History of ancient Greece. Mycenaean civilization

Mycenaean civilization or Achaean Greece is a cultural period in the history of prehistoric Greece from the 16th to the 11th century BC. e., Bronze Age. It got its name from the city of Mycenae on the Peloponnese Peninsula.

Other important cities of this period were Athens, Thebes and Pylos. In contrast to the Minoans, whose culture flourished thanks to a peaceful existence and lively trade, the Mycenaeans were conquerors. The disappearance of the Mycenaean culture is associated with the Dorian invasion around 1200 BC. e.

Early Helladic period of Greece

It is part of the Aegean civilization of Greek history.

In the III-II millennium BC. e. Pelasgians, Leleges and Carians lived in Balkan Greece; the whole country, according to Herodotus, was called Pelasgia. Later Greek historians considered these peoples to be barbarians, although in reality their culture was at a higher level of development (this is evidenced by archaeological data) than the culture of the Achaean Greeks who invaded Greece at the turn of the 3rd-2nd millennium BC. e. These cultures or one of them could be associated with the chronologically previous Vinca culture, 5-3 thousand BC. e., the southern border of which was in northern Greece.

In addition to farming, crafts (pottery, blacksmithing) arose in the early Helladic period, but the number of artisans was small, and the products met local demand, but it is possible that it also went beyond the boundaries of the individual community.

The division of settlements into citadels and towns may indicate the beginning of class formation in the second half of the 3rd millennium BC. e. The civilization of this period was already ahead of other European cultures in its development, but further progressive growth was prevented by the movement of tribes across the territory of Balkan Greece.

The emergence of the first Achaean states

With the arrival of the first wave of Achaean tribes, we can talk about the formation of the Greek people at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e. In 1850 BC. e. Athens had already been built.

Archaeological data from finds of the Middle Helladic period (XX-XVII) indicate a certain decline in the culture of this period in comparison with the culture of the Early Helladic period.

All settlements of the Middle Helladic period were located, as a rule, on elevated areas and were fortified; an example of such a settlement is the site of Malti Dorion in Messenia. In the center of this settlement there was a palace; workshops of artisans adjoined it; the rest were houses of ordinary people and warehouses.

By the end of the Middle Helladic period, a cultural upsurge began to be felt in the development of the civilization of mainland Greece, the first state formations appeared, a process of class formation took place, manifested in the identification of a layer of nobility, and a significant increase in population was observed, associated with the success of agriculture.

The first city-states formed in the 18th-17th centuries. BC e. - Athens, Mycenae, Tiryns, Pylos - had close cultural and trade ties with Crete, Mycenaean culture borrowed a lot from the Minoan civilization, the influence of which is felt in cult rituals, social life, and artistic monuments; undoubtedly, the art of building ships was adopted from the Cretans.

The Achaeans not only maintain old Cretan trade ties, but also build new sea routes to the Caucasus, Sicily, and North Africa.

The main centers, as in Crete, were palaces, but their important difference from the Cretan ones is that they were fortified and were citadels. The monumental dimensions of the citadels are striking, the walls of which are built from unprocessed blocks, reaching in some cases a weight of up to 12 tons. Perhaps the most outstanding citadel is that of Tiryns, the entire defensive system of which was thought out with special care to prevent all unexpected disastrous situations.

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The civilization that developed in mainland Greece was, in its main features, similar to the Minoan one. Of course, it had local characteristics characteristic of the peoples inhabiting the Balkan Peninsula. This allows us to consider Achaean Greece in the Late Helladic period as an integral part of a single Bronze Age civilization on the territory of the Aegean, most clearly represented in its centers - on Crete and Mycenae.

The Bronze Age civilization flourished in the Balkans in the 15th-13th centuries. BC e. - a period that, based on discoveries in Mycenae, already at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. began to be called the Mycenaean era. However, subsequent archaeological studies showed that Achaean states existed throughout the Balkan Peninsula - in Northern, Central and Southern Greece. As in Crete, the central, structure-forming elements of Bronze Age society in the Balkans were palaces. In addition to Mycenae and Tiryns, there were also palaces in Pylos (Messenia), Athens (Attica), Thebes and Orkhomenes (Boeotia), Iolka (Thessaly). However, on the mainland, palaces of the Mycenaean era were built on a much smaller scale than on Crete, and, in addition, they were located in the center of citadels, which were not on the island.

The most general idea about the features of Balkan architecture is given by the Mycenaean palace and citadel. The citadel at Mycenae was located on a rocky hill. Its walls, erected mainly in the 14th century BC, made of huge roughly hewn blocks of stone, were 6-10 meters thick and up to 18 meters high.

