The ancient city on the site of modern Athens arose in the 15th century BC. It appeared as a result of the unification of several communities living in Attica. This region connects the Balkan Peninsula with the Peloponnese Peninsula. It was the center of Greece.
Ancient athens
The semi-legendary king Theseus, who lived around the 13th century BC, reformed the Athenian community. From this moment it was divided into several classes, including demiurges, geomorphs and eupatrides. The last of them were aristocrats with large plots of land. Because of this, over time, most of the free population of the city became dependent on these landowners. So in Athens slavery appeared.
In the city, in addition to free and slaves, there was a class of metecs. They were not slaves, but at the same time did not possess the rights that the aristocracy had. Athens was ruled by a council of nine archons, elected from among the richest and most influential citizens.
Reforms of Solon
Ancient Athens, whose geographical position was extremely advantageous, quickly grew rich against the background of its neighbors. This has led to an increase in the gap between rich and poor. The situation required reform. Their initiator at the beginning of the VI century BC was Archon Solon.
He belonged to an influential family. Nevertheless, he managed to advance due to his own talents. At first he was known as a poet. In adulthood, he became a military leader and led several successful warriors against neighbors, including the Megars.
In 594 BC e. he became an archon. Due to the state of emergency, Solon was given the broadest powers. Thanks to this, he carried out a number of reforms. The sale and purchase of people into slavery for their financial debts to borrowers was prohibited. Thanks to the resolution of wills, sprouts of private property and a new middle free estate appeared. In order for each citizen to pay a reasonable amount of taxes, the entire population of Athens was divided into four categories depending on the level of income. All these changes served as the foundation for the city to soon become the main political center of all of ancient Greece.
The Golden Age of Pericles
Another man who did much for the greatness of Athens was Pericles. He began to rule in 461 BC. e. Under him, a system of democracy was established. The state of Athens was the first in the world to adopt this form of government. Since then, all free residents have gained the right to participate in politics and vote for those leaders who they liked more.
Under Pericles, the development of Athens reached its maximum. The city was the center of ancient culture. Here lived the historian Herodotus, philosophers, sculptors and poets. The city underwent a radical restructuring. A magnificent acropolis and the Parthenon temple arose - masterpieces of ancient architecture. Among residents there was a high percentage of literate and able to read. From that moment on, Greek became dominant throughout the Mediterranean. Even after the fall of antique policies, it continued to be used in science, due to which a huge number of modern terms arose in a variety of disciplines. Speakers and rhetoric held public debates surrounded by a motley audience.
Athens, whose geographical position allowed the construction of ships, at that time became the center of maritime trade and colonization. From here, adventurers and adventurers set sail on the shores of Italy, North Africa and the Black Sea.
Rivalry with Sparta
In 431 BC e. ancient Athens was drawn into a war with its southern neighbor - Sparta. Pericles was still alive, and it was he who led the first successful stage of the conflict. However, suddenly a deadly epidemic began in the city, the famous king himself became a victim of it.
Later in historiography, the war will be called the Peloponnesian. Greek Athens led the Delos Union, which also included Samos, Chios and Lesbos. Sparta for many years tried to challenge with these cities. It was significantly different from democratic Athens. Here the military estate was at the head of the power, and all the inhabitants lived in barracks. Everyone knows the cruel orders of this policy, for example, the custom of throwing sick and unhealthy babies off a cliff. So it was a war not only of two political centers, but also of two systems of social structure.
The first period of this armed conflict was characterized by numerous Spartan raids on Attica, while Athens tried to defeat with the help of the fleet and sea superiority. In the second half of the war, everything turned upside down. Sparta enlisted the support of foreigners from the Persians and was able to build a fleet. With its help, all Athenian allies were first defeated. In 404 BC e. and the great policy itself recognized defeat, as a result of which long-term tyranny was established there. Both Athens and Sparta were weakened. As a result, over time, Thebes moved forward in Greece. However, this period did not last long.
