_The Plot of Ancient Greek Civilization_
The genesis of Ancient Greek civilization is certainly later than the
twelfth century B. C., when Minoan civilization, its predecessor, was
still in process of dissolution; and the termination of Ancient Greek
civilization must certainly be placed before the eighth century A. D.,
when modern Western civilization, its successor, had already come into
being. Between these extreme points we cannot exactly date its beginning
and end, but we can see that it covers a period of seventeen or eighteen
centuries.
It is easier to divide the tragedy into acts. We can at once discern two
dramatic crises--the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War and the
foundation of the Roman Empire. We can for convenience take precise
dates--431 B. C. and 31 B. C.--and group the action into three acts or
phases, one before, one between, and one after these critical moments.
It is best to give the analysis in tabular form:
_Act I_ (11th cent.-431 B. C.).
1. Synoikismos (formation of the city-state, the cell of Greek
society), 11th cent.-750 B. C.
2. Colonization (propagation of the city-state round the
Mediterranean), 750-600 B. C.
3. Economic revolution (change from extensive to intensive growth),
600-500 B. C.
4. Confederation (repulse of Oriental universal empire and creation
of an inter-state federation, the Delian League), 500-431 B. C.
_Act II_ (431 B. C.-31 B. C.).
1. The Greek wars (failure of inter-state federation), 431-355 B.
C.
2. The Oriental wars (the superman, conquest of the East, struggle
for the spoils, barbarian invasion), 355-272 B. C.
3. The first rally (change of scale and fresh experiments in
federation--Seleucid Asia, Roman Italy, Aetolian and Achaean
'United States'), 272-218 B. C.
4. The Roman wars (destruction of four great powers by one;
devastation of the Mediterranean world), 218-146 B. C.
5. The class wars (capitalism, bolshevism, Napoleonism), 146-31 B.
C.
_Act III_ (31 B. C.-7th cent. A. D.).
1. The second rally (final experiment in federation--compromise
between city-state autonomy and capitalistic centralization), 31
B. C.-A. D. 180.
2. The first dissolution (external front broken by tribesmen,
internal by Christianity), A. D. 180-284.
3. The final rally (Constantine τον δημον προσεταιριζεται {ton dêmon
prosetairizetai}--tribesmen on to the land, bishops into the
bureaucracy), A. D. 284-378.