantial marine life with plentiful fish in its EEZ. Irrigated land: 15,550 km (2007) [REDACTED] Mainland Greece forms the southernmost part of the Balkan peninsula with two additional smaller peninsulas projecting from it: the Chalkidiki and the Peloponnese . The north of the country includes
252-650: A major city with perhaps 30,000 people, and was the centre of a major silk industry. Athens and Corinth probably still had around 10,000 people. Mainland Greek cities continued to export grain to the capital in order to make up for the land lost to the Seljuks. However, after Constantinople was conquered during the Fourth Crusade in 1204, Greece was divided among the Crusaders. The Latin Empire held Constantinople and Thrace, while
315-582: A recorded continuous human presence. The Greek islands account for about 20% of the country's total territory, and vary greatly in size as well as in climate. The country's largest island is Crete , with Euboea being second largest. Other large Greek islands include Rhodes and Lesbos in the Aegean Sea, and Corfu and Cephalonia in the Ionian Sea. Many of the smaller Greek islands form groups or chains, often called archipelagos , with notable examples being
378-496: A separate mountain), rising to 2,917 m above sea level . The Rhodope Mountains form the border between Greece and Bulgaria; that area is covered with vast and thick forests. Plains are found in eastern Thessaly , in central Macedonia and in Thrace . The extreme points of Greece are Greece has notable deposits of petroleum , magnetite , lignite , bauxite , hydropower , marble , limestone Ancient Greeks used limestone as
441-428: Is mild. A Mediterranean climate prevails on the coast and islands, and a Continental climate prevails in the mountainous regions of the interior. Summers are hot and dry and winters are cool and humid. Summer is rainless and the almost cloudless season lasts about three months. In July and August, the temperature usually rises to around 30–35 °C and even above 40 °C. In the eastern part of the country and especially in
504-533: Is rare in the archipelago. In low-lying areas, snow hardly ever stays on the ground. On the tops of the highest mountains, snow remains well into the summer. Spring and autumn are short in-between seasons when the weather is variable. Extensive forest fires cause problems almost every year in late summer. Sometimes they lead to widespread evacuations and even deaths. [REDACTED] This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook . CIA . 4th century The 4th century
567-402: The polis , as an institution, appears to have remained prosperous until at least the sixth century. Contemporary texts such as Hierocles' Synecdemus affirm that in late Antiquity , Greece was highly urbanised and contained approximately 80 cities. This view of extreme prosperity is widely accepted today, and it is assumed between the 4th and 7th centuries AD, Greece may have been one of
630-502: The Cyclades and the Sporades in the south and central Aegean Sea respectively. The islands of the Aegean Sea are situated between mainland Greece to the west and north, Anatolia to the east and the island of Crete to the south. Traditionally, the islands are classified into seven groups, from north to south: The Ionian Islands are a group of seven islands. The six northern islands lie off
693-576: The Eastern Mediterranean , after Cyprus . The island spans 260 km from east to west and 60 km from north to south at its widest. The island narrows in the region close to Ierapetra, where it is only 12 km wide. Crete covers an area of 8,336 km (3,219 sq mi), with a coastline of 1046 km. It is surrounded to the north by the Sea of Crete ; to the south by the Libyan Sea ; to
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#1732854832848756-826: The Meteora and the Vikos Gorges – the latter being the world's deepest canyon in proportion to its width, and the third deepest after the Copper Canyon in Mexico and the Grand Canyon in the United States , plunging vertically for more than 1,100 metres. Mount Olympus is the highest point in Greece, the 7th highest and the 9th most prominent mountain in mainland Europe (together with Gerlachovský štít and including Großglockner as
819-651: The Olympic Games , despite the rules against non-Greek participation. He was, of course, honored with a victory in every contest, and in 67 he proclaimed the freedom of the Greeks at the Isthmian Games in Corinth , just as Flamininus had over 200 years previously. Hadrian was also particularly fond of the Greeks; before he became emperor he served as eponymous archon of Athens. He also built his namesake arch there, and had
