Game Groups > Setting: Classical Greece

This group comprises all the games set in the Classical period of ancient Greece, which lasted from 499 BC (the Ionian revolt against Persian rule and the beginning of the Persian Wars) until 323 BC (the death of Alexander the Great and the end of his war campaigns). The Classical period follows the Archaic period and is succeeded by the Hellenistic period of ancient Greek history. Culturally, it coincides with the zenith of Greek architecture, sculpture, literature and art in general; politically, it represents one of the most active times in ancient history as various polis-states were fighting each other for domination in the Eastern Mediterranean areal.

While at a first sight, the 5th and 4th centuries BC are centered around the rise of Athens against the Persian invasion and the subsequent hegemony of individual city-states such as Sparta, Corinth and Thebes over the Greek world, imposed through numerous, and sometimes long-lasting conflicts, such as the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC), in fact they are the history of over 1000 Greek states, mostly small, which placed great importance on their independence. They often joined the alliances lead by the greater city-states against each other and were sometimes the very cause of the disputes. Thus, geographically speaking, this setting encompasses a large area: the Illyrian coast, Macedonia, Thrace, central Greece (including Attica, Boeotia, Epirus, Thessaly etc.), the Peloponnesos, the Aegean sea, western Anatolia, Sicily and southern Italy (Magna Graecia).

Games included in this group are frequently real-time strategies that allow the player to control one of the Greek states through a campaign set sometime between 499 BC and 323 BC, but there are other genres explored as well.

Note: Games based on Alexander the Great's exploits belong here, not in the Hellenistic setting. Any game set in Greece before or after the specified time period should not be submitted to this group. This includes the majority of Greek-themed games, since they are most commonly based on Greek mythology rather than Greek history.

Related Game Groups * Mythology: Greek* Setting: Ancient Rome

Related Sites * Wikipedia: Classical Greece* Wikipedia: Hellenistic period