Athens Ἀθῆναι | |
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Polis | |
 Painting of an idealized reconstruction of theAcropolis andAreios Pagos in Athens, byLeo von Klenze (1846) |
Eastern Roman Empire 395–1205
Duchy of Athens 1205–1458
Ottoman Empire 1458–1822, 1826–1832
Provisional Administration of Greece 1822–1826
Kingdom of Greece 1832–1924, 1935–1941, 1944–1973Second Hellenic Republic 1924–1935Hellenic State 1941–1944
Greek junta 1973–1974
Third Hellenic Republic 1974–presentAthens is one of theoldest named cities in the world, having been continuously inhabited for perhaps 5,000 years. Situated in southern Europe, Athens became the leading city ofancient Greece in the first millennium BC, and its cultural achievements during the 5th century BC laid the foundations ofWestern civilization.
The earliest evidence for human habitation in Athens dates back to theNeolithic period. TheAcropolis served as a fortified center during theMycenaean era. By the 8th century BC, Athens had evolved into a prominentcity-state, orpolis, within the region ofAttica. The 7th and 6th centuries BC saw the establishment of legal codes, such as those byDraco,Solon andCleisthenes, which aimed to address social inequalities and set the stage for the development ofdemocracy.
In the early 5th century BC, Athens played a central role in repellingPersian invasions and subsequently established its hegemony over other city-states through the formation of theDelian League. Under the leadership ofPericles, the city experienced a period of prosperity and cultural flourishing known as theGolden Age. This era saw the construction of significant architectural works, such as theParthenon, and advancements inphilosophy,drama, and thearts, establishing Athens as a center ofclassical civilization. ThePeloponnesian War against Sparta ended in Athenian defeat and marked a decline in its political power. Nevertheless, underHellenistic andRoman rule, Athens retained its status as a center of learning, attracting students and philosophers from across the empire.
During the earlyMiddle Ages, the city experienced a decline, then recovered under the laterByzantine Empire and was relatively prosperous during the period of theCrusades (12th and 13th centuries), benefiting from Italian trade. Following a period of sharp decline under the rule of theOttoman Empire, Athensre-emerged in the 19th century as the capital of the independent and self-governingGreek state.
The name ofAthens, connected to the name of its patron goddessAthena, originates from an earlierPre-Greek language.[1] Theorigin myth explaining how Athens acquired this name through the legendary contest between Poseidon and Athena was described byHerodotus,[2]Apollodorus,[3]Ovid,Plutarch,[4]Pausanias and others. It even became the theme of the sculpture on thewest pediment of theParthenon. Both Athena andPoseidon requested to be patrons of the city and to give their name to it, so they competed with offering the city one gift each. Poseidon produced a spring by striking the ground with his trident,[5] symbolizing naval power.
Athena created theolive tree, symbolizingpeace and prosperity. The Athenians, under their rulerCecrops, accepted the olive tree and named the city after Athena. (Later the Southern Italian city ofPaestum was founded under the name of Poseidonia at about 600 BC.) A sacred olive tree said to be the one created by the goddess was still kept on the Acropolis at the time of Pausanias (2nd century AD).[6] It was located by the temple ofPandrosus, next to the Parthenon. According to Herodotus, the tree had been burnt down during thePersian Wars, but a shoot sprung from the stump. The Greeks saw this as a symbol that Athena still had her mark there on the city.[2]
Plato, in his dialogueCratylus, offers anetymology of Athena's name connecting it to the phraseἁ θεονόα orhē theoû nóēsis (ἡ θεοῦ νόησις, 'the mind of god').[7]
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There is evidence that the site on which theAcropolis ('high city') stands was first inhabited in theNeolithic period, perhaps as a defensible settlement, around the end of the fourth millennium BC or a little later.[8] The site is a natural defensive position which commands the surrounding plains. It is located about 20 km (12 mi) inland from theSaronic Gulf, in the centre of theCephisian Plain, a fertile valley surrounded by rivers. To the east liesMount Hymettus, to the northMount Pentelicus.Ancient Athens, in the first millennium BC, occupied a very small area compared to the sprawling metropolis of modern Greece. The ancient walled city encompassed an area measuring about two kilometres (1.5 mi) from east to west and slightly less than that from north to south, although at its peak the ancient city had suburbs extending well beyond these walls. The Acropolis was situated just south of the centre of this walled area.
TheAgora, the commercial and social centre of the city, lay about 400 m (1,300 ft) north of the Acropolis, in what is now theMonastiraki district. The hill of thePnyx, where the Athenian Assembly met, lay at the western end of the city. The Eridanus (Ηριδανός) river flowed through the city.