882-692: The Ottoman Empire . Greece was raided in Macedonia in 479 and 482 by the Ostrogoths under their king, Theodoric the Great (493–526). The Bulgars also raided Thrace and the rest of northern Greece in 540 and on repeated other occasions. These continuing Bulgar invasions required the Byzantine Empire to build a defensive wall, called the " Anastasian Wall ," that extended for some thirty (30) miles, or more, from
945-524: The Peloponnese , Thrace , Macedonia , Hellas , Nicopolis , Dyrrhachium , Cephalonia , Thessalonica and Strymon , the Cyclades and the Aegean Sea . They were protected from raids and invasions by the new themes created out of Bulgar territory. Greece became more prosperous in the 10th century and towns and cities began to grow again. Athens and Corinth probably grew to about 10,000 people, while Thessalonica may have had as many as 100,000 people. There
1008-752: The Roman Empire . The Romans sent colonists there and contributed new buildings to its cities, especially in the Agora of Athens, where the Agrippeia of Marcus Agrippa , the Library of Titus Flavius Pantaenus, and the Tower of the Winds , among others, were built. Romans tended to be philhellenic and Greeks were generally loyal to Rome. Life in Greece continued under the Roman Empire much
1071-741: The Visigoths invaded in the late 4th century . Arcadius' Chamberlain Eutropius allowed Alaric to enter Greece, and he looted Corinth , and the Peloponnese . Stilicho eventually drove him out around 397 and Alaric was made magister militum in Illyricum . Eventually, Alaric and the Goths migrated to Italy, sacked Rome in 410, and built the Visigothic Empire in Iberia and southern France, which lasted until 711 with
1134-610: The 580s. However, there is no archaeological evidence indicating Slavic penetration of imperial Byzantine territories before the end of the 6th century. Overall, traces of Slavic culture in Greece are very rare. The city of Thessaloniki remained unconquered even after being attacked by the Slavs around 615. The Slavs were eventually defeated, gathered by the Byzantines and placed into segregated communities known as Sclaviniae . In 610, Heraclius became Emperor. During his reign, Greek became
1197-549: The Aegean islands, Thessaly, Epirus, and most of Achaea, including the Crusader fortress of Mystras , which became the seat of a Byzantine despotate. However, Athens and the northern Peloponnese remained in Crusader hands. Charles of Anjou and later his son claimed the throne of the defunct Latin Empire, and threatened Epirus, but were never able to make any progress there. By the reign of Andronicus III Palaeologus , beginning in 1328,
1260-748: The Aegean were still technically under the ecclesiastic authority of the Pope , but Leo also quarreled with the Papacy and gave these territories to the Patriarch of Constantinople . As emperor, Leo III, introduced more administrative and legal reforms than had been promulgated since the time of Justinian. Meanwhile, the Arabs began their first serious raids in the Aegean. Bithynia was eventually re-populated by Greek-speaking population from mainland Greece and Cyprus . Nicephorus I also began to reconquer Slavic and Bulgar-held areas in
1323-700: The Byzantines after General Leontios lost to the Arabs in the Battle of Sebastopolis in 692, as a result of the Slavs having defected to the Arab side. These themes rebelled against the iconoclast emperor Leo III in 727 and attempted to set up their own emperor, although Leo defeated them. Leo then moved the headquarters of the Karabisianoi to Anatolia and created the Cibyrrhaeotic Theme of them. Up to this time, Greece and
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#17328548328481386-686: The Ottomans controlled many regions of Greece except the mountains and heavily forested areas. Greek peninsula Greece is a country in Southeastern Europe , on the Balkan Peninsula . It is bordered to the north by Albania , North Macedonia and Bulgaria ; to the east by Turkey , and is surrounded to the east by the Aegean Sea , to the south by the Cretan and the Libyan seas, and to
1449-585: The Peloponnese. Also during his reign, the Fourth Crusade attempted to place Alexius IV on the throne, until it eventually invaded and sacked the capital. Greece was relatively peaceful and prosperous in the 11th and 12th centuries, compared to Anatolia which was being overrun by the Seljuks. Thessalonica had probably grown to about 150,000 people, despite being looted by the Normans in 1185. Thebes also became
