The Mycenaeans

Crete was covered with dust and ash. Crops had failed. The Minoans had been a great nation—but now they were just ragged people trying to find enough food to stay alive.

Slowly, the ash and rock began to wash away from the fields and streams.

Soon, strangers landed on the shores of Crete. They were the Mycenaeans, and they came from the city of Mycenae, in Greece. Greece is the land just north of Crete; it juts out into the Mediterranean Sea like a set of fingers, surrounded by small islands.

The Mycenaeans knew that Crete was now weak. They knew that they could conquer the island easily. And they wanted to own Crete for themselves. So they took over the whole island of Crete and settled there.

Now the Mycenaeans owned both their own city and the island of Crete. They learned how to build ships from the Minoans who were left in Crete. They used these ships to sail to other islands. On each island, the Mycenaeans built a city called a colony. All of these cities were controlled by the Mycenaean king and his army. Soon the Mycenaeans had colonies all around the Aegean Sea.

The Mycenaeans weren’t the only people who lived in Greece. Other Greeks lived in the cities of Thebes and Athens. But the Mycenaeans had stronger weapons than the other Greeks. They made spear-tips and sword-blades from bronze. They learned how to use shields to protect themselves during battles. And they hammered out helmets from bronze, and lined them with fur and cloth to protect their heads from enemy swords.

The Mycenaeans were also the first Greeks to use horses in battle. Before this, soldiers had always fought on foot. But the Mycenaeans began to hitch horses to war-chariots. They drove these chariots into battle. Enemy soldiers ran when they saw the warhorses and chariots charging straight at them!

With their armor, bronze weapons, and chariots, the Mycenaeans dominated the Aegean Sea and the islands in it. They were the first great Greek civilization.