 the history of europe covers the people inhabiting the european continent since it was first populated in prehistoric times to the present. the first homo sapiens arrived out of africa between 45,000 and 25,000 bc. the earliest settlers to prehistoric europe came during the paleolithic era. the adoption of agriculture around 7000 bc ushered in the neolithic age. neolithic europe lasted for 4000 years, overlapping with metal-using cultures that gradually spread throughout the continent. technological advances during the prehistoric age came via the mediterranean peoples, spreading gradually to the northwest. some of the best-known civilizations of prehistoric europe were the minoan and the mycenaean, which flourished during the bronze age until they collapsed in a short period of time around 1200 bc. the period known as classical antiquity began with the rise of the city-states of ancient greece. greek influence reached its zenith under the expansive empire of alexander the great, spreading throughout asia. the roman empire came to dominate the entire mediterranean basin in a vast empire based on roman law and roman legions. it promoted trade, tolerance, and greek culture. by 300 ad the roman empire was divided into the western and eastern empires. during the 4th and 5th centuries, the germanic peoples of northern europe grew in strength and repeated attacks led to the fall of the western roman empire in ad 476, a date which traditionally marks the end of the classical period and the start of the middle ages. during the middle ages, the eastern roman empire survived, though modern historians refer to this state as the byzantine empire. in western europe, germanic peoples moved into positions of power in the remnants of the former western roman empire and established kingdoms and empires of their own. of all of the germanic peoples, the franks would rise to a position of hegemony over western europe, the frankish empire reaching its peak under charlemagne around ad 800. this empire was later divided into several parts; west francia would evolve into the kingdom of france, while east francia would evolve into the holy roman empire, a precursor to modern germany. the british isles were the site of several large-scale migrations. native celtic peoples had been marginalized during the period of roman britain, and when the romans abandoned the british isles during the 400s, waves of germanic anglo-saxons migrated to southern britain and established a series of petty kingdoms in what would eventually develop into the [[kingdom o
History_of_Europe World_history