Ancient Athens: description, culture, history. Order excursions Online

Ancient Athens was considered the main city in Attica (Central Greece). Urban settlements were located a few kilometers from the sea. They were grouped around a high hill with a citadel rising above it. It was called the Acropolis. This area was extremely picturesque, and the Acropolis was decorated with magnificent buildings.

Ancient Athens on the map of Greece

From tyrants to democracy

The city-state began to gain strength at the end of the 9th century BC. e. At first, Athens was ruled by kings, and then they were replaced by tyrants. Tyranos translated from Greek as ruler. Therefore, no bad meaning was put into this word.

However, over time, the city rulers began to oppress and rob the population. It was then that the word "tyrant" already began to be understood as a cruel ruler or despot. In this negative sense, it has reached our days.

At first, tyrants were tolerated, as they enjoyed the support of the rich and noble Athenians and the Areopagus. Areopagus called the supreme council, which included 9 judges or archons.

Acropolis of Athens

In the 7th century BC e. archon Dracont enforced a whole series of cruel laws. According to them, for the slightest offense, people were executed. Stole a bunch of grapes or an onion - death. The Athenians said that Draco wrote his laws with blood and called them draconian.

Property inequality ended in a struggle between aristocrats and commoners in the 6th century BC. e. Unrest and armed clashes broke out in the city. In order to stop the bloodshed, they decided to elect an intelligent person as an archon, so that he would finally put things in order.

Such a person turned out to be Solon. He had an excellent reputation and in 594 BC. e. started reforms. It was on his initiative that the laws of Draco and debt slavery were abolished. Introduced laws on the freedom of will and inheritance of property. Craftsmen and merchants began to provide benefits.

All citizens of Attica, depending on material wealth, were divided into 4 class groups. Each of them was assigned their duties and rights. But in this matter, Solon acted as a defender of the aristocracy. He granted the right to hold public office only to wealthy citizens.

The reformer did not encroach on the power of tyrants. They continued to commit arbitrariness and more and more restored ordinary people against themselves. In 514 B.C. e. The tyrant Hipparchus was killed by the conspirators Harmodius and Aristogeiton. These two ancient Greeks went down in history as the first tyrannicides.

In 509 B.C. e. in ancient Athens, a popular uprising broke out. As a result, the royal power was destroyed, and democratic rule triumphed. All Athenian citizens, regardless of material wealth, received equal political rights, and the most important state issues began to be decided by a general vote.

But the republic that arose on the lands of Ancient Greece remained aristocratic. Noble Athenians began to unite in groups and manipulate the votes of people at public meetings. Aristocrats bribed and attracted to their side the leaders of the people, who were called demagogues.

Rise of Ancient Athens

In the 5th century BC. e. Greek city-states defeated Persia. This contributed not only to the general flourishing, but also to the victory of democracy. In Argos, Phocis, Thebes, the ruling aristocratic groups were overthrown. The inhabitants of these cities began to practice democratic freedoms, following the example of Athens.

But it was Ancient Athens that reached the greatest prosperity. The port of Piraeus belonging to them became the main center of trade in the Eastern Mediterranean. The Athenians also stood at the head of the maritime union, which included 200 policies (cities). The union had its own treasury, and the Athenians were in charge of it. All this strengthened the city and raised its authority.

As for domestic political life, it was characterized by the struggle of 2 parties - aristocratic and democratic. In 462 BC. e. The power of the Areopagus was significantly limited. People's assemblies began to play an increasingly important political role. They met 4 times a month. Laws were passed on them, wars were declared, peace was concluded, state funds were distributed.

Pericles with his wife Aspasia

During this period, such a historical figure stood out as Pericles. He became a recognized Athenian leader, and in 443 BC. e. he was elected strategist (commander). This man has been in power for 15 years. It was under him that the people's assembly began to practice secret voting.

All sculptures depict Pericles wearing a helmet. There is speculation that his head had some kind of physical defect. But, despite this, the strategist had a versatile education. He sought to make Ancient Athens the center of education for all Hellas.

The man's wife was Aspasia of Miletus. She was distinguished by her beauty and intelligence, and in her social activities she sought the equality of women. The inhabitants of the city compared Pericles with Zeus, and his wife with Hera - the wife of the Thunderer. However, the marriage of this couple was not recognized as official, since Aspasia was not an Athenian. True, two sons from this marriage received Athenian citizenship.

Under Pericles, the city flourished and was the most prosperous and strong among all the cities of ancient Greece. In 429 BC. e. the strategist is dead. After that, the gradual decline of the powerful city-state began.

Sunset of Ancient Athens

In 431 BC. e. War broke out between Sparta and Athens. It lasted 30 years, was conducted extremely cruelly. Other Greek cities also took part in this war. She went down in history as the name of the union, which was headed by Sparta.

The Spartans several times invaded the lands of Attica and besieged Athens. In response to this, the Athenians attacked the Peloponnesian cities from the sea. A sea trip to Sicily was also organized. A fleet of 134 triremes (warships) took part in it. But this large-scale expedition did not bring success to the Athenians.

Having suffered a series of serious defeats, the Athenian Maritime Union broke up. There was a coup in the city itself. As a result of this, at first an aristocratic council of four hundred, and then a smaller group seized power thirty tyrants. As for the people's assembly, its powers were significantly reduced.

The Peloponnesian War was fought both on land and at sea.

In 404 BC. e. The Athenians capitulated to the Spartans. They were forbidden to have a navy, and stone walls the port of Piraeus was destroyed. But long war weakened not only Attica, but also other Greek policies.

Meanwhile, a powerful new enemy appeared in the north. It was Macedonia, which began to claim hegemony in all of Greece. It reached its greatest power in the middle of the 4th century BC. e. under Philip II. He created well armed army and began to conquer one Greek policy after another.

However, the Athenian lands continued to be the cultural and commercial center of Hellas. But the inhabitants of the city understood that the Macedonians would soon get to them. The Athenian orator Demosthenes directly spoke about this. His accusatory speeches were called philippics, and Philip II himself declared Demosthenes his personal enemy.

The political situation was heating up, and Ancient Athens had no choice but to create a military alliance. It included Thebes, Megara and Corinth. In 338 B.C. e. there was a battle near the Boeotian city of Chaeronea between the troops of the military alliance and the army of Philip II. In this battle, the allies were defeated.

The winner dictated peace conditions to the defeated cities. Since Philip II was a smart man, he formally declared the conquered policies independent, but obliged them to support him in military campaigns. In addition, he placed military garrisons in Attica.

In most of the conquered cities, the aristocracy came to power, currying favor with Macedonia. This ended the classical era and the Hellenistic period of Ancient Greece began.

During Hellenism, the situation in Athens was constantly changing. The city then sought independence, then again fell under the rule of the Macedonian army. In 146 BC. e. the city was under the authority of the Roman Republic in the position of an ally. But freedom was purely formal.

In 88 BC. e. The Athenians supported the anti-Roman movement, which was led by the Pontic king Mithridates VI. But in 86 BC. e. near the city walls was the Roman army under the command of Lucius Cornelius Sulla. The Romans took the once great city by storm. However, Sulla showed mercy out of respect for the historical past of Ancient Athens: fictitious freedom for the Athenians was preserved.

In the last quarter of the 1st century BC. e. The city became part of the new Roman province. But only in the III century AD. e. the importance of the once powerful Athens completely vanished, and the policy fell into complete decline.

Ancient Athens was the polis of ancient Greece and one of the important cities of the ancient world in general. The boundaries of Ancient Athens included most of today's Attica.

The heyday of Western civilization began more than 2500 years ago in Attica, in a small Greek state, and in particular, in ancient Athens.

At the beginning of the 5th century BC. Athens was practically destroyed.

Acropolis, one of the most famous historical monuments in the world in ancient times was the religious and political center of the city. But 480 BC the buildings of the Acropolis were burned to the ground by the 300,000th army of the Persians, who invaded the city, under the leadership of the formidable and illustrious king Xerxes.

The Athenians abandoned the city and the Persians occupied Athens. It seemed that this was the end for Ancient Athens, but in the next 50 years, the city becomes the cultural capital of the entire Greek world and the cradle of modern Western science and philosophy. The Acropolis was rebuilt with brilliance and by 430 BC. it is adorned with the most beautiful monuments in the world, with the most important Parthenon, the Temple of Athena the Virgin.

How did the ancient city of Athens rise from the ashes and become one of the largest cities in ancient times?

Who were the leaders, architects and artists who made the unique history of ancient Athens?

Golden Age of Athens

After a brilliant victory over the Persians and their retreat from Athens, a leader comes to power in Ancient Athens, who made his city a cultural and military force in the Greek world. The name of an outstanding statesman was Pericles, he not only carried out democratic reforms, but also strengthened the army, built some of the most remarkable monuments of all time. Pericles was in power for 30 years, he made a greater contribution to the development of Athenian democracy, the Citadel, which was completely destroyed by the Persians, was restored. The main building was the Parthenon, but other temples were built and became masterpieces of world art.

Pericles entered the city into a "golden age" and made the name of Athens immortal. This was the age of great artists such as the sculptor Phidias, great philosophers such as Socrates and Plato, famous theatergoers such as Sophocles and Euripides, who laid the foundations of tragedy, comedy and drama.

Pericles died in 429 BC. after the plague that cost the lives of many inhabitants of Athens. But his achievements remain unsurpassed. Athens of that time was the crown of a dynamic society, and the time of his reign is commonly called the "golden age of Pericles."

Greece is a country with magnificent landscapes. The ancient Greeks believed that gods, goddesses, and other supernatural beings lived in forests, on mountains, and in water. They believed in the absolute power of the gods, who could help them, or harm them. Religious holidays took place throughout the year, during which people made sacrifices to the gods.

The first people appeared on the territory of Greece at the beginning of the Bronze Age, who migrated from the vast territory of Eurasia. The first Greeks were warlike tribes, they were constantly at war with each other in order to occupy more rich and fertile places. The first settlements were mostly primitive rural communities. Between 1500 and 1200 BC. there was a population explosion, which led to high cultural and technological achievements. Palaces and temples rose up everywhere, some of the remains of which we can still see today.

This created a suitable backdrop for legends and myths: the poems of Homer, the myths about the "Argonauts" and the "feats of Hercules." Some have long been considered legends, like the Trojan War written by Homer. However, in 1870, the German archaeologist Schliemann discovered the ruins of Troy. The city was really destroyed by the war, which was waged for a long time.

In the areas of Attica, an intense human presence during the Neolithic era has been found. Ancient Attica was inhabited by the Ionians - one of the main ancient Greek tribes who settled in southern Greece at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. In Attica, a special Ionic dialect gradually developed, which became the language of literature and art in antiquity. With the advent of the Dorians, at the end of the 2nd millennium (about 1100 BC), the Ionians defended their borders, Attica was one of the few places in Greece that the Dorians failed to capture.

Modern Athens

The city of Athens lives and thrives to this day. The modern city is centered around the Citadel, it includes various ruins of the ancient years, proving that this place once reached the pinnacle of its development, influencing the entire European culture.

