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The introduction speaks about polis. There were more than 1000 poleis, making polis the defining character of ancient Greek civilizations. Though each polis had their own independent way of life and political frameworks, Greeks identified with one another through the similarity in their culture and religious worships.

The second chapter talks about the polis of Cnossos in Crete. Near 2000 BCE(late Bronze Age), what is know as "palatial" Cnossos and its citi-fication was happening, its economy supporting about 14,000-18,000 people. Its economy consisted of agriculture(barley, wine, olive oil) and sea trade boosted by skilled craftsmen(tiny seals, semi-precious stones, and text-engraved gold rings). It was possibly the colonial founder of other cities such as Tylissus(Crete) and Argos(in Peloponnese). Later, these cities, including Cnossos itself, was overwhelmed by Mycenaean by 1450 BCE, and later again became Doric cities by a mix of immigration and colonization by Dorians.

Chapter 3 talks about Mycenae. Some of the archaeological findings such as a neatly-bearded death-mask datable c.1650 BCE tells us that Mycenae was a major city in the late Bronze Age. It was a palatial polis, but unlike Minoans of Cnossos, Mycenean palace was bellicose inferred by their 6 meters thick walls. Though Greek in language, Mycenaeans were in most other respects a provincial outpost of a Middle Eastern culture. This can be evidenced by the palace frescoes depicting court musicians and poets, which is unlike other Greek cities. From archaeological findings of their religion also shows that unlike public nature of many Greek temples, Mycenaeans were similar to that of modern day private chapels.

Chapter 4 talks about Argos. Argos are primarily Dorians who originated from northern mainland Greece close to Macedonia, traveling down the western Greek land to then cross the narrowest gap in the Corinthian sea by raft, to eventually settle in Argos and spread further out in the ancient Greek world. The emergence of Argos began around Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age, shortly after the height of Mycenae. It was an acropolis standing atop the steep peak of Larissa and were primarily known for their military might. Argive famous king Pheidon was involved closely in the development of military tactics involving shields.

Chapter 5 talks about Miletus. In the ancient Greece, taking words of Herodotus, Milesians were considered Greek by blood, as Greek identification first started with blood-relatedness. But in fact, many of Milesians had Middle Eastern blood mixed. Milesians were as wide spread as north west and south east of Black Sea. They were brought down by king Darius of Persia. Persian empire has a history of competition between the Northern Iranian Medes and Southern Iranian Persians. First, Medes was in ascendence, but later half Mede and half Persian Cyrus established what is to come to be the Persian Empire that we know of today, overthrowing the dominance of Medes.

Chapter 6 talks about Massalia. It is what is today Marseilles, France. The origin of "Provence" and heir of viticulture, Massalia became the key trading post of wine after ancient civilizations such as Chios and Thasos developed superior quality wine of the time already since first millenium BCE. Though Phoenicians from Lebanon and Etruscans from Tuscany passed by Massalia hundreds of years earlier before Greeks explorers, they rather made a more permanent settlement in Spain. But it's possible that they planted the first olive trees, which possibly became a major trading item of Massalia. Aegaean Greek explorers were looking to expand their metal and slave trades and farmlands. When Greeks settled first in Massalia, the natives were either friendly or didn't pose much threat. Government of Massalia was a merchant aristocracy, similar to that of medieval Italian city-states.

Chapter 7 talks about Sparta. They were more pious than other Greek cities and their code of laws relied heavily on superstitious oracular pronouncements of Apollo of Delphis. Also, like their militant life-style, they were known for their snappy repartee, today known as laconic. Sparta had an internal enemy Helots, who remained captive and production slaves after Sparta took over Messene. Messenians and Spartans were both Dorian Greeks, who retained self-consciousness as a once-free Greek people(hence Sparta's myth about their origin as heirs of Hercules who return to Peloponnese after an unjust exile). It's mostly due to Helots's first great revolt that Sparta's unique austere militant society developed after the reformer Lycurgus. Economical reform took place to distribute all lands to only Spartans with ownership of Helot slave families to cultivate their lands. Their lands were particularly favourable for olives, hence the culture of anointing themselves after males exercise in complete nude, which eventually give birth to Olympics and iconic Greek statues such as kouros, as a gesture of pride and distinction from Barbarians who they thought were ashamed to display their flabby body. Politico-military reform took place to allow all Spartans to participate in voting in a primary warrior-assembly, but it was done through shouting than ballots. Also core Senate was composed of 30 elderly statesmen + 2 kings. On average, Sparta trained and retained about 10x that of hoplites in ratio to their population than most other Greek cities. Ephor(Chilon was the most respected and famous of all Ephors) was a role of an overseer of Spartan military education for children aged 7-18. Few elite Kryptoi from 18-20, even went on a further testing stage to go wild away from the city to survive on their wits and a dagger and kill any Helots they encounter. Although Herodotus accredits Athens for defeating the Persian invasion eventually in 479 by winning the naval Battle of Salamis in 480, it was Spartans who contributed just as much if not more on land at Platea. Sparta, by defending the Greek world from Persian invasion, enabled the flowering of Greek classicism.

