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Two major empires began in modern-day [[Greece]]. In the late 5th century BCE, several Greek [[city states]] checked the Achaemenid Persian advance in Europe through the [[Greco-Persian Wars]]. These wars were followed by the [[Fifth-century Athens|Golden Age of Athens]], the seminal period of ancient Greece that laid many of the foundations of [[Western civilization]], including the [[Theatre of ancient Greece|first theatrical performances]].<ref>{{multiref|{{harvnb|Strauss|2005|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=nQFtMcD5dOsC 1–11]}}|{{harvnb|Dynneson|2008|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=9fk4lGzmhiwC&pg=PA54 54]}}|{{harvnb|Goldhill|1997|p=54}}}}</ref> The wars led to the creation of the [[Delian League]], founded in 477 BCE,<ref>{{harvnb|Martin|2000|pp=[https://archive.org/details/ancientgreecefro00mart_1 106–107]}}</ref> and eventually the [[Athenian Empire]] (454–404 BCE), which was defeated by a Spartan-led coalition during the [[Peloponnesian War]].<ref>{{harvnb|Benjamin|2015|p=353}}</ref> [[Philip of Macedon]] unified the Greek city-states into the [[League of Corinth|Hellenic League]] and his son Alexander the Great (356–323 BCE) founded an empire extending from present-day Greece to India.<ref>{{multiref|{{harvnb|Tignor et al.|2014|p=203}}|{{harvnb|Burstein|2017|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=lwFLDgAAQBAJ 57–58]}}}}</ref> The empire divided into several [[Diadochi|successor states]] shortly after his death, resulting in the founding of many cities and the spread of Greek culture throughout conquered regions, a process referred to as [[Hellenization]].<ref>{{harvnb|Benjamin|2015|pp=283–284}}</ref> The [[Hellenistic period]] lasted from the death of Alexander in 323 BCE to 31 BCE when [[Ptolemaic Egypt]] fell to Rome.<ref>{{harvnb|Hemingway|Hemingway|2007}}</ref>
In Europe, the [[Roman Republic]] was founded in the 6th century BCE<ref>{{harvnb|Benjamin|2015|pp=337–338}}</ref> and began expanding its territory in the 3rd century BCE.<ref>{{harvnb|Kelly|2007|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=eUgSDAAAQBAJ 4–6]}}</ref> Priorly, the [[Carthaginian Empire]] had dominated the Mediterranean, however lost [[Punic Wars|three successive wars]] to the Romans. The Republic became [[Roman Empire|an empire]] and by the time of [[Augustus]] (63 BCE–14 CE), it had established dominion over most of the Mediterranean Sea.<ref>{{harvnb|Bulliet et al.|2015a|pp=149, 152–153}}</ref> The empire continued to grow and reached its peak under [[Trajan]] (53–117 CE), controlling much of the land from England to Mesopotamia.<ref>{{harvnb|Beard|2015|p=[http://archive.org/details/spqrhistoryofanc0000bear_v4f6 483]}}</ref> The two centuries that followed are known as the ''[[Pax Romana]]'', a period of unprecedented peace, prosperity, and political stability in most of Europe.<ref>{{harvnb|McEvedy|1961}}</ref> Christianity was [[Constantine the Great and Christianity|legalized]] by [[Constantine I]] in 313 CE after three centuries of [[Persecution of early Christians in the Roman Empire|imperial persecution]]. It became the sole official religion of the empire in 380 CE while the emperor [[Theodosius I|Theodosius]] outlawed pagan religions in 391–392 CE.<ref>{{harvnb|Williams|Friell|2005|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=I8KRAgAAQBAJ 105]}}</ref>
In South Asia, [[Chandragupta Maurya]] founded the [[Maurya Empire]] (320–185 BCE), which flourished under [[Ashoka|Ashoka the Great]].<ref>{{multiref|{{harvnb|Kulke|Rothermund|1990|pp=[https://archive.org/details/historyofindia0000kulk/page/60/mode/2up 61, 71]|ps=, "At any rate Chandragupta seems to have usurped the throne of Magadha in 320 BC...the last ruler of the Maurya dynasty, Brihadratha, was assassinated by his general, Pushyamitra Shunga, during a parade of his troops in the year 185 BC."}}|{{harvnb|Benjamin|2015|pp=488–489}}}}</ref> From the 4th to 6th centuries CE, the [[Gupta Empire]] oversaw the period referred to as ancient India's golden age.<ref>{{harvnb|Benjamin|2015|pp=502–505}}</ref> The resulting stability helped usher in a flourishing period for Hindu and Buddhist culture in the 4th and 5th centuries, as well as major advances in science and mathematics.<ref>{{harvnb|Benjamin|2015|pp=503–505}}</ref> In [[South India]], three prominent [[Dravidian peoples|Dravidian]] kingdoms emerged: the [[Chera dynasty|Cheras]], [[Chola dynasty|Cholas]], and [[Pandya dynasty|Pandyas]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bulliet et al.|2015a|p=187}}</ref>
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