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 Why Athens was great

Athens was the largest city in Greece, and controlled a region called Attica. Between the many mountains were fertile
valleys, with many farms. Athens became rich because Attica also had valuable sources of silver, lead and marble. Athens
also had the biggest navy in Greece.

Athens was a beautiful and busy city. People came to the city from all over Greece, and from other countries, to study and
to trade. The city's most famous building was the temple called the Parthenon. It stood on a rocky hill called the Acropolis.
Inside the Parthenon stood a statue of the city's protector-goddess Athena.

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 People power
In the early 500s BC a new way of government was invented in Athens. It was "democracy" or "'rule by the people". Not
everyone had a vote though. Only a male citizen had a say in how the city was run. There were about 30,000 citizens. The
ruling Council had 500 members, all men, and chosen for a year at a time. Women could not be citizens, nor could slavesor
foreigners.

The citizens met to vote on new laws put forward by the Council. Usually around 5,000 citizens met, every 10 days or so on
a hill called the Pnyx. In Athens, you can still see the stones of this historic meeting place.

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 Guilty or not guilty?

Athens had law courts with trial byjury. Juries were larger than the ones we have today - 500 citizens normally, but
sometimes more. There were no lawyers, so people spoke in their own defence. After listening to the evidence, jurors
voted by placing metal discs into one of two jars - one for guilty, one for not guilty. Punishments included the death penalty.
Speeches were timed by a water-clock, as shown in the pictures.

Citizens also voted to get rid ofpoliticians they did not like. They wrote the name of the person they hated on a piece of
broken pottery, called an ostrakon. Any politician who got more than 600 votes was banished from the city of 10 years.

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 Slaves
Of the 250,000 to 300,000 people inAthens (at its biggest), between a quarter and a third of them wereslaves. Some slaves
were captured in wars. Others were born slaves. Some people were forced into slavery when they could not afford to pay
money they owed. Some slaves were owned by the state, like slave-archers fromScythia, who were used as "police" by the
Athens government.

A few slaves had special skills, such as nurses, teachers, or pottery painters. Most slaves did the hardest and most
unpleasant jobs. A lucky slave might save enough money to buy his freedom.

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 Life in Athens
Athens had yearly festivals for athletics, drama and religious occasions. The city taxes paid some of the cost, but
rich citizens had to pay extra. Important people in Athens were the strategoi, who were ten generals chosen from each of
the ten "tribes" of citizens. There were also nine archons. Their jobs were mostly ceremonial, to do with festivals and family
matters. One of the archons had to organize the Dionysia Festival, for the god Dionysos, every year. It was a time for fun,
wine-drinking, parties and plays.
Every man aged 20 to 50 or more could be "called up" for military service. A rich man might have to serve as captain of a
warship for a year. He paid the crew and made repairs.
The founding fathers of western culture

Athens has a unique place in human history. As the people who pioneer the
arts of history, philosophy and theatre, who attempt the first radical version
of democracy, and who achieve a degree of perfection in architecture,
sculpture and pottery, the Athenians have rightly acquired an almost
legendary status.   

They surface relatively late in the story of Greece. No character from Athens
plays a significant role in Homer. It is not until the late 7th century that
Athens is firmly within the realm of recorded history. 

The surrounding region, known as Attica, has certain clear advantages. It is

perfectly placed within the Aegean to play a pivotal role in local affairs. Its
plains provide a larger space, uninterrupted by mountains, than any valley in
thePeloponnese, the older centre of Greek civilization. Political union, if it
can be achieved and maintained, will enable Athens to become a larger and
more populous city-state than any other in Greece.   

Even an apparent misfortune can be turned to advantage. The soil of Attica

is poor, suitable mainly for olives and vines. The need to import grain
encourages the Athenians to develop two of their most significant skills -
seafaring and trade. 

In prehistory Athens has been a provincial Mycenaean kingdom. But unlike

the fortresses of the Peloponnese, Athens is not overrun by Dorian
invaders. It becomes a centre for Greeks who speak Ionic, as the Athenians
do, as opposed to the Doric dialect of the invaders. 
 
By the time of the first unmistakably historical events in Attica, in the late
7th century BC, the region has passed through stages of social development
common in most parts of Greece. Monarchy has given way, in effect if not in
name, to rule by a hereditary land-owning aristocracy. 