The central gate, called the Lion Gate (after the images of lions crowning it), was built in the 13th century. BC, during the period of maximum expansion of the fortress, when the citadel of Mycenae began to occupy an area of ​​​​about 30 thousand square meters. At the same time, the palace remained quite modest in size (23 x 11.5 m). The main room of the palace (and this is another difference between the “mainland” palaces and the Cretan ones) was the megaron - a vast almost square hall (13 x 11.5 m), the roof of which, with an opening in the middle, was supported by four columns. In the center of the megaron there was a hearth, which was also an altar. Here the king, sitting on the throne, received ambassadors, and feasts were held here.

Even more impressive are the fortifications of Tiryns, located 15 kilometers from Mycenae. The walls of its citadel, built in the XIV-XIII centuries. BC e., are not inferior in power to the Mycenaeans, but their builders already possessed more advanced methods of constructing defensive structures. Inside the outer fortress wall there was another wall that directly protected the royal palace. If the enemy tried to penetrate the fortress through the main gate, he would have to climb the road along the fortress wall, exposing his right side, not protected by a shield, to the defenders. And beyond the gate he would find himself in a narrow passage that abutted against another fortified gate. In this stone bag, the enemy, under attack from all sides, could easily be destroyed. For attackers, this citadel was practically impregnable, for which Tiryns received the name “fortified.” In case of a long siege, in Tiryns, as well as in Mycenae, an underground water supply system was installed that supplied water inside the fortress. The complexity and thoughtfulness of the fortifications testify to the turbulent life of the Achaeans, who constantly participated in military clashes.

The best studied is the well-preserved palace in Pylos, in which, according to Homer, the legendary elder Nestor ruled. It is similar to the Mycenaean and Tiryns palaces: massive outer walls made of large stone blocks; propylaea (passage), decorated with majestic columns; palace courtyard; megaron, the walls of which were decorated with frescoes, and the floors were covered with ornaments and images of representatives of the marine world. Of particular interest was the two-story eastern wing of the palace with many living spaces. In the rooms on the ground floor, which served as storerooms, archaeologists discovered several thousand vessels for storing agricultural products and water tanks. Nestor's palace was rightly called "richly decorated" and "magnificent." Its owner had no shortage of vessels made of precious metals, expensive furniture and rich clothes. The immense wealth of Pylos is evidenced by numerous fragments of gold and silver objects and items made of precious stones discovered during excavations of the palace and the nearby domed tombs.

But the real sensation was the discovery in one of the rooms of the palace archive, containing about a thousand clay tablets. Similar tablets written in Linear B were also discovered in Crete, where the Achaeans penetrated after the destruction of the Minoan civilization. Reading these tablets, which were mainly documents of a financial and administrative nature, made it possible to learn a lot about the life of the palaces of the Mycenaean era.

The presence of palaces and powerful fortresses indicates the existence in the Late Helladic period of an already established civilization with developed statehood in the Balkans. Although scientists do not stop arguing about whether Mycenae managed to create a unified state, even for a short time, or whether the rulers of the Achaean palaces were able to maintain their independence. Each palace turns out to be the center of a small state. Almost all representatives of the royal administration stayed on the territory of the palace.

The highest person in the palace, according to the inscriptions, was the wanaka (or anakt) - the king of Pylos, who had supreme power in the state. An expression of his high status was the fact that he owned a temen - a vast land plot that brought 1800 measures of grain, and this plot was the second larger than the land plots of other noble persons. It was the highest officials who were the largest landowners. Wanaka also performed judicial and priestly functions. Only a certain part of the officials was subordinate to the king (the Pylos tablets mention officials called “royal”). The royal administration also included scribes who kept detailed accounting records of everything that the king owned and that came into the palace. Their premises were located near the megaron, from where it was convenient for the king to direct his officials.

The second most important person in the state was Lavaget - the governor, the leader of the royal army. Like the king, he owned a land plot (but of a smaller size - 600 measures of grain), and at his disposal were officials called “voivodes”.

Even lower in the social hierarchy were the priests (and priestesses), who owned plots producing 300 measures of grain.

The palace was not only the residence of the ruler, the center of the political life of the state, but also an important economic center. The palace economy, according to palace reports, covered all branches of production and personified the economic progress of civilization.

The palace administration primarily organized the efficient functioning of the palace economy. Judging by the Pylos tablets, it widely used the labor of slaves organized in detachments. The lists of workers mention female slaves who ground grain, spun and wove wool, and were employed as servants. The number of slaves in the detachment sometimes reached more than a hundred people. The lists also include boys and girls who appear to have been the children of slaves (in addition, mention is made of rations that were issued from storerooms to female workers and their children). The farm also used the labor of male artisans, but usually there were no more than a dozen male slaves in the detachment.