The capture of the Macedonians
In the IV century BC e. the Macedonian kingdom was elevated, which was located north of Greece. Its ruler Philip II decided to conquer the southern neighbors, who had been engaged in internecine wars for many years. The inhabitants of Athens teamed up with the citizens of Thebes and met with the enemy at Heronius in 338 BC. e. The Greeks were defeated.
After that, both Athens and Sparta were part of the Macedonian state. The son of Philip - the great commander Alexander - soon led a huge number of Greeks to the east in order to conquer distant lands. He finally defeated the Persians, who for a long time were a threat to the policies. The new state, which also covered Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, Egypt and bordering India, did not last long. Nevertheless, over several decades, all these provinces adopted the Hellenistic culture, the centers of which were the policies of Athens and Sparta. Greek has become transnational.
In Athens itself at this time there was another flowering of cultural life. The Academy of Plato and the Lyceum of Aristotle were opened.
Roman province
In 146 BC e. Athens was annexed to the Roman Republic, which later became an empire. Since then, the city has become provincial. Nevertheless, the Romans adopted a lot from the Greek culture. This was their peculiarity - they never destroyed local traditions, language, etc. Instead, the Romans took the best from the conquered peoples, involving them in their orbit of influence in a peaceful way.
The real decline of Athens happened in the 3rd century AD. e., when the Balkan provinces became the target for the raids of the barbarians. Many monuments of ancient culture fell into disrepair and collapsed over time. The Olympic Games, which were an important and regular event in the life of local Greeks, were canceled.
Part of Byzantium
With the collapse of the empire into two parts of Athens, whose geographical position corresponded to its eastern half, they became part of Byzantium. It was at this time that the local population began to accept Christianity, especially after the edict of Constantine the Great. This led to the disappearance of ancient ancient gods from the mass consciousness. The Byzantine emperors did not like the features of Athens, and they methodically got rid of the symbols of the past era. So in the VI century, Justinian banned the activities of philosophical schools, which he considered a hotbed of paganism and blasphemy.
Athens became a provincial city, while Greek became the official language of the empire, whose capital was Constantinople. The proximity to the political center allowed the city to calmly survive for several centuries. In the XIII century, Byzantium ceased to exist for a short time after Constantinople was captured by the crusaders. Catholics founded several states on the territory of Greece. Athens became the center of a small duchy, dominated by the French and Italians.
Turkish city
In 1458, the city was captured by Muslims by the Turks. He became a part of the Ottoman Empire for a long time. Several times Athens became the target for attacks of the Venetian Republic, which fought with Turkey for supremacy in the Mediterranean. In the XVII century, during one of the sieges, the ancient Parthenon was destroyed.
The modern capital of Greece
Despite the power of the Turks, the Greek nation survived, although, of course, it had little in common with the ancient Greeks. This people had their own orthodox church - the Christian religion has remained here since the time of Byzantium. In the 19th century, against the backdrop of the crisis in the empire, a Greek national upsurge began. Revolution broke out, which was supported by many European Christian countries. In 1833, an independent Greek kingdom arose , with Athens as its capital.
After liberation from Turkish rule, colossal archaeological work began here. A huge number of European experts and historians set about studying the remains of the ancient city. At the same time, the restoration of the city began. Famous architects flocked here (for example, Theophil von Hansen and Leo von Klenze), who rebuilt the neglected streets. In 1896, the first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens.
At the beginning of the 20th century, thanks to Greek-Turkish agreements on the exchange of population, compatriots from the most distant lands returned to the city. Millions of Greeks were able to visit Athens for the first time. The geographical position of the capital made it possible to accommodate many of the immigrants.
During World War II, Athens was briefly under German occupation. Today it is a modern European city with numerous monuments of antiquity and developed infrastructure.
Little geography
The city is located on the central plain of Attica (south of the Balkan Peninsula), washed by the Saronyx Bay. Today it occupies almost the entire territory of the plain, so soon the city will have nowhere to grow because of the natural boundaries in the form of mountains and water. But while the suburbs on the outskirts are expanding. The rivers Kifissos, Eridanus and Picrodafni flow through Athens.