human
I need help understanding the history of Greece.
assistant
The history of Greece is incredibly fascinating and dates back hundreds of thousands of years. Greece is considered one of the oldest civilizations in the world, with the first evidence of its existence stemming from the Neolithic Era in the 7th millennium BC. Throughout the centuries, Greece has seen periods of greatness, such as the rise of Ancient Greek culture and its influential impact on philosophy and literature, followed by periods of decline and eventually being conquered by the Romans around 146 BC. With the fall of the Roman Empire, Greece eventually came under the rule of the Byzantine Empire until the 15th century, when the Ottoman Empire began its occupation. Greece gained its independence from the Ottomans in the early 19th century and eventually came to be a country with its own democracy in the modern era. From World War I to the present day, Greece has seen many changes in its political and social landscape, creating a rich and complex history.