Another important function of the royal administration was the management of communities located in the territory of the kingdom. Communities were obliged to pay “in-kind” taxes to the palace in products (the amount was set based on the quantity and quality of the land owned by the community), and officials strictly controlled the volume and timeliness of payments by communities of the established taxes. In addition to natural supplies, as a mandatory duty of communities in favor of the state, it was practiced to attract free artisans to work in the palace. (So, the signs mention: “one mason did not show up”, “10 people were present and 4 people were absent”, etc.). Having established strict accounting of raw materials, and above all metal, the palace brought handicraft production under its control and monopolized its most important industries.

The ordinary population lived outside the palace. The lower city was located near its walls, where the main occupation of the inhabitants was crafts, trade and servicing the requests of the royal administration. However, the vast majority of the state's population, united in communities (damos), lived in numerous settlements scattered along the valleys and mountain slopes and were engaged in agriculture. Community relations remained very strong. Some of the land was privately owned, but the main land fund still belonged to the communities. From it, land plots were cut out, issued for the performance of government functions, and plots for rent. The tablets referred to this category of land as “land received from the people.” It included the royal temenos and the allotments of the lavageta, priests and other officials.

The tenants on the “land received from the people” or private plots were landless workers - the so-called God's servants (and slaves). Although not slaves in the full sense of the word, they were probably associated with the temple administration. Their small plots produced only 10-11 measures of grain. The rental of communal and private land was a very common phenomenon in the economy of Pylos society. Among the state officials there was even a special official who monitored the collection of rent payments.

According to texts from tablets from Pylos and Knossos, the palace economy appears as a powerful structure that controlled almost the entire economic life of society. The basis for the effective management of the palace economy and management of the economy of the territory subject to the ruler was strict accounting and control of all labor and raw materials, work performed and products produced. Private households played a secondary role and were also dependent on the palace. All this suggests that in the states of Achaean Greece a type of centralized economy, typical of the regions of the Mediterranean and the Middle East of the Bronze Age, developed, the basis of which was the palace or temple economy.

At the end of the 13th century. BC e., after the Trojan War, there were signs of an economic crisis in the palace economies of the Achaean kingdoms. In addition, at this time the ethno-political situation in the Balkans sharply deteriorated. Due to some still unknown reasons, the tribes neighboring the Achaean states moved from the north of the Balkan Peninsula to the south. All these peoples were still at the stage of primitive communal relations. Most of them were Greek tribes related to the Achaeans, who spoke a Dorian dialect. The advance of the Dorians was accompanied by looting, destruction and fires. To protect against aliens in the Achaean citadels, old fortifications are hastily repaired and new ones are built. Although the largest fortresses (Mycenae, Tiryns and Athens) managed to repel the attack of the Dorians, most of the palaces (and especially the palace in Pylos) and settlements of Mycenaean times were not revived after the destruction. This invasion of representatives of the primitive world marked the beginning of the collapse of the Bronze Age civilization in Greece.

Even in the established citadels, the palace economy is falling into disrepair. In search of refuge, some Achaeans moved to areas little affected by the barbarian invasion (for example, Attica, Elis, Achaia), others left the Balkan Peninsula. The traces of desolation after the Dorian invasion are simply amazing: the number of settlements is reduced several times, the population is declining, handicraft production is declining, and monumental construction, fresco painting and writing in Greece will be remembered only after a few centuries. The volume of trade decreases sharply, and trade exchanges with the East almost completely cease. A long period of isolation of the Greek world from ancient Eastern civilizations begins.

The devastated Mycenaean society turns out to be unable to exist in its previous forms. The palaces in Mycenae, Tiryns and Athens stood for another hundred years, but at the end of the 12th century. BC e. the acropolises in these cities are empty. Soon life left the rest of the citadels. Together with the destruction of the palaces, which were the socio-economic, political and cultural basis of the Bronze Age civilization in the Balkans, the Mycenaean era ends

The death of the civilization of the Achaean world was predetermined by the historical exhaustion of the possibilities for the development of civilization of the Bronze Age. The main reason for its disappearance from the historical arena is socio-economic. Low-productivity tools made of copper, bone, stone and even wood, or extremely expensive ones made of bronze, used in the Bronze Age limited the possibilities for improving economic and labor activities. With such primitive and unproductive tools of labor, the economy can function effectively only if it is based on large centralized farms, in which workers are grouped into groups according to specialties and their work is clearly organized on the principles of cooperation and specialization. But, as historical experience shows, this type of economy, similar to the ancient Eastern one, allows you to follow the path of progress and accumulate wealth only to a certain limit. Palace households, which lived off the labor of slaves and community members subordinate to the palaces, had to constantly expand the staff of managers and accordingly increase the costs of its maintenance. This reduces the efficiency of production, and eventually the palaces turn from centers of production into centers of consumption, leading to stagnation and crisis in the economy.

