The article defines the role of the system of sea transport routes for the development of ancient Greek civilization. The versions of modern scientists regarding the time of use of the oldest sea vessels were studied, which necessitates the revision of the temporal systematization of the evolution of mankind. Considered reasonable grounds for considering Ancient Greece as a maritime civilization. The stages of development and important achievements of the ancient Greeks in the field of transport are determined. The role of trade, the creation of a system of maritime trade routes for the improvement of vehicles and technologies, as well as the conditionality of the development of scientific knowledge in connection with the expansion of human activity are clarified.

The processes of borrowing various types of vehicles by the Greeks, their further improvement in the process of transportation development, and the spread of practical experience in transportation technologies among the surrounding peoples in the Mediterranean area are defined. The role of the Greeks in the transformation processes of the system of sea trade routes, and with it the development of scientific knowledge in general, the initiation and separation of the first sciences in the ancient world (3rd millennium BC – mid-1st century BC) is established.

The conditioning of the ancient Greeks' accumulation of practical experience in seafaring, expansion of practical knowledge about the nature of the lands – neighbors of the Mediterranean Sea in connection with the constant search for new possible transport routes is determined. The significance of the Greeks' accumulation of planetary observations and practical knowledge related to the life activities of other peoples of the ancient world is revealed. It has been established that theoretical descriptions of the construction of the universe, the development of a large stock of experimental knowledge laid the foundation for the development of science in Ancient Greece, the organizational design of various scientific and practical centers and educational and experimental schools in the Hellenistic period (the second half of the 4th – the middle of the 1st century BC).

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