This is a list of Greek countries and regions throughout
history. It includes
empires,
countries,
states,
regions and
territories that have or had in the past one of the following characteristics:
During the Bronze Age a number of entities were formed in
Mycenean Greece (1600-1100 BC), each of them was ruled by a
Wanax,[citation needed] including:
Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD): ruled by the
Arsacid dynasty of Parthia, it was partly Hellenized in culture, and with Greek being one of its official languages.
Kingdom of Cappadocia (320s BC – 17 AD):
Hellenistic-era
Iranian kingdom,[6][7] with Greek the official language. The kingdom was founded by an Iranian dynasty, known as the
Ariarathid dynasty (331–96 BC) and was succeeded by another one, the Ariobarzanid dynasty (96–36 BC). The last dynasty, that of
Archelaus of Cappadocia (36 BC–17 AD), was of Greek origin.
Byzantine Empire (610 AD – 1204 AD; 1261 - 1453): The Greek language had official status
After 395 the
Roman Empire split in two. In the East, Greeks were the predominant national group and their language was the lingua franca of the region. Christianity was the official religion of this new Empire, spread through the region by the Greek language, the language in which the first gospels were written. The language of the aristocracy however remained Latin, until gradually replaced by Greek by 7th century. The East Roman Empire retained its status as the power at least in the Mediterranean world until the 12th century. Amongst its impacts was the spread of Christianity to Eastern Europe and the
Slavs, the halting of the Persian, Slavic and Arab expansions towards Europe and the preservation of a significant body of the cultural heritage of
Greek-RomanAntiquity. In 1204, after a civil struggleover the succession of throne among the members of ruling
Angelid(Angeloi), the
Fourth Crusade conquered the capital,
Constantinople. The Empire was subject to partitions and crises from which it never recovered.
Septinsular Republic (1799–1815), independent under nominal Russian and Ottoman sovereignty. The
Ionian Islands were under Venetian Sovereignty from 1386-1797. During this time, the main administrative body of the islands was the General Council of
Corfu which was made up of aristocratic families, both Orthodox and Catholic. This led to the islands being ruled as a kind of oligarchic proto-republic until the formal establishment of the
Septinsular Republic in 1799.
Himara (15th century - 1912): autonomous region located in modern-day southern Albania.
Cycladic islands (1537-1828): most of the Cycladic islands in the Aegean Sea retained their distinct local governments and charters, being ruled by locally elected representatives or dukes.
Koinon of the Zagorisians (1431/1670–1868): the Zagori village mountains formed league of important villages in Epirus governed by a council of elders, located in the modern-day
Zagori municipality of Greece.
Phanariote period in
Wallachia &
Moldavia (1560/1711–1822): autonomous principalities ruled by the
Phanariotes. Greeks had been established as rulers in Wallachia as early as the 16th century. From 1701-1822 AD, the country was controlled exclusively by Greek Phanariotes appointed by Constantinople.
Mani (1461 – 1833): sovereign region in the
Peloponnese. The first post-Byzantine lord of Mani is considered to be Michael Rallis, after his death in 1466
Krokodeilos Kladas succeeded him. From the 16th-18th centuries Mani was a heavily decentralised region ruled by local Orthodox Christian Captains. After 1776, the lordship of Mani was formally recognised by the Ottomans, and the local ruler was called a
bey. Mani was famous for being a Christian stronghold and a trustworthy ally for the
Holy League during their wars with the Ottoman Empire. By the late 1700s the Maniots controlled large swathes of land in the southern Peloponnese, and the area became a refuge for many Greeks who were fleeing from Albanian raiders in the aftermath of the
Orlov Revolt. During the late 1600s,
Limberakis Gerakaris was the most powerful Captain of Mani and was recognised as
Bey by the Ottomans, he was famous for his numerous slave raids on Ottoman and Venetian ships.