A city of about 5 million people lives on in the memories of a lost world. In many places we observe different historical periods of Athens, some buildings and buildings still keep the secrets of the ancient Hellenes.

Until now, as in ancient times, the magnificent Acropolis with beautiful temples proudly rises above the city.

This is a special city: no other European capital can boast of such a historical and cultural heritage. It is rightly called the cradle of democracy and Western civilization. The life of Athens still revolves around the witness of its birth and prosperity - the Acropolis, one of the seven hills surrounding the city, which rises above it like a stone ship, on the deck of which the ancient Parthenon is located.

Video: Athens

Basic moments

Athens became the capital of modern Greece since the 1830s, the time when an independent state was proclaimed. Since then, the city has experienced an unprecedented rise. In 1923, the number of inhabitants here almost doubled in one day as a result of the population exchange with Turkey.

Due to the rapid post-war economic growth and the real boom that followed the entry of Greece into the European Union in 1981, the suburbs captured the entire historical part of the city. Athens has become an octopus city: it is estimated that its population is about 4 million inhabitants, 750,000 of whom live within the official city limits.

The new dynamic city has undergone a major transformation since the 2004 Olympics. Years of grandiose works modernized and beautified the city. A new airport has been launched, new metro lines have been launched, museums have been updated.

Of course, the problems of pollution and overpopulation remain, and few people fall in love with Athens at first sight... But you can't help but succumb to the charm of this amazing mixture of antiques generated by contrasts. holy city and capitals of the 21st century. Athens owes its uniqueness to the numerous neighborhoods that have an inimitable character: the traditional Plaka, the industrial Gazi, Monastraki with their new dawn with their flea markets, the commercial Psiri entering the markets, the working Omonia, the business Syntagma, the bourgeois Kolonaki ... not to mention Piraeus, which is, in fact, an independent city.

Sights of Athens

It is on a small plateau on which the Acropolis is located (4 ha), towering 100 meters above the plain of Attica and the modern city, Athens owes its fate. The city was born here, grew up, met its historical glory. No matter how damaged and incomplete the Acropolis may be, to this day it holds up quite confidently and fully retains the status of one of the greatest wonders of the world, once assigned to it by UNESCO. Its name means "high city", from the Greek asgo ("high", "sublime") and polis ("town"). It also means "citadel", which, in fact, was the Acropolis in the Bronze Age and later, in the Mycenaean era.

In 2000, the main buildings of the Acropolis were dismantled for reconstruction in accordance with new archaeological knowledge and modern restoration techniques. However, do not be surprised if the reconstruction of some buildings, such as the Parthenon or the temple of Nike Apteros, has not yet been completed, these works take a lot of time and effort.

Areopagus and Bele Gate

The entrance to the Acropolis is located on the western side, at the Bele Gate, a Roman building of the 3rd century, named after the French archaeologist who discovered it in 1852. From the entrance, steps carved in stone lead to the Areopagus, a stone hill where judges used to gather in antiquity.

The huge staircase that ended the Panathenaic road (dromos), led to this monumental entrance to the Acropolis, marked by six Doric columns. More complex than the Parthenon they were supposed to complete, the Propylaea ("in front of entrance") were conceived by Pericles and his architect Mnesicles as the grandest secular building ever built in Greece. Works that began in 437 BC and interrupted in 431 by the Peloponnesian War, were never resumed. The central aisle, the widest, once topped with a railing, was intended for chariots, and steps led to four other entrances intended for mere mortals. The north wing is decorated with images dedicated to Athena by the great artists of the past.

This little temple (421 BC), designed by the architect Kallikrates, built on an earth embankment to the southwest (on right) from the Propylaea. It was in this place, according to legend, that Aegeus was waiting for his son Theseus, who had gone to fight the Minotaur. Not seeing a white sail on the horizon - a sign of victory - he rushed into the abyss, considering Theseus dead. This place offers a magnificent view of Athens and the sea. This building, which seems tiny compared to the Parthenon, was destroyed in 1687 by the Turks, who used its stones to strengthen their own defensive fortifications. The first time it was restored shortly after the independence of the country, but recently dismantled again to be rebuilt with all the subtleties of classical art.

After passing the Propylaea, you will find yourself on the esplanade in front of the Acropolis, topped by the Parthenon itself. It was Pericles who commissioned Phidias, a brilliant sculptor and builder, and his assistants, the architects Iktin and Kallikrat, to build this temple on the site of former sanctuaries destroyed by the Persian conquerors. The work, begun in 447 BC, continued for fifteen years. Using Pentelian marble as a material, the builders managed to create a building with ideal proportions, 69 meters long and 31 meters wide. It is decorated with 46 columns with flutes ten meters high, made up of a dozen drums. For the first time in history, each of the building's four façades was decorated with gables with painted friezes and sculptures.

In the foreground was a bronze statue of Athena Promachos ("the one that protects") nine meters high, with a spear and a shield - only a few fragments of the pedestal remain from this composition. It is said that sailors could see the crest of her helmet and the gilded tip of her spear, sparkling in the sun, as soon as they entered the Saronic Gulf...

Another huge statue of Athena Parthenos, in robes of pure gold, with an ivory face, arms and legs and with the head of Medusa on her chest, was in the sanctuary. This brainchild of Phidias remained in its place for more than a thousand years, but was subsequently taken to Constantinople, where it was later lost.

Becoming an Athenian cathedral in the Byzantine era, then a mosque under the rule of the Turks, the Parthenon passed through the centuries without much loss until that fateful day in 1687, when the Venetians bombarded the Acropolis. The Turks set up an ammunition depot in the building, and when the core hit it, the wooden roof was destroyed and part of the walls and sculptural decorations collapsed. An even more severe blow to the pride of the Greeks was dealt in the very early XIX century, the British ambassador Lord Elgin, having received permission from the Turks to excavate in the ancient city and took out a huge number of the most beautiful statues and bas-reliefs of the pediment of the Parthenon. Now they are in the British Museum, but the Greek government does not lose hope that someday they will return to their homeland.

The last of the sanctuaries erected by the ancient Greeks on the Acropolis is located on the other side of the plateau, near the northern wall, at the site of the mythical dispute between Poseidon and Athena over power over the city. Construction lasted fifteen years. The consecration of the Erechtheion took place in 406 BC. An unknown architect was supposed to unite three sanctuaries under one roof (in honor of Athena, Poseidon and Erechtheus), having built a temple on a site with significant differences in the height of the soil.

This temple, although smaller than the Parthenon, must have been equal to it in splendor. The north portico is without a doubt a work of genius, as evidenced by its dark blue marble frieze, coffered ceiling and elegant Ionic columns.

Don't miss the Caryatids - six statues of young girls taller than a human that support the roof of the south portico. Currently, these are only copies. One of the original statues was taken away by the same Lord Elgin, five others, exhibited for a long time in the Small Museum of the Acropolis (now closed), were moved to the New Acropolis Museum, which opened in June 2009.

Here, do not forget to enjoy the beautiful view of the Salamis Bay, located on the western side.

Located in the western part of the Acropolis (161-174), the Roman odeon, famous for its acoustics, is open to the public only during the festivities organized as part of the festival in honor of Athena (performances take place almost every day from late May to mid-October). The marble steps of the ancient theater can accommodate up to 5,000 spectators!

The theater located near the odeon, although very ancient, is closely connected with the main episodes of the life of the Greek city. This gigantic building with 17,000 seats, built in the 5th-4th centuries BC, saw the tragedies of Sophocles, Aeschylus and Euripides and the comedies of Aristophanes. In fact, this is the cradle of Western theatrical art. Since the 4th century, the city assembly has been meeting here.

New Acropolis Museum

At the foot of the hill (South side) houses the New Acropolis Museum, the brainchild of Swiss architect Bernard Tschumi and his Greek colleague Michalis Fotiadis. A new museum built to replace the old Acropolis Museum (near the Parthenon), which had become too cramped, opened its doors in June 2009. This state-of-the-art marble, glass and concrete building was built on stilts as valuable archaeological finds were unearthed at the site when construction began. 4,000 artifacts are displayed on 14,000 sq. m is ten times the area of ​​the old museum.

The first floor, already open to the public, houses temporary exhibitions, its glass floor allows you to watch the ongoing excavations. The second floor houses the permanent collections, which include artifacts found in the Acropolis from the Archaic period of Ancient Greece to the Roman period. But the highlight of the exhibition is the third floor, whose glass windows give visitors a beautiful view of the Parthenon.

Acropolis metro station

Acropolis metro station

In the 1990s, during the construction of the second metro line, important excavations were discovered. Some of them were exhibited right at the station (amphoras, pots). Here you can also see a model frieze of the Parthenon, representing Helios at the moment when he emerges from the sea, surrounded by Dionysus, Demeter, Kore and an unknown headless character.

Old lower town

On both sides of the Acropolis, the ancient lower city stretched: Greek in the north, around the market square and the ancient Kerameikos district, Roman in the east on the way to Olympeion (Temple of Zeus) and the Arch of Hadrian. Recently, all the sights can be seen on foot, passing through the labyrinth of streets of Plaka or bypassing the Acropolis along the large street named after. Dionysius the Areopagite.

Agora

Initially, this term meant "assembly", then it began to be called the place where people did business. The heart of the old city, filled with workshops and stalls, the agora (market Square) was surrounded by many tall buildings: a mint, a library, a council chamber, a court, archives, not to mention countless altars, small temples and monuments.

The first public buildings on this site began to appear in the 4th century BC, during the reign of the tyrant Pisistratus. Some of them have been restored, and many were built after the sack of the city by the Persians in 480 BC. Panathenaic road, main artery ancient city, crossed the esplanade diagonally, linking the main gate of the city, the Dipylon, with the Acropolis. Wagon races were held here, in which, presumably, even cavalry recruits took part.

To date, the agora has hardly survived, with the exception of Teseon (Temple of Hephaestus). This Doric temple in the west of the Acropolis is the best preserved in Greece. He is the owner of a beautiful ensemble of Pentelian marble columns and Parian marble friezes. On each of its sides, the image of Hercules in the east, Theseus in the north and south, battle scenes (with magnificent centaurs) in the east and west. Dedicated to both Hephaestus, the patron saint of metallurgists, and Athena Organa (Worker), the protector of potters and artisans, it dates from the second half of the 5th century BC. Probably, this temple owes its safety to its transformation into a church. In the 19th century, it even became a Protestant church, where the remains of English volunteers and other European philhellenes rested. (Greek-Filov) who died during the War of Independence.

Below, in the center of the agora, near the entrance to the Odeon of Agrippa, you will see three monumental statues of tritons. In the most elevated part of the area, in the direction of the Acropolis, there is a restored small church of the Holy Apostles (around 1000) in Byzantine style. Inside, the remains of frescoes of the 17th century and a marble iconostasis have been preserved.

