The age of the classical city states, of which the most prominent were Athens and Sparta, reached its peak in the 5th century bc, after which Greece fell to Macedon and then became part of the Roman and Byzantine Empires. It was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1466 and remained under Turkish rule until the war of independence (1821–30), after which it became a kingdom. The monarchy was overthrown in a military coup in 1967; a civilian republic was established in 1974. Greece joined the EC in 1981