Ancient Athens: Geographic Environment

Geographic Environment of Ancient Athens

• Athens was located in Attica, Greece, approximately five kilometers inland from the Aegean Sea.
• Natural springs were near the Acropolis, but were not sufficient to supply the city, so other goods were imported through the Piraeus.
• The Acropolis (Athenian treasury) was the city's center, a large rocky outcrop providing a commanding view.
• The Acropolis housed Athens' most important temples, including the Parthenon.
• The Agora served as the city's social, political, and commercial center, functioning as a market and a meeting place and housing the Athenian assembly (Ekklesia).

Significant Sites in Athens

• The Agora

  • Served as the main public square, functioning as a marketplace, a site for religious processions and athletic contests, and a venue for public meetings.
  • Buildings needed to run democracy surrounded the Agora, including the Bouleuterion, Heliaia, Tholos, Strategion, Dikastria, and the three stoas.

• The Acropolis

  • Originally a citadel that served as a place for refuge and a sanctuary for temples.
  • After the Persian destruction, Pericles initiated a building project on the Acropolis 30 years later.

• The Piraeus

  • Athens's main port comprised three natural harbours.
  • The largest harbour was for commercial shipping, while the two smaller harbours were for the Athenian fleet
  • It served as the center for Athenian imports and exports.

The Concept of the Polis

• The polis was the fundamental political unit in the Greek world, similar to an independent 'city-state'.
• It consisted of a town or city center surrounded by farmland owned by its citizens.
• A public square and marketplace (agora) was a feature of the polis, where goods were exchanged and social, political, and religious interactions transpired.
• Although all Greeks spoke the same language, each polis had its own customs and religious festivals (e.g., the Panathenea and Dionysia in Athens).
• Famous poleis included Athens, Sparta, Corinth, and Thebes.

Athenian Social Structure

• Athenian society was highly hierarchical, with citizens at the top, metics (resident aliens), women in limited roles, and slaves at the bottom, with exclusions based on gender, birth, and status.

• Citizens were freeborn Athenian men with political rights, estimated at 40,000.

  • Inscriptions recorded citizens’ voting and jury service, reflecting their democratic privileges.
  • They participated in the Ekklesia (Assembly).
  • They served in the military as hoplites (infantry), with poorer citizens serving as rowers in the navy.
  • PENTAKOSIOMEDIMNOI, HIPPEIS, ZEUGITAE, THETES were all citizens.

• Metics were non-citizen free residents, estimated at 25,000, also labeled as "resident aliens."

  • Inscriptions exhibit their economic contributions, particularly in commerce and craftsmanship.
  • Metics paid a special tax (metoikion) and were subject to legal restrictions.
  • Could not own land or participate in government, reinforcing their social inferiority and exclusion from citizenship.
  • Some became extremely wealthy, like the banker Pasion (an ex slave).

• Women

  • Estimated at 120,000.
  • Literary evidence suggested women were confined to household duties such as weaving, managing slaves, and raising children.
  • Legal texts showed that Athenian women could not vote, own property independently, or participate in public life.
  • Grave inscriptions and painted pottery revealed their domestic and religious roles.
  • Exceptions existed for priestesses (possessing social prestige) and Hetairai (high-class courtesans).

• Slaves

  • Enslaved individuals with no legal rights, owned by citizens of the state, estimated at 120,000.
  • Inscriptions listed public slaves who worked as scribes, clerks, or market inspectors.
  • Aristotle and Xenophon described slavery as a natural condition.
  • Vase paintings depicted slaves in households and workshops.
  • Slaves worked in land mines (Laurion silver mines), domestic service, agriculture, and skilled crafts.

Sources - Athenian Social Structure

• 'OECONOMICUS' - Xenophon
  • Provides insight into the anticipated role of women in the household (oikos).
  • Reflects the idealized role of women in Athenian society during the Pericles era.
• 'AGAINST NEAERA' - Demosthenes
  • Discusses Athenian citizenship laws, notably Pericles Citizenship Law 451 BCE, restricting citizenship to those with both Athenian parents.
  • Highlights the distinction between citizens, metics, and slaves.
• 'LYSISTRATA' - Aristophanes
  • Mocks Athenian gender roles and the limited agency of women.
  • Provides indirect evidence of women's restricted legal and political status in Athens.
• Gravestones (stele) and Funerary Inscriptions
  • Wealthy Athenian men's gravestones emphasized their military roles.
  • Women's funerary stele depict them in domestic settings, reinforcing their household roles.
• Vase Paintings
  • Scenes of symposia (drinking parties) depict elite male citizens engaging in politics and philosophy, excluding metics and slaves.
  • Pottery depicting women often shows them engaged in domestic tasks like weaving, reflecting their limited public presence.
  • Images of slaves in workshops or households provide visual confirmation of their role in Athenian economic life.

Athenian Democracy During the Time of Pericles

• EKKLESIA (assembly)
  • Regularly gathered Athenian citizens to discuss and vote on laws, policies, and issues.
  • Elected generals (strategoi), declared wars, and met on the open space atop the Pnyx hill.
  • Held 40 regular meetings each year (almost every week).
  • Voting was done by show of hands or by secret ballot.
• BOULE (council of 500)
  • Composed of 500 citizens over 30 years of age, chosen by lot with 50 from each of the ten tribes.
  • Citizens could only serve twice non-consecutively.
  • Oversaw the performance of magistrates, food supply, and maintenance of the fleet, as well as prepared the assembly's agenda.
• HELIAEA (the people's court)
  • Included a pool of citizens over 30 years of age who volunteered for jury duty.
  • 6000 were selected by lot to serve for one year.
  • Athenians believed in large juries to minimize opportunities for bribery.
• STRATEGIA
  • Composed of a board of 10 generals (strategoi), one from each tribe, who could be re-elected year after year.
  • Responsible for mobilizing citizens and metics.