One of the most important religious sites in ancient Athens was the Temple of Athena, known today as the Parthenon, which stood on top of the Acropolis, where its evocative ruins still stand. Two other major religious sites, theTemple of Hephaestus (which is still largely intact) and theTemple of Olympian Zeus or Olympeion (once the largest temple in mainland Greece but now in ruins), also lay within the city walls.
Athens has been inhabited fromNeolithic times, possibly from the end of thefourth millennium BC, or over 5,000 years.[9] By 1412 BC, the settlement had become an important center of theMycenaean civilization and the Acropolis was the site of a major Mycenaean fortress whose remains can be recognised from sections of the characteristicCyclopean walls.[10] On the summit of the Acropolis, below the laterErechtheion, cuttings in the rock have been identified as the location of a Mycenaean palace.[10] Between 1250 and 1200 BC, to feed the needs of the Mycenaean settlement, a staircase was built down a cleft in the rock to reach a water supply that was protected from enemy incursions,[11] comparable to similar works carried out at Mycenae.
Unlike other Mycenaean centers, such as Mycenae andPylos, it is unclear whether Athens suffered destruction in about 1200 BC, an event traditionally attributed to aDorian invasion (though now commonly attributed to a systems collapse, part of theLate Bronze Age collapse). The Athenians always maintained that they were 'pure'Ionians with noDorian element.[citation needed] However, Athens, like many other Bronze Age settlements, went into economic decline for around 150 years following this.
Iron Age burials, in theKerameikos and other locations, are often richly provided for and demonstrate that from 900 BC onwards Athens was one of the leading centres of trade and prosperity in the region; as wereLefkandi inEuboea andKnossos in Crete.[12] This position may well have resulted from its central location in the Greek world, its secure stronghold on the Acropolis and its access to the sea, which gave it a natural advantage over inland rivals such asThebes andSparta.
According to legend, Athens was formerlyruled by kings, a situation which may have continued up until the 9th century BC. From later accounts, it is believed that these kings stood at the head of a land-owningaristocracy known as theEupatridae (the 'well-born'), whose instrument of government was a Council which met on the Hill ofAres, called theAreopagus and appointed the chief city officials, thearchons and thepolemarch (commander-in-chief). The most famous king of Athens wasTheseus, a prominent figure inGreek Mythology who killed theMinotaur. A slightly different mythical version of Athens' past is given in Plato's dialogueTimaeus. In this dialogue, a story is told about information given to Athenian leader Solon from Egyptian priests of the goddessNeith while he visited Egypt, according to which a well advanced Athenian state was established 9,000 years prior to his time that preceded Egypt's oldest kingdom by a thousand years. The laws of that state were the most just and largely inspired the various kings of Egypt when making laws for their kingdom.[13] This story is not supported by any scholarly evidence, as no Athenian state is known to have existed during the10th millennium BC. In addition, no evidence exists of any possible cultural or other ties between Egypt and any part of present-day Greece at such early a date.
| Didrachm of Athens, 545–510 BC | |
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| Obv: Four-spoked wheel | Rev: Incuse square, divided diagonally |
| Silverdidrachm of Athens of heraldic type from the time ofPeisistratus, 545–510 BC | |
| Obol of Athens, 545–525 BC | |
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| Obv: AGorgoneion | Rev: Square incuse |
| An archaic silverobol of Athens of heraldic type from the time of Peisistratus, 545–525 BC | |
During the1st millennium BC, Athens succeeded in bringing the other towns ofAttica under its rule. This process ofsynoikismos – the bringing together into one home – created the largest and wealthiest state on the Greek mainland, but it also created a larger class of people excluded from political life by the nobility. By the 7th century BC, social unrest had become widespread, and the Areopagus appointedDraco to draft a strict new code of law (hence the word 'draconian'). When this failed, they appointedSolon with a mandate to create a new constitution in 594 BC.
The reforms that Solon initiated dealt with both political and economic issues. The economic power of theEupatridae was reduced by forbidding the enslavement of Athenian citizens as a punishment for debt (debt bondage), bybreaking up largelanded estates and freeing up trade and commerce, which allowed the emergence of a prosperous urban trading class. Politically, Solon divided the Athenians into four classes, based on their wealth and their ability to perform military service. The poorest class, theThetai, (Ancient GreekΘήται) who formed the majority of the population, received political rights for the first time and were able to vote in theEcclesia (Assembly). But only the upper classes could hold political office. The Areopagus continued to exist but its powers were reduced.
The new system laid the foundations for what eventually becameAthenian democracy, but in the short term, it failed to quell class conflict, and after twenty years of unrest, the popular party, led byPeisistratos, seized power. Peisistratos is usually called atyrant, but the Greek wordtyrannos does not mean a cruel and despotic ruler, merely one who took power by force. Peisistratos was in fact a very popular ruler, who made Athens wealthy, powerful, and a centre of culture. He preserved theSolonian Constitution, but made sure that he and his family held all the offices of state.