Tzanetos Grigorakis, who ruled Mani from 1782-1798 was famous for his attempts to centralise the region and his reign was romanticised by the poet
Nikitas Niphakos who stayed at his court. Mani was governed according to a mixture of local oral law and Orthodox Church canon law. The first region in which the
Greek Revolution began in 1821 was in Mani and it was orchestrated by
Petrobey Mavromichalis. After 1833, Mani was integrated into the
Kingdom of Greece.
State of Thessaloniki (1916–1917): short-lived
Venizelist Provisional Government established in
Macedonia amidst the
National Schism. It controlled northern Greece and the island of Crete. The rest of Greece was controlled by the government in Athens (State of Athens). Greece was reunited in 1917.
Imbros and
Tenedos: Aegean islands inhabited historically mainly by ethnic Greeks. Under Greek administration from 1912. Following the
Treaty of Lausanne in 1923, Gökçeada (Imbros) and Bozcaada (Tenedos) became part of Turkey, but were exempted from the
population exchange.[10]
^
abMcGing, B. C. (1986). The Foreign Policy of Mithridates VI Eupator, King of Pontus. BRILL. p. 11.
ISBN978-9004075917.
^
abFreely, John. Children of Achilles: The Greeks in Asia Minor Since the Days of Troy. pp. 69–70.
^Dueck, Daniela. Strabo of Amasia: A Greek Man of Letters in Augustan Rome. p. 3.
^Weiskopf, Michael (1990). "CAPPADOCIA".
Encyclopaedia Iranica. Vol. IV, Fasc. 7-8. pp. 780–786. (...) Hellenistic-era Iranian kingdom (...) But all in all, Cappadocia remained an Iranian kingdom, one which developed from an Achaemenid satrapy.
^McGing, Brian (1986). "Eupator in Asia before the first war with Rome". The Foreign Policy of Mithridates VI Eupator, King of Pontus. BRILL. p. 72.
ISBN978-9004075917. As in Pontus the ruling family was of Iranian descent.
^"Archived copy". Archived from
the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 22 February 2008. In May 1914, the Great Powers signed the Protocol of Corfu, which recognised the area as Greek.{{
cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
link)
This is a list of Greek countries and regions throughout
history. It includes
empires,
countries,
states,
regions and
territories that have or had in the past one of the following characteristics:
During the Bronze Age a number of entities were formed in
Mycenean Greece (1600-1100 BC), each of them was ruled by a
Wanax,[citation needed] including:
Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD): ruled by the
Arsacid dynasty of Parthia, it was partly Hellenized in culture, and with Greek being one of its official languages.
Kingdom of Cappadocia (320s BC – 17 AD):
Hellenistic-era
Iranian kingdom,[6][7] with Greek the official language. The kingdom was founded by an Iranian dynasty, known as the
Ariarathid dynasty (331–96 BC) and was succeeded by another one, the Ariobarzanid dynasty (96–36 BC). The last dynasty, that of
Archelaus of Cappadocia (36 BC–17 AD), was of Greek origin.
Byzantine Empire (610 AD – 1204 AD; 1261 - 1453): The Greek language had official status
After 395 the
Roman Empire split in two. In the East, Greeks were the predominant national group and their language was the lingua franca of the region. Christianity was the official religion of this new Empire, spread through the region by the Greek language, the language in which the first gospels were written. The language of the aristocracy however remained Latin, until gradually replaced by Greek by 7th century. The East Roman Empire retained its status as the power at least in the Mediterranean world until the 12th century. Amongst its impacts was the spread of Christianity to Eastern Europe and the
Slavs, the halting of the Persian, Slavic and Arab expansions towards Europe and the preservation of a significant body of the cultural heritage of
Greek-RomanAntiquity. In 1204, after a civil struggleover the succession of throne among the members of ruling
Angelid(Angeloi), the
Fourth Crusade conquered the capital,
Constantinople. The Empire was subject to partitions and crises from which it never recovered.
Septinsular Republic (1799–1815), independent under nominal Russian and Ottoman sovereignty. The
Ionian Islands were under Venetian Sovereignty from 1386-1797. During this time, the main administrative body of the islands was the General Council of
Corfu which was made up of aristocratic families, both Orthodox and Catholic. This led to the islands being ruled as a kind of oligarchic proto-republic until the formal establishment of the
Septinsular Republic in 1799.