Oligarchs, tyrants and democrats: 7th - 6th century BC

The nobles of Attica, known by an appropriate term (eupatridae, well-

fathered), keep power in their own hands through membership of the
Areopagus - a council which takes its name from the hill in Athens on which
it meets. The council chooses annually seven members of the nobility to
serve as 'archons'. These magistrates conduct the business of both
government and law. Once appointed archon they become members of the  
Areopagus for life, thus keeping the circle safely closed. 

There is also a broader assembly, the ecclesia, in which the richer middle-

class citizens of Athens have a right to take part. But the nobles of the
Areopagus allow it only a minor role. 

By the late 7th century the situation in Attica seems ripe for the  
replacement of aristocratic rule by that of a single strong man, or tyrant - a
development familiar in many other Greek states at the time. 

Not only do the aristocratic families of Attica hold nearly all political power.
They also own most of the land. Meanwhile the free smallholders are falling
increasingly into debt. If anyone's land is mortgaged, a pillar is placed
conspicuously upon it. The farmer must then pay a sixth of all his produce to
his creditor. If he defaults on his payments he can beenslaved. 

From about 630 BC there are attempts by would-be tyrants to seize power
in Athens. But the first strong ruler emerges by due process of law. He
proves himself a reformer with democratic sympathies. 

Solon, elected archon in 594 BC, is given by the Areopagus the specific task  
of reconciling the opposed factions within Athenian society. His first
legislation deals with the impoverished peasants. He boldly removes the
pillars from their land (thereby cancelling their debts), and at the same time
makes it illegal for anyone to be enslaved by a creditor.

Having eased the burden of the poor, Solon attempts to open up the
political structures of Athens. He makes membership of the Areopagus
dependent on wealth rather than birth. At the same time he enlarges the
role of theecclesia. He declares every Athenian citizen, however poor, to be
a member (thus laying the foundation for Athens'democracy), and he gives
the ecclesia a voice in the election of archons. It is possible that Solon even  
establishes a new council, the boule, which later becomes an important part
of Athenian political life. 

Solon's reforms point clearly to the future. But they prove inadequate to
deflect the ambitions of tyrants in the shorter term. 

In 560 a popular general, Peisistratus, seizes power in Athens. He loses and

regains control more than once, but from 546 he is securely established. He
rules as a benevolent dictator, reserving the office of archon for himself and
his immediate clan. Athens enjoys an unprecedented period of prosperity.
Attica is united. Trade develops in a period of prolonged peace. Impressive
public buildings are constructed in Athens, including the first Parthenon on  
the acropolis. 

On his death, in 527, Peisistratus is even succeeded peacefully by his son,

Hippias. But Hippias is toppled in 510 when the nobles of Attica, eager to get
power back into their own hands, enlist the help of Sparta. 

Athens and Sparta: 508 - 478 BC

The intervention of the Spartans only serves to hasten the progress of  

Athens towards democracy. In 508 power is won with popular support by
an aristocrat, Cleisthenes, who undermines the power of his own class by a
major reorganization of the political structure (see the Ten tribes of
Cleisthenes). 

He allows all citizens, regardless of wealth, a voice at local level where

the demos (effectively the town or village) becomes the heart of political
life. He gives an increased role to the ecclesia, which every citizen can attend
as a participating member. These reforms establish the principle of
democracy in Athens. It seems a good omen that when the aristocratic
Spartans return, in 506, they are soundly defeated in battle by the Athenian
democrats. 

In 480 the threat from Persia brings Sparta and Athens together, with most
of the other city-states of mainland Greece, in a rare show of unity. During
the Greco-Persian wars the leading position of Sparta is acknowledged by
all. 

By the time the Persians withdraw at the end of 480, soundly defeated,  
Sparta's military reputation has been enhanced at Thermopylae and Plataea.
The Athenians, by contrast, have lost their city, laid waste by the Persians.
Yet on balance it is the Athenians who emerge stronger. The navy which
routs the enemy at Salamis is largely theirs. And it is becoming evident that
control of the Aegean Sea is the best defence against Persia. 

The Delian League: from 478 BC

A shift in the balance of power between Athens and Sparta is emphasized in

478, when representatives of Athens and other Aegean states meet on the
island of Delos to form a coalition, subsequently known as the Delian
League. Members will subscribe to a common fleet, either by contributing
ships and crews or in a minority of cases by a tribute of money. One of the
 
aims is to liberate the Greek territories held by Persia on the east coast of
the Aegean. 

Sparta is not interested in membership, having little in the way of a fleet. So

Athens is unmistakably the leader of this new Greek alliance. 

