EARLY SETTLEMENT (7000-5000BCE)

The Athenian King Cecrops named the city after 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. Athens turned to trade for its livelihood and, mainly, to sea trade. The early
Mycenaean period (c. 1550 - 1100 BCE) saw massive fortresses rise all over Greece, and
Athens was no exception.
The great stories of trojan war portray the Mycenaeans as great warriors. They traded
widely throughout the Aegean and Mediterranean region. In 1200 BCE the Sea People
invaded the Aegean from the south while simultaneously, the Dorians came down from
the north into mainland Greece. While the Sea People made definite incursions into the
mainland region surrounding Athens, the Dorians by-passed the city, allowing the
Mycenaean culture to The Athenians claimed for themselves a special status in that they
spoke Ionian, instead of Doric, Greek and held to customs they felt were superior to their
neighbors.There were 4 major tribes the greeks considered themselves to be divided
intothe Ionians, Dorians, Aeolians, and Achaeans.
514 BCE FALL OF PEISISTRATID TYRANNY
Peisistratus, born 6th century—died 527 bce), tyrant of ancient Athens whose
unification of Attica and consolidation and rapid improvement of Athens's
prosperity helped to make possible the city's later preeminence in
Greece.Hipparchus or Hipparch was a member of the ruling class of Athens. He was
one of the sons of Peisistratos. He was a tyrant of the city of Athens from 528/7 BC
until his assassination by the tyrannicides, Harmodius and Aristogeiton in 514 BC.
THE PERIOD OF 5TH CENTURY BC
The period of the 5th century BC in classical Greece is
generally considered as beginning in 500BC and ending in
404BC, though this is debated. It starts with the fall of the
Athenian tyrant and Cleisthenes's reforms. If one looks at
the whole Greek world, however, we might place its
beginning at the Ionian revolt in 500BC, that provoked
the Persian invasion of 492BC. The Persians were finally
defeated in 490BC. A second Persian attempt failed in
481-479BC. The Delian League then formed, under
Athenian hegemony and as Athens' instrument. Athens'
excesses caused several revolts among the allied cities,
which were all put down by force, but Athenian
dynamism finally awoke Sparta and brought about the
Peloponnesian War in 431BC. After both sides were
exhausted, a brief peace occurred, and then the war
resumed to Sparta's advantage. Athens was definitively
defeated in 404BC, and some internal Athenian agitations
ended the 5th century in Greece.
THE GOLDEN AGE AND PERICLES

The fifth century B.C. is also known as the Golden Age of Athens or “The Age of
Pericles”. Pericles was a prominent and renowned political leader that did
important reforms to democracy, by establishing the theorikon, a fund for
subsidizing attendance at public festivals. He encouraged artists and writers to
praise Athens and commissioned beautiful monuments and buildings with the
Allies money. He was also very interested in science and encouraged its
development. Imposing temples and landmarks were erected during his time in
power, including the Temple of Athena Nike , the Erechtheion, and the the
Parthenon, on the Acropolis. During the Golden Age of Athens, 250,000 people
lived in the city.
GRECO-PERSIAN WARS