Himara (15th century - 1912): autonomous region located in modern-day southern Albania.
Cycladic islands (1537-1828): most of the Cycladic islands in the Aegean Sea retained their distinct local governments and charters, being ruled by locally elected representatives or dukes.
Koinon of the Zagorisians (1431/1670–1868): the Zagori village mountains formed league of important villages in Epirus governed by a council of elders, located in the modern-day
Zagori municipality of Greece.
Phanariote period in
Wallachia &
Moldavia (1560/1711–1822): autonomous principalities ruled by the
Phanariotes. Greeks had been established as rulers in Wallachia as early as the 16th century. From 1701-1822 AD, the country was controlled exclusively by Greek Phanariotes appointed by Constantinople.
Mani (1461 – 1833): sovereign region in the
Peloponnese. The first post-Byzantine lord of Mani is considered to be Michael Rallis, after his death in 1466
Krokodeilos Kladas succeeded him. From the 16th-18th centuries Mani was a heavily decentralised region ruled by local Orthodox Christian Captains. After 1776, the lordship of Mani was formally recognised by the Ottomans, and the local ruler was called a
bey. Mani was famous for being a Christian stronghold and a trustworthy ally for the
Holy League during their wars with the Ottoman Empire. By the late 1700s the Maniots controlled large swathes of land in the southern Peloponnese, and the area became a refuge for many Greeks who were fleeing from Albanian raiders in the aftermath of the
Orlov Revolt. During the late 1600s,
Limberakis Gerakaris was the most powerful Captain of Mani and was recognised as
Bey by the Ottomans, he was famous for his numerous slave raids on Ottoman and Venetian ships.
Tzanetos Grigorakis, who ruled Mani from 1782-1798 was famous for his attempts to centralise the region and his reign was romanticised by the poet
Nikitas Niphakos who stayed at his court. Mani was governed according to a mixture of local oral law and Orthodox Church canon law. The first region in which the
Greek Revolution began in 1821 was in Mani and it was orchestrated by
Petrobey Mavromichalis. After 1833, Mani was integrated into the
Kingdom of Greece.
State of Thessaloniki (1916–1917): short-lived
Venizelist Provisional Government established in
Macedonia amidst the
National Schism. It controlled northern Greece and the island of Crete. The rest of Greece was controlled by the government in Athens (State of Athens). Greece was reunited in 1917.
Imbros and
Tenedos: Aegean islands inhabited historically mainly by ethnic Greeks. Under Greek administration from 1912. Following the
Treaty of Lausanne in 1923, Gökçeada (Imbros) and Bozcaada (Tenedos) became part of Turkey, but were exempted from the
population exchange.[10]
^
abMcGing, B. C. (1986). The Foreign Policy of Mithridates VI Eupator, King of Pontus. BRILL. p. 11.
ISBN978-9004075917.
^
abFreely, John. Children of Achilles: The Greeks in Asia Minor Since the Days of Troy. pp. 69–70.
^Dueck, Daniela. Strabo of Amasia: A Greek Man of Letters in Augustan Rome. p. 3.
^Weiskopf, Michael (1990). "CAPPADOCIA".
Encyclopaedia Iranica. Vol. IV, Fasc. 7-8. pp. 780–786. (...) Hellenistic-era Iranian kingdom (...) But all in all, Cappadocia remained an Iranian kingdom, one which developed from an Achaemenid satrapy.
^McGing, Brian (1986). "Eupator in Asia before the first war with Rome". The Foreign Policy of Mithridates VI Eupator, King of Pontus. BRILL. p. 72.
ISBN978-9004075917. As in Pontus the ruling family was of Iranian descent.
^"Archived copy". Archived from
the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 22 February 2008. In May 1914, the Great Powers signed the Protocol of Corfu, which recognised the area as Greek.{{
cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
link)