1512-783: The Samariá Gorge is the home of the Cretan goat, or kri-kri , while the endangered Bearded vulture or lammergeyer lives in the Cretan mountains and gorges. Crete's rivers include the Ieropotamos River in the southern part of the island. Greece is a mostly mountainous country with a very long coastline, filled with peninsulas and islands. The climate can range from semi-desert to cold climate mountain forests. Greece's natural hazards include severe earthquakes, floods, droughts and wildfires. Current environmental issues in Greece include air pollution and water pollution. The climate of Greece
1575-598: The Younger wrote using Greek styles, while famous Romans such as Scipio Africanus , Julius Caesar and Marcus Aurelius compiled works in the Greek language . During that period, Greek intellectuals such as Galen or Apollodorus of Damascus were continuously being brought to Rome . Within the city of Rome, Greek was spoken by Roman elites, particularly philosophers, and by lower, working classes such as sailors and merchants. The emperor Nero visited Greece in 66, and performed at
1638-556: The advent of the Arabs. Greece remained part of the relatively unified eastern half of the empire. Contrary to outdated visions of late antiquity , the Greek peninsula was most likely one of the most prosperous regions of the Roman and later the Eastern Roman/Byzantine Empire. Older scenarios of poverty, depopulation, barbarian destruction and civil decay have been revised in light of recent archaeological discoveries. In fact,
1701-424: The archipelago, a cooling Etesian wind blows in the summer, but in big cities like Athens it can get sweltering hot. The wind can be very strong at times, which makes sailing difficult. A special feature of Greek weather is the high amount of sunshine. It is available for five hours even in winter, and up to 12–14 hours a day in summer. The rains mostly occur in winter. Snow can be found everywhere in Greece, but it
1764-640: The area's recovery from the Slavic invasions, its wealth was restored. Events such as the Seljuk invasion of Asia Minor and the Latin occupation of Constantinople gradually focused Byzantine imperial interest to the Greek peninsula during the late Byzantine period. The Peloponnese in particular continued to prosper economically and intellectually even during its Latin domination , the Byzantine recovery , and until its final fall to
1827-473: The areas around Thessalonica and the Peloponnese again in 997 before being forced to withdraw to Bulgaria. In 999, Samuel captured Dyrrhachium and raided northern Greece once more. Basil recaptured these areas by 1002 and had fully subjugated completely the Bulgarians in the decade before his death (see Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria ). By Basil's death in 1025, Greece was divided into themes including Crete,
1890-432: The army, and allowed Nicephorus to convert most of the Slavs to Christianity. Crete was conquered by the Arabs in 824. In the late 9th century , Leo VI faced also invasions from the Bulgarians under Simeon I , who pillaged Thrace in 896, and again in 919 during Zoe 's regency for Constantine VII . Simeon invaded northern Greece again in 922 and penetrated deep to the south seizing Thebes , just north of Athens. Crete
1953-562: The center of the country in a northwest-to-southeast direction, with a maximum elevation of 2,637 m. Extensions of the same mountain range stretch across the Peloponnese and underwater across the Aegean, forming many of the Aegean Islands including Crete , and joining with the Taurus Mountains of southern Turkey. Central and western Greece contain high and steep peaks intersected by many canyons and other karstic landscapes , including
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2016-556: The century Christianity became the official state religion, and the empire's old pagan culture began to disappear. General prosperity was felt throughout this period, but recurring invasions by Germanic tribes plagued the empire from 376 CE onward. These early invasions marked the beginning of the end for the Western Roman Empire . In China , the Jin dynasty , which had united the nation prior in 280, began rapidly facing trouble by
