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{{Mediawiki<youtube>https:kindleoasis}}[[File:The Parthenon in Athens.jpg|thumbnail|The ruins of the Parthenon today.]]The rise of Athens in the late 6th century and early 5th century BCE ushered the Classical Age that went on to influence not only the ancient world but also Europe and Western culture in the millennia after its prominence. This rise occurred in large part due to its prominent location and control of key trading routes and leadership in the wars against Persia//www. While other Greek cities held more powerful armies, such as Sparta, it was Athens' leadership that proved attractive and helped pave the way for its influenceyoutube.com/watch?v=ar8S6virCwM</youtube>

At around 508 BCE, Cleisthenes rose to power as a leader of [[File:The Parthenon in Athens. He is typically credited with being the father jpg|thumbnail|300px|left|The ruins of Athenian democracy. While Athenian democracy looks very different from our own democratic systems, his reforms gave more power to the common gentryParthenon today.<ref>For more on this period of Cleisthenes' ]]__NOTOC__The rise to power, see: Fine, John Van Antwerp. 1983. ''The Ancient Greeks: A Critical History''. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Pr, pg. 122.</ref> Both the nobility and common free citizens of Athens were able to participate in the city's government assembly. Common citizens were also able to be appointed to key government posts. While one might assume these democratic style reforms led to the rise of power, the reality is Athens was already beginning to benefit from its control of key trade along the Mediterranean.<ref>For more on Athens' maritime power, see: Nijf, Onno van, late 6th century and Fik Meijer. 2014. ''Trade, Transport and Society early 5th century BCE not only ushered in the Ancient World a Sourcebook''Classical Age, pg. 33.</ref> The region of Attica is not highly fertile, leading to Athens becoming a city highly dependent but it went on its external links to colonies influence European and tradeWestern culture for thousands of years.

The bases of city wealth helped Athens This rise occurred largely due to use that wealth in subsequent events that were to shape all its prominent location and control of the Greek world. Athens was involved in the rebellion key trading routes and leadership in Ionia, along the coast of Asia Minor, that saw the Greek cities revolt wars against their Persian overlords. These revolts were put down; however, Persia was agitated by Athens' support for the rebels. This led to DariusWhile other Greek cities held more powerful armies, the Achaemenid Persian kingsuch as Sparta, to invade the Peloponnese peninsula to take revenge against Athens. In particular, the burning of Sardis by the Ionian rebels greatly upset the Persians, given that city's great wealth leadership proved attractive and importance to helped pave the Persians.<ref>For more on the Ionian revolt, see: Mac Sweeney, Naoíse. 2013. ''Foundation Myths and Politics in Ancient Ionia''. Cambridge Classical Studies. Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press, pg. 175way for its influence.</ref>

The invasion then sparked what ultimately developed ====Rise to be the Greco-Persian wars of the 5th century Prominence====At around 508 BCE, where Athens played a leading role among the Greek city-states involved. The initial beginning of this war in 492-490 went well for the Persians, Cleisthenes rose to power as they destroyed the Greek city of Eretria and captured territory in the Cyclades and Thrace. However, at the Battle of Marathon a force leader of about 10,000 Athenians and Plataeans were able to defeat the Persians, perhaps the first significant victory of the Greeks against the PersiansAthens. This created a setback for the Persians as they could not invade Greece for another 10 years. The second invasion of Greece by the Persian army and fleet was much larger, forcing Athens to create alliances, in particular He is typically credited with Sparta. Initially being the Persian force was successful at the battle father of Thermopylae against the Greek allies, although possibly at great lossAthenian democracy. After the battle of PlataeaWhile Athenian democracy looks very different from our own democratic systems, the Persians were defeated and were forced his reforms gave more power to retreat once again. From this point Athens and the Greek allies were on the offensive and this begins Athens' leadership in an alliance that eventually formed the Delian league, which continued the wars against the Persians, mostly now in Egypt and Cypruscommon gentry.<ref> For more on the Greco-Persian warsthis period of Cleisthenes' rise to power, see: Green, PeterFine, and Peter GreenJohn Van Antwerp. 19961983. ''The Greco-Persian WarsAncient Greeks: A Critical History''. BerkeleyCambridge, Mass.: University of California PressHarvard Univ. Pr, pg. 122.</ref>Both the nobility and common free citizens of Athens could participate in the city's government assembly. Common citizens were also able to be appointed to key government posts.