Chapter 8 talks about Athens. Athens started around 500 BCE and it was three parts, Attike, Akro-polis, and Piraeus. Parthenon served not only as a religious temple, but also as a central bank. Athens used to be Mycenaean, but was less devastated by the "Ionian migration". Draco is the first lawgiver, followed by even more essential lawgiver Solon, with whom proper Athens history begins. Athens' aid to 499 Ionian revolt triggered a wave of Persian invasions to the Greek world. Miltiades is also a known figure, a military strategist who masterminded what culminated to the Marathon victory in 490, essentially a hoplite victory contrary to a wide belief that it's a naval victory, though it's true that Athens was militarily strong at sea. After winning the first Persian invasion at Marathon, Athens had to immediately prepare for another invasion from Persia, efficiently commissioning 200 or more new trireme, which is the very fleet that won the battle of Salamis in 480. But after winning the battle at Platea in 479 heavily aided by Sparta, Sparta backed out and Athens had to form the Delian League. Eventually in 460-445, the "first" Peloponnesian War broke out between the two hegemonies of Greece, Sparta and Athens, followed by "the" Peloponnesian War in 431-404. It's true that ordinary people were empowered unlike ever before in Athens (the number of official citizens rose to 50,000 out of 250,000-300,000, about a fifth of the total population, compared to several hundreds or thousands of other cities). The number of citizens was rising so fast that Pericles had to make a law that restricts citizenship to only to sons who were born between two lawfully wedded Athenian citizen parents. For a bout 45 years from 460-415 was generally when Athens democracy bloomed. In 415, Alcibiades convinced Athens to the failed expedition of Syracuse, and then he defected to Sparta. Then as a reaction, oligarchy of 400 by Antiphon was erected in 411, practically putting an end to Athens democracy. After being defeated by Lysander of Sparta in 404, Athens never quite recovered, although democracy was restored in 403, as we can see from the tale of Socrates in 399. Socrates was tried and convicted of two charges, one for inventing his own god that Athens would never acknowledge, two for corrupting the young, meaning he taught them stamps of Alcibiades and Critias(led the murderous civil war led by oligarchy of 30 in 404). But even during the time after 399, Athens society was still prosperous and culturally rich to produce philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle.

Chapter 9 talks about Syracuse. Emigrants to Syracuse came from Corinthia, (a told from the myth) following the fast flowing clear water from western Peloponnese to Ortygia. In the 8th century BCE, younger (첫째가 아닌)Greek princes were encouraged to settle in Sicily. Contrary to Greek polis, cities of Sicily like Gela and Syracuse were often ruled by tyrants. There were two Sicilian emigrant populations, one Phoenician and one Greek. Phoenician Sicilians started the war of Himera out of the fear of Greek Sicilian expansion. Syracuse had a period ruled by the two tyrant brothers Gelon and Hieron. It was not democracy at first, but later imported it (presumably from Athens by Themistocles) and adopted democracy quickly, becoming even more democratic at times than Athens. Athens was depending on Sicilian exports of grain and timber. Athens tried to exercise more influence over Syracuse, but failed. After Athens, Carthage became a major threat to Syracuse. Dionysius I rose to power to defeat Carthage, but became a tyrant(405-367). Around this time, along with Athens and Syracuse, Greek world entered generally an era of dynasties, fading away from democracy.

Chapter 10 talks about Thebes. Thebes rose to power after Athens-Sparta conflict. Thebes more or less subordinated Boeotian cities like Eleutherae and Plataea and flourished for about 50 years between 386-335. Due to their proximity, Thebes and Athens were usually rivals. Thebes' relationship with Sparta shifted based circumstances. Eventually, Thebes defeated Sparta at the battle of Leuctra and liberated Helots. In order to prevent Sparta from growing again, Thebes established Messene and Megalopolis in Arcadia. Thebes also house-arrested Prince Philip of Macedon for 3 years to make sure Mecedon behaves. Ironically, King Philip learned a lot about diplomatic, fiscal, and military affairs during these 3 years and later grew Macedon to power, paving way for his son Alexander the Great.

Chapter 11 talks about Alexandria. Alexander the Great famously conquered the East of Macedon. Alexandria was kind of a new city he built right next to Rhacotis(in Greek). It was so different from existing Egyptian cities that it was considered to have been built 'by' Egypt rather than 'in' Egypt. At first, Egyptians welcomed Alexander as the enemy of enemy, Persia. But after some time, Alexander declared himself a Pharaoh at Memphis(the capital of Egypt before Alexandria). Ptolemy I was a general of Alexander and a childhood friend, who was appointed a governor of Egypt by Alexander and later became King of the region with Alexandria as the capital. Many intellectuals and talents were present at Alexandria such as Euclid, Eratosthenes, Archimedes, Callimachus, and Theocritus, but there is a criticism that many of them were stationed there as though caged birds. No doubt, Alexandria was the center of Hellenistic world. But it's questionable how Hellenistic the deep central Asia became, though there are some resemblances to be found in ancient sculptures. Seleucus I was a general of Alexander and founded Antioch in Syria and Seleucia on the Tigris. Later, Attalid dynasty based on old Aeolian Greek city of Pergamum, in today's Turkey. The word 'parchment' originates as "paper of Pergamum" from this city. Ptolemies fought Seleucids and Antigonids from Macedon also every now and then came down to show who's the boss. But eventually, Rome came to rise shortly after a defeat by Hannibal of Carthage, to include all Hellenistic world into its Greek speaking eastern half of the empire. After Caesar died, Antonius teamed up with Cleopatra to fight Octavius, who eventually became the first emperor of Rome. Claudius Ptolemaeus lived and wrote in Alexandria between CE 146 and 170 as a great astronomer and geographer. Hypatia was a notable female intellectual, a mathematician and astronomer. She was murdered by Christian mob under the order of Bishop Cyril for being a pagan.