The Greco-Persian Wars also often called the Persian Wars were a series of conflicts
between the Achaemenid Empire and Greek city-states that started in 499 BC and lasted
until 449 BC. The collision between them began when Cyrus the Great conquered the
Greek-inhabited region of Ionia in 547 BC. The ancient wall around the acropolis was
destroyed by the Persians during the occupations of Attica in 480 and 479 BC, part of the
Greco-Persian Wars. Although Sparta had won a hegemony over the Greek city-states from
its leadership in the Persian Wars, the Spartan-led Peloponnesian League feared the
growing power of the Athenian empire and worsened relations by repeated diplomatic
affronts and demands. In 464 BC, suffering another Helot rebellion, Sparta had asked for
Athens' aid along with its other allies. But after a "considerable force" arrived from Athens,
Sparta, fearing the "unorthodox" politics of Athens and the possibility of her supporting
the enslaved Helots, sent the Athenian contingent home while keeping on the rest of her
allies. Deeply offended by these Spartan interferences and insults, Athens was increasingly
willing to support discord within the Peloponnesian League and took Megara into its
protection during its border dispute with the Spartan-allied Corinth, leading to open war
with Corinth but not Sparta herself.
PELOPONNESIAN WAR
The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) was an ancient Greek war fought by the
Delian League led by Athens against the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. In the
first phase, the Archidamian War, Sparta launched repeated invasions of Attica,
while Athens took advantage of its naval supremacy to raid the coast of
the Peloponnese and attempt to suppress signs of unrest in its empire. This period
of the war was concluded in 421 BC, with the signing of the Peace of Nicias. That
treaty was soon undermined by renewed fighting in the Peloponnese. In 415 BC,
Athens dispatched a massive expeditionary force to attack Syracuse, Sicily; the
attack failed disastrously, with the destruction of the entire force in 413 BC. This
ushered in the final phase of the war, generally referred to either as the Ionian War.
Sparta, now receiving support from the Achaemenid Empire, supported rebellions
in Athens's subject states in the Aegean Sea and Ionia, undermining Athens's
empire, and, eventually, depriving the city of naval supremacy. The destruction of
Athens's fleet in the Battle of Aegospotami effectively ended the war, and Athens
surrendered in the following year
TIMELINE
460 BCE - 445 BCE
First Peloponnesian War.
458 BCE
A treaty of cooperation is signed between the Sicilian city-state of Segesta and Athens.
457 BCE
Sparta wins the battle of Tanagra during the 1st Peloponnesian War with Athens.
451 BCE
Thirty years peace between Argos and Sparta.
446 BCE - 445 BCE
Thirty years peace between Athens and Peloponnesians.
432 BCE
Sparta declares that Athens has broken the Thirty Year Peace and prepares for war.
431 BCE - 404 BCE
Thebes sides with Sparta against Athens in the Peloponnesian 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.
429 BCE
The death of Pericles from the plague.
429 BCE
Athens successfully campaigns in the Corinthian Gulf regions during the Peloponnesian War.
429 BCE
Peloponnesian forces led by Sparta begin the siege of Plataea.
429 BCE
Following attacks by Sparta, fortifications at the port of Piraeus are extended to reduce the width of
the harbour entrances.
427 BCE
Plataea finally falls to the Spartans after a two year siege.
424 BCE
A force of Athenian peltasts defeat Spartan hoplites on Sphaktria in the Peloponnese.
423 BCE
A one year truce in the Peloponnesian War.
This copper engraving by
Matthaus Merian illustration
depicts the Athenian naval
defeat near Corinth over the
Corinthian and Spartan fleet
around 430 B.C.E.
422 BCE
Spartan general Brasidas employs Myrkinian and Chalkidian peltast to defeat a force of Athenian
hoplites at Amphipolis.
421 BCE
Peace of Nicias, a truce between the Delian and Peloponnesian Leagues.
418 BCE
Sparta, led by Agis II, defeats Argos and her allies at the battle of Mantinaea.
417 BCE - 415 BCE
Melos, after supporting Sparta in the Peloponnesian War, is attacked by Athens.
415 BCE - 413 BCE
Athenian expedition to attack Syracuse.
415 BCE
Alcibiades persuades the Athenian assembly to send a military expedition to Sicily.
413 BCE
The Athenian expedition in Sicily ends in disastrous defeat and the Athenian generals Nicias and
Demosthenes are executed.
412 BCE
Sparta allies with Persia.
412 BCE
Rhodes revolts against Athens and supports Sparta in the Peloponnesian War.
410 BCE
Alcibiades leads the Athenian fleet to victory over Sparta at Cyzicus.
408 BCE
Lysander is first made an admiral of the Spartan fleet.
407 BCE
The Athenian fleet is defeated by Lysander of Sparta at Notium.
404 BCE
End of the Peloponnesian war, Athens defeated By Sparta at Aigospotamoi, Rule of the Thirty
Tyrants in Athens.
404 BCE
Spartan general Lysander attacks the Athenian port of Piraeus destroying parts of the Long Wall
fortifications.
The Peloponnesian War ended in victory for Sparta and its allies, but signaled the demise of
Athenian naval and political hegemony throughout the Mediterranean and was the ruling state of
Greece.
THE LONG WALLS