Peisistratus built the first aqueduct tunnel at Athens,[14] which most likely had its sources on the slopes ofMount Hymettos and along theIlissos river. It supplied, among other structures, the fountain house in the southeast corner of the Agora, but it had a number of branches. In the 4th century BC it was replaced by a system of terracotta pipes in a stone-built underground channel, sometimes called the Hymettos aqueduct; many sections had round, oval or square access holes on top of about 10 cm × 10 cm (4 in × 4 in).Pipe segments of this system are displayed at theEvangelismos andSyntagma Metro stations.
Peisistratos died in 527 BC and was succeeded by his sonsHippias andHipparchus. They proved to be much less adept rulers and in 514 BC, Hipparchus was assassinated in a private dispute over a young man (seeHarmodius and Aristogeiton). This led Hippias to establish a real dictatorship, which proved very unpopular. He was overthrown in 510 BC. A radical politician with an aristocratic background namedCleisthenes then took charge, and it was he who established democracy in Athens.
The reforms of Cleisthenes replaced the traditional fourphyle ('tribes') with ten new ones, named after legendary heroes and having no class basis; they were in fact electorates. Eachphyle was in turn divided into threetrittyes and eachtrittys had one or moredemes, which became the basis of local government. Thephyle each elected fifty members to theBoule, a council which governed Athens on a day-to-day basis. The Assembly was open to all citizens and was both a legislature and a supreme court, except in murder cases and religious matters, which became the only remaining functions of the Areopagus.
Most public offices were filled by lot, although the tenstrategoi (generals) were elected. This system remained remarkably stable and, with a few brief interruptions, it remained in place for 170 years, untilPhilip II of Macedon defeated Athens and Thebes at theBattle of Chaeronea in 338 BC.
Before the rise of Athens, Sparta considered itself to be the leader (orhegemon) of the Greeks.[citation needed] In 499 BC, Athens sent a small force to support theIonian Greeks ofAsia Minor in theirrevolt againstPersian rule. This intervention contributed to the outbreak of two Persian invasions of mainland Greece. The first occurred in 490 BC, when Persian forces underDarius I landed atMarathon. There, an Athenian army led by the soldier-statesmanMiltiades repelled the invaders in a significant victory.
Asecond and much larger invasion was launched in 480 BC by Darius’s successor,Xerxes I. In the years leading up to the war, Athenian statesmanThemistocles had persuaded the Athenian assembly that the revenues from newly discoveredsilver mines at Laurion should be used not for individual distribution, but for the construction of warships—an investment that would prove decisive in the conflict. After a Spartan-led defensive force was defeated atThermopylae, the Persian army advanced into central Greece and invaded Attica. Under the leadership of Themistocles, the population of Athens had by then been evacuated to the Peloponnesian city ofTroezen. Soon after, Persian forces captured the deserted city andset fire to the buildings on the Acropolis.
Later that year, an Athenian-led fleet engaged the Persians at theBattle of Salamis. Exploiting the constricted geography of the straits nearSalamis Island, the smaller and more agile Greek ships were able to inflict substantial losses on the larger Persian fleet. Following this defeat, Xerxes withdrew most of his forces to Asia, leaving a contingent in Greece under his generalMardonius. In 479 BC, this remaining army was defeated at theBattle of Plataea by a coalition of Greek city-states.
Following the war, Athens shifted from a regional power to a political and military force of wider consequence. It led the formation of theDelian League—an alliance forged to continue the war against Persia—which would soon evolve into the foundation of Athenian imperial influence across the Aegean. At this time, Athens began its ascent as a maritime and cultural power, laying the groundwork for what would become its classical golden age.
The period from the end of thePersian Wars to theMacedonian conquest marked the zenith of Athens as a center of literature, philosophy, and the arts. In Athens at this time, thepolitical satire of theComic poets at thetheatres had a remarkable influence onpublic opinion.[15]
Some of the most important figures of Western cultural and intellectual history lived in Athens during this period: the dramatistsAeschylus,Sophocles,Euripides andAristophanes, the physicianHippocrates, the philosophersSocrates, Plato andAristotle, the historians Herodotus,Thucydides andXenophon, the poetSimonides, the oratorsAntiphon,Isocrates,Aeschines, andDemosthenes, and the sculptorPhidias. The leading statesman of the mid-fifth century BC wasPericles, who used the tribute paid by the members of the Delian League to build the Parthenon and other great monuments of classical Athens. The city became, in Pericles's words, "the school of Hellas [Greece]."
