Ancient Greece was a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC[citation

needed] to the end of antiquity (c. 600 AD). Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era.[1] Included in ancient Greece is the period ofClassical Greece, which flourished during the 5th to 4th centuries BC. Classical Greece began with

the repelling of a Persian invasion by Athenian leadership. Because of conquests by Alexander the Great of Macedonia,Hellenistic

civilization flourished from Central Asia to the western end of the Mediterranean Sea.

Classical Greek culture, especially philosophy, had a powerful influence on the Roman Empire, which carried a version of it to many parts of

the Mediterranean Basin and Europe. For this reason Classical Greece is generally considered to be the seminal culture which provided the

foundation of modern Western culture and is considered as the cradle of Western civilization