The Acropolis of Athens by Leo von Klenze

Athens is one of the oldest named cities in the world, having been continuously inhabited for at least 7000 years. Situated in southern Europe, Athens became the leading city of Ancient Greece in the first millennium BCE and its cultural achievements during the 5th century BCE laid the foundations of western civilization. During the early Middle Ages, the city experienced a decline, then recovered under the later Byzantine Empire and was relatively prosperous during the period of the Crusades (12th and 13th centuries), benefiting from Italian trade. Following a period of sharp decline under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, Athens re-emerged in the 19th century as the capital of the independent Greek state.

Name[link]

The contest of Athena and Poseidon. West Pediment of the Parthenon.

The name of Athens, connected to the name of its patron goddess Athena, originates from an earlier, Pre-Greek language.^[1] The etiological myth explaining how Athens acquired this name through the legendary contest between Poseidon and Athena was described by Herodotus, Apollodorus, Ovid, Plutarch, Pausanias and others. It even became the theme of the sculpture on the West pediment of the Parthenon. Both Athena and Poseidon requested to be patrons of the city and to give their name to it, so they competed with one another for the honour, offering the city one gift each. Poseidon produced a spring by striking the ground with his trident^[2], symbolizing naval power. Athena created the olive tree, symbolizing peace and prosperity. The Athenians, under their ruler Cecrops, accepted the olive tree and named the city after Athena. A sacred olive tree said to be the one created by the goddess was still kept on the Acropolis at the time of Pausanias (2nd century AD).^[3] It was located by the temple of Pandrosus, next to the Parthenon. According to Herodotus, the tree had been burnt down during the Persian Wars, but a shoot sprung from the stump.^[4]

Plato, in his dialogue Cratylus, offers a speculative etymology of Athena's name connecting it to the phrase ἁ θεονόα or hē theoû nóēsis (ἡ θεοῦ νόησις, 'the mind of god').^[5]

Geographical setting[link]

Map of the Environs of Ancient Athens.

The site on which Athens stands was first inhabited in the Neolithic period, perhaps as a defensible settlement on top of the Acropolis ('high city'), around the end of the fourth millennium BC or a little later.^[6] The Acropolis is a natural defensive position which commands the surrounding plains. The settlement was about 20 km (12 mi) inland from the Saronic Gulf, in the centre of the Cephisian Plain, a fertile valley surrounded by rivers. To the east lies Mount Hymettus, to the north Mount Pentelicus.

Ancient Athens, in the first millennium BC, occupied a very small area compared to the sprawling metropolis of modern Athens. The ancient walled city encompassed an area measuring about 2 km (1 mi) from east to west and slightly less than that from north to south, although at its peak the ancient city had suburbs extending well beyond these walls. The Acropolis was situated just south of the centre of this walled area. The Agora, the commercial and social centre of the city, lay about 400 m (1,312 ft) north of the Acropolis, in what is now the Monastiraki district. The hill of the Pnyx, where the Athenian Assembly met, lay at the western end of the city. The Eridanus (Ηριδανός) river flowed through the city.

One of the most important religious sites in ancient Athens was the Temple of Athena, known today as the Parthenon, which stood on top of the Acropolis, where its evocative ruins still stand. Two other major religious sites, the Temple of Hephaestus (which is still largely intact) and the Temple of Olympian Zeus or Olympeion (once the largest temple in mainland Greece but now in ruins) also lay within the city walls.

According to the Ancient Greek historian Thucydides, the Athenian citizens at the beginning of the Peloponnesian War (5th century BC) numbered 40,000, making with their families a total of 140,000 people in all. The metics, i.e. those who did not have citizen rights and paid for the right to reside in Athens, numbered a further 70,000, whilst slaves were estimated at between 150,000 to 400,000.^[7] Hence, approximately a tenth of the population were adult male citizens, eligible to meet and vote in the Assembly and be elected to office. After the conquests of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC, the city's population began to decrease as Greeks migrated to the Hellenistic empires in the East.

Origins and early history[link]

The Greek goddess Athena.

Athens has been inhabited from Neolithic times, possibly from the end of the 4th millennium BC.^[8] By 1412 BC the settlement had become an important center of the Mycenaean civilization and the Acropolis was the site of a major Mycenaean fortress whose remains can be recognised from sections of the characteristic Cyclopean walls.^[9] On the summit of the Acropolis, below the later Erechtheion, cuttings in the rock have been identified as the location of a Mycenaean palace.^[9] Between 1250 and 1200 BC a staircase was built down a cleft in the rock to reach a protected water supply,^[10] in a similar way to ones at Mycenae. Unlike other Mycenaean centers, such as Mycenae and Pylos, we do not know whether Athens suffered destruction in about 1200 BC, an event often attributed to a Dorian invasion, and the Athenians always maintained that they were "pure" Ionians with no Dorian element. However, Athens, like many other Bronze Age settlements, went into economic decline for around 150 years following this.

Iron Age burials, in the Kerameikos and other locations, are often richly provided for and demonstrate that from 900 BC onwards Athens was one of the leading centres of trade and prosperity in the region; as were Lefkandi in Euboea and Knossos in Crete.^[11] This position may well have resulted from its central location in the Greek world, its secure stronghold on the Acropolis and its access to the sea, which gave it a natural advantage over inland rivals such as Thebes and Sparta.

According to legend, Athens was formerly ruled by kings (see Kings of Athens), a situation which may have continued up until the 9th century BC. From later accounts, it is believed that these kings stood at the head of a land-owning aristocracy known as the Eupatridae (the 'well-born'), whose instrument of government was a Council which met on the Hill of Ares, called the Areopagus and appointed the chief city officials, the archons and the polemarch (commander-in-chief).

