The main city of a loose confederation of grecian kingdoms. According to legend, the high seat of Agamemnon, the blood-thirsty king who led the Greek army against Troy.

In the second millennium BC, Mycenae was one of the major centres of Greek civilization, a military stronghold which dominated much of southern Greece. The period of Greek history from about 1600 BC to about 1100 BC is called Mycenaean in reference to Mycenae. At its height in 1350 BC, the citadel and lower town had a population of 30,000 and an area of 32 hectares.

Information provided by: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycenae

While the term Mycenaean has come to cover the culture of the “Greek” peoples throughout the Late Bronze Age, Mycenae itself was only one kingdom of many Greek centers.  If Homer is to be trusted, these kingdoms shared similarities, but not necessarily a tight bond of loyalty.  They were not an Empire the way that the Egyptians, Assyrians, or Hittites ever were.

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