9th century BC, the first Greek texts began to appear. Greece was divided into many small, self-governing communities, a pattern largely dictated by Greek geography: every island, valley and plain is cut off from its neighbours by the sea or mountain ranges. From about the 8th century BC city states began to appear: small, self-governing territories with their own political systems. In the Middle Ages, most Christians did not have access to the Bible in their mother tongue. However, they did not expand until ships big enough to cross seas were built. Trade was developed by establishing commercial outposts throughout the Mediterranean, a technique that had not been used until then. This affair can be seen as the starting point for his career as a radical revolutionary. In