Before the concept of the political state arose, four tribes based upon family relationships dominated the area. The members had certain rights, privileges, and obligations:

• Common religious rights.
• A common burial place.
• Mutual rights of succession to property of deceased members.
• Reciprocal obligations of help, defense and redress of injuries.
• The right to intermarry in the gens in the cases of orphan daughters and heiresses.
• The possession of common property, an archon, and a treasurer.
• The limitation of descent to the male line.
• The obligation not to marry in the gens except in specified cases.
• The right to adopt strangers into the gens.
• The right to elect and depose its chiefs.^[12]

During this period, Athens succeeded in bringing the other towns of Attica under its rule. This process of synoikismos – the bringing together into one home – created the largest and wealthiest state on the Greek mainland, but it also created a larger class of people excluded from political life by the nobility. By the 7th century BC social unrest had become widespread, and the Areopagus appointed Draco to draft a strict new code of law (hence the word 'draconian'). When this failed, they appointed Solon, with a mandate to create a new constitution (in 594 BC).

Reform and democracy[link]

The ruins of the Temple of Olympian Zeus.

The reforms that Solon initiated dealt with both political and economic issues. The economic power of the Eupatridae was reduced by forbidding the enslavement of Athenian citizens as a punishment for debt, by breaking up large landed estates and freeing up trade and commerce, which allowed the emergence of a prosperous urban trading class. Politically, Solon divided the Athenians into four classes, based on their wealth and their ability to perform military service. The poorest class, the Thetai, (Ancient Greek Θήται) who formed the majority of the population, received political rights for the first time and were able to vote in the Ecclesia (Assembly). But only the upper classes could hold political office. The Areopagus continued to exist but its powers were reduced.

The new system laid the foundations for what eventually became Athenian democracy, but in the short-term it failed to quell class conflict and after 20 years of unrest the popular party, led by Peisistratus, a cousin of Solon, seized power (in 541 BC). Peisistratus is usually called a tyrant, but the Greek word tyrannos does not mean a cruel and despotic ruler, merely one who took power by force. Peisistratus was in fact a very popular ruler, who made Athens wealthy, powerful, and a centre of culture, and instituted Athenian naval supremacy in the Aegean Sea and beyond. He preserved the Solonian constitution, but made sure that he and his family held all the offices of state.

Peisistratus died in 527 BC and was succeeded by his sons Hippias and Hipparchus. They proved to be much less adept rulers and in 514 BC, Hipparchus was assassinated in a private dispute over a young man (see Harmodius and Aristogeiton). This led Hippias to establish a real dictatorship, which proved very unpopular and he was overthrown in 510 BC. A radical politician with an aristocratic background named Cleisthenes then took charge, and it was he who established democracy in Athens.

The reforms of Cleisthenes replaced the traditional four "tribes" (phyle) with ten new ones, named after legendary heroes and having no class basis; they were in fact electorates. Each 'tribe' was in turn divided into three 'trittyes' and each trittys had one or more demes, which became the basis of local government. The tribes each elected fifty members to the Boule, a council which governed Athens on a day-to-day basis. The Assembly was open to all 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. Most offices were filled by lot, although the ten strategoi (generals) were elected. This system remained remarkably stable and, with a few brief interruptions, it remained in place for 170 years, until Philip II of Macedon defeated Athens at the Battle of Chaeroneain 338 BC.

Classical Athens[link]

Early Athenian military history[link]

Early Athenian coin, 5th century BC. British Museum.

Prior to the rise of Athens, Sparta considered itself to be the leader of the Greeks, or hegemon. In 499 BC Athens sent troops to aid the Ionian Greeks of Asia Minor, who were rebelling against the Persian Empire (the Ionian Revolt). This provoked two Persian invasions on Greece (see Persian Wars). In 490 BC the Athenians, led by the soldier-statesman Miltiades, defeated the first invasion of the Persians under Darius I at the Battle of Marathon. In 480 BC the Persians returned under Darius's son Xerxes. When a small Greek force holding the pass of Thermopylae was defeated, the Athenians evacuated Athens, which was taken by the Persians. Subsequently the Athenians (led by Themistocles), with their allies, engaged the much larger Persian navy at sea in the Battle of Salamis. Xerxes built a throne on the coast in order to watch the Greek navy being defeated, but instead, the Persians were routed.

In 479 BC, the Athenians and Spartans, with their allies, defeated the Persian army at the Battle of Plataea. However, it was Athens that took the war to Asia Minor. These victories enabled it to bring most of the Aegean and many other parts of Greece together in the Delian League, an Athenian-dominated alliance.

Artists and philosophers[link]

The National Academy in Athens, with Apollo and Athena on their columns, and Socrates and Plato seated in front.

The period from the end of the Persian Wars to the Macedonian conquest marked the zenith of Athens as a center of literature, philosophy (Greek philosophy) and the arts (Greek theatre). In Athens at this time, the political satire of the Comic poets at the theatres had a remarkable influence on public opinion.^[13] Some of the most important figures of Western cultural and intellectual history lived in Athens during this period: the dramatists Aeschylus, Aristophanes, Euripides and Sophocles,the physician Hippocrates, the philosophers Aristotle, Plato and Socrates, the historians Herodotus, Thucydides and Xenophon, the poet Simonides and the sculptor Phidias, The leading statesman of this period was Pericles, who used the tribute paid by the members of the Delian League to build the Parthenon and other great monuments of classical Athens. The city became, in Pericles's words, "the school of Hellas [Greece]."

Peloponnesian War[link]

The resentment felt by other cities at the hegemony of Athens led to the Peloponnesian War, which began in 431 BC and pitted Athens and its increasingly rebellious overseas empire against a coalition of land-based states led by Sparta. The conflict led to the end of Athenian command of the sea. The war between the two city-states ended in a victory for Sparta.

During the second year of the Peloponnesian War, the city-state of Athens was hit by a devastating epidemic, known as the Plague of Athens, which killed, among others, Pericles and his two elder sons. Athens lost perhaps one third of the people sheltered within its walls.^[14]

Athenian coup of 411 BC[link]

The democracy in Athens was briefly overthrown by a coup in 411 BC, due to its poor handling of the war, but it was quickly restored. The war ended in 404 BC with the complete defeat of Athens. Since the loss of the war 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). In 403 BC, however, democracy was restored by Thrasybulus and an amnesty declared.

Corinthian War and the Second Athenian League[link]

The Karyatides statues of the Erechtheion on its Acropolis.

