Silver mined in Laurium in southeastern Attica contributed greatly to the prosperity of this "Golden" Age of Athens. That provoked two Persian invasions of Greece, both of which were repelled under the leadership of the soldier-statesmen Miltiades and Themistocles (see Persian Wars). In a much shorter concluding section on sex structures, the author suggests that the practice of infanticide was relatively rare in Classical Athens, given that war casualties were consistently replaced. Population and Economy in Classical Athens - by Ben Akrigg March 2019. There were therefore three long walls in all; but the name Long Walls seems to have been confined to the two leading to the Piraeus, while the one leading to Phalerum was called the Phalerian Wall. [10] In other words, the Athenian imperialist democracy knew how to open the safety valve, but it does not appear to have been desperate to get rid of an excess underclass. Athens is one of the oldest named cities in the world, having been continuously inhabited for perhaps 5,000 years. The Parthenon, a lavishly decorated temple to the goddess Athena, was constructed under the administration of Pericles.[9]. [8] But was fifth-century Athens the ticking time bomb of wealth inequality the author suggests? Hence, he gave his name to the Athenian Golden Age. At the time of the Peloponnesian war only the north part of this wall remained, and this portion was still called the Pelasgic Wall; while the south part which had been rebuilt by Cimon, was called the Cimonian Wall. Slaves were the lowest class in Athenian society, but according to many contemporary accounts they were far less harshly treated than in most other Greek cities. The peak of Athenian hegemony was achieved in the 440s to 430s BC, known as the Age of Pericles. The Acropolis, also called Cecropia from its reputed founder, Cecrops, was a steep rock in the middle of the city, about 50 meters high, 350 meters long, and 150 meters wide; its sides were naturally scarped on all sides except the west end. ), Debating the Athenian Cultural Revolution: Art, Literature, Philosophy, and Politics 430-380 BC (Cambridge 2007): 27-43; “Demography and Classical Athens,” in C. Holleran and A. Pudsey (eds. The city of Athens, Greece, with its famous Acropolis, has come to symbolize the whole of the country in the popular imagination, and not without cause. The book comprises eight chapters, the first six of which seek to establish Athens’ population (and its basic material needs) down to 431. Skip to main content Accessibility help We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Cleisthenes disliked the Spartan rule, along with many other Athenians, and so made his own bid for power. To these he would add 40,000 or 30,000 non-hoplites, respectively, for the total citizen adult male population, but his grounds for doing so are unclear at this stage, since he addresses neither the distribution of wealth in Athenian society nor the relation, if any, of the Solonian census classes to military functions until later in the book. ), Debating the Athenian Cultural Revolution: Art, Literature, Philosophy, and Politics 430-380 BC (Cambridge 2007): 27-43; “Demography and Classical Athens,” in C. Holleran and A. Pudsey (eds. There were many gates, among the more important there were: Among the more important streets, there were: The period from the end of the Persian Wars to the Macedonian conquest marked the zenith of Athens as a center of literature, philosophy (see Greek philosophy) and the arts (see Greek theatre). During its classical period, Athens had a population between 350,000 and 610,000. Overall, this is a thoughtful and learned volume by an experienced scholar.” —Konstantinos Kapparis, University of Florida In conclusion he makes the salutary point that there can be no single explanation for the development of Athenian society but that demography ought to be one tool among many for understanding history. • Born in Athens • Male Many would argue that Athens did not have a true democracy because not everyone could participate. The city was burnt by Xerxes in 480 BC, but was soon rebuilt under the administration of Themistocles, and was adorned with public buildings by Cimon and especially by Pericles, in whose time (461–429 BC) it reached its greatest splendour. It is published as part of our mission to showcase peer-leading papers written by students during their studies. According to the Greek mythology, Cecrops, who was half man and half serpent, founded Athens and became the first king. First, however, he summarizes earlier approaches to the Athenian male citizen population, beginning with J. Beloch and A. W. Gomme. 26-27. Akrigg rightly notes that there are research questions beyond that of the fourth-century democracy’s ability to live up to its values and that the population of the fifth century has been largely sidelined, despite its importance. The summit of the Acropolis was covered with temples, statues of bronze and marble, and various other works of art. ), Communities and Networks in the Ancient Greek World (Oxford 2015): 155-76. It may be, then, that Athens was no less a “beneficiary” of two of Scheidel’s “four horsemen” of inequality reduction, war and disease. Hippias, son of Peisistratus, had ruled Athens jointly with his brother, Hipparchus, from the death of Peisistratus in about 527. Free shipping for many products! Citizens, Metics, and Slaves: The population of Athens was made up of three distinct groups: citizens, or men who were of Athenian birth and free-born; metics, or foreigners who lived in Athens but who had no citizenship rights, and slaves It is estimated that in 431 B.C. In 499 BC, Athens sent troops to aid the Ionian Greeks of Asia Minor, who were rebelling against the Persian Empire (see Ionian Revolt). On the west side the walls embraced the Hill of the Nymphs and the Pnyx, and to the southeast they ran along beside the Ilissos. It is widely referred to as the cradle of Western Civilization, and the birthplace of democracy,[4] largely due to the impact of its cultural and political achievements during the 5th and 4th centuries BC on the rest of the then-known European continent.