The possibilities for the development of Achaean society were very limited. Civilization in the Balkans and the Aegean Sea basin did not extend beyond the palace and the surrounding area. Sharp contradictions existed not only between civilized society and primitive tribes, but also between the palace and the communities subordinate to it. The bearers of civilization and its cultural achievements were only aristocrats who lived in palaces and officials associated with the palace economy. Therefore, with the death of the aristocracy on the battlefields, civilization itself perished. This was largely facilitated by the protracted Trojan War, which required the expenditure of enormous material and human resources. Having exhausted their historical possibilities, weakened by contradictions, the Achaean states became easy prey for the invading warlike tribes.

The Dorian migration was the last major movement of peoples on the Balkan Peninsula in the history of Ancient Greece. After him, the settlement of Greek tribes and the spread of dialects in the Aegean Sea basin was completed. Subsequently, the ethnic picture in this region changed little.

At the end of the XII - in the XI century. BC e. many areas inhabited by the Mycenaeans became depopulated. In the once flourishing Argolid, traces of only seven settlements were found, in Messenia - six, in Boeotia - two. At this time, there was a maximum outflow of population from Balkan Greece, but new territories were being developed: Asia Minor, the islands of the Aegean and Ionian seas. First of all, the Achaeans who fled from the barbarian invasion rushed to the new lands. In the 11th century. BC e. Greeks who spoke the Ionian dialect inhabited most of the western coast of Asia Minor and the islands closest to the coast: Chios, Samos, etc. This process of mass resettlement of Ionian Greeks to the coast of Asia Minor was called Ionian colonization. Speakers of the Aeolian dialect inhabit the northern part of the Aegean coast of Asia Minor and nearby islands (the largest of them is Lesvos). The Dorians, who were looking for convenient places to settle, captured the Peloponnese and then occupied Crete, Rhodes and the southern part of the western coast of Asia Minor. As a result, the Greeks settled throughout the Aegean basin.

In the new territories, the communal clan structures adopted by the settlers were established. Greek society, taking a step back, returned to primitive communal relations. Under these conditions, the palaces turned out to be incompatible with the new way of life and left the historical arena. Along with the palaces, writing and many other achievements of Mycenaean culture turned out to be unnecessary. New tribal settlements arose away from the ruins of the palaces, as if marking a break with Mycenaean society. From the rich heritage of the culture of Mycenaean times, mainly individual skills in growing grains, grapes and olives, the most important technological techniques, tools and tools used in bronze casting and pottery production, blacksmithing, in the construction of sailing ships, etc. have been preserved. Some religious beliefs have also been preserved and cults, primarily associated with agricultural activities.

The first evidence of society's movement along a new path of development dates back to the prepolis period. The nature of burials is changing, and along with it, probably, the ritual of the funeral cult. The traditional tomb for a whole family is being replaced by "box" graves for the burial of one person. With the spread of the ritual of cremation of the deceased, funeral urns appear.

But the most important innovation after the Dorian invasion should be considered the widespread use of iron. The Iron Age begins in the history of Ancient Greece. The art of iron processing has a long history. In Mycenaean times, iron was considered a valuable metal, and products made from it were extremely rare. But in the 11th century. BC e. metal processing was already carried out in Athens, Argolis, and on the island of Euboea. The production of iron tools, which were stronger and cheaper than bronze ones, was being improved, and iron ore deposits were much more common than tin and copper deposits. The massive use of iron led to a technical revolution in production. New tools of labor sharply increased the productive capabilities of both the entire community and the individual worker. This gave a powerful impetus for the rapid movement of ancient Greek society along a fundamentally new path of development.

Thanks to the widespread use of iron and the individualization of the producer’s labor, the state monopoly in metallurgy, which was so necessary in Mycenaean times, due to expensive long-distance expeditions to ore mining sites, and the cooperation of workers, necessary when using low-productivity tools of the Bronze Age, became unnecessary.

In the X-IX centuries. BC e. Military armor and weapons began to be made primarily from iron. Already in the 10th century. BC e. Greece is becoming one of the leading producers of iron products in the Eastern Mediterranean, moving away from the use of bronze to make objects for everyday life.

However, the process of formation of new socio-economic and political structures was long. Greek society still remained closed, isolated from the advanced centers of eastern civilizations. This is evidenced by the absence of objects brought from the countries of the East. Local ceramics were rough and of low quality. Only arose after 900 BC. e. the geometric style in vase painting indicates progress in the development of ancient Greek society. The realities of that time are clearly evidenced by archaeological discoveries and the texts of Homer's poems.

