Note 2 at Acts 20:2: In Paul's day, Greece and Achaia (see note 11 at Acts 18:12, p. ???) referred to the same geographical area.

The history of Greece establishes it as one of the world's ancient civilizations being mentioned in Biblical history under the name Javan in Gen. 10:4. However, myth and history is so mixed that definitive statements about Greece from written records can only be made from the time of the first Olympiad in 776 B.C..

From 776 B.C. to 500 B.C., Greece was united by a common language, sports, and literature, but the major cities maintained independence from each other with sometimes bloody rivalry. However, during this period, the Greek culture was developing which would forever change the world.

Different city states of Greece, as they were called, gained leadership of the whole country and expanded it's borders through conquest (see note 1 on Athens at Acts 17:15, p. ???). Philip of Macedonia (see note 1 at Acts 16:9, p. 667) conquered Greece in 359 B.C. and under Philip's son, Alexander the Great, Greece, as part of the Macedonian empire reached it's greatest extent, conquering the Persian Empire and reaching all the way to India.

Greece was brought under Roman influence around 200 B.C., but because of it's rebellion, Rome conquered it making it an official part of the Roman Empire. However, it's cultural influence continued to prevail with Greek being the common language of the New Testament days (see note 1 on Corinth at Acts 18:1, p. ???).