Athens dominates and is the capital of the Attica region and is one of the world’s oldest cities, with its recorded history spanning over 3,400 years and its earliest human presence beginning somewhere between the 11th and 7th millennia BC.
Beginning as early as 900 B.C., Athens became a leading trade center within the Greek world, owing to its central location, possession of the heavily fortified Acropolis and its quick access to the sea.
By the beginning of the 6th Century B.C., the foundations of democratic reforms were laid in Athens by Solon, and full democracy was achieved by 508 B.C. under Cleisthenes. By this time also, the Athenian navy had grown large and powerful enough to assist the Ionian regions of Asia Minor in their rebellion against Persian rule, which lasted from 499 to 493 B.C. The revolt ultimately failed, however, and Athens’ support of the rebels incensed King Darius of Persia to the point of launching an all-out invasion of Greece in 492 B.C. Athens and Sparta led a coalition of Greek city-states against the invaders and defeated them, but Athens was nonetheless sacked twice by the Persians before the war’s end.
Following the Greco-Persian War, Athens entered the Golden Age of Athenian Democracy, during which time it was the clear cultural leader of the Greek world. Philosophy, drama, history-writing, artistry, and political reform all entered their “heyday.” Athens also became the head of the Delian League, which began as an alliance to continue the fight against Persia, but soon became little more than a tool by which Athens promoted its own imperial ambitions. Sparta soon chafed at this situation, and the two cities — once allies, now rivals — fought the lengthy Peloponnesian War between 431 and 404 B.C. Athens was finally defeated by the militaristic Spartans, and though it remained an important city-state, it failed to become the center of a great empire.
In 338 B.C., Macedonia defeated an alliance of Greek city-states and conquered all Greece, including the city of Athens. Athens remained under Macedonian rule until the Romans defeated them in 197 B.C. While under Rome, Athens was a free city with a much-admired school system and received special favor from Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd Century A.D.
Athens passed from Roman to Byzantine rule when the empire split in Late Antiquity, declined during the Middle Ages and benefited from trade with Italy during the Crusades. In 1458, it fell to the Ottoman Empire and did not again become part of an independent Greece until 1832. In 1834, it became Greece’s capital, and in 1896, it hosted the first modern Olympics. In 1922, after the Greco-Turkish War, many Ionian refugees flooded into Athens, and the city also grew exponentially during the 1950’s and 60’s. Today, it is a metropolis and a major world tourist attraction.
