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Athens

Q844930

Athens (Greek: Ἀθῆναι): one of the main Greek city-states.

Mycenaean amphora

Some remains on the Acropolis (Erechtheion) and a chamber tomb on the agora (temple of Ares)
Probably the main settlement of a small principality, Attica
Several later myths may contain echoes from the Mycenaean age
There are myths about migration from Athens to Ionia. The Ionian dialect does indeed resemble the Attic dialect, which may confirm these stories; alternatively, the stories may have been invented to explain precisely that fact.

Athens, Areopagus

Athens, Kerameikos, Dipylon krater

Athens, Agora, Terracotta of a woman with snakes

Athens, Agora, Stoa Poikile

The city is ruled by aristocrats (the "Eupatrids")
632 BCE Failed coup Cylon
594/593 BCE The legislator Solon
c.545-528/527 BCE The tyranny of Pisistratus
Athens becomes a very important city
514 BCE Assassination of Pisistratus’ son Hipparchus (commemorated in the statue of the Tyrannicides)
510 BCE Expulsion of Pisistratus’ other son Hippias, the tyrant, who had acted despotically
Cleisthenes introduces the democratic system; the demos (people's assembly) meets on the hill Pnyx
Themistocles

499 BCE Athenian intervention in the Ionian Revolt; sack of Sardes
490 BCE The Persians try to bring back Hippias but are defeated by the Athenians, led by Miltiades, at Marathon
After the discovery of silver at Laurion, Themistocles convinces the Athenians to create a navy
480 BCE The Persian king Xerxes invades Greece and sacks Athens; his navy is defeated in the naval battle of Salamis
479 BCE The Persian commander Mardonius takes Athens again and is defeated by the Spartans and Athenians in the battle of Plataea; Greek expeditions to Asia Minor (Mycale)

Map of the Delian League

478 BCE Athens creates the Delian League, an anti-Persian alliance that slowly becomes an Athenian empire
Athens builds walls and long walls to Piraeus, its main port
460-445 BCE First Peloponnesian War: Athens against Sparta and Persia
449 BCE Peace of Callias with Persia?
Pericles expands the democratic system
Lavish building policy (e.g., the Parthenon on the Acropolis); sophists and philosophers are attracted to Athens; in the theaters, tragedies by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, and comedies by Aristophanes
Parthenon, east façade

The Parthenon, the main temple of Athens, dedicated to the goddess Athena, was built between 447 and 438; the decoration was finished in 432. The building is still impressive because it is made of beautiful Pentelic marble.
431-421 BCE Archidamian War: Sparta, Thebes, and Corinth try to destroy the Athenian empire
415 BCE The Amorges affair: Athens intervenes in Persian affairs
415-413 BCE Sicilian Expedition: Athens fails to capture Syracuse
413-404 BCE Ionian or Declean War: Sparta, with financial support from Persia, defeats Athens; end of the Delian League; the Long Walls destroyed
404-403 BCE Rule of the Thirty; democracy is restored

Athens, Acropolis from the north	Athens, Acropolis, Erechtheion, the Caryatids	Athens, Agora, Temple of Hephaestus	Athens, Acropolis, Temple of Nike
Aeschylus	Sophocles	Euripides	Aristophanes

Demosthenes

399 BCE Death of the philosopher Socrates
395/394 BCE Conon, paid by Persia, restores Athens’ fortunes
395-387 BCE Corinthian War: Athens, Thebes, Argos, and Corinth against Sparta
378 BCE Creation of the Second Delian League
357-355 BCE Social War; end of the Delian League
356-346 BCE Third Sacred War; the Macedonians start to intervene in Greek politics. They are opposed by the politician Demosthenes.
338 BCE Battle of Chaeronea: Philip of Macedonia defeats Athens and Thebes; end of Greek independence

Athens, Kerameikos, Bull from the grave enclosure of Dionysius, son of Kollytos

Athens, Kerameikos, Siren

Athens, Statue of a Minotaur

Athens, Agora, the Demos crowned by Democracy

Stoa of Attalus

336-323 BCE Reign of Alexander the Great, who conquers the Persian Empire. The main cultural centers are Alexandria, Antioch, and Pergamon; Rhodes eclipses Piraeus
Demetrius of Phaleron puts an end to the democratic system; Athens is economically and politically in decline
Athens flourishes as a cultural center with (a/o) the philosophical schools founded by Plato (the Academy), Aristotle (the Lyceum), Zeno (the Stoic philosophy), and the Garden of Epicurus
After 159 BCE Stoa of Attalus II on the agora
86 BCE The Roman commander Sulla takes Athens

Plato

Aristotle

Zeno of Kition

Epicurus

Roman stadium

Many new buildings; Athens remains an important cultural center but things are changing. For example, the old theater of Dionysus was used for gladiatoral contests.^note
The emperor Hadrian visits Athens. Building of a Roman forum, creation of a library, foundation of the Panionion, completion of the temple of Zeus.

Athens, Roman Forum, Tower of the Winds

Athens, Arch of Hadrian

Athens, Temple of Zeus

Athens, Roman Forum, Library of Hadrian

Post-Herulian wall

253 CE Athenians join in the fight against Gothic invaders, which are defeated at Thermopylae
267 CE Athens sacked by the Heruli
Wall of Valerian (220 hectares)
c.300 CE Late Roman wall (18 hectares)
Several churches (e.g., in the Parthenon and Ilissos basilica)
The city remained important in the Roman and Early Byzantine age, because the rulers appreciated the cultural legacy of Athens. However, the big political decisions were taken elsewhere.

Athens, Coin with portrait of Athena	Rome, Baths of Caracalla, Harmodius and Aristogeiton	Athens, Agora, Tholos	Athens, Theater of Dionysus, seen from the Acropolis
Athens, Acropolis, Parthenon, Phidias' statue of Athena Parthenos (reconstruction)	Athens, Black-figured dish with a Scythian archer	Athens, Inscription with a fragment of the Athenian tribute list (425/424 BCE)	Athens, Kerameikos, Alexander with a Lion's Pelt
Athens, Agora, Head of Nike	Athens, Monument of Lysicrates	Athens, Odeon of Herodes Atticus	Athens, Ilissos Basilica, Relief of the Nativity