Athens Definition by Joshua J. Mark published on 06 July 2021 Parthenon, East Facade Mark Cartwright (CC BY-NC-SA) Athens, Greece, with its famous Acropolis, has come to symbolize the whole of the country in the popular imagination, and not without cause. It not only has its iconic ruins and the famous port of Piraeus but, thanks to ancient writers, its history is better documented than most other ancient Greek city-states. The city began as a small community of the Mycenaean Civilization (c. 1700-1100 BCE) and grew into a city that, at its height, was associated with the development of democracy, philosophy, science, mathematics, drama and literature, art, and many other aspects of world culture and civilization including the Olympic Games. The city was burned in the Persian invasion of 480 BCE, rebuilt by the statesman Pericles (l. 495-429 BCE), and became the superpower of the ancient world through its formidable military and wealth. It fell to Sparta after the Second Peloponnesian War (413-404 BCE) but again revived to assume a significant position of leadership among the city-states even after it was conquered by Philip II of Macedon (r. 359-336 BCE) in 338 BCE following his victory at the Battle of Chaeronea. The city was taken as a province of Rome after the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE and became a favorite of a number of Roman emperors, especially Hadrian (r. 117-138 CE) who contributed funds and building projects to beautify it. Paul the Apostle is depicted in the Book of Acts as preaching to the Athenians, and it would later develop into an important center of Christian theology. After Greece was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1458, Athens entered a long period of decline which was only reversed in the 19th century after the country won its independence from the Turks in 1821. Recognizing the importance of the past in maintaining national identity, the government focused on efforts to restore and preserve monuments and temples like the Parthenon as well as ancient locales like the agora. Today, Athens is the capital of Greece and among the most often visited and highly regarded cultural centers in the world. Early Settlement & Legend The Athenians held to customs they felt were more ancient & therefore superior to those of their neighbors. Evidence of human habitation on the Acropolis and, below, in the area around the agora, dates back to the Neolithic Period with a more advanced culture developing clearly c. 5000 BCE and, probably, as early as 7000 BCE. According to legend, the Athenian King Cecrops wanted the city named for himself but the gods, seeing how beautiful it was, felt it deserved an immortal name. A contest was held among the gods on the Acropolis, with Cecrops and the citizenry looking on, to determine which deity would win the honor. Poseidon struck a rock with his trident, and as water gushed forth, he assured the people that now they would never suffer drought. Athena was next in line and dropped a seed into the earth which sprouted swiftly as an olive tree. The people thought the olive tree more valuable than the water (as, according to some versions of the story, the water was salty, as was Poseidon's realm), and Athena was chosen as patron and the city named for her. According to scholar Robin Waterfield: This myth may reveal long-forgotten historical events. The ancient Greek name for Athens is a plural word, because once there were several villages which came together under the auspices of the goddess Athena – “the communities of Athena” – as it were. If the chief deity of one of these original villages was Poseidon, the myth reflects his losing out to Athena. (36) The Acropolis and Ancient Athens Simeon Netchev (CC BY-NC-SA) The myth was also used, later, to justify the second-class status of Athenian women since it was the women of Athens who chose Athena’s gift over Poseidon’s and, so this justification goes, to turn away Poseidon’s wrath from the city, women’s names were not recorded on birth records as mothers (the woman’s father’s name was given) and women were denied a political voice and civic rights outside of their participation in religious activities. As the soil was not conducive to large-scale agricultural programs, Athens turned to trade for its livelihood and mainly to sea trade through its port at Piraeus. The early Mycenaean period saw massive fortresses rise all over Greece, and Athens was no exception. The remains of a Mycenaean palace can still be seen today on the Acropolis in the present day. Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey (8th century BCE) portray the Mycenaeans as great warriors and seafaring people trading widely throughout the Aegean and the Mediterranean region, and this became a point of pride for the Athenians who considered themselves direct descendants of the great Homeric heroes. Some Active Trade Routes in the Bronze Age Mediterranean Kelly Macquire (CC BY-NC-SA) Around 1200 BCE the Sea Peoples invaded the Greek archipelago of the Aegean from the south while, simultaneously, the Dorians came down from the north into mainland Greece. While the Sea Peoples made definite incursions into Attica (the mainland region surrounding Athens) the Dorians bypassed the city, allowing the Mycenaean culture to survive (although, like the rest of Greece, there seems to have been an economic and cultural downturn following these invasions during the Bronze Age Collapse). The Athenians, afterward, claimed for themselves a special status in that they spoke Ionian, instead of Doric, Greek and held to customs they felt were more ancient and therefore superior to those of their neighbors. Solon & the Law The wealthy aristocrats held control of both the land and the Greek government, and, in time, poorer landowners became enslaved (or nearly so) through debt to the wealthier citizens. Further, there was a perceived lack of consistency among the other laws of the city. The first series of laws written to address these problems were provided by the statesman Draco (also given as Dracon/Drakon) c. 621 BCE but were considered too severe (the penalty for most infractions was death), and so the great lawgiver Solon (l. c. 630 - c. 560 BCE) was called upon to modify and revise them. Solon, though an aristocrat himself, created a series of laws which equalized the political power of the citizenry and, in so doing, provided the groundwork for Athenian democracy c. 594 BCE. Solon Kpjas (Public Domain) Solon also devoted considerable effort to making the policies of Athens not only just but profitable. He legalized prostitution in ancient Athens and taxed both individual prostitutes and brothels. As Athens was a popular and profitable trade center, many young men arrived in the city and sought the services of prostitutes while young Athenian males, who usually did not marry until after the age of 30, were provided with the means to gain sexual experience without running the risk of enraging the father and male relatives of a virgin female through pre-marital sex. By encouraging young men to visit prostitutes, Solon diffused one source of blood feuds in the city since young women of good families were understood to be off-limits to any males except the one chosen to be her husband. After Solon resigned from public office, various factional leaders sought to seize power, and the ultimate victor, Peisistratus (d. c. 528 BCE), recognized the value of Solon's revisions and kept them, in a modified form, throughout his reign as a benevolent tyrant. His son, Hippias (r c. 528-510 BCE) continued his policies as co-ruler with his brother Hipparchus (r. c. 528-514 BCE) until Hipparchus was assassinated over a love affair in 514 BCE. The Tyrannicides & Democracy Only upper-class male citizens had a political voice, disenfranchising women, foreigners, & the many slaves who made up a large part of Athens’ population. Hipparchus was attracted to a young man named Harmodios, but his advances were rejected because Harmodios was already involved with another man, Aristogeiton. Hipparchus did not take the rejection well and so removed Harmodios’ sister from her highly visible and prestigious position among the women of Athena's cult who participated in the Panathenaic Festival honoring the goddess. As scholar Sarah B. Pomeroy notes, "to prevent a candidate from participating in this event was to cast aspersions on her reputation" (76). Hipparchus’ removal of the girl was tantamount to claiming she was not a virgin