- Athens was originally built around a fortifiable hill (the Acropolis),
three miles from the sea, in a district
called Attica,
on a small southern peninsula of Greece.
- In earliest times people made their living by agriculture, but their
population grew and they found they could
no longer get
along on what they could grow from the thin rocky soil of the area.
They turned to the sea and
trade for a
living.
- Because Athens was not on the sea and the sea was necessary for trade,
the Athenians had to build a port
city, PIRAEUS, with docks, warehouses, etc.
Because the sea route was so vital to dock Athens, they
connected Piraeus to
the main city by a road that was protected by fortified wooden walls that
connected
with the wall of the
city.
- As the years went by, Athens built up a large profitable trading empire
of colonies on the shores of Asia
Minor, the Black
Sea, and Italy. Athenian settlements began to rim the Mediterranean Sea.
b. The
Evolution of Athenian Democracy:
- Athens began as a monarchy, ruled by Kings like most of the Greek
city-states.
- There were two main classes of citizens: nobles and common people.
- Next, Athens became an oligarchy or aristocracy (ruled by a few nobles)
in which the rulers were called
"archons".
Even when the ruling nobles did not mean to they tended to rule in favour
of the rich. The rich
got richer and the
poor got poorer to a point where desperation set in among the poor and revolution became
a real possibility.
- Athens was fortunate at this time in its history to have the services
of three great lawgivers who came
into power at
different times but whose combined work not only prevented disastrous revolution
but also
turned Athens into the
worlds first democratic state.