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The Golden Age of Athens refers to the ancient Greek city-state of Athens in the 5th century BC. This era is traditionally heralded to having begun in 478 BC, after the defeat of the Persian invasion, when an Athenian-led coalition of city-states, known as the Delian League, confronted the Persians to keep the liberated Greek cities of coastal Asia Minor free. It was buoyed by political hegemony, economic growth accompanied by artistic and cultural flourishing.
After peace was made with Persia in the mid-5th century BC, what started as an Athenian-led alliance of independent city-states, had become an Athenian empire since Athens abandoned the pretense of parity among its allies and relocated the Delian League treasury from Delos to Athens, where it funded the building of the Athenian Acropolis, put half its population on the public payroll, and maintained its position as the dominant naval power in the Greek world. With the empire's funds, military dominance and its political fortunes guided by statesman and orator Pericles, Athens produced some of the most influential and enduring cultural artifacts of the Western tradition. The playwrights Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides all lived and worked in 5th-century BC Athens, as did the historians Herodotus and Thucydides, the physician Hippocrates and the philosophers Plato and Socrates. Athens's patron goddess was Athena, from whom it derived the name.
Overview
During the golden age, Athenian military and external affairs were mostly entrusted to the ten generals who were elected each year by the ten tribes of citizens, who could be relied on rather than the variable-quality magistrates chosen by lot under the democracy. These strategoi were given duties which included planning military expeditions, receiving envoys of other states and directing diplomatic affairs. During the time of the ascendancy of Ephialtes as leader of the democratic faction, Pericles was his deputy. When Ephialtes was assassinated for overthrowing the elitist Council of the Aeropagus, Pericles stepped in and was elected in 445 BC, a post he held continuously until his death in 429 BC, always by election of the Athenian Assembly.
Pericles was a great speaker; this quality brought him tremendous success in the Assembly, presenting his vision of politics. One of his most popular reforms was to allow thetes (Athenians without wealth) to occupy public office. Another success of his administration was the creation of the misthophoria (, which literally means paid function), a special salary for the citizens that attended the courts as jurors. This way, these citizens were able to dedicate themselves to public service without facing financial hardship. With this system, Pericles succeeded in keeping the courts full of jurors (Ath. Pol. 27.3), and in giving the people experience in public life. As Athens' ruler, he made the city the first and most important polis of the Greek world, acquiring a resplendent culture and democratic institutions.
The sovereign people governed themselves, without intermediaries, deciding matters of state in the Assembly. Athenian citizens were free and only owed obedience to their laws and respect to their gods. They achieved equality of speech in the Assembly: the word of a poor person had the same worth as that of a rich person. The censorial classes did not disappear, but their power was more limited; they shared the fiscal and military offices but they did not have the power of distributing privileges.
The principle of equality granted to all citizens had dangers since a number of citizens were incapable of exercising political rights due to their extreme poverty or ignorance. To avoid this, Athenian democracy applied itself to the task of helping the poorest in this manner:
Concession of salaries to public functionaries. To seek and supply work to the poor. To grant lands to dispossessed villagers. Public assistance for war widows, invalids, orphans and indigents. Other social help.
Most importantly, and in order to emphasize the concept of equality and discourage corruption and patronage, practically all public offices that did not require a particular expertise were appointed by lot and not by election. Among those selected by lot to a political body, specific office was always rotated so that every single member served in all capacities in turn. This was meant to ensure that political functions were instituted in such a way as to run smoothly, regardless of each official's individual capacity.
These measures appear to have been carried out in great measure since the testimony has come to us from (among others) the Greek historian Thucydides (c. 460–400 BC), who comments: "Everyone who is capable of serving the city meets no impediment, neither poverty, nor civic condition..."
Institutions
The magistrates The magistrates were people who occupied a public post and formed the administration of the Athenian state. They were submitted to rigorous public control. The magistrates were chosen by lot, using fava beans. Black and white beans were put in a box and depending on which color the person drew out they obtained the post or not. This was a way of eliminating the personal influence of rich people and possible intrigues and use of favors. There were only two categories of posts not chosen by lot, but by election in the Popular Assembly. These were strategoi, or general, and magistrate of finance. It was generally supposed that significant qualities were needed to exercise each of those two offices. A magistrate's post did not last more than a year, including that of the strategos and in this sense the continued selection of Pericles year after year was an exception. At the end of every year, a magistrate would have to give an account of his administration and use of public finances.