2079-500: The city of Selymbria (now Silivri ) to the Black Sea . The Huns and Bulgars raided Greece in 559 until the Byzantine army returned from Italy, where Justinian I had been attempting to capture the heart of the Roman Empire. According to historical documents, the Slavs invaded and settled in parts of Greece beginning in 579 and Byzantium nearly lost control of the entire peninsula during
2142-749: The country has considerable climatic variation. Greece is located in South Eastern Europe , bordering the Ionian Sea and the Mediterranean Sea . It is a peninsular country, with an archipelago of about 3,000 islands. It has a total area of 131,957 km (50,949 sq mi), of which land area is 130,647 km and internal waters (lakes and rivers) account for 1,310 km . Land boundaries with Albania (212 km), North Macedonia (234 km), Bulgaria (472 km) and Turkey (192 km) measure approximately 1,110 km in total. Of
2205-436: The country's total territory, 83.33% or 110,496 km (42,663 sq mi) is mainland territory and the rest 16.67% or 21,461 km (8,286 sq mi) is island territory. It has an exclusive economic zone of 505,572 km (195,202 sq mi) which is the 53rd largest. Greece's coastline measures 13,676 km (8,498 mi). 80% of Greece is mountainous . The Pindus mountain range lies across
2268-514: The current capitals, which had effectively been changed by Diocletian 's reforms to Milan in the West, and Nicomedeia in the East) to build the city soon called Nova Roma (New Rome); it was later renamed Constantinople in his honor. The last emperor to control both the eastern and western halves of the empire was Theodosius I . As the century progressed after his death, it became increasingly apparent that
2331-487: The early 9th century. He resettled Greek-speaking families from Asia Minor to the Greek peninsula and the Balkans, and expanded the theme of Hellas to the north to include parts of Thessaly and Macedonia, and to the south to include the regained territory of the Peloponnese. Thessalonica, previously organized as an archontate surrounded by the Slavs, became a theme of its own as well. These themes contributed another 10,000 men to
2394-471: The emperors to unite with the Catholic Church , even though this would have allowed the empire to gain help from the west against the Ottomans. The Ottomans had begun their conquest of the Balkans and Greece in the late 14th century and early 15th century capturing among others Thessaloniki, Ioannina and Thessaly. In 1445, Ottoman-occupied Thessaly was recaptured by the future emperor Constantine XI , at
2457-500: The empire controlled most of Greece, especially the metropolis of Thessalonica, but very little else. Epirus was nominally Byzantine but still occasionally rebelled, until it was fully recovered in 1339. Greece was mostly used as a battleground during the civil war between John V Palaeologus and John VI Cantacuzenus in the 1340s, and at the same time the Serbs and Ottomans began attacking Greece as well. By 1356, another independent despotate
2520-457: The empire had changed in many ways since the time of Augustus . The two-emperor system originally established by Diocletian in the previous century fell into regular practice, and the east continued to grow in importance as a centre of trade and imperial power, while Rome itself diminished greatly in importance due to its location far from potential trouble spots, like Central Europe and the East. Late in
2583-408: The enemies of the Byzantines. In the Peloponnese , more Slavic invaders brought disorder to the western part of the peninsula, while the eastern part remained firmly under Byzantine domination. Empress Irene organised a military campaign which liberated those territories and restored Byzantine rule to the region, but it was not until emperor Nicephorus I 's reign that the last trace of Slavic element
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2646-547: The knights of the Second Crusade made their way through Byzantine territory, Roger II of Sicily captured Corcyra and pillaged Thebes and Corinth. In 1197, Henry VI of Germany continued his father Frederick Barbarossa 's antagonism towards the empire by threatening to invade Greece to reclaim the territory the Normans had briefly held. Alexius III was forced to pay him off, although the taxes he imposed caused frequent revolts against him, including rebellions in Greece and
