The most complete information guide about Athens, Greece
HISTORY OF ATHENS
336
BC to 267 AD
Lycurgus
of Athens, 396-323 BC
After
the battle of Cheronia, Lycurgus, one of the ten Attic orators,
ruled Athens from 336 until 324 BC. He was born in Athens ca.
396 BC and was the son of Lycophron, who belonged to the noble
family of the Eteobutadae. In his early life he devoted himself
to the study of philosophy in the school of Plato. Afterwards
he became one of the disciples of Isocrates and entered upon public
life at a comparatively early age. He was appointed three successive
times to the office of manager of the public revenue and held
his office each time for five years
His
primary concern was to increase income and economic reserves allowing
Athens to create an effective army and fleet and contributing
to the creation of splendid buildings such as the Panathenaic
Stadium, the portico at the Sanctuary of Asclepius and the Temple
of Apollo Patroos in the Agora. In addition, Lycurgus is accredited
with the reconstruction of the Theatre of Dionysos and the completion
of the works at Pnyx Hill, at Eleusis and at the Amphiareion of
Oropos. The city had not seen such building activity since the
time of Pericles.
Lycurgus
was entrusted with the superintendence of the city and the keeping
of public discipline. The severity with which he watched over
the conduct of the citizens became almost proverbial. He had a
noble taste for everything that was beautiful and grand, as he
showed by the buildings he erected or completed, both for the
use of the citizens and the ornament of the city. His integrity
was so great, that even private persons deposited with him large
sums of money, which they wished to be kept in safety.
He
was also the author of several legislative enactments, of which
he enforced the strictest observance. One of his laws forbade
women to ride in chariots at the celebration of the mysteries
and when his own wife transgressed this law, she was fined. Another
law ordained that bronze statues should be erected to Aeschylus,
Sophocles and Euripides and that copies of their tragedies should
be made and preserved in the public archives.
Lycurgus
of Athens died in 323 BC while holding the office of director
of the theatre of Dionysus.
The beginning of Macedonian rule
The
already tense situation between Athens and Macedon came to a head
in 323 BC when Alexander died. Athens played a leading part in
the creation of an anti-Macedonian alliance with the Aetolians,
the Thessalians, the Phoceans, the Lokrians and certain Peloponnesian
states. The alliance was decisively defeated by the Macedonian
general Antipater in 322 VC, in Krannon, Thessaly.
Athens
capitulated with extremely onerous terms:
•
a Macedonian garrison stationed at the port of Mounychia
• the democracy abolished
• those responsible for the war sentenced to death
• Oropos and Samos detached from the city.
The
leadership of the city was given to the senior general Phokion
who was put to death in 318 BC when democracy was restored. In
317 BC, Athens was obliged to ally with Cassander of Macedon and
power was held for ten years by Demetrius Phalireus, a pupil of
Aristotle, an eminent scholar and a lawgiver.
Demetrius (the Besieger), 307-287 BC
Demetrius
I, son of Antigonus I Monophtalmus and Stratonice, was a Macedonian
king (294-288 BC belonging to the Antigonid dynasty. At the age
of twenty-two he was left by his father to defend Syria against
Ptolemy the son of Lagus. He was totally defeated in the Battle
of Gaza but soon partially repaired his loss by a victory in the
area of Myus.
After
an unsuccessful expedition against Babylon and several campaigns
against Ptolemy on the coasts of Cilicia and Cyprus, Demetrius
sailed with a fleet of 250 ships to Athens. He freed the city
from the power of Cassander and Ptolemy, expelled the garrison
which had been stationed there under Demetrius of Phalerum and
besieged and took Mynycia (307 BC). After these victories he was
worshipped by the Athenians as a deity under the title of Soter
(savior).
Cassander
did not accept the loss of Athens and between 307 and 304 BC he
tried to retake it, without success. The Athenians took part in
the battle of Ipsos (301 BC) on the side of the defeated Antigonus
and Demetrius. Lachares became tyrant of Athens but soon Piraeus
passed to the hands of the opponents and, in 295 BC, Demeterius
successfully besieged Athens. Eight years later Demeterius, by
now king of Macedon, was defeated and forced to abandon his kingdom.
He thus failed to keep Athens but Piraeus remained in Macedonian
hands.
From the Macedonians to neutrality, 287-200
BC
In
268 BC, in alliance with the Ptolemies of Egypt and King Ares
of Sparta, Athens declared war against Antigonus Gonatas, King
of Macedon and son of Demetrius the Besieger. The city was besieged
and forced to capitulate in 262 BC. It remained under Macedonian
influence until 229 BC.
The
Ptolemaic dynasty was a Hellenistic royal family which ruled over
Egypt for nearly 300 years, from 305 to 30 BC. Ptolemy, a Macedonian
and one of Alexander the Great's generals, was appointed satrap
(governor) of Egypt after Alexander's death in 323 BC. In 305
BC, he declared himself King Ptolemy I, later known as Soter (savior).
The Egyptians soon accepted the Ptolemies as the successors to
the pharaohs of independent Egypt. Ptolemy's family ruled Egypt
until the Roman conquest of 30 BC.
