city-state had its own government. Sometimes the city-states fought one another, sometimes they joined together against a bigger enemy, the Persian Empire. Athens , Sparta , Corinth and Olympia were four of these city-states, and you can find out more about them on this site. Only a very powerful ruler could control all Greece. One man did in the 300s BC. He was Alexander the Great, from Macedonia . Alexander led his army to conquer not just Greece but an empire that reached as far as Afghanistan and India. When did Greek civilisation begin? About 3000 BC, there lived on the island of Crete a people now called Minoans. The name comes from their King Minos. Minos and other Minoan kings grew rich from trade, and built fine palaces. The Minoan civilization ended about 1450 BC. After the Minoans came the Myceneans. They were soldiers from mainland Greece, and were the Greeks who fought Troy in the 1200s BC. After the Mycenean age ended, about 1100 BC, Greece entered a "Dark Age". This lasted until the 800s BC when the Greeks set off by sea to explore and set up colonies . The Olympic Games begun in 776 BC. This was the start of "Archaic" Greek civilization. Around 480 BC the "golden age" of Greece began. This is what historians call "Classical" Greece. What was the Trojan War? The Trojans lived in the city of Troy , in what is now Turkey. The story of their war with the Greeks