Sparta's former allies soon turned against her, due to her imperialist policy, and soon Athens' former enemies Thebes and Corinth had become her allies; they fought with Athens and Argos against Sparta in the indecisive Corinthian War (395 – 387 BC). Opposition to Sparta enabled Athens to establish a Second Athenian League. Finally Thebes defeated Sparta in 371 BC in the Battle of Leuctra. But then the Greek cities (including Athens and Sparta) turned against Thebes, whose dominance was stopped at the Battle of Mantinea (362 BC) with the death of its military-genius leader Epaminondas.

Athens under Macedon[link]

By the mid-4th century BC, however, the northern Greek kingdom of Macedon was becoming dominant in Athenian affairs, despite the warnings of the last great statesman of independent Athens, Demosthenes. In 338 BC the armies of Philip II defeated the other Greek cities at the Battle of Chaeronea, effectively ending Athenian independence. Subsequently, the conquests of his son Alexander the Great widened Greek horizons and made the traditional Greek city state obsolete. Athens remained a wealthy city with a brilliant cultural life, but ceased to be a fully independent power.

Hellenistic Athens[link]

This section requires expansion.

Roman Athens[link]

The ruins of the Roman Agora, the second commercial centre of ancient Athens.

In 88 - 85 BC, most Athenian buildings, both houses and fortifications, were leveled by the Roman general Sulla, although many civic buildings and monuments were left intact.^[15] Under Rome, Athens was given the status of a free city because of its widely admired schools. The Roman emperor Hadrian, in the 2nd century AD, constructed a library, a gymnasium, an aqueduct which is still in use, several temples and sanctuaries, a bridge and financed the completion of the Temple of Olympian Zeus.^[16]

The city was sacked by the Heruli in AD 267, resulting in the burning of all the public buildings, the plundering of the lower city and the damaging of the Agora and Acropolis. After this the city to the north of the Acropolis was hastily refortified on a smaller scale, with the Agora left outside the walls. Athens remained a centre of learning and philosophy during its 500 years of Roman rule, patronized by emperors such as Nero and Hadrian. But the conversion of the Empire to Christianity ended the city's role as a centre of pagan learning; the Emperor Justinian closed the schools of philosophy in AD 529. This is generally taken to mark the end of the ancient history of Athens.

Middle Ages and Modern Athens[link]

Byzantine Athens[link]

Byzantine church in the Agora, Athens.

By AD 529, Athens was under the rule of the Byzantines and was no longer as revered as she had once been.^[15] The Panthenon, Erechtheion and the Hephaisteion (Theseion) were converted into churches. During the period of the Byzantine Empire, Athens was a provincial town and experienced fluctuating fortunes. In the early years of Byzantine rule, many of its works of art were taken by the emperors to Constantinople. From about AD 600 the city shrank considerably, due to barbarian raids by the Avars and Slavs, and it was reduced to a shadow of its former self. As the 7th century progressed, much of Greece was overrun by Slavic peoples from the north, and Athens entered a period of uncertainty and insecurity. The one notable figure from this period is the Empress Irene of Athens, a native Athenian, who seized control of the Byzantine Empire in a palace coup.

By the middle of the 9th century, Greece had been fully reconquered by the Byzantine Empire and the city began to recover. Just as other cities benefited from improved security and the restoration of effective central control during this period, so Athens expanded once more.

Invasion of the empire by the Turks after the battle of Manzikert in 1071, and the ensuing civil wars, largely passed the region by and Athens continued its provincial existence unharmed. When the Byzantine Empire was rescued by the resolute leadership of the three Komnenos emperors Alexios, John and Manuel, Attica and the rest of Greece prospered. Archaeological evidence tells us that the medieval town experienced a period of rapid and sustained growth, starting in the 11th century and continuing until the end of the 12th century. The agora or marketplace, which had been deserted since late antiquity, began to be built over, and soon the town became an important centre for the production of soaps and dyes. The growth of the town attracted the Venetians, and various other traders who frequented the ports of the Aegean, to Athens. This interest in trade appears to have further increased the economic prosperity of the town.

The 11th and 12th centuries were the Golden Age of Byzantine art in Athens. Almost all of the most important Middle Byzantine churches in and around Athens were built during these two centuries, and this reflects the growth of the town in general. However, this medieval prosperity was not to last. In 1204, the Fourth Crusade conquered Athens and the city was not recovered from the Latins before it was taken by the Ottoman Turks. It did not become Greek in government again until the 19th century.

Latin Athens[link]

Coat of Arms of the Duchy of Athens.

Historic map of Athens by Piri Reis.

From 1204 until 1458, Athens was ruled by Latins in three separate periods.

Burgundian period[link]

Athens was initially the capital of the eponymous Duchy of Athens, a fief of the Latin Empire which replaced Byzantium. After Thebes became a possession of the Latin dukes, which were of the Burgundian family called De la Roche, it replaced Athens as the capital and seat of government, although Athens remained the most influential ecclesiastical centre in the duchy and site of a prime fortress. Under the Burgundian dukes, a bell tower was added to the Parthenon. The Burgundians brought chivalry and tournaments to Athens; they also fortified the Acropolis. They were themselves influenced by Byzantine Greek culture.

Catalan period[link]

In 1311, Athens was conquered by the Catalan Company, a band of mercenaries called Almogavars. It was held by the Catalans until 1388. After 1379, when Thebes was lost, Athens became the capital of the duchy again.

The history of Catalan Athens, called Cetines (rarely Athenes) by the conquerors, is obscure. Athens was a veguería with its own castellan, captain, and veguer. At some point during the Catalan period, the Acropolis was further fortified and the Athenian archdiocese received an extra two suffragan sees.

Florentine period[link]

In 1388, the Florentine Nerio I Acciajuoli took the city and made himself duke. The Florentines had to dispute the city with the Republic of Venice, but they ultimately emerged victorious after seven years of Venetian rule (1395–1402). The descendants of Nerio I Acciajuoli ruled the city (as their capital) until the Turkish conquest of 1458. It was the last Latin state in Greece to fall.

Ottoman Athens[link]

Leonardos Philaras (c. 1595–1673) was a Greek scholar born in Athens in 1595,^[17] he was an early supporter of Greek liberation, he spent much of his career in persuading Western European intellectuals to support Greek Independence.^[18]

A view of the Acropolis of Athens during the Ottoman period, showing the buildings which were removed at the time of independence.

