The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the history of Western civilization:
History of Western civilization – record of the development of human civilization beginning in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, and generally spreading westwards.
Ancient Greek science, philosophy, democracy, architecture, literature, and art provided a foundation embraced and built upon by the Roman Empire as it swept up Europe, including the Hellenic world in its conquests in the 1st century BC. From its European and Mediterranean origins, Western civilization has spread to produce the dominant cultures of modern North America, South America, and much of Oceania, and has had immense global influence in recent centuries.