Athens 101: Athens Greece History
Athens in Greece has a history dating back to antiquity. Several path breaking ideas and concepts were born and developed in Athens in Greece. History of Athens, Greece is not just for the Greeks to take pride in, it is a legacy for the whole world to cherish and savor.
Athens and Greece have evolved together as conjoined entities and Athens which started life as hill-top fortification grew to become the greatest of all city-states in ancient Greece. Athenian civilization reached its zenith after the city-state won the Persian Wars in the 5th century B.C.
Till date; military historians study Athenian tactics in the battles of Marathon and Salamis. Victory in the Persian Wars made Athens the leading Greek city ahead of Sparta. This golden age marks the apogee of imperial and cultural achievements for Athens. This was the age of Themistocles, Aeschylus, Sophocles and many more luminaries. The decline of Athens as a Greek power began with the Peloponnesian War which the city fought with Sparta. The end of the war was a low point for Athens, Greece. History tells us that the city’s population was reduced by half and its once proud naval fleet was left with only a dozen ships standing.
Modern Athens became the capital of the newly independent Greece in 1834; thereby continuing its centuries old bond with the region known as Greece. Today one witnesses an Athens in which the Greece of history can still be experienced through the various monuments left behind by the ages. The Acropolis, Parthenon, temple of Nike, ancient stadiums, etc remind us of the power that Athens once was and the influences such as Spartan, Roman, Egyptian, and Turkish, which it has borne through the ages.
The contributions of Athens and Greece have secured their place in world history.
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