[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. Akrigg does not deny that democracy and empire could have mitigated growing inequality (if that is in fact what was happening), but he still maintains that without war or plague “the democracy would have come under increasing strain and might not have lasted long” (223). Sparta's former allies soon turned against her due to her imperialist policies, and Athens's former enemies, Thebes and Corinth, became her allies. The Acropolis was just south of the centre of this walled area. Sparta, also known as Lacedaemon, was an ancient Greek city-state located primarily in the present-day region of southern Greece called Laconia. Hence, he gave his name to the Athenian Golden Age. Jesús David Quintero Aleans . We have also to deal with the fact that the institutions that E. E. Cohen sees as emblematic of the fourth century, such as commercialization and banking, probably emerged already in the fifth, albeit without the participation of women and slaves. Chapter 6, “Immediate Implications of Population Change: War and Food” (but see above on this “change”), entails a dense summary of the fifth-century Attic population’s food requirements. Sparta's hegemony was passing to Athens, and it was Athens that took the war to Asia Minor. • Born in Athens • Male Many would argue that Athens did not have a true democracy because not everyone could participate. By 432 BC, Athens had become the most populous city-state in Hellas. [2] Demography and Democracy: The Number of Athenian Citizens in the Fourth Century B.C. Towards the end of the Peloponnesian War, it contained more than 10,000 houses,[10] which at a rate of 12 inhabitants to a house would give a population of 120,000, though some writers make the inhabitants as many as 180,000. The tribes each selected fifty members by lot for the Boule, the council that governed Athens on a day-to-day basis. Whereas Doc C (population estimates from mixed sources) the population of Han china in 200 C.E was 65,000,000 total. In 403, democracy was restored by Thrasybulus and an amnesty declared. 3. Population and Economy in Classical Athens - by Ben Akrigg March 2019. Upon their exile, they went to Delphi, and Herodotus[6] says they bribed the Pythia always to tell visiting Spartans that they should invade Attica and overthrow Hippias. [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). [7] The Assembly or Ecclesia was open to all full citizens and was both a legislature and a supreme court, except in murder cases and religious matters, which became the only remaining functions of the Areopagus. Silver mined in Laurium in southeastern Attica contributed greatly to the prosperity of this "Golden" Age of Athens. Perhaps future archaeological work will tell us something about the wealth inequality and economic growth at the deme level. This is the first comprehensive account of the population of classical Athens for almost a century. [1] The introductory Chapter 1 emphasizes that sustained studies of the fourth-century population of Athens, above all that by M. H. Hansen,[2] had as their impetus the questions of whether and how the Athenian constitution made good on its stated goal of a highly participatory state. The question just posed roughly maps on to Akrigg’s stated concerns: 1) to show that the population was in fact in that range, as scholars have previously suggested but have left relatively unexplored; and 2) to “show why such an account is necessary…and to persuade the reader that this subject…is an important part of the history of the city” (1). 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. there were roughly 50,000 adult male citizens, 25,000 metics, and 100,000 slaves in Athens. It is published as part of our mission to showcase peer-leading papers written by students during their studies. bc may have been about two million people.Demography is not just a matter of population size. Comments are moderated. Expressions of thanks or praise should be sent directly to the reviewer, using the email address in the review. Of that population, only 10-20% (31,000 - 46,500) actually had a say in the government. Free shipping for many products! During its classical period, Athens had a population between 350,000 and 610,000. In addition the Long Walls consisted of two parallel walls leading to Piraeus, 40 stadia long (4.5 miles, 7 km), running parallel to each other, with a narrow passage between them and, furthermore, a wall to Phalerum on the east, 35 stadia long (4 miles, 6.5 km). According to the Greek mythology, Cecrops, who was half man and half serpent, founded Athens and became the first king. They established themselves near the crag, which later would become the Acropolis. [10] See the useful tables of T. Figueira, “Colonisation in the Classical Period,” in G. R. Tsetskhladze (ed. 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. Upon their exile, they went to Delphi, and Herodotus says they bribed the Pythiaalways to tell visiting S… Bryn Mawr PA 19010. Since the defeat was largely blamed on democratic politicians such as Cleon and Cleophon, there was a brief reaction against democracy, aided by the Spartan army (the rule of the Thirty Tyrants). Finally Thebes defeated Sparta in 371 in the Battle of Leuctra. The conflict marked the end of Athenian command of the sea. Subsequently, the Athenians and their allies, led by Themistocles, defeated the Persian navy at sea in the Battle of Salamis. Jun 8 2014 • 244 views. Akrigg plausibly suggests that the land grabs under Athenian imperial rule would have afforded opportunities for emigration and thus an incentive for natural fertility increase that might otherwise have been lacking in a Greek community. Athens - Athens - History: The site of Athens has been inhabited since the Neolithic Period (before 3000 bce). Document B (population estimates from mixed sources…) states that the population of classical Athens in 422 B.C.E was to be 315,000 total. This content was originally written for an undergraduate or Master's program. 