==Leader While one might assume these democratic style reforms led to the rise of power, the reality is Athens was already beginning to benefit from its control of key trade along the Delian League==Mediterranean.<ref>For more on Athens' maritime power, see: Nijf, Onno van, and Fik Meijer. 2014. ''Trade, Transport and Society in the Ancient World a Sourcebook'', pg. 33.</ref> The region of Attica is not highly fertile, leading to Athens becoming a city highly dependent on its external links to colonies and trade. [[File:2000px-Map Greco-Persian WarsGreek-enPersian_duel.svg.pngjpg|300px|left|thumbnail|Figure 1. Cities (in blue) that fought against the Persians Greek hoplite and formed members of the Delian League.Persian warrior fighting]]The excuse that the threat bases of Persia gave and city wealth helped Athens' use that wealth proved to be key in Athens consolidating power within the Delian league (Figure 1). This led subsequent events to strife within the league, as shape all of the Greek cities began to revolt against worlds. Athens increased consolidation of power. Under was involved in the Athenian Periclesrebellion in Ionia, along the Athenians moved the treasury coast of the league to Athens. The city also continued to consolidate and take monetary resourcesAsia Minor, increasing its wealth and power. The cities and regions that followed Athens essentially formed an empire under Athens' leadership by the 450s. In fact, in 460 BCE, tensions were high and saw the Peloponnesian Wars began as rebellions of Greek cities revolt against Athenian hegemonytheir Persian overlords. The Athenians These revolts were initially successful in taking control much of put down; however, Persia was agitated by Athens' support for the Peloponnese peninsularebels. HoweverThis led Darius, costly wars against the Persians eventually led Athens Achaemenid Persian king, to make peace with Persia, although they had lost many men and spent much of their wealth in being defeated in Egypt. Athenian brutality against not only those cities that revolted but also regions that were neutral, such as Melos, created further animosity with now Sparta beginning invade the Peloponnese peninsula to take control of an alliance of cities revenge against Athens. While the Athenians continued to gain power by expanding and creating colonies that were dependent on themIn particular, the Spartans began to consolidate power and even allied with Ionian rebels' burning of Sardis greatly upset the Persians as a way to counteract Athenian control. Sparta then formed its own league, called the Peloponnesian League, given that included Corinth and other prominent cities. Nevertheless, Athens maintained its naval and trade supremacy, enabling it to not only win key battles but also its city's great wealth that fueled its ability to keep its allies and armies able importance to control large areas in Greece and beyond, including on the Western coast of AnatoliaPersians.<ref>For more on the Delian LeagueIonian revolt, see: FineMac Sweeney, John Van AntwerpNaoíse. 19832013. ''The Foundation Myths and Politics in Ancient Greeks: A Critical HistoryIonia''. Cambridge, MassClassical Studies.Cambridge ; New York: Harvard UnivCambridge University Press, pg. Pr175.</ref>

==Stagnation==[[File:Lawrence_Alma-Tadema_-_Phidias_Showing_the_Frieze_of_the_Parthenon_to_his_FriendsInitially, the Persian force was successful at Thermopylae's battle against the Greek allies, although possibly at a great loss.jpg|thumbnail|300px|Phidias Showing After the Frieze battle of Plataea, the Parthenon to Pericles Persians were defeated and friends, by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1868]]A significant blow were forced to Athens was a plague that broke out in 430 BCE that ultimately not only killed many of its soldiers and naval personnel but its key leaders such as Periclesretreat once again.<ref>For more on From this plaguepoint, see: Kagan, Donald. 1998. ''Pericles of Athens and the Birth of DemocracyGreek allies were on the offensive. New York: Free Press'This begins Athens', pg. 249. </ref> However, Athens was soon re-energized with new leadership in an alliance that eventually formed the form of CleonDelian League, who now took which continued the war to wars against the Spartan-led alliance. He was successful in defeating Sparta at the battle of SphacteriaPersians, but once again this victory proved to be short-lived. Cleon was soon killed in battle and a peace was then signed between the warring sides. Eventually a new war broke out and this time the war was fought mostly in Sicily, as Athens tried to expand its influence there. While once again initially finding some success by having some cities join them, Syracuse led the effort against Athens Egypt and allied itself with Sparta. The Spartans reacted by sending a force to Sicily, where after a series of battles resoundingly defeated AthensCyprus.<ref> For more on the battles of Cleon and Athens against SpartaGreco-Persian wars, see: PritchardGreen, DavidPeter, edand Peter Green. 20101996. ''War, Democracy and Culture in Classical AthensThe Greco-Persian Wars''. Cambridge ; New YorkBerkeley: Cambridge University of California Press, pg. 83.</ref>

