The Archaic period (800-500)
Corinth became the most advanced city in Hellas around 730 BC, but other cities also became important. Soon the cities became so big that they could no longer support all their inhabitants. Sparta tried to solve the problem by conquering most of the Peloponesse during the second Messenian war, but most cities found daughtercities througout the Mediterranean. The big colonization had begun.

Classical period: fifth century (500-404)
In the year 546 the Mede came: the conquest of the Greek colonies in Asia Minor by the Persians proved to be a turning-point, and the conflict with the mighty Persian empire dominates the next fifty years. The final victory for the Greeks was an impuls for the Greek culture, and it flourished as never before. Athens founded its Attic League and evolved the most extreme form of democracy the world has ever known. However, conflicts between Sparta and Athens in their struggle for hegemony form the start for the Peloponessian war between both cities.

Classical period: fourth century (404-321)
During the fourth century Sparta, Thebes and Athens attempted to gain control over Hellas, but none of them managed this for a long time as Persia maintained a balance of power in Hellas. Thebes managed to destroy the power of Sparta but then Macedon began to expand under the leadership of Philip. In 338 Macedon ended the Greek independence by defeating Athens and Thebes at Chaeronea. Athens remained the intellectual heart of Hellas.

RIse and decline of Macedon (336-167)
Alexander the Great became king of Macedon after the murder on his father and finally realized the plans of a combined Greek attack on its archenemy Persia. In 334 he invades Asia and twelve years later he has conquered as far as the steppes of Russia, Afghanistan and the Punjab. The Hellenistic world is split up into three kingdoms after his death, and Greek culture was spread out over Asia. These kingdoms slowly fell into smaller pieces and finally it was Rome who ended the Hellenistic world.