Finally, in 1458, Athens fell to the Ottoman Empire. As the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II the Conqueror rode into the city, he was greatly struck by the beauty of its ancient monuments and issued a firman (imperial edict) forbidding their looting or destruction, on pain of death. The Parthenon was converted into Athens' main mosque.^[15] The 375-year Ottoman rule of Athens (and of Greece in general) was the longest by any non-Hellenic power since the Romans.

Despite the initial efforts of the Ottoman authorities to turn Athens into a model provincial capital, the city's population severely declined and by the 17th century the city was little more than a village. Great damage to Athens was caused during this time, as the Ottoman power was declining. The Turks began a practice of storing gun powder and explosives in the Parthenon and Propylaea. In 1640, a lighting bolt struck the Propylaea, causing its destruction.^[19] In 1687, Athens was besieged by the Venetians during the Morean War, and the temple of Athena Nike was dismantled by the Ottomans to fortify the Parthenon. A shot fired during the bombardment of the Acropolis caused a powder magazine in the Parthenon to explode, and the building was severely damaged, giving it the appearance we see today. The occupation of the Acropolis continued for six months and both the Venetians and the Ottomans participated in the looting of the Parthenon. One of its western pediments was removed, causing even more damage to the structure. The following year, Turkish forces set fire to the city. Ancient monuments were destroyed to provide material for a new wall which the Ottomans built around the city in 1778. Between 1801 and 1805 Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, arranged for the removal of many sculptures from the Parthenon (the Elgin marbles). Along with the Panathenaic frieze, one of the six caryatids of the Erechtheion was extracted and replaced with a plaster mold. All in all, fifty pieces of sculpture were carried away, including three fragments purchased by the French.^[15]

Nevertheless, Athens produced some notable intellectuals during this era, such as Demetrius Chalcondyles (1424–1511), who became a celebrated Renaissance teacher of Greek and of Platonic philosophy in Italy.^[20] Chalcondyles published the first printed editions of Homer (in 1488), of Isocrates (in 1493), and of the Suda lexicon (in 1499), and a Greek grammar (Erotemata).^[21] His cousin Laonicus Chalcondyles (c. 1423 – 1490) was also a native of Athens, a notable scholar and Byzantine historian and one of the most valuable of the later Greek historians. He was the author of the valuable work Historiarum Demonstrationes (Demonstrations of History) and was a great admirer of the ancient writer Herodotus, encouraging the interest of contemporary Italian humanists in that ancient historian.^[22] In the 17th century, Athenian-born Leonardos Philaras (c. 1595 – 1673),^[23] was a Greek scholar, politician, diplomat, advisor and the Duke of Parma's ambassador to the French court,^[24] spending much of his career trying to persuade western European intellectuals to support Greek indepencence.^[25][26]

Independence from the Ottomans[link]

In 1822, a Greek insurgency captured the city, but it fell to the Ottomans again in 1826 (though Acropolis held till June 1827). Again the ancient monuments suffered badly. The Ottoman forces remained in possession until March 1833, when they withdrew. At that time, the city (as throughout the Ottoman period) had a small population of an estimated 400 houses, mostly located around the Acropolis in the Plaka.

Modern Athens[link]

Athens plan of 1862

In 1832, Otto, Prince of Bavaria, was proclaimed King of Greece. He adopted the Greek spelling of his name, King Othon, as well as Greek national dress, and made it one of his first tasks as king to conduct a detailed archaeological and topographical survey of Athens, his new capital. He assigned Gustav Eduard Schaubert and Stamatios Kleanthes to complete this task.^[15] At that time, Athens had a population of only 4,000 – 5,000 people, located in what today covers the district of Plaka in Athens.

Athens was chosen as the Greek capital for historical and sentimental reasons. There are few buildings dating from the period of the Byzantine Empire or the 18th century. Once the capital was established, a modern city plan was laid out and public buildings were erected. The finest legacy of this period are the buildings of the University of Athens (1837), the Old Royal Palace (now the Greek Parliament Building) (1843), the National Gardens of Athens (1840), the National Library of Greece (1842), the Greek National Academy (1885), the Zappeion Exhibition Hall (1878), the Old Parliament Building (1858), the New Royal Palace (now the Presidential Palace) (1897) and the Athens Town Hall (1874).

Population influx[link]

This section requires expansion.

Athens experienced its second period of explosive growth following the disastrous war with Turkey in 1921, when more than a million Greek refugees from Asia Minor were resettled in Greece. Suburbs such as Nea Ionia and Nea Smyrni began as refugee settlements on the Athens outskirts.

Athens under the Nazis[link]

This section requires expansion.

Athens was occupied by the Germans during World War II and experienced terrible privations during the later years of the war. In 1944 there was heavy fighting in the city between Communist forces and the royalists backed by the British.

Postwar Athens[link]

After World War II the city began to grow again as people migrated from the villages and islands to find work. Greek entry into the European Union in 1981 brought a flood of new investment to the city, but also increasing social and environmental problems. Athens had some of the worst traffic congestion and air pollution in the world at that time. This posed a new threat to the ancient monuments of Athens, as traffic vibration weakened foundations and air pollution corroded marble. The city's environmental and infrastructure problems were the main reason why Athens failed to secure the 1996 centenary Olympic Games.

Athens today[link]

Following the failed attempt to secure the 1996 Summer Olympics, both the city of Athens and the Greek government, aided by European Union funds, undertook major infrastructure projects such as the new Athens Airport and a new metro system. The city also tackled air pollution by restricting the use of cars in the centre of the city. As a result, Athens was awarded the 2004 Olympic Games. Despite the scepticism of many observers, the games were a great success and brought renewed international prestige (and tourism revenue) to Athens.

Recent historical population[link]

View of part of central Athens and some of the city's southern suburbs from Lykavittos Hill.

Throughout its long history, Athens has had many different population levels. The table below shows the historical population of Athens in relatively recent times.