At the end of the 3rd millennium BC. The territory of Ancient Greece is invaded by the Achaean Greeks who came from the north. They managed to conquer the population of this country, despite the fact that their level of development was lower.

Only from the 16th century BC. The Achaeans begin to improve their economy and culture, make tools and full-fledged weapons.

The civilization that arose during this period is most often called Achaean, after the name of its conquerors, and sometimes Mycenaean, since the most powerful and prosperous state in this territory was called Mycenae and was located in the Peloponnese.

The centers of the Achaean state are Tiryns, Pylos and Mycenae

Palaces were considered the centers on the territory of Greece and Crete, some of which were excavated by modern archaeologists. These were not just beautiful and comfortable structures, they were real fortresses, which suggests that at this time the Achaeans had to fight often.

Such Achaean palaces have been found at Pylos, Mycenae and Tiryns. The latter is considered the most powerful and indestructible fortress, the thickness of its walls was about five meters and its height was about seven.

But the most powerful and influential center of that time is the palace in Mycenae, which was located on a hill and was surrounded by thick walls with gates. The city of Mycenae is also famous for the many riches that were found by archaeologists in the burial places of the Mycenaean kings.

This confirms that, like the inhabitants of the Ancient East, the Greeks believed in the afterlife and tried to provide the deceased with everything necessary. In the graves of noble rich people and Mycenaean kings, a lot of jewelry, dishes and weapons made of gold, silver and ivory were discovered.

Also found there were golden masks that covered the faces of the dead and represented their portraits. What was found in excavations significantly surprised archaeologists. The partially preserved palace in Pylos is also noteworthy.

An archive was found in it, which interested historians and archaeologists. Despite the fact that Pylos was destroyed by a fire, the archive was preserved as it was written on clay tablets at that time, and they remained only burnt.

Economy of Achaean Greece

These records were deciphered by the Englishman Ventris, who was able to understand that the tablets were business records. Scientists managed to learn a lot about the structure of the economy and politics in Achaean Greece.

There is mention of numerous slaves, among whom were women and their children. It is also known that there were officials who ensured that peasants regularly paid taxes and performed duties for the state. The ancient Achaean Greeks especially valued metal; there was a special accounting for it.

The structure of the state of Achaean Greece

At the head of the state was the king, priests and officials were of particular importance, and below them were ordinary residents of small settlements.

The most insignificant place was occupied by slaves. Village residents could not take any part in the management of the city. This device is reminiscent of the states of the Ancient East.

Culture and religion of Achaean Greece

The main theme for the art and faith of the ancient Achaeans was war. This is why their wall paintings are different from those found in Crete.

The first one and a half to two centuries after the resettlement of the Achaeans were a time of significant changes in Greece. On the one hand, many large centers of life of the previous era remained in ruins or more modest settlements grew in their place. On the other hand, approximately the same level of development of the indigenous (autochthonous) and newcomer populations ensured the continuity of those economic and social processes that occurred in both societies before their mixing. At the same time, the resettlement of the Achaeans accelerated the worsening of social inequality due to the growth of individual property. The importance of resettlement in the development of private property was noted by K. Marx, who pointed out that “the further a tribe moves away from its original settlement and captures strangers earth, therefore, finds itself in significantly new working conditions, where the energy of each individual person receives greater development..., the more conditions there are for an individual person to become private owner land...”’. It was during this period, at the turn of the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC, that a further rise in production was observed, associated with the widespread use of bronze and the development of various crafts. In the XX-XIX centuries. BC e. the country was covered with a dense network of agricultural settlements. They were located near good springs, usually on the tops of hills that provided natural fortifications. Already at this time, the settlements in Mycenae, Tiryns and other large centers of the subsequent era were significantly different from such modest neighboring villages as Koraku and Ziguri. Mycenae especially grew in the 18th-17th centuries. BC e. Their acropolis (upper city) was surrounded by a wall. Residential areas were located on the slopes of the acropolis and neighboring hills. The emergence of larger settlements, which became centers where rulers and nobility lived, also occurred in other regions of Greece. Gradually these points turned into cities inhabited by artisans and farmers. In numerous workshops, Achaean artisans produced objects that spread far from Greece. As archaeological finds show, already at that time the external relations of the Achaean tribes were considerable. In the south, the Achaeans communicated with Crete, and through it had contact with Egypt. The Cyclades islands served as a link between Greece and the Asia Minor coast. Judging by the ceramics, the Achaeans maintained contacts with Macedonia, Illyria and the population of Thrace.