and so insulting both her and her family. Harmodius and Aristogeiton murdered Hipparchus during the festival, were caught afterwards, and executed. After this, Hippias became increasingly paranoid and erratic in his reign which culminated in the Athenian Revolt of 510 BCE which was actually a military action by Sparta under their king Cleomenes I (r. c. 519 - c. 490 BCE) who was invited by the Athenians to rid them of Hippias. Afterwards, the Athenians, not wanting to be obliged to Sparta, rewrote their history casting Harmodios and Aristogeiton as "the tyrannicides" who had struck the first blow for freedom and restored the democratic ideals of the city. Actually, they had done neither; they were simply avenging a personal insult. Caryatids of the Erechtheion Dennis Jarvis (CC BY-NC-SA) In the aftermath of the coup, and after settling affairs with various factions, the statesman Cleisthenes (l. 6th century BCE) was appointed to reform the government and the laws and, c. 507 BCE, he instituted a new form of government which today is recognized as democracy. Cleisthenes is regarded as the "Father of Athenian Democracy", but this form of government was significantly different from how democracy is understood in the present day. In Athenian democracy, only upper-class male citizens had a political voice, disenfranchising women, foreigners, and, of course, the many slaves who made up a large part of Athens’ population. Even so, this new form of government involved the citizenry directly in political decisions, and even those who were not allowed to vote understood that decisions were being made now by a majority of informed citizens rather than a tyrant. Athenian democracy would provide the stability necessary to make Athens the cultural and intellectual center of the ancient world; a reputation that lasts even into the modern age. Waterfield comments: The pride that followed from widespread involvement in public life gave Athenians the energy to develop their city both internally and in relation to their neighbors. (62) Believing themselves descended from great heroes, and with heroes in their midst like the tyrannicides, the Athenians understood they now had the best form of government which they should encourage elsewhere; so they decided to incite the Greek communities of Asia Minor, then under the control of the Persian Achaemenid Empire (c. 550-330 BCE) to revolt. The Persian Wars The Persian Empire at this time was led by the emperor Darius I (the Great, r. 522-486 BCE) who quickly crushed the rebellion and then sent a force against Athens. The Persians were defeated at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BCE, losing over 6,000 men to the brilliant tactics of the Athenian general Miltiades (l. 554-489 BCE) whose losses numbered only 192 soldiers. The Persian military was considered invincible at this time and so this victory increased the Athenians’ already high opinion of themselves. In 480 BCE, however, Darius I’s son and successor, Xerxes I (r. 486-465 BCE) assembled the largest army mustered in the world up to that time and launched an invasion of Greece, with Athens as the primary target, to avenge the insult to his father. His forces were held at Thermopylae by the Spartan king Leonidas (d. 480 BCE) and his famous 300 warriors but, after defeating and killing them, Greece lay open for conquest. Battle of Salamis, 480 BCE Ancient Warfare Magazine / Karwansaray Publishers (Copyright) The Persian navy was defeated by the Athenian-led forces at the Battle of Salamis, however, when the Athenian general Themistocles (l. 524-460 BCE) outmaneuvered and outfought them, and this defeat was followed by the land battles of Plataea and Mycale in 479 BCE which drove the Persians from Greece and established Athens as a superpower. Waterfield notes: This was Athens’ finest hour. Themistocles was the acknowledged savior of Greece, and the city expressly waved the banner of panhellenism, both by expressing what was common to all Greeks and by continuing the fight against the Persians. From obscure origins, a small and impoverished city had risen to power and prominence. (72) Under Pericles, Athens formed the Delian League, ostensibly to create a cohesive Greek network among city-states to ward