2709-612: The largest being Crete , Euboea , Lesvos , Rhodes , Chios , Kefalonia , and Corfu ; groups of smaller islands include the Dodecanese and the Cyclades . According to the CIA World Factbook , Greece has 13,676 kilometres (8,498 mi) of coastline , the largest in the Mediterranean Basin. Greece's latitude ranges from 35°N to 42°N and its longitude from 19°E to 28°E. As a result of this and its physical geography,
2772-400: The most economically active regions in the eastern Mediterranean. Following the loss of Alexandria and Antioch to the Arabs, Thessaloniki became the Byzantine Empire's second largest city, called the "co-regent" ( symbasileuousa ), second only to Constantinople. The Greek peninsula remained one of the strongest centers of Christianity in the late Roman and early Byzantine periods. After
2835-412: The naval Karabisianoi corps in southern Greece and the Aegean islands. The Karabisanoi were later divided by Justinian II into the Theme of Hellas (centred on Corinth) and the Cibyrrhaeotic Theme . By this time, the Slavs were no longer a threat to the Byzantines since they had been either defeated numerous times or placed in the Sclaviniae . The Slavic communities in Bithynia were destroyed by
2898-450: The north under his banner, and planned to conquer the Jin dynasty in the south, so as to finally reunite the land, but was decisively defeated at the Battle of Fei River in 383, causing massive unrest and civil war in his empire, thereby leading to the fall of the Former Qin, and the continued existence of the Eastern Jin dynasty. According to archaeologists, sufficient archaeological evidence correlates of state-level societies coalesced in
2961-491: The official language of the empire. During the early 7th century, Constans II made the first mass-expulsions of Slavs from the Greek peninsula to the Balkans and central Asia Minor. Justinian II defeated and destroyed most of the Sclaviniae, and moved as many as 100–200,000 Slavs from the Greek peninsula to Bithynia , while he enlisted some 30,000 Slavs in his army. The Slavic populations that were placed in these segregated communities were used for military campaigns against
3024-437: The regions of Macedonia and Thrace . To the south the mainland narrows and includes the regions of Epirus , Thessaly and Central Greece , where the region of Attica and the capital city Athens are located. Further south, the smaller peninsula of Peloponnese is separated from the rest of the Greek mainland by the Corinthian and Saronic Gulfs , but joined by the Isthmus of Corinth . Mainland Greece covers about 80% of
3087-495: The reign of Diocletian in the late 3rd century , the western Balkans were organized as a Roman diocese , and was ruled by Galerius . Under Constantine I Greece was part of the dioceses of Macedonia and Thrace . The eastern and southern Aegean islands formed the province of Insulae in the Diocese of Asia . Greece faced invasions from the Heruli , Goths , and Vandals during the reign of Theodosius I . Stilicho , who acted as regent for Arcadius , evacuated Thessaly when
3150-442: The rest of Greece was divided into the Kingdom of Thessalonica , the Principality of Achaea , and the Duchy of Athens . The Venetians controlled the Duchy of the Archipelago in the Aegean, while the Despotate of Epirus was established as one of the three Byzantine Greek successor states . Michael VIII restored the empire in 1261, having also regained the Kingdom of Thessalonica. By his death in 1282, Michael had taken back
3213-420: The same as it had previously, and Greek continued to be the lingua franca in the Eastern and most important part of the Empire. Roman culture was heavily influenced by classical Greek culture (see Greco-Roman ) as Horace said, Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit (Translation: "Captive Greece took captive her rude conqueror" ). The epics of Homer inspired the Aeneid of Virgil , and authors such as Seneca
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#17328548328483276-408: The second highest of the Balkan peninsula after Musala in the Rila Mountain . The number of islands vary between 1,200 and 6,000. A figure frequently cited in travel guides is 1,425 islands, of which 166 are said to be inhabited. The Greek Tourism Organization reports a figure of 6,000, with 227 of them inhabited. Paris Match , however, raises this number to 9,841 islands, of which only 169 have
3339-432: The start of the century due to political infighting, which led to the insurrections of the northern barbarian tribes (starting the Sixteen Kingdoms period), which quickly overwhelmed the empire, forcing the Jin court to retreat and entrench itself in the south past the Yangtze river, starting what is known as the Eastern Jin dynasty around 317. Towards the end of the century, Emperor of the Former Qin , Fu Jiān , united