The portico of Attala, on the east side of the market square, 120 meters long and 20 meters wide, was renovated in the 1950s and is now the Agora Museum. Here you can see some amazing artifacts. For example, a huge Spartan shield made of bronze (425 BC) and, directly opposite, a piece of clerotherium, a stone with a hundred slits, intended for the random selection of jurors. Among the coins on display is a silver tetradrachm depicting an owl, which served as the model for the Greek euro.

roman agora

In the second half of the 1st century BC. the Romans moved the agora about a hundred meters to the east to create their own central market. After the invasion of the barbarians in 267, the administrative center of the city took refuge behind the new walls of decaying Athens. Here you can still see, as well as on the nearby streets, many important buildings.

Built in the XI century BC. The Doric Gate of Athena Archegetis is located near the western entrance to the Roman Agora. During the reign of Hadrian, a copy of the order regarding the taxation of the purchase and sale of olive oil was placed here for public review ... On the other side of the square, on the embankment, rises the octagonal Tower of the Winds (Aerids) in white Pentelian marble. It was erected in the 1st century BC. Macedonian astronomer Andronik and served simultaneously as a weather vane, compass and clepsydra (water clock). Each side is decorated with a frieze depicting one of the eight winds, under which one can discern the hands of an ancient sundial. On the north side is a small inactive mosque of Fethiye (Conqueror), one of the last witnesses to the occupation of the market place by religious buildings in the Middle Ages and then under Turkish rule.

Two blocks from the Roman Agora, near Monastiraki Square, you will find the ruins of Hadrian's Library. Erected during the era of the reign of the emperor-builder in the same year as Olympeion (132 BC), this huge public building with a courtyard surrounded by a hundred columns, was at one time one of the most luxurious in Athens.

The Keramik quarter, located on the northwestern border of the Greek city, owes its name to the potters who made the famous Attic vases with red figures on a black background. Here was also the largest cemetery of that time, which operated until the 6th century and is partially preserved. The most ancient graves belong to the Mycenaean era, but the most beautiful, decorated with steles and tombstones, belonged to wealthy Athenians and war heroes of the times of tyranny. They are in the west of the cemetery, in a corner planted with cypresses and olive trees. Such displays of vanity were forbidden after the establishment of democracy.

The museum exhibits the most beautiful specimens: sphinxes, kouros, lions, bulls... Some of them were used in 478 BC. for the hasty construction of new defensive fortifications against the Spartans!

To the west of the agora and the Acropolis rises the hill of Pnyx, the meeting place of the assembly of the citizens of Athens. (ekklesia). Meetings took place ten times a year from the 6th to the end of the 4th century BC. Famous orators such as Pericles, Themistocles, Demosthenes delivered speeches here to their compatriots. Later, the assembly moved to the square in front of the theater of Dionysus, which was larger in size. From the top of this hill, the view of the forested Acropolis is amazing.

Hill of Muses

The most beautiful panorama of the Acropolis and the Parthenon still opens from this wooded hill in the southwest of the old center - the mythological bastion of the Athenians in the fight against the Amazons. At the top is a well-preserved tombstone of Philopappos. (or Philoppapu) 12 meters high. It dates from the 2nd century and depicts this "benefactor of Athens" on a wagon.

To mark the boundary between the old Greek city and his own Athens, the Roman Emperor Hadrian ordered the erection of a gate facing Olympeion. On one side was written "Athens, the ancient city of Theseus", and on the other - "City of Hadrian, not Theseus". Apart from this, both facades are absolutely identical; striving for unity, they combine the Roman tradition at the bottom and the Greek form of propylaea at the top. The monument, 18 meters high, was erected thanks to the gifts of the inhabitants of Athens.

The temple of Olympian Zeus, the supreme deity, was the largest in ancient Greece - erected, as legend has it, on the site of the ancient sanctuary of Deucalion, the mythical forefather of the Greek people, who thus thanked Zeus for saving him from the flood. The tyrant Peisistratus supposedly started the construction of this gigantic building in 515 BC. in order to keep people busy and prevent a riot. But this time the Greeks overestimated their capabilities: the temple was completed only in the Roman era, in 132 BC. Emperor Hadrian, who got all the glory. The dimensions of the temple were impressive: length - 110 meters, width - 44 meters. Of the 104 Corinthian columns 17 meters high and 2 meters in diameter, only fifteen have survived, the sixteenth, knocked down by a storm, still lies on the ground. The rest were used for other buildings. They were arranged in double rows of 20 along the length of the building and in triple rows of 8 on the sides. In the sanctuary, a giant statue of Zeus made of gold and ivory and a statue of the emperor Hadrian have been preserved - in the Roman era they were revered equally.

This stadium, nestled in an amphitheater with marble steps near Mount Ardettos, 500 meters east of the Olympeion, was rebuilt in 1896 for the first modern Olympic Games in place of and on the site of an ancient one built by Lycurgus in 330 BC. In the 2nd century, Hadrian introduced games to the arena, bringing thousands of predators for bestiaries. It was here that the marathon of the 2004 Olympic Games finished.

This is the oldest and most interesting residential area of ​​the city. The labyrinth of its streets and stairs, dating back at least three millennia, extends to the northeastern slope of the Acropolis. It is mostly pedestrian. The upper part of the quarter is made for long walks and admiring the beautiful houses of the 19th century, the walls and courtyards of which are densely covered with burgenvilleas and geraniums. Plaka is dotted with ancient ruins, Byzantine churches, and at the same time there are many boutiques, restaurants, museums, bars, small nightclubs... It can be both quiet and very lively, it all depends on the place and time.

Churches

Although the towers of the Metropolis, the Cathedral of Plaka (XIX century), located in the northern part of the quarter, inevitably attracts glances, lower your eyes to its base and admire the delightful Small Metropolis. This small 12th century Byzantine church dedicated to St. Eleutrius and Our Lady Gorgoepikoos (“Help soon!”) was built from antique materials. Outside, its walls are decorated with magnificent geometric bas-reliefs. All the priests of Greece gather in the nearby street, Agios Philotheis, to shop at specialty shops. On the high ground of Plaka is the charming little Byzantine church of Agios Ioannis Theologos (XI century) also worthy of your attention.

This museum in the eastern part of Plaka presents an interesting collection of folk art exhibits. After examining the embroideries on the ground floor and the amusing carnival costumes on the mezzanine, in the room of Theophilos on the second floor you will find wall paintings, a tribute to this self-taught artist who decorated the houses and shops of his native land. Honoring traditions, he wore a fustanella all his life (traditional men's skirt) and died in poverty and oblivion. Only after his death did he receive recognition. On the third floor, decorations, ornaments and weapons are exhibited; on the fourth - folk costumes of various provinces of the country.

Neoclassical on the outside, ultra-modern on the inside, this contemporary art museum is the only one of its kind in Greece. Here, the permanent collection, the main theme of which is ordinary people, and temporary exhibitions are exhibited alternately. Visitors are given the opportunity to look at the great events of the 20th century through the eyes of Greek artists.

In 335 BC, after the victory of his troupe in a theater competition, in order to commemorate this event, the patron Lysicrates ordered the erection of this monument in the form of a rotunda. The Athenians called it "the lantern of Diogenes". Initially, inside was a bronze prize received from the city authorities. In the 17th century

Anafiotika

In the highest part of Plaka, on the slopes of the Acropolis, the inhabitants of the Kykpadian island of Anafi have recreated their world in miniature. Anafiotika is a block within a block, a real peaceful haven, where there is no access to cars. It is a few dozen whitewashed houses, buried in flowers, with many narrow alleys and secluded passages. Arbors from vines, climbing wild rose, pots of flowers - life here turns to you with a pleasant side. Anafiotika can be reached from Stratonos Street.

This museum is located in the westernmost part of Plaka, between the Acropolis and the Roman Agora, in a beautiful neoclassical building and houses a very bizarre and varied collection. (which, however, are united by belonging to Hellenism) transferred to the state by the Kanellopoulos spouses. Among the main exhibits you will see Cycladic figurines and antique gold jewelry.

Museum of Folk Musical Instruments

Located on Diogenes Street, in the western part of Plaka, opposite the entrance to the Roman Agora, this museum invites you to discover musical instruments and traditional Greek melodies. You will learn how bouzouki, lutes, tamburas, guides and other rare examples sound. Concerts are organized in the garden during the summer.

Syntagma Square

To the northeast, Plaka borders the huge Syntagma Square, the heart of the business world, an area that was built according to a plan drawn up the day after independence was declared. The green esplanade is surrounded by chic cafes and modern buildings that house offices of banks, airlines and international companies.

Here is the hotel "Great Britain", the pearl of Athens of the XIX century, the most beautiful palace in the city. On the eastern slope is the Buli Palace, now the Parliament. In 1834 it served as the residence of King Otto I and Queen Amalia.

Subway

Thanks to the construction of the subway (1992-1994) under the esplanade began the most extensive excavation ever carried out in Athens. Archaeologists have discovered a Peisistratus aqueduct, a very important road, bronze foundries from the 5th century BC. (the period when this place was outside the city walls), cemeteries of the end of the classical era - the beginning of the Roman era, baths and the second aqueduct, also Roman, as well as early Christian ossuaries and part of the Byzantine city. Various archaeological layers have been preserved inside the station in the form of a cross cup.

Parliament (Buli Palace)

The name of Syntagma Square evokes the Greek Constitution of 1844 proclaimed from the balcony of this neoclassical palace, since 1935 the seat of Parliament.

In front of the building there is a monument to the Unknown Soldier, who is guarded by Evzones (foot soldiers). They wear traditional Greek costumes: fustanella with 400 folds, symbolizing the number of years spent under the Turkish yoke, woolen knee socks and red shoes with pom-poms.

The changing of the guard takes place every hour from Monday to Saturday, and once, at 10.30, on Sunday. The entire garrison gathers in the square for this beautiful ceremony.

national garden

Once a palace park, the National Garden is now a peaceful oasis of exotic plants and mosaic pools in the heart of the city. There you can see ancient ruins hidden among shady alleys, a small botanical museum located in a pavilion, a zoo and a pleasant cafe with a large covered gazebo.

To the south is the Zappeion, a neoclassical building built in the 1880s in the form of a rotunda. In 1896, during the first modern Olympic Games, the headquarters of the Olympic Committee was located there. Later, Zappeion became an exhibition center.

To the east of the garden, on Herodes Atticus Street, in the middle of the park, is the Presidential Palace, a beautiful baroque building guarded by two evzones.

Northern quarters and museums

Justifying its name, the Gazi quarter in the north-west of the city, predominantly industrial, does not make a very pleasant impression at first. The former gas plant that gave the neighborhood its name is now a huge cultural center .

A little to the east stretches the very lively Psiri quarter, where wholesalers and blacksmiths have settled - and, for some time now, a growing number of bars, nightlife and trendy restaurants. Its small streets lead to the markets and Omonia Square, the heart of the people of Athens. From here you can walk to Syntagma Square along two large neoclassical-framed streets - Stadiou and Panepistimiou.

Neighborhood Monastiraki

Directly north of the Roman Agora is Monastiraki Square, crowded with people at any time of the day. Above it rises the dome and portico of the Tsizdaraki mosque (1795), which now houses the Plaka branch of the Museum of Folk Art.