In conditions of intensive development of production and exchange, the long process of the formation of a class society and the formation of a state organization was completed on the territory of mainland Greece by the 17th century. BC e. Here, as in Crete, early states arose initially in small territories, growing out of traditional local tribal associations. The geographical conditions of Hellas contributed to the long-term preservation of independence even by small tribes, and this was the reason for the emergence of many regions ruled by individual royal families. The powers of the rulers were very unequal, but the dynasts in each region sought to maintain their independence. The legends of the ancient Greeks very clearly convey this feature of the political life of the Achaeans. The historian Thucydides also emphasizes the fragmentation of the country: “So, the Hellenes, who lived separately in cities, understood each other and were subsequently called by a common name, before the Trojan War, due to weakness and lack of mutual communication, did nothing together” (I, 3). Noting that the inhabitants of Hellas were in this state for quite a long time, Thucydides says that then, due to piracy, cities were built at some distance from the sea (I, 7). Indeed, almost all Achaean cities, as modern excavations have shown, are located several kilometers from the coastline.

The Achaean kingdoms developed differently: cities located on coastal lands grew and became stronger faster than cities in the interior regions.

1. Greece in the early Helladic period (until the end of the 3rd millennium BC).

The creators of the Mycenaean culture were the Achaean Greeks, who invaded the Balkan Peninsula at the turn of the 3rd-2nd millennium BC. e. from the north, from the region of the Danube lowland or from the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region, where they originally lived. Moving further and further south through the territory of the country, which later began to be called by their name, the Achaeans partly destroyed and partly assimilated the indigenous pre-Greek population of these areas, which later Greek historians called the Pelasgians *. Next to the Pelasgians, partly on the mainland and partly on the islands of the Aegean Sea, lived two more peoples: the Leleges and the Carians. According to Herodotus, all of Greece was once called Pelasgia (the Pelasgians were, apparently, a people related to the Minoans, and like them, they were part of the Aegean language family). At the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC. e. (the period of the Chalcolithic, or the transition from stone to metal - copper and bronze), the culture of mainland Greece was still closely connected with the early agricultural cultures that existed on the territory of modern Bulgaria and Romania, as well as in the southern Dnieper region (the zone of the “Trypillian culture”). Among the settlements of the Early Helladic era, the citadel in Lerna (on the southern coast of Argolid) especially stands out. In Lerna there was a large administrative and economic center, partly already anticipating in its character and purpose the later palaces of Mycenaean times. Similar centers existed in some other places. Their traces have been found, for example, in Tiryns (also southern Argolis, near Lerna) and in Akovitika (Messenia in the southwestern Peloponnese).

Along with the citadels, in which, apparently, representatives of the tribal nobility lived, in Greece of the early Helladic era there were also settlements of another type - small, most often very densely built-up villages with narrow passage-streets between rows of houses. Some of these villages, especially those located near the sea, were fortified, while others lacked any defensive structures. Examples of such settlements are Rafina (eastern coast of Attica) and Zigouries (northeastern Peloponnese, near Corinth).

Judging by the nature of archaeological finds, the bulk of the population in settlements of this type were peasant farmers.

At this time, a specialized craft was already emerging in Greece, represented mainly by such branches as pottery production and metalworking. The number of professional craftsmen was still very small, and their products provided mainly local demand, only a small part of it was sold outside the given community.

2. Invasion of the Achaean Greeks. Formation of the first states.

This movement dates back to the last centuries of the 3rd millennium BC. e., or the end of the Early Bronze Age. Around 2300 BC e. The citadel of Lerna and some other settlements of early Helladic times were destroyed in a fire. After some time, a number of new settlements appear in places where there were none before. For the first time, ceramics made using a potter's wheel appeared. Its examples can be “Minian vases” - monochrome (usually gray or black) carefully polished vessels, reminiscent of metal products with their shiny matte surface. In some places, during excavations, bones of a horse were found, previously apparently unknown within the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula. Many historians and archaeologists associate all these changes in the life of mainland Greece with the arrival of the first wave of Greek-speaking tribes, or Achaeans*. If this assumption is to some extent justified, then the turn of the 3rd-2nd millennium BC. e.** can be considered the beginning of a new stage in the history of Ancient Greece - the stage of the formation of the Greek people (the merging of two cultures: the culture of the alien Achaean tribes, who spoke various dialects of Greek or, rather, proto-Greek language, and the culture of the local pre-Greek population). In settlements and burials of this time, metal products are relatively rare. But tools made of stone and bone appear again, which indicates a certain decline in the productive forces of Greek society. Monumental architectural structures like the already mentioned “house of tiles” in Lerna are disappearing. Instead, nondescript adobe houses are built, sometimes rectangular, sometimes oval, or rounded on one side. Settlements of the Middle Helladic period, as a rule, were fortified and located on hills with steep steep slopes. Apparently, this was an extremely turbulent and alarming time, which forced individual communities to take measures to ensure their safety.