Although severely weakened, ====Leader of the Delian League====[[File:2000px-Map Greco-Persian Wars-en.svg.png|thumbnail|275px|left|Figure 1. Cities (in blue) that fought against the Athenians held a large reserve Persians and formed members of naval forces it could still usethe Delian League. By 406 BCE, a series of naval ]]The excuse that Persia's threat gave and land victories once again led Athens' wealth proved to a reinvigorated Athenian Empire. At another naval engagement be key in 406, Athens consolidating power within the Athenians won a major victory; however, a severe storm Delian league (Figure 1). This led to them loosing some of their fleet. For this lossstrife within the league, some of their naval leaders were executed, resulting in a further depletion of their strengthas the Greek cities began to revolt against Athens's increased power consolidation. Lysander, a new Spartan general, arose and he took advantage of this loss in leadership by forcing battle in Under the HellespontAthenian Pericles, where the Athenians were defeated and much moved the treasury of their army destroyed. the league to Athens was now trapped, as it did not have a significant army and the city now was directly attacked by Sparta. With the The city under siege, it was forced also continued to surrenderconsolidate and take monetary resources, leading to the total loss of increasing its wealth and power for . The cities and regions that followed Athens and the fall of its great essentially formed an empire.<ref> For more on the last phases of the war against Sparta, see: Powell, Anton. 2016. ''under Athens and Sparta: Constructing Greek Political and Social History from 478 BC. Third edition''. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledgeleadership by the 450s.</ref>

==Conclusion and Impact==While Athens did recover In fact, in the decades to come460 BCE, tensions were high, Athens and the Peloponnesian Wars began as Greek city-states were never able to recover their full power and continued their internal wars in the Corinthian conflict in the early 4th century BCEcities' rebellions against Athenian hegemony. This paved the rise of the Macedonians under Philip II and eventually Alexander the Great, who ultimately united the Greeks under their leadership. While the rise of the Macedonians meant that the The Athenians never regained centralized power once again as they had were initially successful in the 5th century BCE, they were now part taking control of much larger political entities, first under the leadership of the Macedonians and later under RomePeloponnese peninsula. Athens became renown as not just for its democratic systemHowever, which lasted for over 100 years, but also as a place for scholars and philosophers. From costly wars against the time of Pericles, philosophers and scholars alike traveled to Athens from throughout the Greek world to study under Athens patronage. The famous Platonic school and the Lyceum were two institutions of learning that became famous within Persians eventually led Athens and helped to shape Western though. Famous philosophers such as Plato, Aristotlemake peace with Persia, although they had lost many men and Socrates were all associated with Athens at some point in spent much of their lives. The Parthenon (Figure 2) and Acropolis became inspirations for architecture in the Classical Age and Western Enlightenment wealth in the late 17th and 18th centuries, when Greek thought became influential once more. Among relatively few cities, Athens was given the status of a free city, where its schools and institutions continued to thrive being defeated in the Roman period. This insured that Athens continued to be influential despite its lost political and economic power.<ref> For more on Athens' impact, see: Waterfield, Robin. 2004. ''Athens: A History, from Ancient Ideal to Modern City''. New York, NY: Basic BooksEgypt.</ref>