The nearby pedestrian streets are crammed with souvenir shops, antique shops, and junk dealers who gather every Sunday at Abyssinia Square to host a giant flea market.

Markets

The large Athinas Boulevard, which links Monastiraki with Omonia Square in the north, passes by the market pavilions. The “belly of Athens”, which is in constant activity from dawn to mid-afternoon, is divided into two parts: fish merchants in the center and meat merchants around.

In front of the building there are sellers of dried fruits, and on the nearby streets - merchants of hardware, carpets, and poultry.

Archaeological Museum

A few blocks north of Omonia Square, on a huge esplanade lined with cars, is the National Archaeological Museum, which has a fabulous collection of artifacts from the great civilizations of ancient Greece. Do not hesitate to spend half a day here contemplating the statues, frescoes, vases, cameos, jewelry, coins and other treasures.

Perhaps the most valuable exhibit of the museum is the posthumous golden mask of Agamemnon, found in 1876 in Mycenae by amateur archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann. (hall 4, in the center of the courtyard). In the same room you will see another important object from the Mycenaean era, the Warrior vase, as well as funerary stelae, weapons, rhytons, jewelry and thousands of luxurious items made of amber, gold and even an ostrich egg shell! Cycladic collection (hall 6) also a must see.

Looking around the first floor and moving clockwise, you will pass chronologically from the archaic period, represented by magnificent kouros and kors, to the Roman. Along the way, you will see great masterpieces of classical art, including a bronze statue of Poseidon fished out of the sea near the island of Euboea. (hall 15), as well as statues of the rider Artemision on a war horse (hall 21). Tombstones are presented in large numbers, some of them quite impressive. For example, huge lekythos - vases two meters high. It is also worth mentioning the friezes that adorned the temple of Afeia on Aegina, the friezes of the temple of Asclepius (Aesculapius) in Epidaurus and the magnificent marble group of Aphrodite, Pan and Eros in Room 30.

On the second floor, collections of ceramics are exhibited: from products of the geometric era to delightful Attic vases. Greek Pompeii - the city of Akrotiri on the island of Santorini, buried in 1450 BC - is dedicated to a separate section (hall 48).

Panepistimiou

The quarter, located between Omonia and Syntagma squares, gives a clear idea of ​​the grandiose ambitions of the post-independence period. Definitely neoclassical, the trio of the University, the Academy and the National Library stretch along Panepistimiou Street. (or Eleftherios Venizelou) and clearly deserves the attention of visitors to the city.

National History Museum

The museum is located in the building of the former parliament, at 13 Stadiou Street, not far from Syntagma Square, and is dedicated to the history of the country since the capture of Constantinople by the Ottomans (1453). The period of the War of Independence is presented in great detail. You can even see the helmet and sword of Lord Byron, the most famous of the philhellenes!

Founded in 1930 by Antonis Benakis, a member of a prominent Greek family, the museum is housed in his former Athenian residence. The exhibition consists of collections collected throughout his life. The museum continues to grow and now offers visitors a complete panorama of Greek art, from the prehistoric period to the 20th century.

On the ground floor there are exhibits from the Neolithic period to the Byzantine era, as well as a fine collection of jewelry and antique gold leaf crowns. A large section is devoted to icons. Second floor (XVI-XIX centuries) covers the period of Turkish occupation, mainly samples of church and secular folk art are exhibited here. Two magnificent reception halls from the 1750s have been restored, along with ceilings and carved wood panels.

Less interesting sections, dedicated to the period of awakening of national consciousness and the struggle for independence, occupy the top two floors.

Museum of Cycladic Art

Here are mainly the collections of Nicolas Goulandris dedicated to ancient art. The most prominent of them is, without a doubt, on the ground floor. Here you can get acquainted with the legendary Cycladic art; figurines, marble household items and objects of religious worship. Don't miss the dove platter, carved from a single piece, the extraordinary figurines of a flutist and a bread peddler, and a 1.40-meter high statue, one of two depicting the great patron goddess.

The third floor is dedicated to Greek art from the Bronze Age to the 2nd century BC, the fourth floor contains a collection of Cypriot artefacts, and the fifth ceramic products and "Corinthian" bronze shields.

The museum later moved into a magnificent neoclassical villa built in 1895 by the Bavarian architect Ernst Ziller. (Palace of Stafatos).

The expositions housed in the museum cover the period from the fall of the Roman Empire (5th century) before the fall of Constantinople (1453) and successfully illuminate the history of Byzantine culture through a fine selection of exhibits and reconstructions. The exhibition also highlights the special role of Athens, the center of pagan thought for at least two centuries, until Christianity reigned.

Worth seeing section of Coptic art (especially the shoes of the 5th-8th centuries!), the treasure of Mytilene, found in 1951, amazing crossbars and bas-reliefs, collections of icons and frescoes exhibited in the church of the Episcopia of Eurytania, as well as magnificent manuscripts.

National Pinakothek

Significantly modernized in recent years, the Pinakothek is dedicated to the Greek art of the last four centuries. It chronologically presents various movements, from early post-Byzantine painting to the works of contemporary artists. In particular, you will see three mystical paintings by El Greco, a native of Crete, who, along with Velasquez and Goya, was the most famous artist of Spain in the 16th century.

At the northern end of Vassilissis Sofias Boulevard, the rolling streets of the Kolonaki quarter form a chic enclave famous for its fashion boutiques and art galleries. All morning, and especially after lunch, there is nowhere for an apple to fall on the terraces of the cafe in Filikis Eterias Square.

Mount Lycabettus (Lycabettus)

At the end of Plutarch Street there is a long line of markets leading to an underground cable tunnel with a funicular that will take you to the top of Lycabettus, famous for its beautiful panorama, in a few minutes. Sports enthusiasts will prefer the stairs starting at the end of Lukianou Street, a hundred meters to the west (15 minutes rise). The path winds its way through cypresses and agaves. Above, from the porch of the chapel of St. George, in good weather, you can see the islands of the Saronic Gulf and, of course, the Acropolis.

Around Athens

Situated between the sea and the hills, Athens is the ideal starting point to explore the most famous sites of Attica, the peninsula that separates the Aegean from the Saronic Gulf.

Everyone goes to the beach for the weekend. Located right next to the city walls, Glyfada turned everyone in the belt during the 2004 Olympics: it was here that most of the nautical competitions took place. A chic suburb with numerous boutiques, as well as a seaside resort famous for its marinas and golf courses, Glyfada comes alive in the summer, when discos and clubs open on Possidonos Avenue. The beaches here and in the direction of Voula are mostly private, dotted with umbrellas and packed to the brim at the end of the week. If you are looking for a quieter place, head south to Vouliagmeni, a luxurious and expensive port surrounded by greenery. The coast becomes more democratic only after Varkiza, not far from Cape Sounion.

Sentinel of Athens, holding guard on the top of the rock "Cape of Columns" at the extreme point of Mediterranean Attica, the temple of Poseidon is one of the peaks of the "sacred triangle", a perfect isosceles triangle, the other points of which are the Acropolis and the temple of Aphaia on Aegina. It was said that sailors once entered the bay on their way to Piraeus and could see all three buildings at the same time, a pleasure now inaccessible due to the frequent smog that descends over these places. Sanctuary restored in the era of Pericles (444 BC), preserved 16 of the 34 Doric columns. Once upon a time, trireme races were held here, organized by the Athenians in honor of the goddess Athena, to whom the second temple, erected on a nearby hill, is dedicated. The place acquires strategic importance: its fortress, now disappeared, made it possible to simultaneously control the silver mines of Lorion and the movement of ships to Athens.

Built on the pine-covered slopes of Mount Hymetos, a few kilometers east of Athens, the 11th-century monastery is no longer quiet at the end of the week when picnickers land nearby. In the central courtyard you will find a church whose walls are covered with frescoes. (XVII-XVIII centuries), the dome rests on four ancient columns, and at the other end of the monastery there is an amazing fountain with a ram's head, from which water flows, which is said to have miraculous properties.

Marathon

This place, one of the most famous, in 490 BC witnessed the victory of the 10,000th Athenian army over the Persians, which outnumbered it three times. To deliver the good news, legend has it, a runner from Marathon ran the 40 km separating it from Athens so quickly that he died of exhaustion upon arrival. 192 Greek heroes who died in this battle were buried on the mound - this is the only credible evidence of this famous event.

Monastery of Daphne

Located 10 km west of Athens, on the edge of a major road, the Byzantine monastery of Daphni is famous for its 11th-century mosaics depicting the apostles and the mighty Christos Pantokrator watching them from the central dome. Having received significant damage from an earthquake in 1999, the building is now closed for restoration.

Pressed on one side by Attica and on the other by the Peloponnese, the Saronic Gulf - the lock of the Corinth Canal - opens the door to Athens. Among the many islands, Aegina is the most interesting and the easiest to reach (1 h 15 min by ferry or 35 min by speedboat).

Most of the ships are docked on the west coast, in the most beautiful port of Aegina. Few people know that it was the first capital of liberated Greece. Fishermen fix their gear here in front of tourists relaxing on cafe terraces and riding in gigs. A narrow pedestrian street leading from the embankment, as if created for walking and shopping. At the northern exit, in Kolon, at the site of archaeological excavations, there are a few ruins of the temple of Apollo (5th century BC). The archaeological museum exhibits artifacts found nearby: donations, pottery, sculptures and steles.

The rest of the island is divided between the pistachio plantations, which are the pride of Aegina, several groves with olive trees and beautiful pine forests, stretching in the east to the seaside resort of Agia Marina, on whose beautiful beaches life is in full swing in summer.

From there you can easily reach the temple of Aphaia, built on a promontory visible from both banks. The splendor of this Doric monument, perfectly preserved, allows one to guess the former power of the island, which was once a rival of Athens. Erected in 500 BC, it was dedicated to the local goddess Aphaia, the daughter of Zeus, who took refuge in these places, fleeing the persecution of King Minos.

If you have some time, visit the ruins of Paliochora, the former capital of Aegina, built on a hill in the interior of the island. Founded in the era of Antiquity, the town grew up during the high Middle Ages, an era when residents, fleeing from pirate raids, took refuge on the tops of the mountains. Until the 19th century, when the inhabitants left it, Paliochora consisted of 365 churches and chapels, of which 28 survived, and you can still see the remains of beautiful frescoes in them. A little lower is the monastery of Agios Nektarios, the largest on the island.

Special offers for hotels

When is the best time to go to Athens

Spring and late autumn - the best time to visit Athens. Summers can be very hot and dry. Winters are sometimes rainy with few snowy days. But at the same time, winter can be the perfect time to visit the city, when it is fresh, but not crowded.

Very often there is smog over the city, the reason for which is in the geography of the city - due to the fact that Athens is surrounded by mountains, exhausts and pollution from cars very often linger over the city.