off further Persian attacks. The other city-states paid into the treasury of the Delian League and Athens agreed to protect them against Persian aggression in return. Pericles used the money from the league to beautify and fortify Athens and, under his leadership, the city grew so powerful that the Athenian Empire could effectively dictate the laws, customs, and trade of all its neighbors in Attica and the islands of the Aegean. The Golden Age Under Pericles, Athens entered its golden age and great thinkers, writers, and artists flourished in the city. Herodotus (l. c. 484-425/423 BCE), the "father of history", lived and wrote in Athens. Socrates (l. c. 470/469-399 BCE), the "father of philosophy", taught in the marketplace. Hippocrates (l. c. 460-370 BCE), 'the father of medicine', practiced there. Phidias (l. 480-430 BCE) created his great works of Greek sculpture for the Parthenon on the Acropolis and the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. The Greek City-states c. 500 BCE Simeon Netchev (CC BY-NC-SA) Democritus (l. c. 460 - c. 370 BCE) envisioned an atomic universe. Aeschylus (l. c. 525 - c. 456 BCE) Euripides (l. c. 484-407 BCE), Aristophanes (l. c. 460 - c. 380 BCE) and Sophocles (l. 496 - c. 406 BCE) made Greek drama, both comedy and tragedy, famous, and the lyric poet Pindar (l. c. 518 - c. 448 BCE) another important figure of Greek literature, wrote his Odes. This legacy would continue as Plato (l. 428/427-348/347 BCE) would found his Academy outside the walls of Athens in 385 BCE and, later, Aristotle (l. 384-322 BCE) would establish his school of the Lyceum in the city center. The might of the Athenian Empire encouraged an arrogance in the policymakers of the day which grew intolerable to its neighbors. When Athens sent troops to help Sparta put down a Helot rebellion, the Spartans refused the gesture and sent the Athenian force back home in dishonor, thus provoking a war which had long been brewing. Later, when Athens sent their fleet to help defend its ally Corcyra (Corfu) against a Corinthian invasion during the Battle of Sybota in 433 BCE, their action was interpreted by Sparta as aggression instead of assistance, as Corinth was an ally of Sparta. Conclusion The First Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE) between Athens and Sparta (though involving, directly or indirectly, all of Greece) ended in a truce between the parties involved, but Athens was defeated in the Second Peloponnesian War and fell from its height of power. The empire and the city’s wealth gone, the walls destroyed, only its reputation as a great seat of learning, Greek philosophy and culture prevented the sack of the city and the enslavement of the populace. Athens struggled to throw off this condition as a subject state, and with some success, until they were defeated in 338 BCE by the Macedonian forces under Philip II at Chaeronea. Athens was then subject to Macedonian rule until their defeat by the Romans in 197 BCE at the Battle of Cynoscephalae after which Greece was methodically conquered by the Roman Empire. It is a tribute to the enduring reputation of Athens as a cultural center that the Roman general Sulla, who sacked the city in 87-86 BCE, slaughtered the people, destroyed the agora, and burned the port of Piraeus, always maintained his innocence, claiming he had ordered his men to treat the city well and they simply had failed to heed him. Facade, Library of Hadrian, Athens Mark Cartwright (CC BY-NC-SA) According to the biblical Book of Acts, Saint Paul preached to the Athenians at the Areopagus (the hill of Mars), praising their interest in religion and telling them about the new god Jesus Christ. After the rise of Christianity following its adoption by the Roman Empire, Athens became an important center for the new faith and, in the 6th century CE, pagan schools were closed and temples either destroyed or converted into churches. The city was sacked by a number of so-called "barbarian tribes" in Late Antiquity up through the Middle Ages until it was established as the Crusader State of the Duchy of Athens (1205-1458) after the Fourth Crusade (1202-1204). Athens did well during this period until it was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1458. The Ottoman Turks had no respect for the ancient city, and it steadily declined under their control. After Greece won its independence from the Turks in 1821, Athens again revived just as it had done many times in the past. Restoration and preservation efforts became a priority of the new government, and the city was restored to some semblance of its ancient grandeur. In the present day, the name of Athens still conjures to the mind images of the classical world and the heights of intellectual and poetic creativity, while the Parthenon on the Acropolis continues to symbolize the golden age of ancient Greece and the best of what it stood for. Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. Timeline c. 7000 BCE - 5000 BCE Human habitation on the Acropolis and around the Agora of Athens continues from Neolithic Period. c. 1700 BCE - c. 1100 BCE Mycenaean Period. Agora established at Athens. c. 1100 BCE - c. 600 BCE Iron Age Development, public buildings erected at the Agora in Athens. 683 BCE - 682 BCE List of annual archons at Athens begins. c. 600 BCE The Eleusinian Mysteries become part of the official Athenian religious calendar. 600 BCE - 550 BCE The Dionysia becomes a major Athenian festival in honour of Dionysos. 600 BCE - 480 BCE Attic black-figure pottery dominates the greek ceramic market. 594 BCE - 593 BCE In Athens the archon Solon lays the foundations for democracy. c. 560 BCE Pisistratos becomes tyrant in Athens for the first time. c. 546 BCE Pisistratus lands his Argive mercenary force at Marathon and with victory at Pallene establishes himself once again as tyrant of Athens. c. 540 BCE Athens removes and prohibits further burials on Delos to purify the sacred island. 525 BCE Cleisthenes is made archon at Athens. c. 524 BCE - c. 460 BCE Life of Athenian general and statesman Themistocles. 514 BCE Fall of the Peisistratid tyranny in Athens. 514 BCE The tyrant of Athens Hipparchos is killed by Harmodios and Aristogeiton - the 'tyrannicides'. c. 508 BCE According to Aristotle, the institution of ostracism is introduced in Athens under Cleisthenes. c. 508 BCE Reforms by Cleisthenes establishes democracy in Athens. c. 495 BCE Birth of Pericles. 493 BCE The first fortifications are constructed at Athens' port of Piraeus. 493 BCE Themistocles is made archon in Athens. 490 BCE Athens builds a treasury at Delphi following their victory at Marathon against Persia. 490 BCE - 480 BCE A 1.4m tall Iris or Nike sculpture is erected on the acropolis of Athens in memory of the general Kallimachos, killed in the battle of Marathon. 11 Sep 490 BCE A combined force of Greek hoplites defeat the Persians at Marathon. 487 BCE - 486 BCE Archons begin to be appointed by lot in Athens. c. 483 BCE Themistocles persuades the Athenians to significantly expand their fleet, which saves them at Salamis and becomes their source of power. 480 BCE The fortifications of Piraeus instigated by Themistocles are completed. 480 BCE Sack of Athens by the Persians under Xerxes. The Agora is destroyed. Aug 480 BCE The indecisive battle of Artemision between the Greek and Persian fleets of Xerxes I. The Greeks withdraw to Salamis. 479 BCE Xerxes' Persian forces are defeated by Greek forces at Plataea effectively ending Persia's imperial ambitions in Greece. 479 BCE - 432 CE The period of Thucydides' Pentecontaetia in ancient Greece. 478 BCE - 454 BCE The treasury of the Delian League is kept on Delos until its removal to Athens. 478 BCE - 404 BCE The Delian League in Greece, led by Athens. 476 BCE - 463 BCE Delian League operations are led by Athenian commander Cimon c. 475 BCE Athenian general Cimon drives the Dolopian pirates out of the Aegean island of Scyros. 475 BCE Cimon captures Eion in Thrace for Athens. c. 471 BCE The general and statesman Themistocles is voted in an ostracism and exiled from Athens. 470 BCE Statue group of Harmodius and Aristogiton in Athens. c. 469 BCE - 399 BCE Life of Socrates. c. 466 BCE Athenian general Cimon twice defeats the Persians at Eurymedon on the southern coast of Asia Minor. c. 465 BCE Construction of the Long Walls fortifications joining Athens to the port of Piraeus are begun. 465 BCE - 463 BCE Athenian general Cimon conquers Chersonesus in Thrace and the north-Aegean island of Thasos. 