Athenian brutality against those cities that revolted and neutral regions, such as Melos, created further animosity with now Sparta beginning to take control of an alliance of cities against Athens. While the Athenians continued to gain power by expanding and creating colonies dependent on them, the Spartans began to consolidate power and even allied with the Persians to counteract Athenian control. Sparta then formed its own league, called the Peloponnesian League, which included Corinth and other prominent cities.  Nevertheless, Athens maintained its naval and trade supremacy, enabling it to not only win key battles but also its wealth that fueled its ability to keep its allies and armies able to control large areas in Greece and beyond, including on the Western coast of Anatolia.<ref>For more on the Delian League, see: Fine, John Van Antwerp. 1983. ''The Ancient Greeks: A Critical History''. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Pr.</ref> <dh-ad/> ====Stagnation====[[File:Lawrence_Alma-Tadema_-_Phidias_Showing_the_Frieze_of_the_Parthenon_to_his_Friends.jpg|thumbnail|left|360px|Phidias Showing the Frieze of the Parthenon to Pericles and friends, by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1868]]A significant blow to Athens was a plague that broke out in 430 BCE that ultimately not only killed many of its soldiers and naval personnel but its key leaders such as Pericles.<ref>For more on this plague, see: Kagan, Donald. 1998. ''Pericles of Athens and the Birth of Democracy. New York: Free Press'', pg. 249. </ref> However, Athens was soon re-energized with new leadership in Cleon, who now took the war to the Spartan-led alliance. He successfully defeated Sparta at the Battle of Sphacteria, but this victory proved to be short-lived once again. Cleon was soon killed in battle, and peace was then signed between the warring sides.  Eventually, a new war broke out, and this time the war was fought in Sicily, as Athens tried to expand its influence there. While once again initially finding some success by having some cities join them, Syracuse led the effort against Athens and allied itself with Sparta. The Spartans reacted by sending a force to Sicily, where a series of battles resoundingly defeated Athens.<ref> For more on Cleon and Athens's battles against Sparta, see Pritchard, David, ed. 2010. ''War, Democracy and Culture in Classical Athens''. Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press, pg. 83.</ref> Although severely weakened, the Athenians held a large reserve of naval forces it could still use. By 406 BCE, a series of naval and land victories once again led to a reinvigorated Athenian Empire. At another naval engagement in 406, the Athenians won a major victory; however, a severe storm led to losing some of their fleet. For this loss, some of their naval leaders were executed, resulting in further depletion of their strength.  Lysander, a new Spartan general, arose. He took advantage of this loss in leadership by forcing battle in the Hellespont, where the Athenians were defeated and destroyed much of their army. Athens was now trapped, as it did not have a significant army, and the city now was directly attacked by Sparta. With the city under siege, it was forced to surrender, leading to the total loss of power for Athens and its great empire's fall.<ref> For more on the last phases of the war against Sparta, see: Powell, Anton. 2016. ''Athens and Sparta: Constructing Greek Political and Social History from 478 BC. Third edition''. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.</ref> ====Conclusion and Impact====While Athens did recover in the decades to come, Athens and the Greek city-states could never recover their full power and continued their internal wars in the Corinthian conflict in the early 4th century BCE. This paved the rise of the Macedonians under Philip II and Alexander the Great, who ultimately united the Greeks under their leadership. While the rise of the Macedonians meant that the Athenians never regained centralized power once again as they had in the 5th century BCE, they were now part of much larger political entities, first under the leadership of the Macedonians and later under Rome.  Athens became renowned not just for its democratic system, which lasted for over 100 years, but also for scholars and philosophers. From Pericles's time, philosophers and scholars alike traveled to Athens from throughout the Greek world to study under Athens patronage. The famous Platonic school and the Lyceum were two institutions of learning that became famous within Athens and helped shape Western thinking. Famous philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates were all associated with Athens at some point in their lives.  The Parthenon (Figure 2) and Acropolis became inspirations for architecture in the Classical Age and Western Enlightenment in the late 17th and 18th centuries when Greek thought became influential once more. Among relatively few cities, Athens was given a free city, where its schools and institutions continued to thrive in the Roman period. This ensured that Athens continued to be influential despite its lost political and economic power.<ref> For more on Athens' impact, see: Waterfield, Robin. 2004. ''Athens: A History, from Ancient Ideal to Modern City''. New York, NY: Basic Books.</ref> <div class="portal" style="width:85%;">====Related DailyHistory.org Articles====*[[How did the Silk Road develop?]]*[[What were the causes of the Peloponnesian War?]]*[[When was Insurance First Used?]]*[[How did Early Empires facilitate the Rise of Investment Banking?]]*[[What was the impact of the defeat of the Sicilian Expedition on Athens?]]</div> ====References====

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