How to get there

What are the ways to get to Athens from the airport? First of all, a direct metro line (blue) was laid from the airport to the city. The final station in the city center is the Monastiraki metro. You can get to the railway station in Athens by commuter train. A convenient and comfortable way is to call a taxi. A more economical ground transport is a bus; buses follow four routes from the airport.

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Ancient Athens

The archaeological study of Athens began in the 30s of the 19th century, however, excavations became systematic only with the formation in Athens in the 70s-80s of the French, German and English archaeological schools. Literary sources and archaeological material that have survived to this day help to recreate the history of the Athenian policy. The main literary source on the history of Athens during the formation of the state is Aristotle's "Athenian polity" (4th century BC).

The formation of the Athenian state

Theseus fighting the Minotaur

According to the Athenian tradition, the polis arose as a result of the so-called Sinoikism - the unification of the isolated tribal communities of Attica around the Athenian Acropolis (where in the Mycenaean era there was a fortified settlement and a "palace" in the 16th - 13th centuries BC). Ancient Greek tradition attributes the conduct of Sinoikism to the semi-mythical king Theseus, the son of Aegeus (according to tradition, around the 13th century BC; in reality, the process of Sinoikism proceeded over several centuries from the beginning of the 1st millennium BC). Theseus is credited with the introduction of the ancient system of the Athenian community, the division of its population into eupatrides, geomors and demiurges. Gradually, large land plots were concentrated in the hands of the tribal aristocracy (that is, eupatrides), and most of the free population (small landowners) became dependent on it; debt bondage grew. Insolvent debtors were responsible to creditors not only with their property, but also with the personal freedom and freedom of their family members. Debt bondage served as one of the sources of slavery, which was already gaining significant development. Along with slaves and free people in Athens, there was an intermediate layer - the so-called meteki - personally free, but deprived of political and some economic rights. The old division of the demos into phyla, phratries and genera was also preserved. Athens was ruled by nine archons, who were annually elected from among the aristocrats, and the Areopagus - a council of elders, which was replenished by archons who had already served their term of office.

First reforms. Age of Solon

With the growth of property inequality, socio-economic contradictions deepened and the struggle between the tribal aristocracy and the demos intensified, seeking equal rights, redistribution of land, cancellation of debts and abolition of debt bondage. In the middle of the 7th century BC. e aristocrat Cylon made an unsuccessful attempt to seize power. Around 621 BC That is, under Archon Draco, legislative customs were first recorded, which somewhat limited the arbitrariness of aristocratic judges. In 594-593 BC. That is, under the pressure of the demos, Solon carried out reforms: they significantly changed the whole system of the socio-political life of Athens, as a result of which debt bondage was destroyed, the sale of citizens for debts into slavery is now prohibited, land debts (which weighed on small farmers) were annulled, freedom of will, which contributed to the development of private property; a new state body was established - the Council of Four Hundred, a number of measures were taken that encouraged craft and trade. Solon is also credited with the division of all citizens by property qualification into 4 categories, belonging to which now began to determine their rights and obligations to the state. Solon also reformed the Attic calendar by introducing the octaetherides system. However, the socio-political struggle did not stop. The reforms were dissatisfied with both the peasants, who had not achieved the redistribution of land, and the tribal nobility, who had lost their former privileged position.

Athenian democracy

The Age of Peisistratus and Cleisthenes

Around 560 BC e. in Athens, a political upheaval took place: the tyranny of Peisistratus was established, who pursued a policy in the interests of the peasantry and the trade and craft layers of the demos against the clan nobility. Under him, Athens achieved great foreign policy successes: they extended their influence to a number of islands in the Aegean Sea, strengthened themselves on both banks of the Hellespont. Athens grew, adorned with new buildings and statues. A water pipe has been built in the city. During the reign of Peisistratus and his sons, the best poets were invited to the court. After the death of Peisistratus in 527 BC. e. power passed to his sons Hippias and Hipparchus, but, as in all of Greece, the tyranny in Athens was short-lived: Hipparchus was killed by conspirators, and Hippias was overthrown in 510 BC. e. An attempt by the tribal nobility to seize power caused in 508 BC. e. a revolt of the demos led by Cleisthenes. The victory was secured by reforms: the former 4 tribal phyla were replaced by 10 new ones built on a territorial basis. New governing bodies have been created: the Council of Five Hundred and the College of 10 Strategists. As a result of Cleisthenes' reforms, the last remnants of the tribal system were destroyed, and the process of the formation of the state as an apparatus of domination of the slave-owning class was completed.

Greco-Persian Wars

In the Greco-Persian wars (500-449 BC), Athens played a leading role. They were one of the few Greek policies that supported the uprising of the Ionian cities, won a brilliant victory over the Persians at Marathon (490 BC) (see the Battle of Marathon), and were among the first to enter into a defensive alliance of Greek states. The Battle of Salamis (480 BC), which became a turning point in the course of the war, took place precisely on the initiative of the Athenians and, above all, thanks to them and the strategist Themistocles, ended with the complete defeat of the Persian fleet. No less significant was the role of Athens in 479 BC. e. at the Battle of Plataea and at Cape Mycale. In subsequent years, Athens, who led the Delian Union (soon, in fact, turned into the Athenian maritime power - the Athenian arche), completely took the leadership of military operations into their own hands.

At this time, Athens entered a period of greatest upsurge. Piraeus (the harbor of Athens) became the crossroads of trade routes of many countries of the ancient world. On the basis of developed crafts, trade and navigation, in an atmosphere of acute struggle between the oligarchic (headed by Aristides, then Cimon) and democratic (headed by Themistocles, later Ephialtes and Pericles) groups in Athens, the most progressive for that time state system of ancient slave-owning democracy - the Athenian democracy - was established. , which reached its peak during the reign of Pericles (strategist in 444/443 - 429 BC). The supreme power passed to the People's Assembly, all other bodies were subordinate to them, legal proceedings were carried out in a jury - helie - elected from citizens by lot. For the performance of public duties after the election, remuneration from the treasury was established, which opened up a real opportunity for political activity to low-income citizens as well. A theorikon was also established - the issuance of money to citizens to visit the theater. The increased costs of all this were covered by a tax - foros, which the allied cities that were part of the arche had to pay regularly.

Athenian hegemony

In the second half of the 5th century BC. e is the period of the greatest cultural flourishing of Athens - the so-called golden age of Pericles. Outstanding scientists, artists and poets lived and worked in Athens, in particular the historian Herodotus, the philosopher Anaxagoras, the sculptor Phidias, the poets Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, the satirist Aristophanes. The political and judicial eloquence of the Athenians was imitated by the orators of all Greek cities. The language of Athenian writers - the Attic dialect - became widespread, became the literary language of all Hellenes. Huge construction was carried out in Athens: according to the Hippodamus system, Piraeus was rebuilt and connected by the so-called long walls with the city fortifications into a single defensive fortification, the construction of the main structures that made up the ensemble of the Athenian Acropolis, a masterpiece of world architecture, was completed. The Parthenon Temple (built in 447-438 BC by the architects Iktinos and Kallikrates), the statues of Phidias and other works of Athenian visual art of the 5th century served as models for many generations of artists of subsequent centuries.

Peloponnesian War. Under Macedonian rule

Map of Athens at its peak, around 430 BC. e., on the eve of the Peloponnesian War

However, the "golden age" did not last long. The well-being of Athenian citizens was based not only on the exploitation of slaves, but also on the exploitation of the population of the allied cities, which gave rise to constant conflicts within the Athenian arche. These conflicts were exacerbated by the unbridled desire of Athens to expand the scope of its political and economic dominance, which led to clashes with other groups of Greek policies, in which the oligarchic order had an advantage - the Peloponnesian Unionled by Sparta. Ultimately, the contradictions between these groups led to the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC), which was disastrous for the whole of Greece - the largest war in the history of Ancient Greece. Having suffered a defeat in it, Athens has already forever lost its leading position in Greece. In the first half of the 4th century BC. e. Athens from time to time managed to improve its position and even achieve success. So, during the Corinthian War of 395-387 BC. e Athens, largely on Persian subsidies, managed to revive its fleet and restore the fortifications around the city (pitted under the terms of the surrender of 404 BC). In 378-377 BC. e revived, though in a narrowed form, the Athenian Maritime Union, which did not last long. After the defeat at the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC. e. as part of an anti-Macedonian coalition led by the Athenian politician Demosthenes, Athens, like the rest of the Greek policies, had to submit to the hegemony of Macedonia.

Hellenistic era

During the Hellenistic period, when Greece became the arena of struggle between the major Hellenistic states, the position of Athens repeatedly changed. There were brief periods when they managed to achieve relative independence, in other cases Macedonian garrisons were introduced into Athens. In 146 BC e., having shared the fate of all Greece, Athens fell under the rule of Rome; being in the position of an ally city (civitas foederata), they enjoyed only fictitious freedom. In 88 BC e. Athens joined the anti-Roman movement raised by the Pontic king Mithridates VI Eupator. In 86 BC e. The army of Cornelius Sulla took the city by storm and sacked it. Out of respect for the mighty past of Athens, Sulla kept them a fictitious freedom. In 27 BC e. after the formation of the Roman province of Achaia, Athens became part of it. From the 3rd century AD e, when the Balkan Greece began to be subjected to barbarian invasions, Athens fell into complete decline.

Planning and architecture

The hills

Areopagus Hill, Modern Athens

• Areopagus, that is, the hill of Ares - west of the Acropolis, gave its name to the highest judicial and government council of Ancient Athens, which held its meetings on the hillside.
• Nympheion, that is, the hill of nymphs, is southwest of the Areopagus.
• Pnyx is a semicircular hill southwest of the Areopagus. It originally hosted ecclesia meetings, which were later moved to the theater of Dionysus.
• Museion, that is, the Hill of Musaeus or Muses, now known as the Hill of Philopappou - south of Pnyx and the Areopagus.
• Hill Acropolis.

Acropolis

Initially, the city occupied only upper square steep, accessible only from the west, the hill of Acropolis, which served simultaneously as a fortress, political and religious center, the core of the whole city. According to legend, the Pelasgians leveled the top of the hill, surrounded it with walls and built an outer fortification on the western side with 9 gates located one after another. Inside the castle lived the ancient kings of Attica with their wives. Here stood an ancient temple dedicated to Pallas Athena, along with whom Poseidon and Erechtheus were also revered (hence the temple dedicated to him was called the Erechtheion).

The golden age of Pericles was also a golden age for the Acropolis of Athens. First of all, Pericles instructed the architect Iktin on the site of the old Hecatompedon (Temple of the Chaste Athena) destroyed by the Persians to build a new, more magnificent Temple of Athena the Virgin - Parthenon. Its magnificence was enhanced by the numerous statues with which, under the direction of Phidias, the temple was decorated, both outside and inside. Immediately after the completion of the construction of the Parthenon, which served as the treasury of the gods and for the celebration of the Panathenaic, in 438 BC. e. Pericles commissioned the architect Mnesicles to build a magnificent new gate at the entrance to the acropolis - the Propylaea (437-432 BC). A staircase made of marble slabs, meandering, led along the western slope of the hill to the portico, which consisted of 6 Doric columns, the gaps between which decreased symmetrically on both sides.

