History of Athens
A Brief Reference to the History of Athens
According to Greek mythology Athens took its name from a competition that Goddess Athena once had with God Poseidon about who will become the protector of the city.
Myth has it that Poseidon struck the Earth powerfully and created a well with his trident. Immediately, streaming water shot forth but the water turned salty and it was not useful for the locals whilst Athena planted an olive tree, a symbol of wisdom and prosperity, as she touched the ground of the sacred rock of the Acropolis. The people of Athens chose Athena as their protector and so the city was named after the Goddess of Wisdom. The myth is symbolic but the two Gods symbolize the importance of Athens.
The first settlement of Athens at 3000 BC was situated on the rock of Acropolis. According to the tradition, Athens was founded when the king Theseus united in a state several settlements of Attica. The last king of ancient Athens was Kodros who sacrificed his life in order to save his homeland. Later the nobles (wealthy landowners) came into power. The nobles ruled Athens by their consul, the Supreme Court (Arios Pagos) which elected the 9 rulers of Athens .
The assembly of the Athenian citizens (Ecclesia of Demos) existed during this time but it didn’t have the power that it gained after the legislation of Solon’s laws.
After the colonization period and the expansion of trade, many citizens of Athens became wealthy through trading and shipping and they started participating in the administration process of the state. On the other hand, the lower classes of the city where facing poverty. This resulted in riots between the poor who wanted land and new justiciable laws and the nobles who wanted to keep their power and authority.
Those riots tried to exploit the ambitious Kylon who was aiming to become a tyrant but failed. His movement stayed in history as ‘Kylonion Agos’. Later on, the nobles ordered Drakon to legislate new laws in response to peoples’ demand. However, the laws of Dracon were too hard and peremptory and thus disappointed the Athenians. Since the laws of Dracon did not meet the expectations of the people of Athens, Solon decided to write off the debts of the citizens and let all those who had been slaves due to their debts free. That law was named ‘seisachtheia’ and then the Athenians were split into four classes according to their income floors. Archons (rulers) had the right to become the only rich. But, Solon also politically strengthened the poor because he gave significant power to the Ecclesia of Demos, the so-called assembly of the citizens.
The assembly was making decisions on all major issues and was voting the laws which were prepared by the House of the 400. Solon founded the large peoples’ court, the Iliaia. Those where the first steps towards democracy. But even the laws of Solon did not not entirely satisfy the Athenians. The poor wanted to re-divide the land. During this period, the nobility lost much of its power and Peisistratos managed to gain the support of many people and become a tyrant. Peisistratos supported the farmers and produced numerous projects in Athens. His sons and successors, however, Hippias and Hipparchos, were extremely hard on the Athenians and had no happy ending. Hippias escaped to Persia where he died in exile and Hipparchos was killed by the Athenians. In the end of Tyranny, the Athenians started to embrace a more democratic behavior. The main creator was Kleisthenes, who radically reformed the constitution. Kleisthenes divided the Athenians into 10 races with 10 municipalities each. In each race category we find citizens from various areas of Attica and thus the rich ceased to be nobles themselves and a strong class as they mixed with other fellow citizens. Kleisthenes gave all the power to the Ecclesia of Demos. The assembly elected 10 general chiefs who governed, not only the military but the state itself. Solon’s parliament of 400 was replaced by a new parliament consisted of 500 deputies. The members of the new parliament where 50 Athenians from each race, selected annually by draw.
With this system all the citizens of Athens were likely to be some day members of the parliament. The task of the parliament was to prepare the topics to be discussed by the Ecclesia of Demos. In order to secure the new constitution Kleisthenis introduced the ostracism. Every citizen was meant to write on a piece of broken vase (shell) the name of a politician who could have been dangerous for democracy. Afterwards, they would count the oysters and send to exile the ones who had gathered 6 thousand shells or more with their name on. The period of exile was about 10 years. This is how Democracy was born, the constitution that gives all citizens the right and duty to participate in the governance of the state. Democracy was one of the most significant achievements of the ancient Greeks.
Athens lived its most glorious times during the 5th century BC under the reign of Pericles. During this period, the Golden Age of Athens, Parthenon was built. Arts, philosophy, drama developed to their highest point. Unfortunately, the Peloponnesian war between the Athenians and Sparta gave an end to this cultural progress. But Athens continued to be the centre of culture and intellectual importance even during the Roman times. On his journeys to Greece St. Paul spoke to the Athenians from the rock of Arios Pagos (Areopagos) in 44 AD .
During the reign of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, Athens became his beloved city. Hadrian built and decorated Athens with magnificent monuments such as the Hadrian’s Library. He used to say ‘to the south of Acropolis is Theseus’ Athens and to the north of Acropolis is Hadrian’s Athens’.
With the fall of the Roman Empire declined Athens importance as well. During the Byzantine times, Athens was a provincial town of the Byzantine Empire. But even then, many Byzantine churches where built in the city. The Crusaders invaded Athens in the 13th century and conquered until the 15th century when the city was occupied by the Turks. After the Greek war of Independence, Athens became the Capital of Greece in 1833. Under the reign of the first king of Greece, Otto, the city extended to the north and many buildings where built by German and Greek Architects.