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. By 432 BC, Athens had become the most populous city-state in Hellas. The walled city measured about 1.5 km (0.93 mi) in diameter, although at its peak the city had suburbs extending well beyond these walls. It is estimated that by 400 B.C, ancient Greece had a population of 13 million. Evidence for this has come from pottery finds on and around the Acropolis but particularly from a group of about 20 shallow wells, or pits, on the northwest slope of the Acropolis, just below the Klepsydra spring. That supposedly worked after a number of times, and Cleomenes led a Spartan force to overthrow Hippias, which succeeded, and instated an oligarchy. Athens began as a small, Mycenaen community and grew to become a city that, at its height, epitomized the best of Greek virtues and enjoyed such prestige that the Spartans refused to sack the city or enslave the citizens, even after Athens' defeat in the Peloponnesian War. [4] Did the average Athenian really view the family of Cephalus—wealthy, pro-democratic metics from Syracuse—as closer to slaves than citizens? A.D. (Dale) Trendall (1909-1995) was a leading authority on ancient Greek vase painting and one of the foremost classical art historians of his time. 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. Since many citizens were incapable of exercising political rights, due to their poverty or ignorance, a number of governmental resources existed … to 400 B.C, the population in ancient Greece rose. Simultaneously the Athenians led an indecisive naval battle off Artemisium. Athens was in Attica, about 30 stadia from the sea, on the southwest slope of Mount Lycabettus, between the small rivers Cephissus to the west, Ilissos to the south, and the Eridanos to the north, the latter of which flowed through the town. Instead, the Persians were routed. J. Ober’s work on defenses and C. Taylor’s on the increasing presence of rural demesmen in politics would seem to be compatible with the author’s picture. 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. 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. In 490 the Athenians, led by Miltiades, prevented the first invasion of the Persians, guided by king Darius I, at the Battle of Marathon. With the pioneering work of M. K. Hopkins on the age structure of the Roman population, however, ancient demography was put on better footing, since Hopkins recognized the importance of UN model life tables. The war ended with the complete defeat of Athens in 404. ), 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 population’s needs for barley, olive oil, and wine are helpfully set out in Table 6.1; the obvious takeaway is that Athens depended on imports to meet its needs, given its own limited area of cultivable land. Akrigg believes that we can do better than Hansen’s conclusions on this front. The book comprises eight chapters, the first six of which seek to establish Athens’ population (and its basic material needs) down to 431. ), 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 first settlers in Athens were from various ethnic groups that were organized in several kingdoms. Greek city-states of the ancient world did in fact remain limited in size. It may be, then, that Athens was no less a “beneficiary” of two of Scheidel’s “four horsemen” of inequality reduction, war and disease. Between the Parthenon and Erechtheion was the colossal Statue of Athena Promachos, or the "Fighter in the Front," whose helmet and spear was the first object on the Acropolis visible from the sea. By 431 BC Athens probably had 40,000 residents, and its harbor town Piraeus another 25,000. Of the temples, the grandest was the Parthenon, sacred to the "Virgin" goddess Athena; and north of the Parthenon was the magnificent Erechtheion, containing three separate temples, one to Athena Polias, or the "Protectress of the State," the Erechtheion proper, or sanctuary of Erechtheus, and the Pandroseion, or sanctuary of Pandrosos, the daughter of Cecrops. Scheidel has suggested that the redistributive and military aspects of the Athenian democracy put a brake on the usual runaway inequality involved in growth, but Akrigg rightly points out that Scheidel’s picture of Athens stems from the fourth century, after the ruinous effects of the war and the plague. Athenian democracy was established in 508 BC under Cleisthenes following the tyranny of Isagoras. 'θi.na]) during the classical period of ancient Greece (480–323 BC)[1] was the major urban centre of the notable polis (city-state) of the same name, located in Attica, Greece, leading the Delian League in the Peloponnesian War against Sparta and the Peloponnesian League. “The Nature and Implications of Athens’ Changed Social Structure and Economy,” in R. Osborne (ed. (London 1986) but disagrees with Strauss’s conclusion that the thetes were the hardest hit demographically and that their losses contributed to social peace in the fourth century. Athens today is experiencing some population decline, which is standard across the country, due to an aging population and a weak economy. Many of Classical civilization’s intellectual and artistic ideas originated there, and the city is generally considered to be the birthplace of Western civilization. Following the assassination of Hipparchus in about 514, Hippias took on sole rule, and in response to the loss of his brother, became a worse leader who was increasingly disliked. Cleisthenes disliked the Spartan rule, along with many other Athenians, and so made his own bid for power. The city of Athens (Ancient Greek: Ἀθῆναι, Athênai [a.tʰɛ̂ː.nai̯]; Modern Greek: Αθήναι Athine [a.ˈθi.ne̞] or, more commonly and in singular, Αθήνα Athina [a. The methodology of earlier scholars has been criticised in general terms but their conclusions have not been seriously challenged. Most offices were filled by lot, although the ten strategoi (generals) were elected. However, other Greek cities, including Athens, turned against Thebes, and its dominance was brought to an end at the Battle of Mantinea (362 BC) with the death of its leader, the military genius Epaminondas. Students during their studies chosen by lot for the private houses were insignificant. 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