The most honored posts were the ancient archontes, or archons in English. In previous ages they had been the heads of the Athenian state, but in the Age of Pericles they lost their influence and power, although they still presided over tribunals.
Every year the citizens elected ten "strategoi" (singular "strategos"), or generals, who served as both military officers and diplomats. It was through this position that Pericles shaped 5th-century BC Athens.
There were also more than forty public administration officers and more than sixty to police the streets, the markets, to check weights and measures and to carry out arrests and executions.
The Assembly of the People The Assembly (in Greek, , that is to say, an assembly by summons), was the first organ of the democracy. In theory it brought together in assembly all the citizens of Athens, however the maximum number which came to congregate is estimated at 6,000 participants. The gathering place was a space on the hill called Pnyx, in front of the Acropolis. The sessions sometimes lasted from dawn to dusk. The ecclesia occurred forty times a year.
The Assembly decided on laws and decrees which were proposed. Decisions relied on ancient laws that had long been in force. Bills were voted on in two stages: first the Assembly itself decided and afterwards the Council or βουλή gave definitive approval.
The Council or Boule The Council or Boule () consisted of 500 members, fifty from each tribe, functioning as an extension of the Assembly. These were chosen by chance, using the system described earlier, from which they were familiarly known as "councillors of the bean"; officially they were known as prytaneis (, meaning "chief" or "teacher").
The council members examined and studied legal projects, supervised the magistrates and saw that daily administrative details were on the right path. They oversaw the city state's external affairs. They also met at Pnyx hill, in a place expressly prepared for the event. The fifty prytaneis in power were located on grandstands carved into the rock. They had stone platforms which they reached by means of a small staircase of three steps. On the first platform were the secretaries and scribes; the orator would climb up to the second. Any one who became unpopular would be kicked out and would be brought to another city.
Finances
The economic resources of the Athenian State would not have been possible without the treasury of the Delian League. The treasury was originally held on the island of Delos, but Pericles moved it to Athens under the pretext that Delos wasn't safe enough. This resulted in internal friction within the league and the rebellion of some city-states that were members. Athens retaliated quickly and some scholars believe this to be the period wherein it would be more appropriate to discuss an Athenian Empire instead of a league.
Other small incomes came from customs fees and fines. In times of war, a special tax was levied on rich citizens. These citizens were also charged permanently with other taxes for the good of the city. This was called the system of liturgy. The taxes were used to maintain the triremes which gave Athens great naval power and to pay and maintain a chorus for large religious festivals. It is believed that rich Athenian men saw it as an honor to sponsor the triremes (probably because they became leaders of it for the period they supported it) or the festivals and they often engaged in competitive donating.
Athens also benefited from a proximity to the trading port of Piraeus. The state of Athens collected a duty on cargo passing through the port. At Piraeus (the main port of Athens), this tax was set at 1% or higher on goods.
Age of Pericles
The Athenian elite lived modestly and without great luxuries, compared to the elites of other ancient states. There were few great fortunes and land ownership was not concentrated: 71–73% of the citizen population owned 60–65% of the land, whereas the Gini coefficient for citizen population has been calculated as 0.708.Josiah Ober, "Wealthy Hellas". Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics. 2010. The economy was based on maritime commerce and manufacturing, according to Amemiya's estimates, 56% of Athens' GDP was derived from manufacturing.“Economy and Economics of Ancient Greece,” Routledge, 2007 Agriculture was also important, but it did not produce enough to feed the populace, so most food had to be imported (it is estimated that the carrying capacity of Attica's soil was between 84,000 and 150,000,Ian Morris, "The growth of Greek cities in the first millennium BC". Princeton/Stamford Working Papers in Classics. 2005. while the population was 300,000 to 350,000 in 431 BC).
The state oversaw all the major religious festivals. The most important one was the Panathenaia in honor of the goddess Athena, a ritual procession carried out once a year in May and once every four years in July, in which the town presented a new veil (peplos) to the old wooden statue of Athena Poliada. Phidias immortalized this procession in the frieze of the Parthenon, which is currently at the British Museum. In the July Panathenaia (Great Panathenaia), large competitions were organized which included gymnastics and horseback riding, the winners of which received amphoras full of sacred olive oil as a prize. The other important festival was the dramatic Dionysia in honour of Dionysus where tragedies and comedies were performed.
Education