462 BCE - 461 BCE Radicalisation of democracy in Athens; Cimon exiled, Pericles comes to exercise influence. c. 462 BCE - 458 BCE Pericles introduces democratic institutions in Athens. 461 BCE Cimon is voted in an ostracism in Athens and exiled from the city. 461 BCE - 429 BCE Pericles is ruler of Athens. 460 BCE - 445 BCE First Peloponnesian War. 460 BCE - 429 BCE The Age of Pericles. Athenian Agora is rebuilt, construction of Parthenon. c. 460 BCE - 403 BCE Life of Critias, one of the Thirty Tyrants of Athens. c. 460 BCE - c. 320 CE Period of full and direct citizen democracy in Athens. 457 BCE Sparta wins the battle of Tanagra during the 1st Peloponnesian War with Athens. 457 BCE Hegemony of Athens over central Greece. 454 BCE The Athenians move the treasury of the Delian League from Delos to Athens. 453 BCE Pericles erects trophy at Nemea after Athenian victory over the Sikyonians. c. 451 BCE - c. 403 CE Life of Athenian statesman and general Alcibiades. 450 BCE Athenian general Cimon dies on Cyprus fighting the Persians. 449 BCE The Hephaisteion, temple to Athena & Hephaistos, built in Athens. 447 BCE - 432 BCE The construction of the Parthenon in Athens by the architects Iktinos and Kallikrates under the direction of Phidias. 28 Jul 447 BCE Reconstruction and creation of the Acropolis of the Classical Period begins under Pericles' leadership. 446 BCE The Middle Wall fortifications are added to the Long Walls which connect Athens and the port of Piraeus. c. 443 BCE Thurii in Magna Graecia founded by Athenian settlers. 438 BCE The cult statue of Athena Parthenos is dedicated in the Parthenon of Athens. c. 437 BCE - 431 BCE The Propylaea is constructed on the Acropolis of Athens under the supervision of Mnesicles. 433 BCE A naval battle between the victorious combined forces of Corcyra and Athens against Corinth. 433 BCE Alliance between Athens and Corcyra. 432 BCE Sparta declares that Athens has broken the Thirty Year Peace and prepares for war. 431 BCE Athens invades Megara. 431 BCE - 404 BCE The 2nd Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta (the Delian League and the Peloponnesian League) which involved all of Greece. 431 BCE - 404 BCE The Peloponnesian Wars which leave Athens defeated and the Agora damaged. 430 BCE The plague decimates Athens. 430 BCE - c. 354 BCE Life of Xenophon of Athens. 429 BCE Athens successfully campaigns in the Corinthian Gulf regions during the Peloponnesian War. 429 BCE Following attacks by Sparta, fortifications at the port of Piraeus are extended to reduce the width of the harbour entrances. 427 BCE - 347 BCE Life of Plato. 425 BCE Pylos campaign, under Cleon and Demosthenes' command Athens defeats Sparta at Pylos. c. 425 BCE - c. 420 BCE The Temple dedicated to Athena Nike is constructed on the acropolis of Athens. 424 BCE The Athenian expeditions against Megara and Boeotia are a failure with a particularly heavy defeat near Delion. 424 BCE A force of Athenian peltasts defeat Spartan hoplites on Sphaktria in the Peloponnese. 422 BCE Spartan general Brasidas employs Myrkinian and Chalkidian peltasts to defeat a force of Athenian hoplites at Amphipolis. 421 BCE - 406 BCE The Erechtheion of Athens acropolis is constructed with six Caryatids in the south porch. c. 417 BCE In the last recorded ostracism the demagogue Hyperbolos is exiled from Athens. c. 415 BCE The Histories of Herodotus is published. The work is divided into nine chapters, each dedicated to one of the Muses. c. 415 BCE Alcibiades persuades the Athenian assembly to send a military expedition to Sicily. 415 BCE - 413 BCE Athenian expedition to attack Syracuse. 414 BCE Athens constructs fortifications at Sounion. 413 BCE On the advice of Alcibiades the Spartans take over the Athenian-held fort of Dekeleia. 413 BCE The Athenian expedition in Sicily ends in disastrous defeat and the Athenian generals Nicias and Demosthenes are executed. 411 BCE The oligarchy of the 400 take over the democracy in Athens and in a matter of months is replaced by an oligarchy of 5000. 410 BCE Alcibiades leads the Athenian fleet to victory over Sparta at Cyzicus. c. 407 BCE Alcibiades returns to Athens in triumph and is made strategos autokrater. c. 407 BCE The Athenian fleet is defeated by Lysander of Sparta at Notium. 