The Geography of Ancient Greece
Geography can have an impact on society, politics, and economics. This is especially true of Ancient Greece, because its geography is so varied. The main physical geographic features of Ancient Greece included mountains, islands, and the sea.
The mountains of Ancient Greece separated people geographically. Due to this separation, Greek city-states tended to be isolated from one another. This meant that societies grew and developed independently.
City-states had their own governments. So, without a central government, there was not a plan to create a big empire as we often imagined with respect to Ancient Greece.
Having access to the sea gave Ancient Greece the opportunity to grow economically. This allowed the city-sates to build many seaports to conduct trade.
Greeks then became good mariners and were able to use their skills to trade with other city-states. Ancient Greeks used to travel via the Aegean Sea from city to city. In addition to being an important trade route, the sea provided an abundant source of food.
From the mountains to the sea and islands, the geography of Ancient Greece was very unique. It played a large role with respect to the establishment of a strong trade-based economy, political development and society as a whole.