Historically, Megara started out under the control of
Athens during the
Bronze Age. It held a couple of important
colonies (Chalcedon and
Byzantium) as well as the island of Salamis which was later taken over by Athens in 570 BC. It was also at Megara that the
Persian armies were stopped from their military conquests into the
Peloponnesian isthmus, and was constantly fought over during the
Peloponnesian War by the Athenians and the Spartans, as it is strategically located at the land crossing to the
Peloponnese.
When Megara turned against the
Delian League,
Pericles passed the Megarian Degree which forbade Megarians from
Attic markets and harbors (Attica being the general name for the southern peninsula of Greece containing
Athens,
Piraeus,
Marathon, &c). Many historians think this action helped start the
Peloponnesian War.
During the war, the Athenians invaded Megara's land holdings and often
blockaded the city from the sea, but never actually broke through the main city walls. For this reason Megara is one of the few states that was independent during the
war.
The land itself is not very
arable -- in fact just about the only natural resource the state has is its supply of
salt from the shores.
Isocrates said that the Megarians "farmed rocks." Megara was also the birthplace of
Theognis the
poet.