Groups

• STRATEGOI

  • Ten generals from each of the 10) tribes.
  • Voted on military and navy expeditions.
  • One position could be held for more than one year.
  • According to Plutarch, Pericles was elected strategos continuously for 15 years.

• HIPPEIS

  • 'Horsemen' who could afford to provide their own horses and equipment.
  • Carried out border patrols.
  • Roles were more in support than frontline attacks.
  • Depicted in horseback in the Parthenon frieze.

• HOPLITES

  • Heavily armed infantry who fought in close formation called a phalanx.
  • Wore lots of armor and main weapon was a spear.
  • Hoplites and their equipment are depicted on many vase paintings.

• THETES

  • Light infantry.
  • Generally attacked at the beginning.
  • More mobile, with specialities.
  • Paid by the state, this income allowed them to join the assembly.

Contribution of the Agora to Athenian Society During the Time of Pericles

• The Agora held significance in the political and democratic aspects of Athens.
  • Citizens (male, free Athenians) engaged in political discussions and decision making.
  • The Bouleuterion housed the Boule (council of 500), which set the agenda for the Ekklesia (assembly).
• The Agora had spaces for jury selection and legal proceedings, reinforcing Athens' legal system.
• The Agora supported economic factors in Athens such as supporting trade
  • Merchants sold goods like lottery, olive oil and food products.
  • Athens relied on imports - through the port of Piraeus
  • It was a "gathering place".

Importance of Trade and Tribute in Athens

• TRIBUTE (phoros) - was a mandatory payment made by city-states within the Delian League that was to fund collective defence against Persia to become a source of Athenian wealth and imperial power.
  • Tribute lists (inscriptions on stone) show Athens collecting vast sums from allies, reinforcing its dominance.
  • Thucydides (History of the Peloponnesian War) states that Athens used these funds to build its navy and fortifications.
  • The Pericles building program was partially funded by this tribute.
• Impact TRIBUTE had on the Delian League:

  • Allowed Athens to flourish as the cultural and military of Greece (Attica).

    • THUCYDIDES - describes how Athens' allies initially agreed to tribute but later became "enslaved by their own mistakes" - acknowledging Athens shift towards imperial control.
    • ARISTOTLE (Athenian Constitution) - states that Pericles used tribute to strengthen democracy, particularly by funding payments for public office.
    • In 454 BCE the Leagues treasury moved from Delos to Athens signalling Athenian dominance.
    • Tribute was redirected to Athens' military and infrastructure (like the construction of the Parthenon).

  • Strengthened Athenian democracy by funding civic participation.

    Tribute enabled poor citizens to hold political office through state stipends.
    ARISTOTLE (Athenian constitution) - notes that tribute allowed Athens to sustain a fully participatory democracy.
    

  • Secured Athenian naval supremacy in the Aegean. Tribute financed construction and maintenance securing Athens' dominance at sea. THUCYDIDES - highlights how Athens' naval power allowed it to dictate terms to allies.

• Athens' economy was highly dependent on imports and trade.
• The Piraeus Port, Athens' main harbour, became a bustling trade centre where merchants (metics) conducted business.
• Archeological finds of Athenian pottery in regions like Italy, Egypt and the Black Sea confirm Athens' extensive trade networks.
• The Piraeus Decrees (inscriptions) show that Athens regulated trade, ensuring a steady supply of grain for its people
• Ancient shipwrecks provide evidence of the range and scale of sea-borne trade (e.g. the merchant ship Alonissos carried wine and pottery)

Imports and Exports

• Imports

  • Grain (most crucial)
  • Timber (for shipbuilding)
  • Metals (silver, copper, iron)
  • Slaves

• Exports

  • Olive oil and win (highly valued in Mediterranean markets) - Athena olive tree
  • Fine pottery (Athenian black and red figure vases were found across the Greek world)
  • Textiles and silver (from the Laurion Mines)

Occupations and Industries in Athens

• POTTERY
  • Cups, bowls, lamps, cooking pots, hydra (for carrying water).
  • Fine pottery includes figurines and statues, ritual vessels used for marriage, funerals and festivals and libations (liquid offerings to gods).
  • Black and red figure were highly valued and widely exported.
• STONE MASONRY
  • Had an abundant supply of good quality building stone.
  • The skill is evidence in the ruins of the structures, such as fortification walls and harbour defences.
  • Temples and sanctuaries in the Acropolis and elsewhere.
  • Public buildings in the Agora and elsewhere.
• METAL WORKING
  • Iron, bronze and copper were the main metals used to make household utensils, farm implements, armour and weapons
  • Athens had limited metals available.
  • Copper, iron and tin ways imported.
  • Athens was famous for bronze statues made by sculptures such as Pheidiaa and Myron.
  • Athenian bronzes stood at Olympia (later copied by Romans).
• SHIP BUILDING
  • Important industry undertaken by the state and private individuals.
  • Construction of ships had to rely on imported timber and resins from Macedonia and Thrace.
  • Shipwrecks evidence the size of timber hulls and estimate the amount of timber required.
  • The building of naval ships was the state's responsibility.
  • Provided employment for Athens ' poorer citizens.