During the palatial period there was a significant increase in the living standards of the Mycenaeans. The strengthening of certain rulers led to the kingship and, along with other various factors, to the creation of palaces, which were the economic and administrative centres characterized by feudal elements but mainly by a bureaucratic organization. Cyclopean walls assured protection and power. Greece was divided into hegemonies, each palace controlling apparently a large area. There was no subordination of the different regions to one powerful king. The ‘Catalogue of ships’ in the Iliad somehow reflects the topography of Mycenaean Greece. Commercial activities and seafaring developed significantly, taking advantage of neighbouring peaceful conditions. A network of contacts and interactions was created between areas previously closed to each other, like the Hittite kingdom. Cyprus, Egypt, the Near East and by the end of the period also with Italy, from where new weapons and burial customs arrived.