Notable Athenians[link]

Aeschylus Alcibiades Aristophanes Aspasia Cimon Cleisthenes Cleon Demosthenes Ephialtes Euripides Herodotus Empress Irene Miltiades

Nicias Peisistratos Pericles Pheidias Plato Simonides Socrates Solon Sophocles Themistocles Theseus Thrasybulus Thucydides Xenophon

Ancient sites in Athens[link]

• The Acropolis, with the Parthenon
• Agora
• Arch of Hadrian
• Areopagus
• Kerameikos
• Lysicrates monument
• Philopappos monument
• Pnyx
• Temple of Hephaestus
• Temple of Olympian Zeus
• Tower of the Winds

Notes[link]

1. ^ "ΕΛΙΑ". Elia.org.gr. http://www.elia.org.gr/default.fds?langid=2&pagecode=16.02.01. Retrieved 2009-03-22. 
2. ^ Instead of a spring, Ovid says Poseidon offered a horse.
3. ^ Pausanias, Description of Greece, Paus. 1.27.2
4. ^ Herodotus, The Histories, 8.55
5. ^ Plato, Cratylus, Plat. Crat. 407b
6. ^ Lambert Schneider & Christoph Hoecker, Die Akropolis von Athen, Darmstadt 2001, pp.62–63
7. ^ Encyclopedia Of Ancient Greece (ed. by Nigel Guy Wilson). Routledge (UK), 2006. ISBN 0-415-97334-1. Pages 214, 215.
8. ^ Immerwahr, S. 1971. The Athenian Agora XII: the Neolithic and Bronze Age. Princeton.
9. ^ ^{a b} Iakovides, S. 1962. 'E mykenaïke akropolis ton Athenon'. Athens.
10. ^ Broneer, Oscar. 1939. 'A Mycenaean Fountain on the Athenian Acropolis', Hesperia VIII.
11. ^ Osborne, R. 1996, 2009. Greece in the Making 1200 – 479 BC.
12. ^ Morgan, Lewis H. (1907). Ancient Society. Chicago: Charles H. Kerr & Company. pp. 228–229. ISBN 0-674-03450-3. 
13. ^ Henderson, J. (1993) Comic Hero versus Political Elite pp.307–19 in Sommerstein, A.H.; S. Halliwell, J. Henderson, B. Zimmerman, ed. (1993). Tragedy, Comedy and the Polis. Bari: Levante Editori. ISBN 88-7949-026-5. 
14. ^ "Plague Victims Found: Mass Burial in Athens". Archeology.org.
15. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Tung, Anthony (2001). Preserving the World's Great Cities: The Destruction and Renewal of the Historic Metropolis. New York: Three RIvers Press. pp. 256–260. ISBN 0-609-80815-X. 
16. ^ John Travlos, Pictorial Dictionary of Ancient Athens, Thames and Hudson, (London 1971) passim
17. ^ Hutton, James (1946). The Greek anthology in France and in the Latin writers of the Netherlands to the year 1800 Volume 28. Cornell University Press. p. 188. OCLC 3305912. "LEONARD PHILARAS or VILLERET (c. 1595–1673) Philaras was born in Athens of good family and spent his childhood there. His youth was passed in Rome, where he was educated, and his manhood" 
18. ^ Merry, Bruce (2004). Encyclopedia of modern Greek literature. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 442. ISBN 0-313-30813-6. "Leonardos Filaras (1595–1673) devoted much of his career to coaxing Western European intellectuals to support Greek liberation. Two letters from Milton (1608–1674) attest Filaras’s patriiotic crusade." 
19. ^ "and (Dontas, The Acropolis and its Museum, 16)". Ancient-greece.org. 2007-04-21. http://www.ancient-greece.org/history/acropolis-ottoman.html. Retrieved 2009-03-22. 
20. ^ Valeriano, Pierio; Gaisser, Julia Haig (1999). Pierio Valeriano on the ill fortune of learned men: a Renaissance humanist and his world. University of Michigan Press. p. 281. ISBN 0-472-11055-1, 9780472110551. "Demetrius Chalcondyles was a prominent Greek humanist. He taught Greek in Italy for over forty years." 
21. ^ "Demetrius Chalcondyles.". www.britannica.com. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/157045/Demetrius-Chalcondyles. Retrieved 2009-09-25. "Demetrius Chalcondyles published the first printed editions of Homer (1488), of Isocrates (1493), and of the Suda lexicon (1499), and a Greek grammar (Erotemata) in question-and-answer form." 
22. ^ "Laonicus Chalcocondyles.". www.britannica.com. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/104633/Laonicus-Chalcocondyles. Retrieved 2009-09-26. "Laonicus Chalcocondyles Byzantine historianal so spelled Laonicus Chalcondyles or Laonikos Chalkokondyles born c. 1423, Athens, Greece, Byzantine Empire [now in Greece] died 1490? Chalcocondyles was a great admirer of Herodotus and roused the interest of contemporary Italian humanists in that ancient historian. He strove for objectivity and, in spite of some inaccuracies and the interpolation of far-fetched anecdotes, is one of the most valuable of the later Greek historians." 
23. ^ Buhayer, Constantine (2006). Greece: a quick guide to customs & etiquette. Kuperard. p. 36. ISBN 1-85733-369-1. "The Athenian politician and medical doctor Leonardos Philaras (1595–1673) was an advisor to the French court, enjoying the patronage of Cardinal Richelieu" 
24. ^ Parker, William Riley – Campbell, Gordon (1996). Milton: The life. Oxford University Press. pp. 418–419. ISBN 0-19-812889-4. "The writer was a Greek, Leonard Philaras (or Villere, as he was known in France) , an able diplomat and scholar, ambassador to the French court from the Duke of Parma" 
25. ^ Merry, Bruce (2004). Encyclopedia of modern Greek literature. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 442. ISBN 0-313-30813-6. "Leonardos Filaras (1595–1673) devoted much of his career to coaxing Western European intellectuals to support Greek liberation. Two letters from Milton (1608–1674) attest Filaras’s patriotic crusade." 
26. ^ Milton, John – Diekhoff, John Siemon (1965). Milton on himself: Milton's utterances upon himself and his works. Cohen & West. p. 267. OCLC 359509. "Milton here refuses a request from Philaras for the assistance of his pen in the freeing of the Greeks from Turkish rule on the basis of his confidence that only those people are slaves who deserve to be." 
27. ^ "World Gazetter City Pop:Athens". www.world-gazetter.com. http://www.world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?x=&men=gpro&lng=en&dat=32&geo=-92&srt=2pnn&col=aohdq&pt=c&va=&geo=460748373. 
28. ^ "World Gazetter Metro Pop:Athens". www.world-gazetter.com. http://www.world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?x=&men=gpro&lng=en&dat=32&geo=460748373&srt=2pnn&col=aohdq&geo=-1048919. 
29. ^ ^{a b c} "Population of Greece". General Secretariat Of National Statistical Service Of Greece. www.statistics.gr. 2001. Archived from the original on 2007-07-01. http://web.archive.org/web/20070701001022/http://www.statistics.gr/Main_eng.asp. Retrieved 2007-08-02. 

