Greece

                The next thing we will be learning in Western Civ is Greece. The Greeks were one of the very first barbarian people. Barbarian means they had a distinctive way of life. In about 2000 B.C. the Greeks began to migrate into Europe's southeastern region. Because of this migrations the Greeks began to adapt to the more advanced ways of living. Around 800 B.C. the classical Greek civilization emerged. With this came new ideas, art forms, and types of government. The Greek City States were the first to practice citizen participation in the government. The City States helped them trade, become inovaters in warfare, developed methods of fighting by land, and they preserved their independence from the kings of Persia. With the Greeks came Independence and wealth. By 3500 B.C. there were people who organized enough construct ceremonial monuments consisting of circles and rows of huge boulders called megalithic structures. Most of these are still around today. They began to speak languages of Indo- European origin that were ancestors of Greeks and Latins. Throughout Europe they're were Warriors. When a leading warrior died his horses and chariot, swords, and daggers, would all go into the grave with him. Next to the warrior would be his wife. With her jewelry and fine textiles. Europeans lived in villages. Groups of villages or farmstead were called tribes.The tribes were held together  by common interests, traditions, and ties of kinship. Tribes formed alliances under warrior kings. The people who spoke Indo- European languages were skilled in farming, metalworking, trade, and warfare. Over a period of three thousand years the European Barbarian people came into contact with civilization. The contacts were sometimes warlike and sometimes peaceful. They were sometimes the conquers and sometimes the victims.The Greeks are called "Western" because they were the first to emerge in Europe.