A typical example of a Middle Helladic settlement is the site of Malti Dorion in Messenia.

The burials of this period are overwhelmingly standard, with very modest accompanying grave goods.

3. Formation of the Mycenaean civilization.

In the first stages of its development, the Mycenaean culture experienced a very strong influence from the more advanced Minoan civilization. The Achaeans borrowed many important elements of their culture from Crete, for example, some cults and religious rituals, fresco painting, water supply and sewerage, styles of men's and women's clothing, some types of weapons, and finally, linear syllabary. BUT she also had her own characteristic traits, acquired over time.

The earliest monument of Mycenaean culture is considered to be the so-called shaft graves. The first six graves of this type were discovered in 1876 by G. Schliemann within the walls of the Mycenaean citadel (many precious things made of gold, silver, ivory and other materials). The mine graves date back to the 16th century. BC e. The warlike inclinations of the rulers of Mycenae are evidenced, firstly, by the abundance of weapons in their tombs and, secondly, by images of bloody scenes of war and hunting, which decorated some of the things found in the graves, as well as stone steles that stood on the graves themselves. Particularly interesting is the scene of a lion hunt depicted on one of the bronze inlaid daggers.

The 15th-13th centuries can be considered the heyday of the Mycenaean civilization. BC e. At this time, its distribution zone extends far beyond the borders of Argolis, where, apparently, it originally arose and developed, covering the entire Peloponnese, Central Greece (Attica, Boeotia, Phocis), a significant part of Northern (Thessaly), as well as many of the islands Aegean Sea.

Judging by the excavations, Mycenaean Greece was a rich and prosperous country with a large population scattered across many small towns and villages.

The main centers of Mycenaean culture were, as in Crete, palaces. The most significant of them were discovered in Mycenae and Tiryns (Argolis), in Pylos (Messenia, southwestern Peloponnese), in Athens (Attica), Thebes and Orkhomenes (Boeotia), and finally, in the north of Greece in Iolka (Thessaly). The architecture of Mycenaean palaces has a number of features that distinguish them from the palaces of Minoan Crete. The most important of these differences is that almost all Mycenaean palaces were fortified and were real citadels, reminiscent in appearance of the castles of medieval feudal lords. An excellent example of Mycenaean fortifications is the famous Tiryns citadel.

Among the actual palace buildings of the Mycenaean period, the most interesting is the well-preserved palace of Nestor* in Pylos (Western Messenia, near Navarino Bay), discovered in 1939 by the American archaeologist K. Bledzhen + the majestic royal tombs, called “tholos”, or “dome tombs” . Tholosas are usually located close to palaces and citadels, being, apparently, the final resting place of members of the reigning dynasty, like shaft graves in earlier times. The largest of the Mycenaean tholos is the so-called tomb of Atreus.

Socio-economic structure.

From clay tablets (Pylos and Knossos) we learn that at that time slavery already existed in Greece and slave labor was widely used in various sectors of the economy. Among the documents of the Pylos archive, a lot of space is occupied by information about slaves employed in the palace household.

Along with ordinary slaves, the Pylos inscriptions also mention the so-called “God’s male and female slaves.” They usually rent land in small plots from the community (damos) or from private individuals, from which we can conclude that they did not have their own land and, therefore, they were not considered full members of the community, although, apparently, they were not slaves in proper meaning of this word. The very term “God’s servant” probably means that representatives of this social stratum served in the temples of the main gods of the Pylos kingdom and therefore enjoyed the patronage of the temple administration.

The bulk of the working population in the Mycenaean states, as in Crete, were free or, rather, semi-free peasants and artisans. Formally, they were not considered slaves, but their freedom was of a very relative nature, since they were all economically dependent on the palace and were subject to various duties in its favor, both labor and in kind. Individual districts and towns of the Pylos kingdom were obliged to provide the palace with a certain number of artisans and workers of various professions. The inscriptions mention masons, tailors, potters, gunsmiths, goldsmiths, even perfumers and doctors. For their work, artisans received payment in kind from the palace treasury, like officials in the public service. Another category of artisans, apparently, were free community members, for whom working for the palace was only a temporary duty. Craftsmen recruited for public service were not deprived of personal freedom. They could own land and even slaves, like all other members of the community.

Land in the kingdom of Pylos was divided into two main categories: 1) palace land, or state land, and 2) land that belonged to individual territorial communities. State land, with the exception of that part of it that was under the direct control of the palace administration, was distributed on the basis of conditional holding rights, that is, subject to the performance of one or another service in favor of the palace, between dignitaries from among the military and priestly nobility. These Holders could lease the received land in small plots to some other persons, for example, the already mentioned “God’s slaves.” The territorial (rural) community, or damos, as it is usually called in tablets, used the land it owned in approximately the same way. The bulk of the communal land was obviously divided into plots with approximately equal returns. These plots were distributed within the community itself among its constituent families. The land remaining after the division was again leased. Palace scribes recorded plots of both categories in their tablets with equal diligence.

