Classical Greece was a 200-year period in Greek culture lasting from the 5th through

4th centuries BC.[1] This classical period saw the annexation of much of modern-day
Greece by the Persian Empire, its subsequent independence, and it also had a powerful
influence on the Roman Empire and greatly influenced the foundations of western
civilization. Much of modern Westernpolitics, artistic thought (architecture, sculpture),
scientific thought, theatre, literature, and philosophy derives from this period ofGreek
history. In the context of the art, architecture, and culture of Ancient Greece,
the Classical period, sometimes called theHellenic period, corresponds to most of the
5th and 4th centuries BC (the most common dates being the fall of the last Athenian
tyrant in 510 BC to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC). The Classical period in
this sense follows the Archaic period and is in turn succeeded by the Hellenistic period.