The long walls were built at notably Corinth and Megara, the term Long Walls refers to the
walls that connected Athens to its ports at Piraeus and Phalerum. They provided a secure
connection to the sea even during times of siege. The walls were about 6 km in length,
initially constructed in the mid 5th century BC, destroyed by the Spartans in 403 BC after
Athens' defeat in the Peloponnesian War, and rebuilt again with Persian support during the
Corinthian War in 395-391 BC. The Long Walls were a key element of Athenian military
strategy, since they provided the city with a constant link to the sea and thwarted sieges
conducted by land alone.
CORINTHIAN WAR

The Peloponnesian War was soon followed by the Corinthian War (394-386 BC), which,
although it ended inconclusively, helped Athens regain a little of its former greatness. The
war was fought on two fronts, on land near Corinth and Thebes and at sea in the Aegean.
On land, the Spartans achieved several early successes in major battles, but were unable to
capitalize on their advantage, and the fighting soon became stalemated. At sea, the
Spartan fleet was decisively defeated early in the war by an Achaemenid fleet allied
with Athens, an event that effectively ended Sparta's attempts to become a naval power.
Taking advantage of this fact, Athens launched several naval campaigns in the later years of
the war, recapturing a number of islands that had been part of the original Delian League
during the 5th century BC. Alarmed by these Athenian successes towards the end of the
conflict, the Persians stopped backing the allies and began supporting Sparta. This
defection forced the allies to seek peace. The King's Peace, also known as the Peace of
Antalcidas, was signed in 387 BC, ending the war. This treaty declared that Persia would
control all of Ionia, and proclaimed that all other Greek cities would be "autonomous" in
effect prohibiting Greek cities from forming leagues, alliances or coalitions. Sparta was to
be the guardian of the peace, with the power to enforce its clauses. The effects of the war,
therefore, were to establish Persia's ability to interfere successfully in Greek politics, to
atomize and isolate from one another Greek city states, and to affirm Sparta's hegemonic
position in the Greek political system.
BATTLE OF LEUCTRA
The Battle of Leuctra was a battle fought on 6 July 371 BC between the Boeotians led by
the Thebans, and the Spartans along with their allies amidst the post-Corinthian
War conflict. The battle took place in the neighborhood of Leuctra, a village in Boeotia.
The Theban victory shattered Sparta's immense influence over the Greek peninsula,
which Sparta had gained after its victory in the Peloponnesian War.
THEBAN SPARTAN WAR
The Theban–Spartan War of 378–362 BC was a series of military conflicts fought between Sparta
and Thebes for hegemony over Greece. Athens started to think about negotiating peace with
Sparta; it was while Athens was discussing this with Sparta that Thebes defeated the Spartan army
conclusively at Battle of Leuctra. The Battle of Leuctra made Thebes the leading military power
among the Greek city-states, ending the long dominance of Sparta. Athens allied itself with Thebes
and formed the Second Athenian League. Athens even sided with her old enemy Sparta, but Thebes,
with Persian backing, continued her expansionist policies and, once again led by Epaminondas, went
on to defeat the Spartan and Athenian alliance at the battle of Mantineia in 362 BCE.
MACEDONIAN KING PHILIP II
In the decade following his accession in 359 BC, the
Macedonian king, Philip II, had rapidly strengthened and
expanded his kingdom into Thrace and Chalkidiki on the
northern coast of the Aegean Sea. He was aided in this process
by the distraction of Athens and Thebes. The Battle of
Chaeronea was fought in 338 BC, near the city of Chaeronea in
Boeotia, between the Macedonians led by Philip II of Macedon
and an alliance of some of the Greek city-states led by Athens
and Thebes. The battle was the culmination of Philip's final
campaigns in 339-338 BC and resulted in a decisive victory for
the Macedonians. The battle has been described as one of the
most decisive of the ancient world. The forces of Athens and
Thebes were destroyed, and continued resistance was
impossible; the war therefore came to an abrupt end. Philip
was able to impose a settlement upon southern Greece, which
all states accepted, with the exception of Sparta. Philip was
assassinated, and the Kingdom of Macedon and responsibility
for the war with Persia passed instead to his son Alexander.
HELLENISTIC ATHENS