The resentment felt by other cities at the hegemony of Athens led to thePeloponnesian War, which began in 431 BC and pitted Athens and its increasingly rebellious overseas empire against a coalition of land-based states led by Sparta. The conflict was a drawn out one that saw Sparta control the land while Athens was dominant at sea, however the disastrousSicilian Expedition severely weakened Athens and the war eventually ended in an Athenian defeat following theBattle of Aegospotami which ended Athenian naval supremacy.
Due to its poor handling of the war, the democracy in Athens was briefly overthrown by a coup in 411 BC; however, it was quickly restored. The Peloponnesian War ended in 404 BC with the complete defeat of Athens. Since the loss of the war was largely blamed on democratic politicians such asCleon andCleophon, there was a brief reaction against democracy, aided by the Spartan army (the rule of theThirty Tyrants). In 403 BC, however, democracy was restored byThrasybulus and anamnesty was declared.
Sparta's former allies soon turned against her, due to her imperialist policy, and soon Athens' former enemiesThebes andCorinth had become her allies; they fought with Athens andArgos against Sparta in the indecisiveCorinthian War (395 – 387 BC). Opposition toSparta enabled Athens to establish aSecond Athenian League.
Finally Thebes defeated Sparta in 371 BC in theBattle of Leuctra. But then the Greek cities (including Athens and Sparta) turned against Thebes, whose dominance was stopped at theBattle of Mantinea (362 BC) with the death of its military-genius leaderEpaminondas.
By the mid-4th century BC, however, the northern Greek kingdom ofMacedon was becoming dominant in Athenian affairs. In theBattle of Chaeronea (338 BC),Philip II's armies defeated an alliance of some of the Greek city-states including Athens and Thebes, forcing them into a confederation and effectively limiting Athenian independence.[16]Philippides of Paiania, one of the wealthiest Athenian aristocratic oligarchs, campaigned for Philip II during the Battle of Chaeronea and proposed in the Assembly decrees honoring Alexander the Great for the Macedonian victory. Philippides was prosecuted in trial byHypereides, who detested his pro-Macedonian sympathies.[17] Subsequently, the conquests ofAlexander the Great widened Greek horizons and made the traditional Greek city state obsolete. Athens remained a wealthy city with a brilliant cultural life, but ceased to be a leading power. The period following the death of Alexander in 323 BC is known asHellenistic Greece.
Shortly after the death of Alexander the Great,Antipater andCraterus became joint generals of Greece and Macedonia.[18] Athens joinedAetolia andThessaly in facing their power, known as theLamian War.[19] Craterus fell in a battle againstEumenes in 320 BC,[20] leaving Antipater alone to rule for a year, until his death in 319 BC.[21] Athens had a central role in the struggle for his succession, when Antipater's son,Cassander, secured thePiraeus leaving Athens without a source of supplies,[18] to contest Antipater's successor,Polyperchon. To consolidate power against Cassander, Polyperchon restored Athens's democracy, as it was before the Lamian War. However, after losing the fleet one year prior, Polyperchon had to flee Macedon when in 316 BC Cassander secured control of Athens. Cassander appointedDemetrius of Phalerum as head of the administration of Athens. Demetrius remained in power until 307 BC when Cassander's enemy,Demetrius Poliorcetes captured Athens,[22] and Macedon, ending the short-livedAntipatrid dynasty and installing his own.
After thePyrrhic War (280–275 BC) Rome asserted its hegemony overMagna Graecia and became increasingly involved in Greece and the Balkans peninsula. TheFirst Macedonian War (214–205 BC) between theRoman Republic and theKingdom of Macedon ended with theTreaty of Phoenice. During theSecond Macedonian War (200–197), the Romans declared "the freedom of Greece" from the Macedonian Kings. TheRoman–Seleucid War (192–188) ended with thePeace of Apamea, and theThird Macedonian War (171–168), after which Macedonian territory was divided into four client republics and Macedonia was formally annexed to the Roman Republic after theFourth Macedonian War (150–148). TheAchaean League was defeated and dissolved by the Romans in theAchaean War in 146. Greece was divided into theRoman provinces ofMacedonia andAchaea; thus, Athens came under Roman rule.
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During theFirst Mithridatic War, Athens was ruled byAristion, atyrant installed byMithridates VI. In 88–85 BC, most Athenian fortifications and homes were leveled by theRomangeneralSulla after theSiege of Athens and Piraeus, although many civic buildings and monuments were left intact.[23] TheMacedonianastronomerAndronicus ofCyrrhus subsequently designed theTower of the Winds for theRoman forum, which mostly survives to the present day. Under Roman rule, Athens was given the status of a free city because of its widely admired schools. The Roman emperorHadrian (r. 117–138 AD), constructed theLibrary of Hadrian, agymnasium, anaqueduct[24] which is still in use, several temples and sanctuaries, a bridge, and finally completed theTemple of Olympian Zeus.[25] TheArch of Hadrian commemorates the foundation of the city by Hadrian, with the "city of Theseus" referred to on its inscription on one side of the arch, and the new quarter erected by Hadrian around the Temple of Zeus called the "city of Hadrian".
