Early Western Civilization:

The Greeks;

Alexander the Great united Greece and made it a powerful empire.

Sadly, all good things have to come to an end and the same was true of Egypt.  After years of despots, drought, and war the Egyptian culture and technologies were lost and the great African empire fell.  New to the stage of power was a group of Islands and surrounding mainland in the Mediterranean Sea.  This area was controlled by city-states, each with their own unique customs and ideas, but together they formed the civilization of Greece.  Under powerful, democratic rule the people flourished and developed trade routes, skilled warriors, and profound knowledge.

The Romans;      

The ruins of the Colosseum of Rome.

At the end of the Greek Empire, a small town in the West of Italy known as Rome was built on Greek ideals, cultures, and architectures. The city became a great trading center and soon expanded its borders until it had become a great empire, stretching from Britannia in the North, to Mesopotamia in the West,as far as Spain in the East and Egypt in the South.  The Roman Empire was the most powerful Empire in the world for almost 1,000 years.  Ruled by dictators, its vast army and advanced technology left such a mark that today's Western Civilizations are based on it.

The First Civilizations

The Fertile Crescent:

The Babylonian capitol, Babylon

My love of history began when my mom started to teach me ancient history.  She bought a series of books covering the history of the world,called The Story of the World by Susan Wise-Bauer, and so my schooling began.  The first thing she taught me was the history of the Fertile Crescent and the Tigris and Euphrates.  I learned how ancient people used the river's fertile land to plow fields and create agricultural and trading empires like Assyria and Babylonia.

Egypt:

Temple of Ramses II

Soon, however, my focus had turned to the West and the rich lands of the Nile.  The Ancient Egyptians were the most technologically advanced people of their time.  They created the great pyramids, the largest man made structures on the planet until the construction of the medieval cathedrals. With a rich cultural past and a complex social structure, Egypt was the ideal place of learning, knowledge, and power for hundreds of years.