The Impact of Geography on the Greek Empire

The path of great civilizations has often been a result of their geographic locations, and the contributions it made to their society. Many of the first human civilizations that parted from their nomadic ways developed on fertile rivers such as the Yellow River in China, the Nile River in Egypt, and the Tigris & Euphrates River in the Middle East. These great geographic monuments also acted as barriers as well. The Himalayas separated India from the Far East for hundreds of years, while the arid wasteland of Siberia stunted the growth of civilization. The early empire of Ancient Greece, for all of its successes ultimately had its fate decided by its unique geography.

As it is today, Greece consists of a large mainland, the Peloponnesus Peninsula, and numerous islands. Further inland, Greek has a rough landscape, 80% of which is covered in mountains or hills. About 50% of the land is covered in rich vegetation that supports the wide array of wildlife. However, one of Greece's most important geological factors is its huge coastline, over 15,000 km. This huge coastline, and the multitude of islands, gave way to the rise of a seafaring people that came to dominate the Mediterranean, and eventually its surrounding coastlines. The Greek people conquered lands far and wide from its center in Athens, but no matter how far out they went, the conquered territories were almost always along a coastline or river. Greek men and women advanced the art of shipbuilding and seafaring to new heights, allowing new forms of transportation for scattered portions of the enormous empire.

However, the mountainous terrain of Ancient Greece acted as a physical barrier against the Greek people and their desire to spread their wonderful Hellenic culture to other peoples. Even at the earliest stages of the Greek empire, it had spread among the Mediterranean, while its mountainous northern terrain stalled any expansion to the north. Had the Ancient Greek people expanded their culture northward, the Germanic tribes in the neighboring regions would most likely have taken to the increased level of sophistication presented to them at the time. Had they accepted the Greek's Hellenic culture, they may have joined the Greek people. The Greeks at this point would have been the undisputed world power, greater than even the Romans that followed them. The civilization may have even survived several more centuries as the Germanic invasion was halted.

The mountainous terrain that sparked the expansion across the sea eventually became the key problem of the Greek Empire. Although they were able to communicate with one another, the individual people scattered across the Empire eventually formed their own identities, causing a lack of unity throughout the Empire. Individual peoples began to form their own city-states which fought with one another for power or control over land. This sense of localism eventually led to the collapse of the Greek Empire, and gave rise to the next world power, the Romans.

While civilizations can advance technologically, and socially, they must learn to overcome the geographic restrictions under which they are placed, or they will tumble and fall. Even in modern society, America is crippled by its dependence on foreign crude oil as a major import. American's dependence on foreign oil was the result of the First Gulf War, and arguably, America's current occupation of Iraq, which has resulted in serious problems for the American people. Regardless of the vast power of the Greek Empire, and its rise as a major power that dominated Europe, Asia, and Africa, it was unable to overcome its most fundamental flaw, its geography.