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The city was sacked by theHeruli in 267 AD, resulting in the burning of all the public buildings, the plundering of the lower city and the damaging of the Agora and Acropolis. After theSack of Athens, the city to the north of the Acropolis was hastily refortified on a smaller scale, with the agora left outside the walls. Athens remained a centre of learning and philosophy during its 500 years of Roman rule, patronized by emperors such asNero and Hadrian.
In the early 4th century AD, theeastern Roman empire began to be governed fromConstantinople, and with the construction and expansion of the imperial city, many of Athens's works of art were taken by the emperors to adorn it. The Empire became Christianized, and the use ofLatin declined in favour of exclusive use ofGreek; in theRoman imperial period, both languages had been used. In the later Roman period, Athens was ruled by the emperors continuing until the 13th century, its citizens identifying themselves as citizens of the Roman Empire ("Rhomaioi"). The conversion of the empire from paganism to Christianity greatly affected Athens, resulting in reduced reverence for the city.[26] Ancient monuments such as the Parthenon, Erechtheion and the Hephaisteion (Theseion) were converted into churches. As the empire became increasingly anti-pagan, Athens became a provincial town and experienced fluctuating fortunes.
The city remained an important center of learning, especially ofNeoplatonism—with notable pupils includingGregory of Nazianzus,Basil of Caesarea and emperorJulian (r. 355–363)—and consequently a center of paganism. Christian items do not appear in the archaeological record until the early 5th century.[27] The sack of the city by the Herules in 267 and by theVisigoths under their kingAlaric I (r. 395–410) in 396, however, dealt a heavy blow to the city's fabric and fortunes, and Athens was henceforth confined to a small fortified area that embraced a fraction of the ancient city.[27] The emperorJustinian I (r. 527–565) banned the teaching of philosophy by pagans in 529,[28] an event whose impact on the city is much debated,[27] but is generally taken to mark the end of the ancient history of Athens. Athens was sacked by theSlavs in 582, but remained in imperial hands thereafter, as highlighted by the visit of the emperorConstans II (r. 641–668) in 662/3 and its inclusion in theTheme of Hellas.[27]
The city was threatened bySaracen raids in the 8th–9th centuries—in 896, Athens was raided and possibly occupied for a short period, an event which left some archaeological remains and elements of Arabic ornamentation in contemporary buildings[29]—but there is also evidence of a mosque existing in the city at the time.[27] In the great dispute overByzantine Iconoclasm, Athens is commonly held to have supported theiconophile position, chiefly due to the role played by EmpressIrene of Athens in the ending of the first period of Iconoclasm at theSecond Council of Nicaea in 787.[27] A few years later, another Athenian,Theophano, became empress as the wife ofStaurakios (r. 811–812).[27]
Invasion of the empire by the Turks after theBattle of Manzikert in 1071, and the ensuing civil wars, largely passed the region by and Athens continued its provincial existence unharmed. When the Byzantine Empire was rescued by the resolute leadership of the threeKomnenos emperorsAlexios,John andManuel, Attica and the rest of Greece prospered. Archaeological evidence tells us that the medieval town experienced a period of rapid and sustained growth, starting in the 11th century and continuing until the end of the 12th century.
The agora or marketplace, which had been deserted since late antiquity, began to be built over, and soon the town became an important centre for the production of soaps and dyes. The growth of the town attracted theVenetians, and various other traders who frequented the ports of the Aegean, to Athens. This interest in trade appears to have further increased the economic prosperity of the town.
The 11th and 12th centuries were the Golden Age ofByzantine art in Athens. Almost all of the most important Middle Byzantine churches in and around Athens were built during these two centuries, and this reflects the growth of the town in general. However, this medieval prosperity was not to last. In 1204, theFourth Crusade conquered Athens and the city was not recovered from theLatins before it was taken by theOttoman Turks. It did not become Greek in government again until the 19th century.
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From 1204 until 1458, Athens was ruled by Latins in three separate periods, following theCrusades. The "Latins", or "Franks", were western Europeans and followers of theLatin Church brought to theEastern Mediterranean during the Crusades. Along with rest of Byzantine Greece, Athens was part of the series of feudalfiefs, similar to theCrusader states established inSyria and onCyprus after theFirst Crusade. This period is known as theFrankokratia.
