When historians talk of Classical Europe, they mean the Europe of ancient Greece and Rome. Much of Western civilization grew out of the achievements of Classical Greece, which has been called the "cradle of democracy" because of its tradition of rule by the people. Athens, a democratic city-state in Greece, was home to the great philosophers Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Phillip II and Alexander the Great conquered a huge empire—which included Greece—in the 300s B.C., that lasted until about 200 B.C.

Rome was settled sometime around 1000 B.C. and evolved into a major city-state that dominated much of the Italian Peninsula. It started as a monarchy, but changed to a republic. Later, a series of wars transformed the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. Under Rome's first emperor, Caesar Augustus, Rome entered a period of peace and prosperity called the Pax Romana. Eventually Rome weakened and was invaded by neighboring Germanic peoples.

With the disappearance of the Roman Empire, a new age called the Middle Ages began. During this time Christianity in the form of the Roman Catholic Church became a political power in western Europe. Early Church leaders, or popes, sent missionaries to every part of Europe to spread the faith. The Church also sponsored a series of holy wars called Crusades. The Medieval political and social system—feudalism—was based on agriculture.

The rise of education, the growth of cities and trade, and the gradual breakup of feudalism led to the end of the Middle Ages. The emerging pre-modern period began with the Renaissance, a time of great achievement in art and learning that began in Italy in the 1300s and spread throughout Europe. Many of the new ideas that arose during the Renaissance led to questions about religion, and resulted in the Protestant Reformation. By the mid-1400s, Europeans had begun to embark on voyages of discovery and exploration to "new" parts of the world. The 1700s were an age of revolution. In America, the colonies fought for independence from their European mother countries, while in Europe, the people fought for freedom from their kings, queens, and nobles.