The rocky soil was bad for large-scale farming, but good for small farms and sheepherding. The land is broken into a lot of peninsulas and bays and islands, which encouraged fishing and seafaring.
The results of which were:
A. Shepherds looking at the sky at night and calculating the movement of the stars, causing a mathematical and scientific viewpoint.
B. Freeholders, which caused a idea of equality among the mass of the population.
C. Small, competitive city-states with a lot of intercommunication, which encouraged literacy and the idea of freeholders as citizens rather than as subjects.