The private economy, although, apparently, it already existed in the Mycenaean states, was in fiscal (tax) dependence on the “public sector” and played only a subordinate, secondary role in it.

5. Organization of public administration.

In addition to the staff of scribes who served directly in the palace office and archive, the tablets mention numerous officials of the fiscal department who were in charge of collecting taxes and overseeing the fulfillment of various types of duties. Thus, from the documents of the Pylos archive we learn that the entire territory of the kingdom was divided into 16 tax districts, headed by governors-koreteri. Each of them was responsible for the regular receipt of taxes from the district entrusted to him into the palace treasury. Subordinate to the koretera were lower-ranking officials who governed individual settlements that were part of the district. In the tablets they are called "basilei". Basilei supervised production, for example, the work of blacksmiths who were in public service. The coreters and basilei themselves were under the constant control of the central government. At the head of the palace state was a person called “vanaka”, which corresponds to the Greek “(v)anakt”, i.e. “lord”, “master”, “king”. The land allotment belonging to the king - temen - was three times larger than the land allotments of other senior officials. The king had numerous servants at his disposal. Among the highest-ranking officials subordinate to the king of Pylos, one of the most prominent places was occupied by the lavaget, that is, the governor or military leader. The closest circle of the Pylos vanakt included, firstly, the priests of the main temples of the state (the priesthood in general enjoyed very great influence in Pylos, as in Crete), and secondly, the highest military ranks, especially the leaders of the detachments of war chariots, who in those days times were the main striking force on the battlefields.

6. Relations between the Achaean kingdoms. Trojan War. The decline of the Mycenaean civilization. The tense relations that existed between the Achaean states throughout almost their entire history do not exclude, however, the fact that at certain moments they could unite for some kind of joint military enterprises. An example of such an enterprise is the famous Trojan War, which Homer tells about. According to the Iliad, almost all the main regions of Achaean Greece took part in the campaign against Troy, from Thessaly in the north to Crete and Rhodes in the south. The Mycenaean king Agamemnon was elected leader of the entire army with the general consent of the participants in the campaign. It is possible that Homer exaggerated the true scale of the Achaean coalition and embellished the campaign itself. The Trojan War was only one, although, apparently, the most significant of the manifestations of the military and colonization expansion of the Achaeans in Asia Minor and the Eastern Mediterranean. During the XIV-XIII centuries. BC e. Numerous Achaean settlements (indicated by large accumulations of typically Mycenaean pottery) appeared on the western and southern coasts of Asia Minor, the adjacent islands of Rhodes and Cyprus, and even on the Syro-Phoenician coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Successfully combining trade with piracy, the Achaeans soon became one of the most prominent political forces in the Eastern Mediterranean (they engaged in international trade).

Last decades of the 13th century. BC e. were an extremely anxious and turbulent time. In Mycenae, Tiryns, Athens and other places, old fortifications are being hastily restored and new ones are being built. A massive wall is erected on the Isthmus (a narrow isthmus connecting Central Greece with the Peloponnese), clearly designed to protect the Mycenaean states in the south of the Balkan Peninsula from some danger approaching from the north. So in the 13th century. barbarian tribes, which included both peoples who spoke various dialects of the Greek language (this includes Dorian and closely related Western Greek dialects), and, apparently, peoples of non-Greek, Thracian-Illyrian origin, left their homes and rushed south , to the rich and prosperous regions of Central Greece and the Peloponnese. On their way, the aliens captured and destroyed many Mycenaean settlements. The Pylos Palace was destroyed in a fire. The citadels of Mycenae and Tiryns were seriously damaged, although apparently not captured. The economy of the Mycenaean states suffered irreparable damage. This is evidenced by the rapid decline of crafts and trade in the areas most affected by the invasion, as well as a sharp decline in population. Thus, at the turn of the XIII-XII centuries. Mycenaean civilization suffered a terrible blow, from which it could no longer recover.

The decline of the Mycenaean civilization: 1) depletion of internal resources, waste of huge material and human reserves as a result of the many years of the Trojan War and bloody civil strife between individual Achaean kingdoms and within the ruling dynasties. 2) the internal weakness of early class relations in Greece of the 2nd millennium BC. e. generally. Early class relations, which presupposed the functioning of more complex than primitive relations of domination and subordination, social differentiation and the identification of various social strata, did not penetrate deeply into the thickness of people's life, did not permeate the entire social structure from top to bottom.