3402-444: The time despot of Mystras, but there was little he could do against most of the other Ottoman territories. Emperor Constantine XI was defeated and killed in 1453 when the Ottomans finally captured Constantinople. After the fall of Constantinople , the Ottomans also captured Athens by 1458, but left a Byzantine despotate in the Peloponnese until 1460. The Venetians still controlled Crete, Aegean islands and some cities-ports, but otherwise
3465-403: The total territory and is largely mountainous. The largest mountain range of Greece is the Pindus range , the southern extension of the Dinaric Alps , which forms the spine of the Greek mainland, separating Epirus from Thessaly and Macedonia. The country's tallest mountain is Mount Olympus , which also separates Thessaly from Macedonia. Its highest peak rises to 2,918 m above sea level, making it
3528-409: The west by the Ionian Sea which separates Greece from Italy . The country consists of a mountainous, peninsular mainland jutting out into the Mediterranean Sea at the southernmost tip of the Balkans , and two smaller peninsulas projecting from it: the Chalkidiki and the Peloponnese , which is joined to the mainland by the Isthmus of Corinth . Greece also has many islands , of various sizes,
3591-406: The west by the Myrtoan Sea ; and to the east by the Karpathion Sea. It lies about 160 km south of the Greek mainland. Crete is characterized by a mountain range crossing from west to east, formed by three different subranges: These encompass fertile plateaus, such as Lasithi, Omalos and Nidha; caves such as Diktaion and Idaion ; and gorges such as the Samariá Gorge . The protected area of
3654-412: The western coast of Greece, in the Ionian Sea . The other island, Kythira , lies off the southern tip of the Peloponnese . Kythira is part of the modern administrative region of Attica , not the Ionian Islands ( Ionioi Nisoi ). The Ionian Islands are distinct from the historical region of Ionia , which is today part of western Turkey . Crete is the largest island of Greece and the second largest in
3717-470: Was an important aristocratic class from these themes, especially the Macedonian emperors who ruled the empire from 867 to 1056. Greece and the empire as a whole faced a new threat from the Normans of Sicily in the late 11th century . Robert Guiscard took Dyrrhachium and Corcyra in 1081 (see Battle of Dyrrhachium ), but Alexius I defeated him, and later his son Bohemund , by 1083. The Pechenegs also raided Thrace during this period. In 1147, while
3780-416: Was eliminated: when the Slavs first occupied the Peloponnese in the 6th century, a number Greeks had fled Patras and found refuge near Reggio Calabria, in southern Italy; the descendants of these refugees were ordered to return by Nicephorus, who resettled them in the Peloponnese. In the mid-7th century, the empire was reorganized into " themes " by the Emperor Constans II , including the Theme of Thrace ,
3843-404: Was reconquered in 961 from the Arabs, by Nikephoros II Phokas after the Siege of Chandax . In the late 10th century , the greatest threat to Greece was from Samuel , who constantly fought over the area with Basil II . In 985, Samuel captured Thessaly and the important city of Larissa, and in 989, he pillaged Thessalonica. Basil slowly began to recapture these areas in 991, but Samuel captured
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#17328548328483906-406: Was set up in Epirus and Thessaly. The Peloponnese, usually called Morea in this period, was now almost the centre of the empire, and was certainly the most fertile area. Mystras and Monemvasia were populous and prosperous, even after the Black Plague in the mid- 14th century . Mystras rivaled Constantinople in importance. It was a stronghold of Greek Orthodoxy and bitterly opposed attempts by
3969-425: Was the time period from AD 301 (represented by the Roman numerals CCCI) to AD 400 (CD) in accordance with the Julian calendar . In the West, the early part of the century was shaped by Constantine the Great , who became the first Roman emperor to adopt Christianity . Gaining sole reign of the empire, he is also noted for re-establishing a single imperial capital, choosing the site of ancient Byzantium in 330 (over
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