Athens

From Encyclopediak

The Athenian Empire. Cimon, the son of Miltiades, was the chief military hero. One Persian stronghold after another fell, until all the coasts and islands of the TEgean were freed from Persia. In 466 B. C. came the victory of Eurymedon, where Cimon in one day destroyed a Persian army and took a fleet of 250 vessels. The league now grew in numbers, and the rich commerce of the TEgean and even of the Black Sea poured into Athens. As the fear of Persia decreased, many cities preferred to pay more money rather than to furnish ships and men, and thus the fleet was almost wholly manned by Athenians. The allies grew indifferent to the meetings of the Confederacy and soon Athens no longer consulted them as to the management of military affairs. Those who refused to pay their tax were wisely forced to keep their engagements, since Athens saw that the Persians were kept away only by unremitting vigilance. Such states, when subdued, became dependencies of Athens, and before long even those which had not rebelled were treated in the same manner. The voluntary union of free states was thus gradually changed into an empire, with Athens as its ruler. There were no more meetings of the congress, the treasury was transferred to Athens, and the tribute exacted from the states was used to beautify the city. In return, however, the Athenians faithfully kept Persia from the AEgean.

Age of Pericles. The 50 years that followed marked the rise of Athenian culture and magnificence, and Athens became the center of the literary and artistic world (See Pericles; Greece, subhead Period of State Supremacy). The ancient city is chiefly remembered as it was at this time. The Long Walls from Athens to its harbor, Piraeus, were completed, giving space where all might seek safety from invaders. The center of the architectural glory of Athens was the Acropolis, the citadel of earlier days, but at this time crowned with the most beautiful buildings of white marble. This was approached only at the western side, and there ascent was by means of a grand stairway of 60 marble steps leading to noble colonnades and porticoes. In front of tile entrance stood the colossal bronze statue of Athene, whose broad spear point caught the sun's rays and gave the distant mariner the first assurance that he was near the city. On the right stood the Temple of Athene Nike, wrongly spoken of as the Wingless Victory. Near the center were the two larger buildings, the Erechtheum and the Parthenon. The Erechtheum was a graceful temple whose celebrated Porch of the Maidens still stands to tell of its former beauty. The Parthenon, however, was the most lovely building of all. It was in Doric style, with low marble pillars, which, beneath the gable, rose only to a height of 34 ft. Its beauty was due, therefore, not to mass but to the perfection of its proportions and its delicate ornamentation. There were 50 life-sized or colossal statues in tlie gable, and 4000 sq. ft. of remarkably beautiful relief in the inner frieze. The sculpturing was done by Phidias or under his personal supervision, but without doubt his special tasks were the various statues of Athene. Within the temple stood his colossal statue of the goddess made of gold and ivory.

The great Theater of Dionysius, cut in a semicircle upon the rocky southeastern slope of the Acropolis, was large enough to seat the whole free population of Athens. Here, twice a year, during several days, the great dramatists presented their masterpieces. Through the efforts of Pericles the admission fee of any citizens asking for it was paid from the public treasury. This was money wisely expended, for the Greek theaters were planned for religious and intellectual training rather than for amusement. From all over Greece, artists, philosophers and writers thronged to Athens, for nowhere else was there such freedom of thought and such appreciation of artistic worth. Abbott, in his Pericles, thus speaks of the former glory of Athens:

ATHENS

1. Pompeum. 2. Gymnasium. 3. House of Pulytion. 4. House. 5. Porticoes. 6. Stoa Poikile. 7. Stoa of Attalus. 8. Stoa Basileios. 9. Stoa. 10. Temple of Apollo. 11. Senate House. 12. Tholus. 13. Temple of Aphrodite. 14. Theseum, 15. Temple of Hephaestus. 16. Gymnasium of Ptolemy. 17. Theseum. 18. Stoa of Hadrian. 19. Market. 20. Sanct. of Dioscuri. 21. Prvtaneum. 22. Diogeneion. 23. Propylea. 24. Erectheum. 25. Parthenon, 26. Odeum. 27. Theater. 28. Temple of Zeus. 29. Stadium, 30. Place of Assembly. 31. Precinct of Asclepjug, .12, Portico of .Attahg.

"No description can give anything' but a very inadequate idea of the splendor, the strength, the beauty, which met the eye of the Athenian, whether he walked round the fortifications, or through the broad streets of the Piraeus, or along the Long Walls, or in the shades of the Academy, or amidst the tombs of the Ceramicus; whether he chaffered in the market place, or attended assemblies in the Pnyx, or loitered in one of the numerous porticoes, or watched the exercises in the Gymnasia, or listened to music in the Odeum or plays in the theaters, or joined the throng of worshipers ascending to the great gateway of the Acropolis. And this magnificence was not the result of centuries of toil; it was the work of 50 years."

Peloponnesian War. The rapid rise of Athens to the position of dominating power in Greece and the spread of her democratic ideas among the other Grecian states aroused the jealousy of aristocratic Sparta; her control of the commerce of the TEgean excited Corinth. These causes finally brought about open hostilities in 431 B. C., when Athens gave aid to Corcyra against her Mother • Country, Corinth. Sparta, posing as the champion of Greek freedom, demanded that Athens set free her subject islands and thus give up her empire. To this Athens pointedly replied that Sparta should first set free Messenia and the conquered towns of Laconia. The superior military skill of the Spartans and the terrible plague which ravaged Athens combined to accomplish the final defeat of the city, though not until after years of warfare marked by many brilliant victories upon her part. The end came when at 2Egospotami, in 405 B. C., Lysander, the Spartan, captured the last fleet that Athens could build. Athens had then to give up all claim to empire, could retain only 12 ships and promised to be the ally of Sparta in peace or war. The Long Walls were torn down to the accompaniment of flutes playing Spartan war music.

MEDIEVAL DEVELOPMENT. Sparta maintained this control for only a brief period, and soon tlie Athenian democracy was restored and her Long Walls rebuilt, but in 338 B. C., with the rest of Greece, she came under the control of Philip of Macedon, and her history thereafter portrays a gradual though steady decline. Under Roman occupation her treasures were preserved and many of her historic buildings were repaired, but the city itself did not flourish. Later, under Turkish and Italian domination, the city dwindled to the miserable group of buildings found in 1835. The Parthenon was variously used as a Christian church, a Mohammedan mosque and even as an arsenal. The rise of modern Athens began when the city became the capital of the new Kingdom of Greece.

MODERN ATHENS. At the beginning of the 19th century little of the glory of the Athens of the Ag-e of Pericles remained. Her temples and beautiful public buildings had gone to ruin or been buried under the accumulation of the years. The diminishing" population was housed in scarcely more than 300 houses of nondescript style, and the streets were unkempt and narrow. In 1835, however, the city was entirely rebuilt, chiefly under the direction of a German architect, Schaubert, who has made it one of the most attractive cities of the East. It lies almost entirely upon the north and east sides of the Acropolis and extends across the sloping plain that leads to Mt. Lycabetus, or Mount St. George. The two main business streets, Hermes and -ZEolus, terminate in a beautiful park known as Constitution Square. The palace lies somewhat apart from the city and is a dignified structure of Pentellic marble. Other modern and attractive public buildings are the university buildings with the national library attached, the Academy of Sciences, the Polytechnic Institute and the National Museum. There are also American, French and British schools. Pop. 1919, 167,479.