Athens was initially the capital of the eponymousDuchy of Athens, a fief of theLatin Empire which replaced the Byzantine Empire, ruling from Constantinople. AfterThebes became a possession of the Latin dukes, which were of theBurgundian family calledDe la Roche, it replaced Athens as the capital and seat of government, although Athens remained the most influential ecclesiastical centre in the duchy and site of a prime fortress.
Under the Burgundian dukes, a bell tower was added to the Parthenon, known as theFrankish Tower. The Burgundians broughtchivalry andtournaments to Athens; they also fortified the Acropolis. They were themselves influenced by Byzantine Greek culture.
In 1311, Athens was conquered by theCatalan Company, a band of mercenaries calledAlmogavars. It was held by the Catalans until 1388. After 1379, when Thebes was lost, Athens became the capital of the duchy again.
Athens, calledCetines (rarelyAthenes) by the conquerors, was aveguería with its owncastellan, captain, andveguer.
In 1388, theFlorentineNerio I Acciajuoli took the city and made himself duke. The Florentines had to dispute the city with theRepublic of Venice, but they ultimately emerged victorious after seven years of Venetian rule (1395–1402). The descendants ofNerio I Acciajuoli ruled the city (as their capital) until the Turkish conquest of 1458.
The firstOttoman attack on Athens, which involved a short-lived occupation of the town, came in 1397, under the Ottoman generalsYaqub Pasha and Timurtash.[29] Finally, in 1458, Athens was captured by the Ottomans under the personal leadership of SultanMehmed II.[29] As the Ottoman Sultan rode into the city, he was greatly struck by the beauty of its ancient monuments and issued afirman (imperial edict) forbidding their looting or destruction, on pain of death. TheParthenon was converted into themain mosque of the city.[26]
Under Ottoman rule, Athens was denuded of any importance and its population severely declined, leaving it as a "small country town" (Franz Babinger).[29] From the early 17th century, Athens came under the jurisdiction of theKizlar Agha, the chief black eunuch of theSultan's harem. The city had originally been granted by SultanAhmed I (r. 1603–1617) to Basilica, one of his favourite concubines, who hailed from the city, in response of complaints of maladministration by the local governors. After her death, Athens came under the purview of the Kizlar Agha.[32]
The Turks began a practice of storing gunpowder and explosives in the Parthenon andPropylaea. In 1640, a lightning bolt struck the Propylaea, causing its destruction.[33] In 1687, during theMorean War, the Acropoliswas besieged by the Venetians underFrancesco Morosini, and thetemple of Athena Nike was dismantled by the Ottomans to fortify the Parthenon. A shot fired during the bombardment of the Acropolis caused a powder magazine in the Parthenon to explode (26 September), and the building was severely damaged, giving it largely the appearance it has today. The Venetian occupation of Athens lasted for six months, and both the Venetians and the Ottomans participated in the looting of the Parthenon. One of its western pediments was removed, causing even more damage to the structure.[26][29] During the Venetian occupation, the two mosques of the city were converted into Catholic and Protestant churches, but on 9 April 1688 the Venetians abandoned Athens again to the Ottomans.[29]
In the 18th century, the city recovered much of its prosperity. DuringMichel Fourmont's visit in the city in the 1720s, he witnessed much construction going on, and by the time the Athenian teacherIoannis Benizelos wrote an account of the city's affairs in the 1770s, Athens was once again enjoying some prosperity, so that, according to Benizelos, it "could be cited as an example to the other cities of Greece".[34] Its Greek population possessed a considerable degree of self-government, under a council of primates composed of the leading aristocratic families, along with the city's metropolitan bishop. The community was quite influential with the Ottoman authorities, thepasha (governor), thekadi (judge), themufti (Islamic prelate), and the garrison commander of the Acropolis—according to Benizelos, if thepasha did not treat them well and heed their opinion, he was liable to be removed before his annual term of office was out—particularly through the influence at Constantinople of the two Athenian-bornpatriarchs of Jerusalem,Parthenius (1737–1766) andEphram II (1766–1770).[34] Taxation was also light, with only theharaç tax payable to the Ottoman government, as well as thesalt tax and a water-tax for the olive yards and gardens.[34]
This peaceful situation was interrupted in 1752–1753, when the execution of the previous Kizlar Agha resulted in the dispatch of a newpasha, Sari Muselimi. His abuse of power led to protests by both the Greeks and the Turks; Sari Muselimi killed some of the notables who protested, whereupon the populace burned down his residence. Thepasha fled to the Acropolis, where he was besieged by the Athenians, until the Ottoman governor ofNegroponte intervened and restored order, imprisoning the metropolitan bishop and imposing a heavy fine on the Greek community.[34] In 1759 the newpasha, a native Muslim, destroyed one of the pillars of the Temple of Olympian Zeus to provide material for a fifth mosque for the city—an illegal act, as the temple was considered the Sultan's property.[34] In the next year, Athens was removed from the purview of the Kizlar Agha and transferred to the privy purse of the Sultan. Henceforth it would be leased as amalikhane, a form of tax farming where the owner bought the proceeds of the city for a fixed sum, and enjoyed them for life.[34]
