Bars are a significant part of social culture all around the world, and they play a particularly significant role in American history, from the Revolutionary War to Stonewall.

Like a lot of things in modern Western society, bars owe their existence to the Ancient Greeks. They were known as kapeleia and were frequented most by the working classes.

Beer typically wasn't served there since it was considered the libation of barbarian cultures, but there was plenty of wine, stored in large casks known as amphorae.

Wine was significantly watered down in those days. Archaeologists were actually able to trace the locations of bars in Greece by triangulating the locations of ancient wells.

There isn’t much historical research on what bars were like, however, due to historical perceptions of the Greeks as civilized, while bars are thought of as quite the opposite.

We do know more about Roman taverns than we do the Greek ones, because (whether it’s true or not) the Romans were considered far more hedonistic.

Considering the modern-day importance of taverns, bars, and pubs to countries like Ireland, France, Italy, and the U.K., European drinkers owe a lot to these ancient civilizations.