Persian Empire, Phoenician trading empire.
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around A.D. 500
In ancient times, the height of Greek civilization occurred during the period between 500 and 350 B.C.E. At this time, Athens, among other Greek city-states, made remarkable advances in art, science, politics, philosophy, and other areas of human thought and life.
As you might imagine, there isn't an exact definition, but generally Ancient History is taken to be from the start of written history - around 5,500 BCE, until the early middle-ages (or Late Antiquity) - around 400 - 500CE.
I would define it as the type of civilization developed by the Greeks and later practiced by the Romans, in the Mediterranean area, from circa 500 BC to circa 500 AD. Art, architecture, literature, science, and the concept of self-government flourished with Greco-Roman civilization. It had some advantages over the civilizations that preceded it, and some advantages over the civilizations that followed it.
Ancient Greek civilization had a long and illustrious history. Historical and archaeological records indicate that the civilization had its earliest beginnings in the Neolithic Age (6000 B.C.E. and later), although it wasn't until 500 B.C.E. that what we now know as "Classical Greece" took shape. It is customary to mark the end of Ancient Greece in the middle of the 2nd century (B.C.E), when Rome conquered the last remaining centers of resistance among the Greek societies.