The first owner (malikhane sahib), Ismail Agha, a local Turk fromLivadeia, had been humane and popular, appointing goodvoevodas, so that he was nicknamed "the Good".[34] English visitors during the 1760s report a population of around 10,000 inhabitants, around four-fifths of which were Christians. The Turkish community numbered several families established in the city since the Ottoman conquest; and their relations with their Christian neighbours were friendlier than elsewhere, as they had assimilated themselves to a degree, even to the point of drinking wine.[34] The climate was healthy, but the city relied chiefly on pasture—practiced by theArvanites of Attica—rather than agriculture. It exported leather, soap, grain, oil, honey, wax, resin, a little silk, cheese, andvalonia, chiefly to Constantinople and France. The city hosted a French and an English consul.[34] During theOrlov Revolt of 1770 the Athenians, with the exception of the younger men, remained cautious and passive, even when the Greek rebel chieftainMitromaras seized Salamis. Nevertheless, it was only thanks to the intervention of Ismail Agha that the city was spared a massacre asreprisals, and was forced to pay an indemnity instead.[34]
Ismail Agha's successor,Hadji Ali Haseki was cruel and tyrannical, and the twenty years of his on-and-off rule over the city represented one of the worst periods in the city's history. Supported by the city's aristocratic families, and his relationship with the Sultan's sister, who was his lover, he extorted large sums from the populace, and seized much property from them. Through protests in Constantinople, the Athenians achieved his recall several times, but Haseki always returned, until his final downfall and execution in 1795.[34] Haseki's early tenure also saw two large Muslim Albanian raids into Attica, as a response to which he ordered the construction of a new city wall, the "Wall of Haseki", which was partly constructed with material taken from ancient monuments.[29][34] Between 1801 and 1805Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, arranged for the removal of many sculptures from the Parthenon (theElgin Marbles). Along with the Panathenaic frieze, one of the six caryatids of theErechtheion was extracted and replaced with a plaster mold. All in all, fifty pieces of sculpture were carried away, including three fragments purchased by the French.[26]
Athens produced some notable intellectuals during this era, such asDemetrius Chalcondyles (1424–1511), who became a celebrated Renaissance teacher of Greek and of Platonic philosophy in Italy.[35] Chalcondyles published the first printed editions ofHomer (in 1488), ofIsocrates (in 1493), and of theSuda lexicon (in 1499), and a Greek grammar (Erotemata).[36]
His cousinLaonicus Chalcondyles (c. 1423–1490) was also a native of Athens, a notable scholar and Byzantine historian and one of the most valuable of the later Greek historians. He was the author of the valuable workHistoriarum Demonstrationes (Demonstrations of History) and was a great admirer of the ancient writer Herodotus, encouraging the interest of contemporary Italian humanists in that ancient historian.[37] In the 17th century, Athenian-bornLeonardos Philaras (c. 1595–1673),[38] was aGreek scholar, politician, diplomat, advisor and theDuke of Parma's ambassador to the French court,[39] spending much of his career trying to persuade western European intellectuals to supportGreek independence.[40][41]
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In 1822, a Greek insurgency captured the city, but it fell to the Ottomans again in 1826 (though Acropolis held till June 1827). Again the ancient monuments suffered badly. The Ottoman forces remained in possession until March 1833, when they withdrew. At that time, the city (as throughout the Ottoman period) had a small population of an estimated 400 houses, mostly located around the Acropolis in the Plaka.
In 1832,Otto, Prince ofBavaria, was proclaimed King of Greece. He adopted the Greek spelling of his name, King Othon, as well as Greek national dress, and made it one of his first tasks as king to conduct a detailed archaeological and topographical survey of Athens, his new capital. He assignedGustav Eduard Schaubert andStamatios Kleanthis to complete this task.[26] At that time, Athens had a population of only 4,000 to 5,000, residing in a scattering of houses at the foot of the Acropolis, located in what today covers the district ofPlaka.
Athens was chosen as the Greek capital for historical and sentimental reasons. There are few buildings dating from the period of the Byzantine Empire or the 18th century. Once the capital was established, a modern city plan was laid out and public buildings were erected.
The finest legacy of this period are the buildings of theUniversity of Athens (1837), theNational Gardens of Athens (1840), theNational Library of Greece (1842), theOld Royal Palace (now the Greek Parliament Building; 1843), theOld Parliament Building (1858), the City Hall (1874), theZappeion Exhibition Hall (1878), the Greek National Academy (1885) and theNew Royal Palace (now the Presidential Palace; 1897). Athens hosted the1896 Summer Olympics, the first in modern times.