Further reading[link]

• Traill, John S., The political organization of Attica: a study of the demes, trittyes, and phylai, and their representation in the Athenian Council, Princeton : American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCSA), 1975

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Athens

• Athens official website
• A history of Athens from prehistoric to contemporary times
• Ancient Athens 3D
• The Athenian Constitution by Aristotle
• Model of Classical Athens
• Athens in 421 BC

v t e Major landmarks of Athens Academy Acropolis Acropolis Museum Ancient Agora Arch of Hadrian Areopagus Monument of Lysicrates Old Royal Palace (Hellenic Parliament) Kerameikos Mount Lycabettus Monastiraki Kapodistrian University of Athens National Archaeological Museum National Gardens National Library of Greece National Theatre Odeon of Herodes Atticus Old Parliament House Olympic Sports Complex Panathinaiko Stadium Pedion tou Areos Philopappos Hill / Monument Plaka Pnyx Presidential Palace Stoa of Attalos Temple of Hephaestus Temple of Olympian Zeus Theatre of Dionysus Tower of the Winds Zappeion

v t e Neighbourhoods of Athens Akadimia Akadimia Platonos Acropolis Ambelokipi Anafiotika Ano Patissia Ano Petralona Assyrmatos Asteroskopeio Attiki Dafni Ellinoroson Exarcheia Gazi Gizi Goudi Gouva Ilissia Kallimarmaro Kato Patissia Kato Petralona Keramikos Kolokynthou Kolonaki Kolonos Koukaki Kypseli Lykavittos Makrygianni Metaxourgeio Mets Monastiraki Nea Filothei Neapoli Neos Kosmos Omonoia Pangrati Patissia Pedion tou Areos Petralona Plaka Polygono Profitis Daniil Profitis Ilias Psyri Rizoupoli Rouf Sepolia Treis Gefyres Thiseio Votanikos

v t e World Heritage Sites in Greece North Aigai Mount Athos Thessalonica Paleochristian and Byzantine Monuments Hagios Demetrios Arch and Tomb of Galerius Hagia Sophia Church of Panagia Chalkeon Church of Saint Nicholas Orphanos Church of the Holy Apostles Church of the Acheiropoietos Monastery of Latomos Church of Saint Panteleimon Central Delphi Epidaurus Hosios Loukas Meteora Mycenae and Tiryns Mystras Old Town of Corfu Olympia Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae Attica Acropolis of Athens Daphni Monastery Aegean Islands and Crete Delos Medieval city of Rhodes Monastery of Saint John the Theologian and the Cave of the Apocalypse Nea Moni of Chios Pythagoreion and Heraion of Samos

Bradley Wiggins

Bradley Wiggins in 2011
Personal information
Full name	Bradley Marc Wiggins
Nickname	Wiggo
Born	(1980-04-28) 28 April 1980 (age 32) Ghent, Belgium
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[1]
Weight	69 kg (150 lb; 10.9 st)
Team information
Current team	Team Sky
Discipline	Road & Track
Role	Rider
Rider type	GC Contender (Road) and Pursuitist (Track)
Professional team(s)
2001 2002–2003 2004–2005 2006–2007 2008 2009 2010–	Linda McCartney Racing Team Française des Jeux Crédit Agricole Cofidis Team High Road Garmin-Slipstream Team Sky
Major wins
Grand Tours Giro d'Italia 1 Individual Stage Stage Races Critérium du Dauphiné (2011) Paris–Nice (2012) Tour de Romandie (2012) Single-Day Races and Classics National Road Race Champion (2011) National Time Trial Champion (2009, 2010)
Medal record Competitor for  Great Britain Road bicycle racing World Championships Silver 2011 Copenhagen Time trial Track cycling Olympic Games Gold 2008 Beijing Team pursuit Gold 2008 Beijing Individual pursuit Gold 2004 Athens Individual pursuit Silver 2004 Athens Team pursuit Bronze 2004 Athens Madison Bronze 2000 Sydney Team pursuit World Championships Gold 2003 Stuttgart Individual pursuit Gold 2007 Palma de Mallorca Individual pursuit Gold 2007 Palma de Mallorca Team pursuit Gold 2008 Manchester Individual pursuit Gold 2008 Manchester Team pursuit Gold 2008 Manchester Madison Silver 2000 Manchester Team pursuit Silver 2001 Antwerp Team pursuit Silver 2003 Stuttgart Team pursuit Bronze 2002 Ballerup Team pursuit Competitor for  England Commonwealth Games Silver 2002 Manchester 4km Individual pursuit Silver 2002 Manchester Team pursuit Silver 1998 Kuala Lumpur Team pursuit
Infobox last updated on 29 April 2012

Bradley Marc Wiggins, CBE (born 28 April 1980) is a British professional track and road bicycle racer, currently riding for Team Sky. Wiggins' career began on the track, where he specialised in the pursuit and madison disciplines.

He won a bronze medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics, three further medals at the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics, and two golds at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics. In road cycling he turned professional in 2002, but his involvement was limited by his track cycling until 2007.