After
the dead of Demetrius II, son of Antigonu Gonatas, the Macedonian
garrison withdrew and returned Piraeus, Salamis and the forts
of Mounychia and of Rhamnous to the Athenians. The city leaders
pursued a policy of strict neutrality with regard to the conflicts
that prevailed during the last quarter of the 3rd century
on Greek mainland, remaining however under the protection
of the Ptolemies.
On the side of Rome, 200-88 BC
This
situation was reversed in 200 BC when the city declared war against
Philip V of Macedon, who had already gone to war with Rhodes and
with Attalos of Pergamon. Unable to wage war by themselves, the
Athenians solicited the help of Rome. The city was besieged by
the Macedonians but was saved thanks to the Roman intervention.
In
197 BC, the defeat of Philip at Cynoscephalae led to peace. Athens
took the side of Rome conclusively and assisted it in 192 BC against
Antiochus III of Syria and against Perseus of Mecedon in 171-167
BC. In return, Athens won Lemnos and Delos which over the following
years became a link between Asia and Italy, contributing considerably
to the new affluence of the city.
During
that period, building activity started again in Athens and added
luster to the city thanks to the donations from the rulers of
Pergamon and other Asian kings.
Mithridates and Sulla
Allegiance
to the Roman alliance was set aside in 88 BC when Athens sides
with Mithridates VI Eupator, king of Pontus. The Athenians collaborated
with Archelaos, the general of Mithridates, and subjugated the
larger part of Greece while Mithridates freed most of the cities
of Asia Minor and of the islands from the Romans.
In
87 BC Sulla, leading five legions, spearheaded the Mithridatic
War on behalf of the Romans. He besieged Athens and Piraeus for
many months. When the city eventually fell, there was a terrible
massacre that, in the end, Sulla stopped himself. A little later
he seized Piraeus and set fire to the famous skeuotheke (arsenal)
of Philon and the dockyards.
Athens’
audacity in confronting Rome cost her dearly. The city lost Delos
and Salamis and was decimated by the war, the siege and the ensuing
massacre. Numerous works of art and precious metal offerings fell
into the hands of the besiegers and were taken to Rome. Many city
monuments were destroyed or seriously damaged. The city survived
thanks to its name and prestige in the Roman world.
Roman rule in Athens
Athens
was quick to recover from these disasters. During the 1st century
BC, Greek culture began to appeal to the Romans. As a result,
many Romans settled in Athens and the emperors embellished the
city with remarkable new buildings. Julius Caesar inaugurated
the new Athenian Agora, known as the Roman Agora, completed after
the termination of the civil wars.
Under
Augustus, the aspect of the ancient Athenian Agora changed with
the Odeon of Agrippa and the transfer of temples from the Attic
countryside to the Athenian Agora. The government of Tiberius
and Claudius was oppressive but in the Emperor Nero, despite his
disreputable historical image, Greece found a real benefactor.
He declared the independence of Greek cities again followed by
large tax alleviations.
During
this period, specifically in 50 AD, the Apostle Paul preached
Christianity in Athens, a fact that had little importance then
but assumed gigantic proportions in the course of time. The reign
of the Falvians was marked by opposition between the “men
of letters” and the Roman administration since the former
began to criticize the excess of power of the later. Several intellectuals,
of which some
Athenian, were persecuted.
During
the Antonine period, Athens enjoyed a time of rebirth beginning
with Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus, commonly called Trajan (98-117),
and continuing with the great benefactor of the city Publius Aelius
Traianus Hadrianus, known as Hadrian (117-137) and his successors.
Hadrian, fond of Greek philosophy and of the city itself, visited
Athens three times (124-125, 128-129 and 131-132).
At
his command, the residential area of the city expanded eastwards,
beyond the Ilissos river, while important public buildings were
built or completed under imperial benefaction:
•
the aqueduct and the nymphaeum (building consecrated to the
nymphs)
• the library
• the Olympeion and the Temple of the Pan-Hellenic Zeus
• the Pantheon
• the Temple of Hera
• a new gymnasium and a new Pompeion (building used for
the start of processions)
This
was not all though. It was clear that Hadrian intended to give
Athens its intellectual grandeur back. The construction of the
Temple of Pan-Hellenic Zeus was accompanied by the foundation
of the Panhellenion, a federation of all the Greek cities headed
by Athens and by the institution of the Pan-Hellenic games that
were held every five years in honor of the emperor. In addition,
by forbidding unlimited exports of oil, Hadrian saw to the protection
of the lower social classes against the avarice of food merchants.
To honor the emperor, the city dedicated an arch to him near the
Olympeion.
The
beneficent policy towards Athens continued under Antoninus Pius
(138-161), a period during which Herodes Atticus offered the city
more splendid buildings such as the Panathinaic Stadium and the
Odeon, but also under Marcus Aurelius (161-180), the emperor-philosopher.
Around
the middle of the century, the traveller Pausanias wrote the “Hellados
Periegisis”, (a description of Greece), a significant
part of which was dedicated to Athens and its monuments
thus preserving a picture of the city for future generations.
About a century later, this picture was to change for good.
The
invasions of barbarian tribes in the Balkans and in Greece had
an effect on Athens as well. Under Valerianus (253-260), there
was a last effort to fortify the city against the imminent invasions
but the hastily constructed wall did not prevent the Herulians
from seizing the city and destroying a large part of its public
and private buildings.