Athena offered an olive tree, for peace and prosperity.
The Acropolis hill saw its first inhabitant during the Neolithic period. The rock offers a great position with a great visibility towards land and sea, and was therefore early used as a military fortress. In 1400 BC, Athens became a Mycenaean city, prospered and evolved into a religious centre dedicated to the goddess Athena.
A dark age followed in which Greece remained from the 12th century B.C till the 8th. We do not have much information about this period. It is said that this was the time when the legendary Theseus ruled the town.
Athens emerged nevertheless economically reinforced from these centuries but also having lost the control of the area of Attica, now divided into minor kingdoms. Athens regained the power over Attica in the 7th century, and became the cultural and artistic centre of the country.
For a century, the city was ruled by generals and aristocrats. The hierarchy depended on the wealth of the citizen, which meant that poor people had no rights and slavery was a commodity.
Solon, a poet and law giver, then opened the path to democracy and abolished injustice to the less fortunate by declaring all Athenians (besides slaves) equal by law and abolishing any inherited title and privilege. |
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the 5th century as a very prosper city in economical, cultural and political areas with the Democracy of Pericles. This period is regarded as the golden age of Athens, and it is then that the Parthenon was built, and all the theatrical masterpieces were written by eminent writers.
New philosophical ideas emerged by brilliant philosophers, like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, and many sciences and arts flourished. Political gatherings were held in the Ancient Agora and many public buildings were contructed.
The golden of age of Athens was stopped after a defeat against Sparta during the Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C). Athens then fell under the rule of Phillip of Macedon and his son Alexander the Great but remained nevertheless the cultural centre of Greece.
The next threat came from the Romans, whose empire was now ruling the Western Mediterranean and slowly moving east. After several attacks they finally defeated the Macedonians.
Athens did not suffer a lot from the Roman occupation since it was a city admired and respected for her culture, her arts, her philosophy and literature, hence the Pax Romana that was established.
Peace lasted until the 3rd century Greece was invaded by the Goths. While Christianity was spreading across the Empire, St Paul came to Greece in 51 A.D. to preach his famous sermon on an Unknown God. |
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of Greek education and culture until 529, when the Emperor Justinian banned the teaching of classical philosophy.
Athens was invaded, between 1200 and 1459, by many west civilisations: Franks, Catalans, Florentines, Venetians and finally by the Ottomans who ruled for over 400 years.
The Acropolis was then turned into the headquarters of the Turkish ruler and the Parthenon became a mosque. After the Greek Independence of 1821, the city of Athens crossed a period of reorganisation under the rule of the foreigner King Otto, the first monarch of the new nation. He ordered his architects to build impressive Neoclassical buildings in the town centre, including his Royal Palace, which now houses the Greek Parliament. Today, the Parliament and the Presidential Mansion are guarded by a special military unit. In fact, every Sunday morning, people are gathered to watch the official changing of the guards.
Since then, Athens has experienced a huge growth in population and industry. The capital of Greece houses today one third of the entire country's population, about 4 million residents. |
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