Geography of Ancient Greece

Geographical Features Southeastern corner of Europe Surrounded by seas – 3200 km of coastline Greek mainland has rocky coastline with deep fjords which were excellent harbours. Unlike ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt which owed its rise to civilization to its important river systems, Greece was a civilization geared toward life on the sea, the Aegean Sea. The earliest record of “Greek” civilization arose on one of the many fertile islands in the Aegean called Crete. During the earlier period of Greek civilization many Greek cities dotted not only the island and mainland of Greece but also on the eastern coast of the Aegean in Asia Minor(modern day Turkey)

Many islands and peninsulas – over 2000 islands in the Aegean Sea. Some islands were rocky and others had rich fertile soil. Heart of Ancient Greece was the Aegean Sea Few people lived more than 70 km from it’s shore Civilization depended on the sea More than 2000 islands- some rocky and some extremely fertile Earliest civilization began on a fertile island named Crete

Athens was centrally and strategically located to control the Aegean Sea and allowed it to be able to be the core of defense, trade and communication for this emerging civilization. We have to understand that Byzantium and the Black Sea traffic had to pass through this Aegean sea in order to reach the rest of the Mediterranean Sea. Byzantium was an ancient Greek colony that later became Constantinople, and later still Istanbul. Byzantium was colonised by the Greeks from Megara in c. 657 BC.

The mainland has: No major rivers Rugged landscape, lots of mountains Little farmland (fig vines, olives, barley) Mainland Greece stretches from the Peloponnese peninsula in the south to the regions of Attica, Thessaly and Macedonia in the north. Only a few rivers flow year round, most are only active in the winter or after a major storm. Usually they are a small trickle running across a bed of stone. Because of the rocky landscape only about a 5th of the territory could be cultivated and those fertile lands were highly sought after.

Impact of the Sea Since most of Greece is surrounded by seas, travel by boat was common. Activities associated with the sea- trade, transportation, fishing, communication. Greeks sailed form island to island and around the Mediterranean sharing products and ideas. Sea travel was dangerous. Greeks were known to travel all around the rim of the Mediterranean Sea sharing products and knowledge. Despite the drive to sail the seas they were quite dangerous as violent storms and strong prevailing winds made navigating the multitude of islands very difficult. Sailors had to have precise wind conditions in order to travel to places like Mesopotamia and Egypt.

Impact of the Mountains Mountains and rugged terrain meant ancient Greeks could not cultivate much of the mainland therefore the small amount of fertile land was highly valuable. Relied on foreign trade. Mountains made Greece a difficult territory to conquer by land. About 80% of Greece consists of mountains or hills, thus making Greece one of the most mountainous countries of Europe. The Central and Western Greece area contains high, steep peaks dissected by many canyons and other karstic landscapes, including the Meteora and the Vikos gorge the later being the second largest one on earth after the Grand Canyon in the US. Mount Olympus forms the highest point in Greece at 2,919 metres above sea level.

Mt. Olympus Known in Greek Mythology as the home to the Twelve Olympians, Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece and is the second highest mountain in the Balkan geographic region.

Mountains served as natural boundaries between Greek communities. Ancient Greece became a collection of separate, fiercely independent city-states often at war with one another. Mountains had a significant impact on the development of ancient Greece. In the early rise of Greek civilization the available fertile land was abundant with cedar, Cyprus and pine tress but as populations grew these trees were cut down for lumber which lead to erosion issues and, unfortunately, a loss of the precious fertile soil making it even more difficult to provide food, like wheat, for the growing populations. Aside from some Spartan and Athenian mineral deposits most of the region was bare of precious natural resources, this lead to Greek states becoming heavily dependent on foreign trade.

Use text book/internet to identify the following locations on your maps: Crete Athens Corinth Olympia Thermopylae Troy Marathon Mycenae Aegean Sea Knossos Sparta Salamis Ithaca Ionian Sea Macedonia