Agora

Part of the population, subject to the owners of the fortress (acropolis), eventually settled at the foot of the hill, mainly on its southern and southeastern side. It was here that the oldest sanctuaries of the city were located, in particular those dedicated to Olympian Zeus, Apollo, Dionysus. Then there were settlements on the slopes that stretch west of the Acropolis. The lower city expanded even more when, as a result of the unification various parts, into which Attica was divided in ancient times, into one political entity (tradition attributes this to Theseus), Athens became the capital of the united state. Gradually, over the following centuries, the city was also populated from the northern side of the Acropolis. Craftsmen mainly settled here, namely members of the respected and numerous class of potters in Athens, therefore, a significant quarter of the city east of the Acropolis was called Keramik (that is, the quarter of potters).

Finally, in the era of Peisistratus and his sons, an altar to 12 gods was built in the southern part of the new Agora (market), which was located at the northwestern foot of the Acropolis. Moreover, from the Agora, the distances of all areas connected by roads with the city were measured. Peisistratus also began construction in the lower city of the colossal Temple of Olympian Zeus to the east of the Acropolis, and on the highest point of the Acropolis hill, the Temple of Athena the Chaste (Hekatompedon).

Gates

Among the main entrance gates of Athens were:

• in the west: Dipylon gate leading from the center of the Keramik district to the Academy. The gates were considered sacred, since the sacred Elefsinsky Way began from them. Knight's Gate were located between the Hill of the Nymphs and the Pnyx. Piraeus gate- between Pnyx and Mouseyon, led to the road between the long walls, which in turn led to Piraeus. The Miletus gates are so named because they led to the Deme Miletus within Athens (not to be confused with the policy of Miletus).
• in the south: the gates of the dead were near the hill Museion. The road to Faliron began from the Itonia Gate on the banks of the Ilissos River.
• in the east: the gate of Diohara led to the Lyceum. The Diomean Gate got its name because it led to the deme Diomei, as well as the hill of Kinosargu.
• in the north: the Acarni gate led to the Deme Akarney.

Districts

Temple of Olympian Zeus, today

• Inner Keramik, or "Potters' Quarter".
• Dem Milet in the western part of the city, south of Inner Keramik.
• Dem Hippias Kolonos - was considered the most aristocratic among all the demes of the policy of Ancient Athens.
• Dem Scambonide in the northern part of the city and east of Inner Keramik.
• Kollitos - the southern district of the city, lay south of the Acropolis.
• Koele is a district in the southwest of the city.
• Limna - the area to the east of the Miletus deme and the Kollitos area, occupied the territory between the Acropolis and the Ilissos river.
• Diomea - an area in the eastern part of the city, next to the Diomei gates and Kinosarg.
• Agra is a region south of Diomei.

Suburb

• Outer Keramik, located northwest of the city, was considered the best suburb of Athens. Athenians who fell in the war were buried here, and at the far end of the district there was an Academy at a distance of 6 stadia from the city.
• Kinosarg was located east of the city, opposite the Ilissos River, bordered on the Diomean Gate and the gymnasium dedicated to Hercules, where the cynic Antisthenes taught.
• Likey - located east of the city. In this area there was a gymnasium dedicated to Apollo Lyceum, famous for the fact that Aristotle taught his students there.

Streets

Among the most important streets of Athens were:

• Piraeus street, which led from the Piraeus gate to the Athenian agora.
• The Panathenaic Way led from the Dipylon Gate through the Agora to the Acropolis of Athens. The Panathenaic way was a solemn procession during the Panathenaic holidays.
• Trinog Street was located east of the Acropolis.

Public buildings

• Temples. Of these, the most important was the Olympeion, or Temple of Olympian Zeus, located southeast of the Acropolis, near the Ilissos River and the Kalliroe Fountain. Other temples of Athens include: Temple of Hephaestus - located to the west of the agora; Temple of Ares - in the north of the agora; The Metroon, or Temple of the Mother of the Gods, is on the western side of the agora. In addition to these main ones, there were many smaller temples in all parts of the city.
• Buleftherion was erected in the western part of the agora.
• Tholos - a rounded building near Buleftherion, built in 470 BC. e Kimon, who was elected to the Council of Five Hundred. In Tholos, the members of the council ate and also performed sacrifices.

Panathinaikos Stadium, modern view

• Stoas - open colonnades, used by the Athenians as a place of rest at the height of the day, there were several of them in Athens.
• Theatres. The very first theater in Athens was the theater of Dionysus on the southeastern slope of the Acropolis, for a long time it remained the largest theater in the Athenian state. In addition, there was an Odeon to participate in vocal competitions and perform instrumental music.
• The Panathinaikos Stadium was located on the banks of the Ilissos River in the Agra region and hosted the sporting events of the Panathenaic Celebrations. The Panathinaikos Stadium hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.

Sources of

• Buzeskul V.P., Aristotle's Athenian polity as a source for the history of the political system of Athens until the end of the 5th century, Har., 1995;
• Zhebeleva S. A., From the history of Athens (229-31 BC), St. Petersburg. 1898;
• Kolobova K. M., The ancient city of Athens and its monuments, L., 1961;
• Zelyin K.K., The struggle of political factions in Attica in the VI century. BC e., M., 1964;
• Dovatur A., Politics and polities of Aristotle, M.-L., 1965;
• Ferguson W.S., Hellenistic Athens, L., 1911;
• Day J., An economic history of Athens under Roman domination, N. Y., 1942.

Ancient Greece in themes - Portal:Greece Story Ancient Greeks Geography Rulers Politics Wars Economics and Law

“Athens is one of the greatest Greek cities. In the minds of people, he is associated with the whole of Ancient Greece. In part, this is deserved, because many of the achievements of the Hellenic civilization appeared in Athens. The city gave Greece dozens of philosophers, poets, playwrights, orators, historians, politicians. Athens imperiously drew to itself the best people of Greece. Even the conquering Romans paid tribute to the city, sparing the rebellious Athens for the sake of the glory of their ancestors.

Mycenaean and Homeric Greece

The territory of Athens has been inhabited since the Neolithic era. By the 15th century BC. e. attribute the appearance of an Achaean city on this site. On the Acropolis stood a citadel and a palace. But Bronze Age Athens was never a major political center like Mycenae, Tiryns or Pylos.

It is not clear whether the city suffered from the Dorians. The Athenians themselves were always proud of the fact that they were the autochthonous population of this land, and not settlers like other Hellenes. However, the beginning of Homeric Greece was a period of decline economic development Athens. In the XI century BC. e. Ionian migration began, many Athenians went overseas and founded new cities on the coast of Asia Minor.

From about 900 BC, Athens became a major center of trade. During the period of the "Dark Ages" and the era of the Archaic, Athens developed like other Greek states. According to tradition, kings ruled the state for a long time. The abolition of royal power historical tradition refers to 752 BC. e., when the hereditary basile was replaced by three officials - basile, polemarch and archon. The first was responsible for the religious sphere, the second was the commander of the army, and the third was in charge of the internal affairs of the state.

Aristotle wrote that at first the positions of three archons were introduced, and later their number was increased to nine. Former archons filled the council of the Areopagus, which enjoyed influence in Archaic Athens. Membership in this council was for life. The monarchy in the policy was replaced by an aristocratic republic. In the 9th-8th centuries, the population of Attica grew. Burials of that time become richer, luxury items are found in them. But at the end of the 8th century, something happened, and the policy began to decline. There have been theories about an epidemic or drought during this time. The same years include an increase in the number of finds in places of worship. Natural disasters could be the reason for the growth of religiosity of the inhabitants of Attica. Trade declined and the Athenians became more involved in agriculture.

Synoykism and the annexation of Eleusis

An important process that allowed Athens to become a powerful city was Sinoikism. This word was called the union of several communities into one. Athenians managed to create a single state, the territory of which was comparable to the territory of neighboring Boeotia, where there were several separate city-states. The ancients attributed Sinoikism to the legendary king Theseus. According to them, the hero united Attica, which consisted of twelve independent states. Sinoikism did not imply the resettlement of the inhabitants of Attica to the city at the foot of the Acropolis. It consisted in the liquidation of all local authorities, whose place was now occupied by one general advice in Athens.

In the West Attica the polis was located Eleusis. It has existed since Mycenaean times. In the VIII-VII centuries BC. e. Athens fought with Eleusis, and the struggle ended with the inclusion of this policy in the Athenian state. Sources close in time to the events report very sparingly about the war. The legends of the Greeks told about the war, where the legendary king Erechtheus commanded the Athenians, and the king Eumolpus commanded the Eleusinians. According to another version, Eleusis was subjugated by the grandson of Erechtheus, Ion. During excavations in Attica, the remains of an old border wall between the territories of the two policies were found. Probably, the conflict was not resolved by one battle, but dragged on for many years. In the 7th century BC e. the city became part of the Athens polis. After subjugation, Eleusis retained his governing bodies, which dealt with internal affairs. The nobility of the city, which was associated with the cult of the mysteries, retained a high position in the Athenian state. The temple of Eleusis was built in Athens, and the festival of the mysteries henceforth began there. But the mysteries themselves remained under the control of the Eleusinian clans.

7th-6th centuries BC e.: legislators and tyrants

By the end of the 7th century BC. e. Athens was an aristocratic republic. The inhabitants were divided into four phyla: Geleonts, Aegikoreas, Argads and Goplets. Their eponyms were the sons of the legendary Ion. Each phyla consisted of three trittia. At the head of the phyla were philobasilei, who were elected from among the noblest citizens. The estates of the population were divided into three categories - noble eupatrides, geomora farmers and demiurge artisans.

In the era of the Archaic, in many Greek policies, ambitious people seized power and became tyrants. In Athens, an aristocrat tried to become a tyrant Kilon. He was a young man from a noble family, the son-in-law of the tyrant Megara Theagenes. In 640 B.C. e. Cylon won the Olympic Games. In that era, victory in Olympia gave its owner a status close to sacred. The Delphic oracle gave the young man a prophecy that he would capture the Acropolis on the day of the greatest holiday in honor of Zeus. Cylon considered that the Olympic Games were this holiday, and with a group of supporters captured the Acropolis. The Athenians did not accept the tyrant and, under the leadership of the archons, laid siege to Cylon and his associates. After a long siege, the failed tyrant and his brother fled, while their comrades-in-arms surrendered.

In 621 BC. e. in Athens, the famous laws of Draco were passed. Almost nothing is known about this man. He did not hold the office of archon when his laws were written. Only the section on murder survives from the Drakont code. The legislator made a distinction between intentional and unintentional murder. The code of laws made it possible for the murderer and the relatives of the murdered to reconcile.

About the rest of the laws dragon there are only references that speak of the extraordinary severity of the laws. Draco's murder laws were in effect as early as the 4th century BC. e., but it is assumed that the rest of the code was canceled. Draco's legislation was not a reform, but a record of the customary law of the Athenians, which had been in force before him.

