According to most scholars, Greek history really truly began on a small island called Crete, just off the mainland of Greece. Somewhere between 3650 BC and 3000 BC a highly sophisticated civilization called the Minoans sprang up. (Wikipedia) Known mainly for their palaces, the Minoans left mountains of records that have yet to be deciphered.
This highly unique civilization left no record of being a military state. However, the evidence does point to a society based on trade and bureaucracy, in fact, some historians believe that the Minoans ran the single most efficient bureaucracy in history. (Hooker) Although the prime of this civilization lasted for only about one thousand years, beginning in 2600 BC during the Bronze Age and ending in 1480 BC at the end of the New Palace Period, they were possibly the most successful mercantile civilization up to that point in world history. The primary item that the Minoans traded in was saffron, a food dye/spice, although they also tended to deal in more durable items of trade: ceramics, copper, and tin, and occasionally gold and silver. Eventually, as the Minoans grew more and more wealthy from their successful lives of trade, they started making their buildings more and more elaborate. Eventually these buildings turned into great palaces such as the Palace of Knossos where the Minotaur was supposedly kept. However, these palaces did not get there overnight. There were three palace periods, the first one, called the Protopalatial (Old Palace Period) ranged from 1900 BC to 1700 BC. This period ended when a great earthquake, possibly followed by a volcanic eruption leveled much of the island including the palaces. Undaunted, the population of Crete increased again, the palaces were rebuilt on a larger scale and new settlements were built all over the island. This period was called Neopalatial period and lasted from 1700 BC to1425 BC. Around 1425 another earthquake happened leveling every single palaces except for the royal...