Greece » History

The first proof of native intelligent human presence in Greece came with the discovery of Petralona Archanthropus’ Skull, in Chalcidice in 1960. The skull has been dated to be at least 70,000 years old, by two German scientists: the anthropologist E. Breitinger and the palaeontologist O. Sickenberg. Extensive research on the issue has been done by the anthropologist Dr. Aris Poulianos of Moscow University, who claims this discovery obsoletes the Indo-European theory.

Militarily, Greece itself declined to the point that the Romans conquered the land (168 BC onwards). Greece became a province of the Roman Empire, but Greek culture continued to dominate the eastern Mediterranean.

From the 4th century to the 15th century, the Byzantine Empire had survived eleven centuries of attacks from the north, west and east until Constantinople fell on May 29, 1453 to the Ottoman Empire. Its last emperor, Constantine XI, was thought to have died fighting on the walls and buried anonymously along with his troops. The empire had been for centuries the center of Christendom from the ancient classical world of the Roman Empire to the dawn of the Renaissance. Throughout this medieval era it had remained a source of constancy. But during the 15th century, Greece was gradually conquered by the Ottomans.

Longer Historical Perspective

The Ottomans ruled Greece until the early 19th century. On March 25, 1821 (also the same day as the Greek Orthodox day of the Annunciation of the Theotokos), the Greeks rebelled and declared their independence, which was finally recognised in 1829.

The country became the tenth member of the European Union on January 1, 1981. Over the course of the last 25 years, and particularly during this past decade, Greece has experienced a remarkable economic growth. Widespread investments in industrial enterprises and heavy infrastructure as well as funds from the European Union and growing revenues from tourism, shipping and services have raised the standard of living to unprecedented levels. The country adopted the Euro in 2001.