After the 2008 Olympics Wiggins took a break from the track to focus on the road. Initially viewed as a time-trial specialist and a rouleur, Wiggins showed his ability in stage races when he came in fourth at the 2009 Tour de France, the joint highest placed finish by a British rider in Tour history. In 2010 he was hired as the leader for the new Team Sky, and later that year was inducted in to the London Youth Games Hall of Fame. To date his biggest wins have been the 2011 Critérium du Dauphiné – the first British rider to win the race since 1990 – and the 2012 Paris–Nice, the first British winner of the race in 45 years. Wiggins finished 3rd in the 2011 Vuelta a España, becoming one of three British riders to make the podium in a Grand Tour. Ten days later, Wiggins won the silver medal in the Time Trial at the World Road Cycling Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark. Wiggins was part of the Great Britain team that helped Mark Cavendish win the 2011 UCI World Road Race Championship.

Early years and family life[link]

The son of a professional cyclist, Gary Wiggins, Bradley Wiggins was born in Ghent, Belgium and spent his childhood in London with his mother Linda, stepfather Brendon and younger brother, Ryan. He started racing at south London's Herne Hill Velodrome aged 12, and represented Camden in the London Youth Games as a youngster. In 2010 he was inducted in to the London Youth Games Hall of Fame.^{[2] [3]} He lives in Eccleston, Lancashire. He married his wife Catherine in Manchester in November 2004 and has two children, Ben and Isabella.^[4] Wiggins is a well-known mod,^[5][6] and owns a collection of classic scooters and guitars from the 1960s and 1970s.^[7] In April 2012 it was announced Wiggins would collaborate with Fred Perry "to develop an authentic, non technical range of off cycle wear".^[8]

Career[link]

Wiggins at the 2008 Tour of Britain

At 20, Wiggins won a bronze medal for Britain in the team pursuit at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

In 2001 he signed for the British professional road Linda McCartney Racing Team before it disbanded in early 2001.^[9] He joined Française des Jeux in 2002, before moving to Crédit Agricole in 2004.

At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Wiggins became the first British athlete in 40 years to win three medals at one Games, the last being Mary Rand at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo. He won the gold in the pursuit, silver in the team pursuit, and bronze in the madison with his race partner Rob Hayles. Wiggins was appointed OBE in the 2005 New Year Honours for services to sport.^[9]

In 2005, Wiggins rode Giro d'Italia for Crédit Agricole. He moved to Cofidis in 2006, and rode that year's Tour de France. He returned to the track for the Manchester round of the UCI World Cup and the world championships in 2007, winning the individual and team pursuit. He followed on the road by winning the prologue of the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré.

He raced for Cofidis in the 2007 Tour de France and finished fourth in the prologue in London. He won the combativity award on stage six for a long solo breakaway. Cofidis withdrew after Cristian Moreni failed a doping test.^[10]

2008[link]

In 2008 he signed with Team High Road, a team later known as HTC-Highroad. At the 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Manchester, he won three gold medals: pursuit, team pursuit and madison.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics he again won the pursuit, the first rider to successfully defend a pursuit title at the Olympics. On 17 August, he was a member of the Olympic pursuit team which broke the world record in the heats with 3:55:202, beating Russia to the ride-off for silver and gold.^[11] The following day, the team won the gold with a world record of 3:53:314, beating Denmark by 6.7s.^[12] Wiggins paired up with Mark Cavendish in the madison and finished ninth.^[13]

In October 2008 he published his autobiography, In Pursuit of Glory^[14] and joined the Garmin-Slipstream team for the 2009 season.^[15]

On 14 December 2008 Wiggins came ninth in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award with 5,633 votes.^[16] On 31 December Wiggins was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours.^[17]

2009[link]

Bradley Wiggins at the 2009 Tour de France

After finishing the 2009 Giro d'Italia 71st, which included second place in the final stage, Wiggins arrived at the 2009 Tour de France having lost six kilos.^[18][19] He came third in the opening time-trial in Monaco and helped Garmin to second place in the team time-trial despite losing four riders. In the first mountain finish, Wiggins finished 12th, and at 5th place overall entering the second week, had the highest second-week place by a British rider since Robert Millar. On the second mountain finish, in Verbier, Wiggins finished fifth to climb to third overall. He was attacked by the Schleck brothers on stage 17 and dropped to sixth, but moved to fourth in the stage 18 time-trial. On stage 20 to Mont Ventoux, Wiggins finished tenth and held fourth by three seconds ahead of Frank Schleck. He held that position in the final stage, equalling Robert Millar's highest ever finish by a British rider in the Tour.^[20]

Wiggins won the British National Time Trial Championships in September 2009.^[21]

In October 2009, he won the Herald Sun Tour after helping team-mates most of the race. He led after winning the stage five time-trial in Geelong by 14 seconds over team-mate Svein Tuft.

Wiggins had been contracted to ride for Garmin Slipstream in 2010, but following much speculation it was announced in December 2009 that he was to leave to join Team Sky, having signed a four year contract with the new British based team.^[22]

2010[link]

Wiggins in the opening time trial of the 2010 Giro d'Italia

Wiggins began 2010 as a team leader for the first time. He was part of the team who won the team time trial on stage one of the 2010 Tour of Qatar. On May 10, he took his first major win of the year, in the opening time trial^[23] of the Giro d'Italia and took the maglia rosa leader's jersey. It was his first win at a Grand Tour. He lost the jersey on stage 2 to Cadel Evans following a crash-marred stage.^[24] He lost further time early on in the Giro, but recovered much of it on stage 11, in which he finished fourth. He faded quickly towards the end of the race, however, losing a lot of time over the final stages to finish 40th.

Wiggins entered the 2010 Tour de France with high expectations following his 4th place the year before. His Tour got off to a disappointing start however, when he could only manage 77th place in the opening prologue, after an early starting position left him exposed to poor conditions.^[25] Wiggins finished 8th on Stage 3, as cobblestones caught out a number of favourites.^[26] However, in Stage 8 (the first mountain summit finish of the Tour), Wiggins could only manage 19th place, losing 1 minute 45 seconds to stage winner Andy Schleck.^[27] Wiggins lost even more time the next day, on Stage 9, where he came 30th (losing 4 minutes 55 to the main contenders),^[28] which effectively ended hopes of a top 10 finish. He finished the Tour in 24th place, 39 minutes 24 seconds behind winner Alberto Contador, and 7 places behind team-mate Thomas Löfkvist. Contador was later found guilty of doping and the title of 2010 Tour De France winner was passed to second placed Andy Schleck. ^[29]