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Athens experienced its second period of explosive growth following the disastrousGreco-Turkish War in 1921, when more than a million Greek refugees fromAsia Minor wereresettled in Greece, after theAsia Minor Catastrophe in 1922. Suburbs such asNea Ionia andNea Smyrni began as refugee settlements on the Athens outskirts and the population of the city doubled.
Athens wasoccupied by the Axis (primarily German soldiers) duringWorld War II and experienced terrible privations during the later years of the war. TheGreat Famine greatly affected the city during the occupation. Severalresistance organizations were present inside Athens to fight against the occupation. Following the liberation of Greece and the ensuingGreek Civil War, theDekemvriana rocked the city with heavy fighting betweencommunist forces and government forces backed by the British.
Following World War II the city began to grow again as people migrated from the villages and islands to find work. Greek entry into theEuropean Union in 1981 brought a flood of new investment to the city, but also increasing social and environmental problems. Athens had some of the worst traffic congestion and air pollution in the world at that time. This posed a new threat to the ancient monuments of Athens, as traffic vibration weakened foundations and air pollution corroded marble. The city's environmental and infrastructure problems were the main reason why Athens failed to secure the1996 Centenary Olympic Games.[42] Following the failed attempt to secure the 1996 Olympics, both the city of Athens and the Greek government, aided by European Union funds, undertook major infrastructure projects such as the newAthens Airport and a new metro system. The city also tackled air pollution by restricting the use of cars in the center of the city. As a result, Athens won its bid to host the2004 Summer Olympic Games.[43] Despite the skepticism of many observers, the games were a success and brought renewed prestige and tourism revenue to Athens.[44] The2008 Greek Riots began in Athens following the killing of a 15-year old student by an officer.[45]As of May 2024, construction of a new metro line in Athens, Line 4, is underway, meaning the biggest infrastructure project in Greece at present. The new line will include 15 stations on a U-shaped underground route of 13 kilometers of tunnels, located mostly in central Athens. The project is expected to be completed in 2029.[46]
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion with: recent census data. You can help byadding to it.(April 2021) |
| Year | City population | Urban population | Metro population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1833 | 4,000[26] | – | – |
| 1839 | 26.473[26] | – | – |
| 1870 | 44,500[26] | – | – |
| 1896 | 123,000[26] | – | – |
| 1921 (Pre-Population exchange) | 473,000[26] | – | |
| 1921 (Post-Population exchange) | 718,000[26] | – | – |
| 1971 | 867,023[47] | – | – |
| 1981 | 885,737 | – | – |
| 1991 | 772,072 | – | 3,444,358[48] |
| 2001 | 745,514[49] | 3,130,841[49] | 3,761,810[49] |
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)LEONARD PHILARAS or VILLERET (c. 1595–1673) Philaras was born in Athens of good family and spent his childhood there. His youth was passed in Rome, where he was educated, and his manhood
Leonardos Filaras (1595–1673) devoted much of his career to coaxing Western European intellectuals to support Greek liberation. Two letters from Milton (1608–1674) attest Filaras's patriiotic crusade.
Demetrius Chalcondyles was a prominent Greek humanist. He taught Greek in Italy for over forty years.
Demetrius Chalcondyles published the first printed editions of Homer (1488), of Isocrates (1493), and of the Suda lexicon (1499), and a Greek grammar (Erotemata) in question-and-answer form.
Laonicus Chalcocondyles Byzantine historianal so spelled Laonicus Chalcondyles or Laonikos Chalkokondyles born c. 1423, Athens, Greece, Byzantine Empire [now in Greece] died 1490? Chalcocondyles was a great admirer of Herodotus and roused the interest of contemporary Italian humanists in that ancient historian. He strove for objectivity and, in spite of some inaccuracies and the interpolation of far-fetched anecdotes, is one of the most valuable of the later Greek historians.
The Athenian politician and medical doctor Leonardos Philaras (1595–1673) was an advisor to the French court, enjoying the patronage of Cardinal Richelieu
The writer was a Greek, Leonard Philaras (or Villere, as he was known in France), an able diplomat and scholar, ambassador to the French court from the Duke of Parma
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Leonardos Filaras (1595–1673) devoted much of his career to coaxing Western European intellectuals to support Greek liberation. Two letters from Milton (1608–1674) attest Filaras's patriotic crusade.
Milton here refuses a request from Philaras for the assistance of his pen in the freeing of the Greeks from Turkish rule on the basis of his confidence that only those people are slaves who deserve to be.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