Draconian legislation did not resolve the contradictions in the policy, and in the first decade of the 6th century BC. e. a new legislator, Solon, entered the scene. This man came, like all the leaders of that time, from a noble family. In ancient times he had a reputation as a sage. Solon's poems have been preserved, where he talks about his activities. Among his legislative measures was the division of the Athenians into four groups based on property qualifications. People from different property groups had different political rights. Representatives of the first two groups were elected to the post of archon. The poorest citizens, the fetes, generally had the right only to access to the people's assembly and the courts. The legislator also took measures to free the Athenians who fell into debt bondage.

After the reforms of Solon, the life of the policy went on as usual - politicians who came from noble families competed for power. One of them was destined to become the ruler of Athens.

Peisistratus born about 600 BC. e. in a noble family that erected its origin to the king of Pylos Nestor. In the 560s BC. e. the future tyrant became famous as a commander: during the war with Megara, he captured their fortification Nisei. After his victory, Peisistratus became one of the three most powerful politicians in Athens. In 560 B.C. e. he received a detachment of bodyguards from the people and with their help seized power. He was soon removed from power. Then Peisistratus, having made an alliance with Megacles from the Alcmaeonid clan, returned. Soon he was again forced to leave Athens.

Ten years later, Peisistratus decided to return power by force. In 546 B.C. e. he landed near Marathon with an army of mercenaries and volunteers from several cities of Greece - Thebes, Eretria, Argos, Naxos. The inhabitants of that part of Attica where he landed supported the tyrant and strengthened his army. After that, in one battle, Peisistratus easily defeated the Athenian militia. His soldiers attacked the Athenians suddenly and put them to flight. At the same time, supporters of Peisistratus tried not to shed the blood of fellow citizens.

The tyrant occupied Athens. The Alcmeonids were forced to leave the city. Peisistratus quietly ruled the polis for almost twenty years. Ancient writers spoke of him as a humane and just ruler who cared about both the nobility and the common people.

Peisistratus expanded the Athenian possessions in Thrace, conquered Sigey from Mitylene, captured Delos. Great Dionysia began to be widely celebrated in Athens. At the end of his life, the tyrant decided to erect in the city a majestic temple dedicated to the supreme god. On the outskirts of Athens, work began on the construction of the Temple of Olympian Zeus. But the creation of this temple was not completed under Peisistratus or his sons, but only after seven centuries, when Greece was already a Roman province. By order of the Athenian tyrant, a commission was created that wrote down the texts of Homer's poems.

In 527 B.C. e. the tyrant died of old age, and his sons took power in Athens. Hippias and Hipparchus ruled in Attica, another son of Hegesistrat during the life of his father ruled Sigei, dependent on Athens. At first, the Peisistratids ruled in the spirit of their father. Exiled aristocrats were allowed to return to the polis. Cleisthenes, from the Alcmaeonid family, even held the position of archon. At the court of Peisistratus and his sons lived prominent poets of Greece - Anacreon and Simonides of Ceos, the Orphic poet Onomacritus. In 514 B.C. e. Hipparchus died at the hands of the conspirators Harmodius and Aristogeiton. The assassins acted out of personal motives, but the ideology of democratic Athens made them fighters against tyranny. Later, bronze statues of Harmodius and Aristogeiton stood in the city in a place of honor.

Supporters of the conspirators were executed, and Hippias began to rule harder. The aristocrats were again forced to leave Athens. Shortly thereafter, the Alcmeonids attempted to overthrow the tyranny. They occupied the fortress of Lipsidrius in Attica. But the troops of Hippias managed to drive out the Alcmeonids and their supporters from there. Aristotle quotes the drinking verses of the Athenian aristocrats, which glorify the courage of the Eupatrides who died defending the fortress.

During the years of exile, the Alcmeonids lived in Delphi. At their own expense, they rebuilt the Temple of Apollo. The priesthood of this city urged the Spartans to help the exiles. Finally, the army of Lacedaemon under the command of King Cleomenes entered Attica and defeated the supporters of Hippias. The tyrant surrendered, having been able to leave Athens safely.

After the fall of tyranny in the city, the aristocratic politicians Isagoras and Cleisthenes fought for power. The latter managed to win over the people of Athens by promising reforms. Winning in political struggle, Cleisthenes carried out a series of transformations.

The goal of Cleisthenes's reforms was to fight the old tribal orders. He created ten phyla instead of the previous four. Fifty representatives of each phylum formed a council of five hundred. The reformer divided one hundred demes of Attica into trittia. Each trittia included the demo of the city, the coastal and central parts. Three trittia were included in the phylum. The main territorial unit was the dem. Cleisthenes created a college of ten strategists, in whose hands was the military leadership of the policy. In the V-IV centuries BC. e. the post of strategist became the most important in Athens.

5th century BC e. rise and fall

In 507 B.C. e. Athenian embassy visited Persia. At Greeks and earlier there were contacts with the rulers of Asia Minor monarchies, so there was nothing unusual in it. But, not knowing the Persian customs, the Athenians provided the Persians with "land and water", which meant formal submission to the empire. During the Ionian uprising of 500-494 BC. e. the Athenians sent a small detachment of ships to help their relatives. The Athenian ships did not take part in the battles and soon returned back. But both of these events gave the Persians a pretext for war.

In 490 BC. e. The Persian army landed in Attica. The Athenians managed to win thanks to the military genius of their commander Miltiades. Immediately after the victory at Marathon, the commander offered to punish the Greek islanders who supported the Persians. Miltiades led an expedition against Paros, but was defeated. In the 480s BC. e. the leading role in Athens belonged to a man named Themistocles. He came from the aristocratic family of Likomides, who was inferior in nobility and wealth to the families whose representatives set the tone in the politics of that time - the Alcmeonides, the Philaides, the Keriks.

For the first time Themistocles was archon in 493 BC. e .. In this position, he began work on the creation of the harbor of Athens in the deme of Piraeus. Returned to the city Miltiades pushed Themistocles into the background, but in the 480s BC. e. he regained his former influence. At the suggestion of Themistocles, silver from the discovery in 487 BC. e. the veins were not directed to distribution to the people, as usual, but to the construction of the fleet. The Athenians managed to equip two hundred battle triremes, and this was the largest fleet in Greece. During the Persian invasion of 480-478 BC. e. Themistocles was at the head of the Athenian contingent in the Greek fleet. He was the second man in the fleet. But it was thanks to the decisions of Themistocles that the battle of Salamis was won.

During the war, the Athenians evacuated the population of their city. They sent some of the civilians to Troezen in the Peloponnese, and some to the island of Salamis. Empty Athens was occupied by the Persian army and destroyed. After returning to the city, on the initiative of Themistocles, the Athenians built around the city and Piraeus long walls that made Athens impregnable.

After the victories at Salamis and Plataea, the Athenians continued to fight against Persia. The war was fought outside of Greece: in Thrace, Asia Minor, Cyprus, Egypt. Finally, peace between Athens and the Achaemenid Empire was concluded in 449 BC. eh ..

During the Greco-Persian wars, Athens founded the Delian Symmachy. It was later transformed into Athenian Maritime Union. It united more than 200 Greek cities of the Balkans, islands, Asia Minor. The allies had to pay Athens a tax called foros.

At the head of Athens after the expulsion of Themistocles around 476 BC. e. stood several prominent politicians. Aristides, the rival of Themistocles, played an important role in organizing the union. Sea campaigns against the Persians until his death in 450 BC. e. led by Cimon son of Miltiades.

Two decades after 449 B.C. e. were the time when Athens was headed by a politician Pericles. Under him, work was carried out to rebuild the Acropolis: the hill above the city was decorated with the majestic temples of the Parthenon and the Erechtheion. By this time, a democratic form of government had developed in the city, but Pericles wisely knew how to direct the will of the people in the direction he needed.

In 457-446 BC. e. Athens and Sparta fought. Then it was possible to conclude peace on acceptable terms. But in 431 BC. e. the war broke out again. A new conflict that went down in history as Peloponnesian War, lasted until 404 BC. e .. It ended with the complete defeat of Athens and the dissolution of the Athenian Maritime Union. During the meeting of the Spartans and their allies, representatives of Thebes openly demanded the destruction of the city and the sale of its inhabitants into slavery.

School of Hellas: features of the cultural life of Athens

In the Classical era, the most important achievements of the artistic culture of Athens were created. Tragedies and comedies were staged at the Great Dionysia, Leney and Anthesteria.

The philosopher Plato put the theater on a par with the courts and the people's assembly among the institutions that ensure a democratic form of government. In the city there was a special fund "Theorikon", from which the poorest Athenians were given money to buy tickets. Orator Demad called this money the cement of democracy.

It is believed that Pericles laid the foundation for the distribution of "theatrical money". It is known for certain that they existed at the time Demosthenes. Mentions of the theorikon after the subjugation of Athens to Macedonia in 322 BC. e. no. Most likely it was abolished.

An official was elected to manage the theorikon. In the 350s BC. e. the politician Evbul, who held this post, passed a law according to which all cash surpluses replenished the theorikon. This law established the death penalty for a proposal to use the money of the entertainment fund for other purposes. After a long struggle, just before the Battle of Chaeronea, Demosthenes was able to get this law repealed.

In the 380s BC. e. a former student of Socrates, Plato created his own philosophical school. The place for her was a grove near Athens, dedicated to the hero Academ. In honor of him, Plato's school got its name - the Academy. Classes included lectures by mentors and talks. It is not known how long the training at the Academy took - presumably one to two years. But Aristotle was a student of Plato for about twenty years.

Students flocked to Plato from all over the Greek world. Around 370 B.C. e. Aristotle arrived there from the provincial Stagira. After twenty years of living in Athens, he traveled for some time, and in 335 BC. e. founded his own school. It was called Likey after the place where it was founded.

In the summer, Panathenaic celebrations were celebrated in the city. Initially, they were celebrated for one day, then the celebrations were extended to three. The earliest mention of the Panathenaic dates back to the 7th century BC. e .. The Athenians called the founders of the holiday the legendary king Kekrop or the hero Theseus. It was also assumed that Theseus made Panathenaic a holiday common to all Attica.

Initially, the celebration consisted of offering the goddess a new peplos. In 566 BC. e. Panathenaic began to be accompanied by sports competitions. Since that time, the Panathenaic celebrations began every year, and once every four years, the Great Panathenaic, accompanied by the offering of peplos and competitions. To organize the holiday in the National Assembly, ten aflofetes were elected, one from each phylum. They held this position for four years. Under Peisistratus, the Great Panathenaic began to include competitions of rhapsodes performed by Homer's poems. Later, competitions of musicians were added to them.

Sports competitions included running, pentathlon, fisticuffs, pankration. There were three age categories of participants - boys, youths, adult men. The winners were awarded amphoras with olive oil. The musicians were awarded with a golden wreath and a sum of money.

Chariot races were held outside the city. The team competition was the performance of the dance in full armor. During the Great panathenaic Trier race took place. Each phyla fielded one ship with a crew, and they competed in speed between the harbors of Piraeus and Munichius.