In its early years the Delian League grows in strength, achieving several
significant victories against Persia. This in itself is alarming to Sparta. Even
more so is the way Athens begins to treat the League as an Athenian
empire, with its fleet at the automatic disposal of Athens. 
 
The behaviour of Athens towards its supposedly equal allies is soon that of
an imperial bully. States which attempt to bow out of the league are forcibly
retained. Annual subscriptions are demanded instead of ships. Most
significant of all, in about 454 the accumulated funds of the League are
transferred from Delos to Athens. 

To make matters even more alarming for Sparta, Athens is now once again a
strongly walled city. After the Persian destruction of the city, in 480,
Themistocles makes a priority of building new walls - against strong protests
from Sparta.   

Sparta herself has no city walls. In the supposed interests of peace, the
Spartans now argue that all Greek cities should dismantle their walls. 

Athens goes to the other extreme. In addition to building new city walls, the  
Athenians join their city for the first time to the harbour at Piraeus, 5 miles
(8km) to the southwest. The famous Long Walls from the city to the coast
are begun in 461 and are largely completed by 457. 
With the most powerful navy in Greece, and a fortified seaside zone around
their capital extending to several square miles, the Athenians are
unmistakably presenting themselves as the dominant power of the region. 

Build-up to the First Peloponnesian War: 478-460 BC

Sparta is having difficulty in retaining the loyalty of the members of its own
Peloponnesian League, several of whom adopt democratic governments
hostile in principle to the Spartan oligarchy. 

Sparta's troubles are compounded by a devastating earthquake in 464.  

Indirectly it brings to a head the simmering hostilities between Sparta and
Athens. 

The earthquake destroys much of the city of Sparta and kills many
Spartiates - the Greek term for Sparta's warrior citizens. The helots seize the
opportunity to rise in revolt. The Spartans manage to contain the rebels in
the region of Mount Ithome, in Messenia, but they lack the strength to
 
defeat them. They appeal to their allies for help. 

Athens, at this stage technically an ally of Sparta, is among the city-states

which send an army. 

Instead of welcoming this Athenian support, the Spartans send the soldiers
back to Athens without involving them in the campaign. The precise reason
is not known, but is probably political. The decision follows the news that
Athens is in the process of introducing a more radical democracy, a
measure profoundly offensive to aristocratic Sparta. The episode is
interpreted as a snub by the Athenians, who are constitutionally inclined to  
distrust Sparta. 

Soon after this event Athens makes provocative alliances with two city-
states opposed to Sparta. Open hostility breaks out in 460, the year
commonly taken as the start of the First Peloponnesian War. 

Pericles and the heyday of Athens: 462-433 BC

The move towards a more radical form of democracy represents an early

success for the greatest statesman of 5th-century Athens - Pericles.
Although himself an aristocrat, he is determined to divert power more fully
from the oligarchic Areopagus to the Athenian citizens. 

While his main political opponent is away in Sparta with the army, Pericles  
uses a majority in the people's assembly to pass resolutions restricting
the Areopagus. Their legislative role is transferred to various bodies in
which all citizens have the right to vote and even to hold positions of
leadership, often assigned by lot. Athens is now firmly committed to one of
history's most thoroughgoing experiments in direct democracy. 
During the First Peloponnesian War, a spasmodic and protracted affair, the
personal authority of Pericles is steadily consolidated through his influence
in the Athenian assembly. He is the official entrusted in 461 with
constructing the Long Walls from Athens to the Piraeus - an important task
which he completes by 457.   

His power is immeasurably increased in 454, when he is put in charge of the

funds of the Delian League. This rich haul of treasure, largely captured in
warfare, is transferred in this year to Athens, to be kept on the acropolis. 

In 446 Pericles negotiates a Thirty Year Treaty with Sparta - an astonishing

achievement, since it closely follows an alarming invasion of Attica by a
Peloponnesian army under the command of the Spartan king. 
 
Mysteriously the army turns back at the last moment (it is immediately
rumoured that Pericles has bribed the king, and in Sparta the king is tried
and fined on this charge). The treaty is a pact of non-aggression based on
the present status quo. 

The treaty provides Athens with a breathing space and some dazzling
opportunities. The city has an inspired leader in Pericles, and the voters
know his worth (from 443 the assembly selects him as the leading general
for fifteen years in succession). Athens has great wealth as a trading nation,
as an imperial power, and now as the holder of the funds of the Delian
League. The citizens include brilliant playwrights,sculptors, architects. But  
the sacred centre of Athens, theacropolis, is in urgent need of rebuilding
after the visit of the Persians. 

