History Of Athens Part I

The cradle of western civilisation is what Athens is considered, as well as being known as the birthplace of democracy where also the great philosophers and artists resided. These philosophers set the wheels in motion for the foundations of modern society.

Almost 5,000 years old, Athens is considered to be the oldest inhabited city of Europe. Around 1400 BC, a palace was on the site of the Acropolis site as well as a bronze age fortification.

The name Athens came from the story, where the Goddess of Athena, which was known as the Goddess of Wisdom, was involved in a contest with the Goddess of the sea - Poseidon in relation to who would become guardian of this Greek City. Poseidon sprung a well on the Acropolis in order to win acclaim, while Athena grew an olive tree on the rocky Acropolis hill. The locals considered the olive tree more of a gift and dedicated the city Athens to her.

As early as the 6th century, the citizens were given the right to vote and all free men were given equal status. The free citizens would assemble and debate the affairs of the city and they would then vote on each topic and policy and these meetings took place on Pnyx Hill.

The Persians with an army of 100,000 men invaded Athens in 490 BC, but the city was strongly defended by an army of 11,000 soldiers. The Athenians defeated the Persians at Marathon due to the military brilliance of Miltiades. A messenger was told to run back to Athens and tell the citizens that the Athenians were victorious and thus the world’s first marathon run begun and is now a famous run throughout the western world each year. The original marathon run from Athens to Marathon is held almost yearly.

The Persian army later tried again to defeat the Athenians with an even larger army. The Athenians left their city and the Persians led by Xerxes, burnt Athens to the floor, but they lost the naval battle of Salamis to the Athenians.

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