Greece

Greece is a country in southern Europe, largely surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea. Greeks invented western civilization and inspired the Romans.

Its capital is Athens.

In recent times Greece has seen dictatorships and a generally poor quality of life. Persistent tensions with Turkey seem to continue to this day. The economy is in bad shape and Greece is in danger of defaulting on its debt. The European Union has bailed it out.

Ancient Greece fought successful wars against Persia and developed a unique "western way of war" according to Victor Davis Hanson. Constant skirmishing and low-level conflict was abandoned in favor of cataclysmic set-piece battles where the issue was decided between heavily armored hoplites. Of course then along came Alexander the Great who perverted the idea and turned the hoplites into a genocidal killing machine.

Greece was dominated by Macedon for a while then conquered by the Romans, and became an integral part of the Roman Empire and then the Byzantine Empire. Later it was conquered by the Ottoman Turks. Most of Greece achieved independence in the early 19th century, though Constantinople and the regions in Asia Minor remain within Turkey.