More than 4,000 years ago, the ancient Greeks invaded the rugged hills and fertile plains of the Balkan Peninsula, and in the centuries that followed, they built one of the greatest and most influential civilizations in history. Their enduring legacy to modern society includes mythology, poetry, drama, sculpture, architecture, science, and political thought. Spanning more than 2,000 years, from the beginning of Minoan civilization in the third millennium BCE to the Roman annexation of mainland Greece in 146 BCE, Encyclopedia of the Ancient Greek World, Third Edition provides a comprehensive survey of the classical Greek world.