Philip II of Macedon was

replaced by Alexander the
Great, creating one of the
largest empires of the ancient
world. After his death, in 323
B.C., and until the Roman
Republic conquered Greece is
known as Hellenistic Greece.
During this period, Athens
was the focus of the arts and
sciences.
ROMAN ATHENS
Athens and the rest of the peninsula was conquered by
Rome in 146 BCE. In 88, Athens joined forces with
Mithridates VI, king of Pontus, revolted against Rome,
which led the Roman army to sack the city under the
instructions of the ruthless Roman statesman Sulla. They
destroyed numerous monuments and killed thousands of
citizens. Despite this, Athens continued to be the
intellectual hub of the period and although Rome now
controlled the city, Athens was declared a free city. During
the following three centuries, it was the cultural capital
attracting people from all over the world to its schools.
Athens like Rome was invaded by the Barbarians in 253 by
the Goths and in 267 by the Herules. Finally, the city was
plundered by Visigoths in 396. In 395 Athens came under
the rule of the Byzantine Empire. In 529 Justinian I closed
the schools and the temples were transformed into
churches. Athens was the centre of the pagan rebellion
against Christianism and the last non-Christian ruler of the
Roman Empire, Julian the Apostate, settled in Athens.
MEDIEVAL PERIOD

Athens declined when the Byzantine Empire became Christian. Several centuries later, the
city was plundered by the Normans who had conquered Sicily and the south of Italy.
Athens prospered during the eleventh and twelfth century and many of the Byzantine
churches were built during this period. However, in 1204 the Crusaders conquered Athens
after occupying the Byzantine Empire and less than two centuries later, in 1456, it was
occupied by the Ottoman Turks. The city’s churches were transformed into mosques.
MODERN HISTORY
The city, much reduced, since the rule of the Ottoman Empire revolted in 1822, but it was once
again captured by the Ottoman Turks. The Ottomans finally left Athens in 1833. In 1832, the Great
Powers that was made up by United Kingdom, Russian Empire and France founded an independent
state of Greece. The appointed king was son of Ludwig II of Bavaria, king Othon of Greece. On 18
September 1835, Athens was elected capital of the country and numerous public buildings were
constructed during this period.
After World War I, Greece, administered by Prime Minister Eleftherios Kyriakou, was promised new
territory in Ottoman Turkey by some of the western Allies. This led to the Greco-Turkish War
between 1919 and 1922. The Turkish crushed the Greeks in Smyrna, the Greek and Turkish decided
to exchange their population forcing thousands of Greeks living in Turkey to move back to Greece
and becoming refugees and vice versa. Most Greek citizens returned to Athens, creating a havoc in
the city.
In 1936 Ioannis Metaxas became dictator of Greece. He remained neutral when World War II broke
out. The city was shortly afterwards occupied by the Italian troops, but were pushed out by the
Greeks. In 1941 the German troops invaded Greece until 1944. After the Second World War, many
of the country’s rural population moved to Athens and the city grew rapidly.In 1967 several colonels
enforced dictatorship which ended in 1974. In 1981, Greece became a member state of the
European Union and in 2001, adopted the Euro as its official currency. Currently the city is the
political, economical and cultural hub of Greece and one of the most popular tourist destinations.