Chapter 12 talks about Byzantion. It was founded in 688 or 657 by Megara first in two parts, one on the West(Istanbul) and another on the East(Calchadon or Chalcedon) of Bosporus split by the water. There was the famous boat bridge called Bosporus bridge designed by a Greek architect Mandrocles. For some of its time between its foundation and 499, we can assume that Byzantion had been subject to Persia, because we learn that Byzantion participated in the Ionian Revolt. It had for long been Sparta's liberation project therefore, as well as Athens competing against Sparta. It was an important trading post that managed and taxed the shipment, mainly wheat from the Black Sea. Ding dong over the dominance over Byzantion between Sparta and Athens went on for a while. For some period, Byzantion was a major node in the Athenians' imperial network, until Persia switched sides to back Sparta. But this also changed when the city eventually joins Athens Second Naval League to then defeat Sparta. In the early phase after defeating Sparta, Athens treated their allies with democratic means, but later, it changed. Chios after Byzantion revolted and raised war against Athens, eventually defeating Athens at a battle and breaking the league. Due to its geographically and economically strategical significance, Byzantion was sieged by Philip of Macedon by Heraeum Teichos(Hera's fortification walls). Philip then blocked grain exports to Athens, choking them to starvation during their war. After Macedon became the hegemony, Demosthenes lead rebellion against Macedon, but eventually after Alexander died, the hardline rulers(Alexander's generals) had enough of Athens' "people power" and crushed it, leaving democracy in the Greek world feeble thereafter.

Chapter 13 is an epilogue where we can more or less see the author's personal opinion by way of concluding the book. We can see the extent of ancient Greek culture and its influence in latter history such that Ottoman empire's Sultan Mehmet prided in speaking Greek and Süleyman spoke of 'cosmos', a thoroughly Greek term meaning 'orderliness'. And Süleyman's principal court architect Sinan was a Byzantine Greek by birth. But we can see Greek paganism was presided by the dogmatic Catholic Orthodox Monotheism. He gives two famous aphorisms to conclude the double sidedness of ancient Greece. "Know yourself" by Socrates can be interpreted as "you're not as smart as you think you are" under the divine rules. On the other hand "the unexamined life is for a human being not worth living" can be interpreted as "to question everything, even the divine". Such contest, but not competitiveness was a feature of ancient Greek democratic societies and cultures such as Athens and Syracuse. In sharp contrast to the Byzantine empire, Politics, in other words, deciding on the matter of public interest through open debate, was the essence of the Greek society, though there were flaws, such as lack of women's rights, lots of slaves, rarity of such radical democracy as Athens to give voting rights to poorer citizens, and many wars due to envy, rather than friendship, between cities.

The Appendix talks about Panhellenic sanctuaries. There is Olympic games at Olympus, also a similar games at Delphi, though instituted 200 after Olympus. Delphi sanctuary had more significance of war, colonization and victory, so each city tried to display their treasury as means to prove that they are favoured by Apollo. The Serpent Column was first erected with a cauldron on top of three snakes to commemorate the victory in Graeco-Persian war in 479, but it was removed to Istanbul during Byzantine era.

Generally, in Bronze Age, Minoa(Cretan) and Mycenaean were significant. Mycenae in alliance with other Greek cities like Ithaca, destroyed Troy. In early Iron Age, Greeks like Dorians, started migrating and colonizing the West. In Archaic Age, major cities like Sparta, Athens, Syracuse, Argos, Massalia, Miletus, to be known in Classical Age are founded. This is also the era when Olympic Games were founded and Homer and Hesiod wrote. The Classical Age can basically be summarized as Greeks revolting against Persia with Ionian Revolt, but then later fighting against each other, the main competition being between Sparta and Athens. First Sparta had hegemony, but Athens eventually wins with the help of Thebes in battle of Leuctra. Then Thebes falls under Philip of Macedon, leading its way to Alexander's opening of Hellenistic Age. After Alexander's generals rule over various parts of Hellenistic world, Roman Republic rises and eventually Roman Empire is founded by Augustus, the nephew of Caesar. Roman empire splits into two, giving its way to Byzantine empire of the Eastern Rome. Christianity grows much stronger, banning all pagan beliefs and practices of Greek era, at least on the surface.