Wiggins retained the British national time trial title at the National Championships.^[30]

2011[link]

Wiggins was again team leader of Sky entering 2011. He opted against entering the 2011 Giro d'Italia, concentrating instead on shorter events and the classics, before undertaking altitude training to improve his climbing for the Tour de France.^[31] Wiggins finished 3rd overall in Paris-Nice after finishing 2nd in Stage 6.^[32] In March, he finished 2nd on the TT Stage 3 of the Critérium International. Wiggins won the ITT Stage 4 of Bayern-Rundfahrt, and finished the event in 14th place overall (and helping team-mate Geraint Thomas to win the event),^[33] before heading off for altitude training in preparation for the Tour de France. He took the overall lead of the Critérium du Dauphiné after finishing 2nd on the ITT Stage 3.^[34] On the final three mountain stages Wiggins was able to maintain his lead over second placed Cadel Evans (who would go on to win the Tour de France) to win Dauphiné, his biggest victory in road racing.^[35] On 26 June, Wiggins won the British National Road Race Championships,^[36] his final race before the Tour de France. On 8 July, he crashed out of the 2011 Tour de France on stage 7 with a broken collarbone.^[37]

Wiggins took his biggest road racing victory to date at the 2011 Critérium du Dauphiné

Following recovery from his injuries, it was confirmed by Team Sky that Wiggins would ride Vuelta a España for the first time,^[38] as well as the World Time Trial Championships. Wiggins also confirmed he would ride the 2012 Tour de France, despite the London Olympics coming soon after, and the Vuelta/ Time Trial Championships was seen as a dress-rehearsal for 2012.^[39]

Wiggins had a difficult start to the Vuelta as Sky finished 42 seconds back on the opening Team Time Trial in Benidorm.^[40] However, a strong first week brought Wiggins back into contention, leaving him 19th overall after Stage 8.^[41] On Stage 9, Wiggins and teammate Chris Froome attacked on the final climb to finish 4th and 5th respectively, and taking time out of Joaquim Rodríguez, Michele Scarponi and other contenders.^[42] The stage moved both riders up in the standings, and Wiggins was expected to take the overall lead on the time trial the following day. However, Froome sprung a major surprise, finishing second on the stage, taking the red jersey for himself, whilst Wiggins rose to third overall.^[43] Wiggins took the leaders jersey, after the rest day. After losing a few seconds to Vincenzo Nibali on the following days, Stage 14 saw Wiggins and Froome taking time out of most of their rivals, with Nibali losing over a minute.^[44] Wiggins lost the lead of the Vuelta to Juan José Cobo on Stage 15, where he finished 5th on the climb up the Angliru.^[45] The Stage saw Wiggins drop to 3rd in the standings, with Froome ahead in second. Wiggins finished the Vuelta in 3rd overall, his first grand tour podium.^[46]

In September, Wiggins finished second behind Tony Martin in the UCI Road World Championship Time Trial to take the silver medal.^[47] Four days later, Wiggins was part of the Great Britain team that set up Mark Cavendish's victory in the Road Race.^[48]

2012[link]

Although 2012 is an Olympic year, Wiggins' focus remains on road racing. The individual pursuit is no longer an Olympic event, and in December 2011 coach Rod Ellingworth told The Guardian, "The chances of him doing the team pursuit are really slim now". ^[49] Wiggins is more likely to compete in the Olympic Road Race and Time Trial. Wiggins began his 2012 season with third place in the Volta ao Algarve, including victory in the race-concluding individual time trial, edging out world champion Tony Martin by less than a second.^[50] Wiggins also helped with team-mate Richie Porte's successful bid to win the race overall. In March, Wiggins finished second to Vacansoleil-DCM's Gustav Larsson in the opening time trial of Paris–Nice, despite setting his time in wet conditions. The following day he took the lead of the race after being part of a 30-man breakaway as the peloton split into echelons. He held the lead for the rest of the race, winning the final stage, a time-trial on the Col d'Èze,^[51] despite a strong challenge from Dutch rider Lieuwe Westra, of the Vacansoleil-DCM team. Starting the final 9.6 km (6.0 mi) stage with a 6-second lead, Wiggins beat Westra's time by two seconds, to win the race by eight seconds overall, becoming the first British rider to win the race since Tom Simpson in 1967.^[52] His final stage victory was also good enough to give him the points classification ahead of Alejandro Valverde.^[53]

On Stage 1 of the Tour de Romandie in April, Wiggins took a rare sprint victory from a group of 59 riders to take the race lead.^[54] He lost the jersey to Luis León Sánchez after the Spaniard won two consecutive stages.^[55] However, Wiggins won the final time trial, despite suffering a dropped chain, to take overall victory.^[56] He is the first British rider to win the event.

Palmarès[link]

Olympic Games[link]

World Championships[link]

Commonwealth Games[link]

2002 Commonwealth Games

Silver, 4km individual pursuit

Silver, team pursuit

1998 Commonwealth Games

Silver, team pursuit

Professional cycling – major achievements[link]

Grand Tour General Classification results timeline[link]

Grand Tour	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Giro	123	-	-	134	71	40	-
Tour	-	124	WD	-	4	24	WD
Vuelta	-	-	-	-	-	-	3

WD = withdrew

World records[link]

• 4000m Team Pursuit, 3:55:202, (as part of Great British team), Beijing China, 2008
• 4000m Team Pursuit, 3:53:314, (as part of Great British team), Beijing China, 2008

Other achievements[link]

• London Youth Games

• Hall of Fame member (Class of 2010)^[57]

Quotes[link]

• "Most people were too drunk to notice me." On his experiences of late-night practice runs for the London leg of the Tour de France.^[58]

• "It is nice to be recognised for actually achieving something in life as opposed to spending seven weeks in a house on TV with a load of other muppets." A reference to the television programme, Big Brother, after finishing fourth in the Tour de France prologue.^[59]

• "I think that when you sit back and look at the season and see what has happened, I think you reflect on it with a bit of happiness, but when you finish third, you haven't won and we live for winning unfortunately." On finishing third in the 2011 Vuelta a España.^[60]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bradley Wiggins

• @bradwiggins on Twitter
• MTC management profile
• Cycling Weekly – Rider Profile