The offering of the peplos was a solemn procession that left the Keramik region at dawn and went to the Acropolis. A robe for Athena was carried on a wagon. The peplos itself, nine months before Panathenaia, was woven by girls from the noble families of the policy. To guide the work, the archon-basiles chose two girls aged 7-11 from noble families. A pattern was embroidered on the robe, depicting the exploits of the goddess in the battle with the giants.

At the head of the procession on the Panatheneas were girls weaving peplos. Behind them are girls with vessels and censers for rituals and soldiers of the Athenian militia. There were many Athenians, Metecians and citizens of allied policies in the procession. A separate category was the canefor girls (“basket-bearers”), who carried the implements for the sacrifice in baskets. To become a canephora, a girl had to come from a good family, be beautiful and have a spotless reputation. The fathers of the Canefors received honors and rewards from the state. Girls who repeatedly performed this duty (not only in Panathenaia) were awarded honorary decrees and even statues.

Difficulties of the 4th century

The year after the Peloponnesian War became a time of new tyranny for Athens. After the conclusion of peace, a commission of 30 Athenian citizens became the head of the city. It was declared that they should draw up new laws for Athens. Contemporaries called them the Thirty, but later the Greeks and Romans gave this government a more catchy name - "thirty tyrants."

At the head of the Thirty stood the Athenian Critias son of Kalleskhra. He came from a noble family of Codrids. His father was one of the participants in the Four Hundred coup that tried to overthrow democracy. Critias himself was a student of Socrates in his youth, was friends with Alcibiades, even his epigram has been preserved, in which he claims that he proposed to return the disgraced commander from exile. Later he himself was expelled, lived in Thessaly, where he participated in some troubles.

Critias did not hide his contempt for the bulk of the people and the Meteki. The government of the Thirty under him established a regime of real terror in the policy: Meteks were arrested and executed without trial, and their property was appropriated. Only 3,000 Athenians were considered full citizens. Critias was reputed to be a fan of the Spartan order, and in his actions they see an attempt to rebuild Athens in the likeness of Sparta. Three thousand is an analogue of the Spartan homeys, the rest of the population of Athens are incomplete perieks.

Theramenes, another outstanding member of the government, criticized the actions of the head of the Thirty. But Critias, during a meeting of the assembly of three thousand, forced his colleague to commit suicide. Theramenes courageously took the goblet of poison, splashed some of its contents on the ground, as in a game of kottab, and drank the rest.

Thrasybulus, another friend of Alcibiades, took refuge in Thebes. From there he went out with 70 companions and occupied the fortress of Phil. She became the center where the Athenians began to flock, ready to fight the tyrants. The defenders of Philae repelled the attack of the Thirty warriors, and then gave them a battle, in which Critias died. Three thousand expelled the surviving members of the government and organized a new one, wanting to continue the fight against Thrasybulus. After negotiations, both sides managed to reconcile. In 403 BC. e. democratic government was restored in Athens. The People's Assembly has decreed that no one has the right to question another for his actions during the reign of the Thirty and the civil war. An exception was made for the surviving members of the government, but even they could justify themselves by giving an account of their actions. Separate trials took place, and the philosopher Socrates became the victim.

In 395 BC. e. Athens, Thebes, Argos and Corinth started a war against Sparta. When in 399 BC. e. The war between Sparta and Persia began, the Athenian strategist Konon, who lived at the court of the ruler of Cyprus, Evagoras, offered his services to the Persians. In 394 BC. e. Conon and the satrap Pharnabazus defeated the Spartans at sea near the island of Cnidus. After that, the Athenian returned to his homeland with Persian gold, with which they restored the fleet and the Long Walls of Piraeus.

At the end of the war, Persia began to support Sparta, and in 386 BC. e. with her participation in Susa, the Greeks concluded a peace treaty. He forbade interpolis unions, but transferred the islands of Lemnos, Imbros and Skyros to Athens.

The next thirty years were for Athens maneuvering time between Persia, Sparta and Thebes. In 378 B.C. e. Athens and Thebes started a war with Sparta. Created this year Second Athenian Maritime Union. The decree on its creation declared the non-interference of the Athenians in the internal affairs of the members of the union. In 377-376 BC. e. Athenian mercenaries under the command of the famous strategist Chabrius defended Boeotia from the Spartans. In 371 BC. e. the Thebans defeated the Spartans at Leuctra, and this victory made Boeotian Union the strongest state in Greece.

At the same time, Athens took up the old ways in relation to the allies. There were cases of interference in the internal affairs of cities. In 357 BC. e. The Allied War began. The city of Pallas was opposed by the former members of the alliance - Byzantium, Rhodes, Chios, who were supported by the Carian ruler Mausolus. Athens lost this war, but the Second Athenian Maritime Union existed in a truncated form for another two decades.

The allied war coincided with the first conflict between Athens and King Philip II of Macedonia. The struggle was for control of the cities of the Halkidiki peninsula. The confrontation between Athens and Macedonia ended with the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC. eh ..

The Athenians lost the battle but retained their independence. During the reign of Alexander the Great, the politician Lycurgus was at the head of Athens. Thanks to his financial genius, the policy, not receiving income from foros, was able to increase its income several times. The Athenians accumulated strength - new ships were built (the Athenian fleet was never as large as it was in these years).

After the death of Alexander, Athens and some other policies decided to give battle to Macedonia. Thus began the Lamian War of 323-322 BC. e .. Under the command of talented strategists Leosthenes and Antiphilus, the Athenians achieved some success, but in the end they were defeated at the Battle of Crannon. At the same time, the Macedonians defeated the Athenian fleet three times, which no longer revived as a serious military force.

Oligarchic rule was imposed on the city, which was soon overthrown. In 317 BC. e. one of the commanders of Alexander, Cassander, imposed on Athens his protege, Demetrius of Phaler, who ruled the city for ten years.

In 307 BC. e. Athens was liberated by the prince Demetrius, son of Antigonus, and Demetrius of Phaler fled. The Athenians restored the democratic constitution, destroyed the statue of the deposed ruler and repealed some of his laws.

For the first time in the history of the polis, they honored the kings with divine honors, and this marked the beginning of a tradition in the history of Hellenistic Athens. The cult of the savior gods Antigonus and Demetrius was established in the city, games were held in their honor. The priest was responsible for the cult of the new gods. Two more were added to the ten phyla - Antigonides and Demetrias, who received first place in the list of phyla. The podium, where the statues of the eponymous heroes of the phyla stood, was expanded and statues of kings were placed on it. Other statues of them were erected next to the monument to Harmodius and Aristogeiton.

In subsequent years, the Athenians retreated from Poliorket and again swore allegiance to him. In 287 BC. e. Athens rebelled and drove the king's garrison out of the city. But Piraeus and some fortresses of Attica remained under the control of Macedonia. The next 25 years the policy was independent. In 267 B.C. e. Athens ventured in alliance with Sparta and Egypt to challenge Macedonia. The war was unsuccessful, and Athens again became dependent on Macedonia. But in 229 B.C. e. the Athenians managed peacefully with the help of a sum of money to force foreign garrisons to leave Athens, Piraeus and other fortresses in Attica.

After the restoration of independence, the Athenians established the state cult of Demos. Its hereditary priests were the descendants of Mikion and Euryklid, by whose efforts in 229 BC. e. freedom has been achieved. Statues of citizens who had distinguished themselves before Athens began to be dedicated to the temple built by Demos.

In 224 BC. e. divine honors were awarded to the king of Egypt, Ptolemy III. A state cult was established for him and the position of a priest was introduced. The thirteenth phylum of Ptolemais was established. The number of members of the bule increased to 650. One deme from other phyla was attributed to the phylum, and a dem Berenicedes was also established in honor of Ptolemy's wife. The statue of the king took its place among the statues of the eponymous heroes of the Athenian phyla. A Ptolemaic public holiday was established.

On the eve of the war with Macedonia in 200 BC. e. King Attalus arrived in Athens. The people of the city received him with honor. The Athenians established a new phylum Attalis in honor of the king, and in its composition dem Apollonia, named after Attalus's wife.

At the end of the III century BC. e. a new power appeared in the Balkans - Rome. During the 2nd century BC. e. Athens was an ally of the Roman Republic, which was increasing its influence on the peninsula. In 88 BC. e. Athens ventured to support King Mithridates VI of Pontus in his war with Rome. At first, the Peripatetic philosopher Athenion became the head of the anti-Roman movement in the city. Later he was replaced by another native of Athens - Aristion, a follower of the philosophy of Epicurus. He was sent to the city by Mithridates.

The Pontic commander Archelaus made Piraeus his headquarters. In 87 B.C. e. Attica became a battlefield. The Roman general Sulla laid siege to Athens and Piraeus. Archelaus was a capable commander, and the siege of the port was difficult. By order of the Roman, the groves of the Academy and Lyceum were cut down and siege engines were made from the trees. March 86 B.C. e. Legionnaires captured the city with a night attack. A massacre began in Athens, but Sulla, at the request of the exiles and senators from his headquarters, stopped it, declaring that he spared the living for the sake of the dead. Aristion with loyal people defended the Acropolis for some time, but hunger forced him to surrender. The philosopher, the soldiers of his guard, the magistrates of Athens that year were executed. Archelaus escaped Piraeus with his army by sea.

After the war ended, Sulla returned to Athens. There, the honors of the Athenians awaited him: he was glorified as a liberator from the tyranny of Aristion, they held a feast of Silleia in his honor, and a statue of the commander was erected.

During the civil war between Caesar and Pompey, Greece became the battlefield, and its policies supported Pompeii. Several Athenian ships reinforced his fleet, and Athenian hoplites entered his army and fought at Pharsalus. After Caesar's victory, the Athenian embassy arrived to beg him for mercy. Julius Caesar forgave the city for the glory of the ancestors of the Athenians. The Athenians habitually erected a statue of the Roman, on the pedestal of which they glorified him as a savior and benefactor. A few years later, the Athenians were again dragged into the civil wars of the Romans. After the assassination of Caesar, Athens supported his assassins. October 44 B.C. e. Brutus and Cassius sailed to Greece. Honorary decrees were passed in her cities in honor of the murderers of Caesar, and the Athenians erected their bronze statues next to the statues of Harmodius and Aristogeiton.

Brutus lived for some time in Athens. He attended lectures by the philosophers of the Academy and the Lyceum. At the same time, he was working to gather forces, attracting to his side the influential Romans who held posts in the Balkans.

After the defeat of Brutus and Cassius, Mark Antony lived in Athens for some time. He tried to win over the inhabitants of the ancient city and enjoyed being called "the friend of the Athenians." In 39-37 BC. e. Mark Antony lived in Athens with his wife Octavia, who was very much loved by the townspeople.

In 32 BC. e., when the war with Octavian began, Antony with Queen Cleopatra visited Athens. Keeping in mind the popularity of Octavia, the ruler of Egypt tried to win over the citizens of the policy with gifts. After the Battle of Actium in 31 B.C. e. August occupied the city without a fight. This ended the period of independence of Athens, which was to become part of the province of the Roman Empire. Achaia.