[5]. From 800 B.C. Praise “Insults in Classical Athens examines a decidedly understudied subject that is vast and multifaceted, successfully introducing the reader to the complexities and reasons why further study is necessary and important. By 431 BC Athens probably had 40,000 residents, and its harbor town Piraeus another 25,000. Specialist readers will know these arguments from a series of book chapters produced by the author since 2007, but there is much new (and important) material, and it is useful to have everything in one place under a coherent framework. The population of Sparta consisted of three main groups: the Spartans, or Spartiates, who were full citizens; the Helots, or serfs/slaves; and the Perioeci, who were neither slaves nor citizens. By 432 BC, Athens had become the most populous city-state in Hellas. The war between Athens and the city-state Sparta ended with an Athenian defeat after Sparta started its own navy. He was an expert in South Italian vases, namely the red-figured pottery produced by Greeks and the local population living in South Italy and Sicily in the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Perhaps future archaeological work will tell us something about the wealth inequality and economic growth at the deme level. The methodology of earlier scholars has been criticised in general terms but their conclusions have not been seriously challenged. On the west end of the Acropolis, where access is alone practicable, were the magnificent Propylaea, "the Entrances," built by Pericles, before the right wing of which was the small Temple of Athena Nike. By mid century, however, the northern Greek kingdom of Macedon was becoming dominant in Athenian affairs. It is surprising that given the sheer number of people living in those times, only little remains of their constructs. The conflict marked the end of Athenian command of the sea. [7] A rise in the value of slaves would also account for the (apparent) first appearance of “cocky” slaves such as Xanthias in Aristophanes’ Frogs. POPULATION AND ECONOMY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS This is the rst comprehensive account of the population of classical Athens for almost a century. Given the current state of our evidence, the author’s assumption that fifth-century Athens was on the road to perdition, as well as his comment that “the upheavals of the Peloponnesian War…can be seen as purgative” for an otherwise ruinously unequal society (243), cannot, I think, constitute the final word on the subject. By 432 BC, Athens had become the most populous city-state in Hellas. Whereas Doc C (population estimates from mixed sources) the population of Han china in 200 C.E was 65,000,000 total. Many governmental posts in classical Athens were chosen by lot, in an attempt to discourage corruption and patronage. Athenian democracy was established in 508 BC under Cleisthenes following the tyranny of Isagoras. In sum, Ben Akrigg has produced a sophisticated demographic study that should establish new baselines for future debate and that has raised provocative questions about a famous ancient society’s sustainability. Athenian democracy was briefly overthrown by the coup of 411, brought about because of its poor handling of the war, but it was quickly restored. That forced the Athenians to evacuate Athens, which was taken by the Persians, and seek the protection of their fleet. When Ephialtes was assassinated by personal enemies, Pericles stepped in and was elected general, or strategos, in 445 BC; a post he held continuously until his death in 429 BC, always by election of the Athenian Assembly. He executed a large number of public works projects and improved the life of the citizens. On the other hand, Akrigg rightly emphasizes that the single legal category “metic” comprised a heterogeneous population of wealthy Greeks, freedpeople, and non-Greek traders and laborers. The public opinion of voters could be influenced by the political satires written by the comic poets and performed in the city theaters. Chapter 4, “Population Size 2: Non-Citizens,” deals with the much thornier question of slave and metic populations. Each tribe was in turn divided into three trittyes (one from the coast; one from the city and one from the inland divisions), while each trittys had one or more demes, depending on their population, which became the basis of local government. Here several alternative scenarios present themselves. A population as large as that of classical Athens could be supported only by the regular importation of food 2 from abroad, which had to be financed by trade and other revenues. Sparta's hegemony was passing to Athens, and it was Athens that took the war to Asia Minor. The reforms of Cleisthenes replaced the traditional four Ionic "tribes" (phyle) with ten new ones, named after legendary heroes of Greece and having no class basis, which acted as electorates. [6] A (too) brief discussion of the Brea Decree (IG I3 46) concludes that “it is hard…to take the [decree] as unambiguous evidence for the Athenian poor benefitting hugely from the empire” (220). The latter part of the chapter attempts to square the fourth-century evidence with Akrigg’s theory that drastic population decline from war and plague involved land redistribution. Xerxes had built himself a throne on the coast in order to see the Greeks defeated. ×Your email address will not be published. [3] Hansen, in turn (above, n. 2), exploited the superior life tables of Coale and Demeny. 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