405 BCE Athens grants Athenian citizenship to the population of Samos. 404 BCE Spartan general Lysander attacks the Athenian port of Piraeus destroying parts of the Long Wall fortifications. 404 BCE End of the Peloponnesian war, Athens defeated By Sparta at Aigospotamoi, Rule of the Thirty Tyrants in Athens. 403 BCE Restoration of the democracy in Athens, death of the tyrant Critias. c. 402 BCE - 318 BCE Life of Athenian statesman and general Phocion. 395 BCE - 386 BCE The Corinthian Wars between Sparta and an alliance of Athens, Corinth, Argos, Boeotia and Thebes. 390 BCE Athenian leader Iphikrates employs peltasts to defeat Spartan hoplites at Lechaion near Corinth. 387 BCE Sparta attacks the Athenian port of Piraeus. 384 BCE - 322 BCE Life of Aristotle. c. 384 BCE - 322 CE Life of Athenian statesman Demosthenes. 380 BCE Plato founds his Academy outside of Athens. 366 BCE Athens regains control of Samos from Sparta. 362 BCE Indecisive Battle of Matinea where Thebes fought against Sparta and Athens. Theban general Epaminondas is killed. c. 354 BCE Xenophon dies at Corinth. 338 BCE Philip of Macedonia defeats the Greek allied forces of Athens, Thebes and Corinth in the Battle of Chaironeia. 2 Aug 338 BCE The Battle of Charonea gives Athens to the Macedonian victors. Agora takes on Macedonian characteristics. 307 BCE Demetrius I frees Athens from the tyrant Demetrius of Phaleron. 295 BCE Demetrius I campaigns in central Greece, removes the tyrant Lachares from Athens and defeats Sparta. 166 BCE Rome puts Delos under the jurisdiction of Athens and makes the island a free port. 166 BCE Rome gives dominion over the Cyclades to Athens. 159 BCE - 138 BCE King Attalos II of Pergamon builds the great Stoa in the Agora of Athens. 86 BCE The Roman general Sulla sacks Athens and the port of Piraeus. 86 BCE Siege of Athens by the Roman general Sulla. Agora is destroyed. 117 CE - 138 CE Rule of the Roman Emperor Hadrian who supports great building projects in and around the Agora of Athens. 267 CE The Goths sack Athens, Corinth, Sparta, and Argos. 267 CE Agora of Athens burned by invading Herulians. Map Bibliography Cartledge, P. Thermopylae: The Battle that Changed the World. Vintage Books, 2006. Eusebius & Maier, P. L. Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History. Kregel Academic & Professional, 2007. Grant, M. Readings in the Classical Historians. Scribners Publishing, 1993. Herodotus & Strassler, R. B. The Landmark Herodotus. Pantheon, 2007. Livingstone, R.W. The Legacy of Greece. Pinnacle Press, 2017. Mireaux, E. Daily Life in the Time of Homer. Macmillan Publishing, 2000. Nardo, D. Exploring Cultural History - Living in Ancient Greece. Greenhaven Press, 2003. Plutarch. Plutarch's Lives, The Complete 48 Biographies . Engage Classics, 2020. Pomeroy, S. B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves. Schocken, 1995. Waterfield, R. Athens: A History From Ancient Ideal to Modern City. Basic Books, 2004. About the Author Joshua J. Mark A freelance writer and former part-time Professor of Philosophy at Marist College, New York, Joshua J. Mark has lived in Greece and Germany and traveled through Egypt. He has taught history, writing, literature, and philosophy at the college level. Recommended Books Homosexuality and Civilization Written by Crompton, Louis, published by Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press (2006) $32.00 Athens: A History, From Ancient Ideal To Modern City Written by Waterfield, Robin, published by Basic Books (2004) $26.16 Women's Life in Greece and Rome: A Source Book in Translation Written by Lefkowitz, Mary R. & Fant, Maureen B., published by Johns Hopkins University Press (2016) $28.79 Readings in the Classical Historians Written by Michael Grant, published by Scribner (1993) $14.99 Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity Written by Pomeroy, Sarah, published by Schocken (1995) $16.95   Cite This Work APA Style Mark, J. J. (2021, July 06). Athens. World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/Athens/ Chicago Style Mark, Joshua J.. "Athens." World History Encyclopedia. Last modified July 06, 2021. https://www.worldhistory.org/Athens/. MLA Style Mark, Joshua J.. "Athens." 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