The result, in the interim before the next outbreak of war, is the
extraordinary period often referred to as the Age of Pericles. 

Empire and the return of war: 445-431 BC

The Athenian empire is consolidated and extended by Pericles in a forceful

manner. Uncooperative behaviour from allies usually leads to the arrival on
their soil of an Athenian garrison. In strategic areas colonies of a new kind
are established; known as cleruchies, they have a direct political link with
Athens because the colonists remain Athenian citizens (a privilege they will
 
not give up lightly). An extensive trading network, backed up by force, gives
Athens control over the whole of the Aegean and the Black Sea. 

But in 433 Pericles overreaches himself, in a move which leads to a breach of

his own Thirty Years Treaty. 

The large island of Corcyra (Corfu, off the northwest coast of Greece) is in
origin a colony of Corinth. But it is now a powerful state in its own right, and
in 433 BC it is at war with Corinth. The Corcyrans turn for help to the only
Greek fleet which can match that of Corinth. They appeal to Athens. 
 
The first response of the Athenian assembly is caution. But an ally in the
western sea, close to the heel of Italy, is an attractive proposition. Pericles
persuades the assembly to send thirty triremes for defensive purposes only,
arguing that this will not breach the treaty. 
Events prove Pericles wrong. Hostilities escalate to the point where
Athenian ships are blockading an ally of Corinth (Megara) and threatening a
Corinthian colony (Potidaea). In 432 the Spartans decide that Athens is
guilty of aggression. They send an envoy demanding withdrawal of the
Athenian ships. 
 
Pericles again is among the hawks. He persuades the assembly to reply that
Athens will never bow to an ultimatum from Sparta, but will agree to
independent arbritration. Diplomatic stalemate ends in 431 when Thebes, an
ally of Sparta, suddenly attacks Plataea, an ally of Athens. The Second
Peloponnesian War, often known simply as the Peloponnesian War, has
started. 

Disaster and recovery: 404-338 BC

The outcome of the war, nearly thirty years later, is a disaster for Athens.
Defeated on both land and sea by Sparta and her allies, the Athenians suffer
the indignity of having their famous Long Walls to the Pyraeus
systematically demolished. Even so, the damage is less than has been
normal for losing states in Greek wars. The high prestige of Athens saves
the city itself from destruction and the Athenians from enslavement.   

As a result the cultural and intellectual life of Athens continues

undiminished. Socrates is still alive at the end of the war. Plato is in his
twenties. Aristotle, a future pupil in Plato's academy at Athens, is as yet
unborn. By his time there is even a recovery in Athens' political status. 

Sparta, from 404 BC, has the opportunity and the strength to impose some
sort of unity on Greece, but her hidebound social structure is ill-equipped to
provide the necessary leadership. 

Instead Athens recovers sufficient prestige to put together, in 377, a revised

version of the Delian League. This alliance proves strong enough to defeat  
the Spartan navy off Naxos in 376. A few years later the Spartan army
receives a terminal blow when overwhelmed by a smaller number of
Thebans, thanks to the revolutionary tactics of Epaminondas, at Leuctra in
371. In 369 Epaminondas liberates Messenia, the neighbouring territory long
exploited by the Spartans and the basis of much of Sparta's strength. 

The emergence of Macedonia: 356-338 BC

By the mid-century, with the military reputation of Sparta tarnished, Athens

is again perceived as the leading Greek city-state. 

But the Athenians are slow to respond to a new threat - the remorseless but
diplomatically skilful pressure from the north of Philip II of Macedon. From
about 349 the great orator Demosthenes urges his fellow citizens to make a  
stand against Philip (his series of speeches on the theme become known to
history as the Philippics), and in 338 they finally do so. But a joint army from
Thebes and Athens is convincingly defeated in that year by Philip at
Chaeronaea. Demosthenes delivers the funeral oration for the Athenians
who have died in the battle. 
The long decline: from the 1st century BC

From now on, until relatively modern times, Athens will always exist under the shadow of an alien empire.
Unsucessful rebellions against Macedonia, from as early as 323, incline the Athenians a century later to support
an imperial rival of Macedonia - Rome. 

The city receives many favours from Rome, until an unwise act of rebellion in 86 BC leads to Athens being  
besieged and looted by a Roman army led by Sulla. 

Greece languishes under Roman rule. The Roman example may civilize the more primitive western empire. But
Greek civilization loses its vitality in a provincial setting, even though the influence of Greek culture is now