Download Following Cleisthenes` democratic reforms, Athens

Following Cleisthenes' democratic reforms, Athens attained its Golden
Age under Pericles in the fifth century BCE and flourished culturally,
before it was defeated by Sparta and conquered by Macedon in the
fourth century BCE.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES [ edit ]
Explain how Pericles' reforms contributed to the Golden Age of Athens
Explain the factors contributing to the rise and fall of Athens
KEY POINTS [ edit ]
Cleisthenes overthrew the dictator Hippias in 511/510 BCE to establish democracy at Athens.
The Ionian Revolt provoked a Persian invasion of Greece, which was beat back by the Athenians
with the help of othercity­states. These victories led to the formation of the Delian League.
Athens entered its Golden Age in the fifth century BCE, when it abandoned the pretense of parity
and relocated the treasury of the Delian League from Delos to Athens. This money funded the
building of the Athenian Acropolis, put half the Athenian population on the public payroll, and
maintained dominating naval power in the Greek world.
With the empire's funds, military dominance and its political fortunes guided by statesman and
orator Pericles, Athens produced some of the most influential and enduring cultural artifacts of
the Western tradition.
The resulting tensions brought about the Peloponnesian War(431–404 BCE), in which Athens
was defeated by its rivalSparta. Athens lost further power when the armies of Philip II defeated
an alliance of some of the Greek city­states and effectively ended Greek independence.
TERMS [ edit ]
Acropolis
a settlement, especially a citadel, built upon an area of elevated ground, frequently a hill with
precipitous sides, chosen for purposes of defense. Oftentimes the nuclei of large cities of classical
antiquity.
Delian League
founded in 478 BCE, an association of Greek city­states under the leadership of Athens, whose
purpose was to fight the Persian Empire during the Greco­Persian Wars.
Philip II
was a king of the Greek kingdom of Macedon from 359 BC until his assassination in 336 BC. He
was the father of Alexander the Great and Philip III. To him is attributed the phrase divide et
impera (Divide and conquer).
Ionian Revolt
military rebellions by several regions of Asia Minor against Persian rule, lasting from 499­493
BCE.
Athens
a major urban center during the classical period of Ancient Greece (508–322 BCE) and leader of
the Delian League, located in Attica, Greece.
Pericles
prominent and influential Greek statesman, orator and general of Athens during the Golden Age,
in the time between the Persian and Peloponnesian wars.
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The Rise of Athens (508–448 BCE)
In 514 BCE, the dictator Hippias established stability and prosperity with his rule at Athens,
but remained very unpopular. With the help of an army from Sparta, in 511/510 BCE, he was
overthrown by Cleisthenes, a radical politician of aristocratic background, who established
democracy in Athens.
Prior to the rise of Athens, Sparta, a city­state with a militaristic culture, considered itself the
leader of the Greeks, and enforced an hegemony. In 499 BCE Athens sent troops to aid the
Ionian Greeks of Asia Minor, who were rebelling against the Persian Empire in the Ionian
Revolt. This provoked two Persian invasions of Greece, both of which were repelled under
the leadership of the soldier­statesmen Miltiades and Themistocles during the Persian Wars.
Through the following decades, the Athenians, with the help of the Spartans, managed to
rout the Persians. These victories enabled Athens to bring most of the Aegean and many
other parts of Greece together in the Delian League, creating an Athenian­dominated
alliance.
Greek­Persian Duel
Athenian Hegemony and the Age of Pericles
The fifth century BCE was a period of Athenian political hegemony, economic growth and
cultural flourishing sometimes known as the Golden Age of Athens. The latter part of this
time period is often called The Age of Pericles. This period began in 478 BCE after defeat of
the Persian invasion, when an Athenian­led coalition of city­states, known as the Delian
League, confronted the Persians to keep the liberated Asian Greek cities free. After peace was
made with Persia in the mid the 5th century BCE, what started as an alliance of independent
city­states became an Athenian empire. Athens moved to abandon the pretense of parity
among its allies and relocated the Delian League treasury from Delos to Athens, where it
funded the building of the Athenian Acropolis, put half its population on the public payroll,
and maintained dominating naval power in the Greek world. With the empire's funds,
military dominance and its political fortunes guided by statesman and orator Pericles,
Athens produced some of the most influential and enduring cultural artifacts of the Western
tradition. The playwrights Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides all lived and worked in 5th
century BCE Athens, as did the historians Herodotus and Thucydides, the physician
Hippocrates, and the philosopher Socrates. Athens' patron goddess was Athena, from whom
they derived the name.
Karyatides Statues
The Karyatides statues of the Erechtheion on its Acropolis.
Pericles was known to be a great speaker; this quality brought him great success in the
Assembly, presenting his vision of politics. One of his most popular reforms was to allow
thetes (Athenians without wealth) to occupy public office. Another success of his
administration was the creation of the misthophoria (paid function), a special salary for the
citizens that attended the courts as jurors. This way, these citizens were able to dedicate
themselves to public service without facing financial hardship. With this system, Pericles
succeeded in keeping the courts full of jurors and giving the people experience in public life.
As Athens' ruler, he made the city the first and most important polis of the Greek world with
a resplendent culture and democratic institutions.
Athenian Defeat and Conquest By Macedon
Originally intended as an association of Greek city­states to continue the fight against the
Persians, the Delian League soon turned into a vehicle for Athens's own imperial ambitions.
The resulting tensions brought about thePeloponnesian War (431–404 BCE), in which
Athens was defeated by its rival Sparta.By the mid­4th century BCE, the northern Greek
kingdom of Macedon was becoming dominant in Athenian affairs. In 338 BCE the armies
ofPhilip II of Macedon defeated an alliance of some of the Greek city­states including Athens
and Thebes at the Battle of Chaeronea, effectively ending Athenian independence.