Whenever we look at certain periods of Roman/Greek or other ancient history of Europe, we get this sense that it was a thriving time, culturally.
In contrast, Medieval Europe was constantly riddled in war and it was stuck that way for hundreds of years.
Feudal societies seem to warmonger a lot, but they could also thrive culturally (Japan comes to mind).
Whenever we look at certain periods of Roman/Greek or other ancient history of Europe, we get this sense that it was a thriving time, culturally.
The Roman Empire had this period known as the "Crisis of the Third Century", with invasions and civil wars. It was followed by a brief period of relative quiet, before in the latter half of the fourth century again being subject to invasions and civil wars. This continued in the early fifth century, with Rome being sacked in 410 and 'barbarians' settling in and chipping away at the Western Roman Empire until it finally "fell" later in the fifth century.
If you've been keeping track, that's 250 years of chaos, death, and destruction. The Middle Ages were a breeze compared to that. ^[These ^previous ^two ^sentences ^should ^not ^be ^taken ^too ^literally.]
Please do check out the FAQ linked by /u/400-Rabbits, it will help clear up any misconceptions you may have regarding this time period.
You may be interested in our FAQ section on "The 'Dark Ages'."