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While investigating facts about Ancient Athens Government and Ancient Athens Map, I found out little known, but curios details like:

In ancient Athens they had a process called ostracism, where once a year the people would vote on the politician they thought was becoming too powerful and was in a position to establish a tyranny. The "winner" was then exiled from Athens for 10 years.

how was the government of ancient athens structured?

Draco, the Ancient Greek legislator who wrote the first code of law in Athens. Over time his laws were seen as increasingly harsh and punitive, which is why we say a law is "draconian" when the punishment is too extreme for the crime.

In what way did ancient athens influence the framers?

In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across answering in what way was the government of ancient athens different from that of the us. Here are 50 of the best facts about Ancient Athens Democracy and Ancient Athens Population I managed to collect.

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  1. The winner of the discuss throw in the first modern Olympics had never seen a proper discuss until he arrived in Athens. The version he commissioned to train with was 25 pounds heavier than the competition model because he based it solely on images from an ancient vase.

  2. The word "idiot" came from Ancient Athens and originally meant people who don't care about or participate in public affairs or politics.

  3. Between the 4th and 5th century, ancient Athens adopted Ostracism, a (check and balance) system that allowed the citizens to vote to exile and banish anyone deemed a threat or tyrant for ten years. The ostracism was only considered valid if the total number of votes counted to at least 6000

  4. Ancient Greeks built a 7 mile wall from Athens to the port of Piraeus to guarantee safe passage to the sea

  5. Ancient Athens was rocked by a political crisis when someone vandalized all of the city's sacred penis statues.

  6. In ancient Athens, when no person was convicted for a murder, the murder weapon would be blamed and exiled to cleanse society

  7. There was a court in ancient Athens dedicated to trials of inanimate objects that had committed crimes.

  8. In Ancient Athens public slaves would have to herd citizens into the political assembly using a red stained rope to get them to vote.

  9. The Parthenon was built from 447-438 BC on Athens" acropolis. The temple was dedicated to the city's patron, the goddess Athena.

  10. He died around the year 400 BC in Athens, having just been given amnesty and allowed to return at the end of the war. The second century AD geographer Pausanias and the first century AD biographer Plutarch both claimed that Thucydides was murdered.

ancient athens facts
What was the population of ancient athens?

Why ancient athens is bad?

You can easily fact check why did direct democracy work in ancient athens by examining the linked well-known sources.

Some of the sculptures from the Parthenon are on display at the Louvre in Paris, France, and in Copenhagen, while the majority are in Athen's Acropolis Museum.

Pericles died from a plague that overwhelmed Athens.

The word marathon originated from Pheidippides's run from Athens to Sparta in 490 BC. He ran from one city to the other in order to ask for help in the Battle of Marathon against the Persians.

The modern marathon run of 26.2 miles is believed to have been derived from the Battle of Marathon. According to more than one legend, a man named Pheidippides ran the 26.2 miles from Marathon to Athens to tell the people of the city that the Greeks had just won.

Thucydides was exiled from Athens for nearly twenty years for losing control of a city to the Spartans.

When did ancient athens start and end?

During the fifth century BC, the Athena Temple functioned not only as a religious site, but also as Athens" central bank.

How big was ancient athens?

Athena was Athen's guardian and the Parthenon was her temple, built in honor of her.

In ancient Athens the Median age for Marriage was 15 for Women and 30 for men.

Many classical historians place the precise date of the beginning of Classical Greece at 510 BC, when the Athenians overthrew the tyrant Hippias with Spartan support and replaced him with a democracy that came to symbolize Athens itself.

Before the Peloponnesian War, Pericles led several military campaigns throughout Greece to protect the interests of Athens" alliance, the Delian League.

During the first phase of the war, the Spartans would annually invade the region of Attica, but were never able to breach Athens" walls.

When was ancient athens?

Greece gained control of Athens on 1832, and all evidence of the Ottomans on the Acropolis was destroyed.

Pericles led Athens in the Samian War (440-439 BC), which resulted in an Athenian victory and was the last major war before the Peloponnesian War.

The treasury of Delos was transferred to the Athena temple, which then became an early sort of bank. The bank was used to finance most of Athens" wars and building projects during this period.

When Pericles had the treasury of the Delian League moved to Athens in 454 BC it made Athens the most important economic center in ancient Greece.

Datis then sailed for Athens and thought about attempting a siege, but sailed back to Ionia instead.

How were slaves treated in ancient athens?

The Athenians gain control over the Delian treasury and used it to fund the leagues military and to beautify Athens.

Poseidon is believed to have caused a beautiful priestess named Medusa to become a Gorgon, after he ravished her in a temple that had been dedicated to Athena, a goddess of Mount Olympia. Poseidon had wanted the city of Athens as his city but Athena won out, making Poseidon vengeful.

Between 431 and 404 BC the Spartans fought Athens, beating them in the end.

Athens had the largest slave population in the Ancient world with two-to-four-fifths (between 40-80%) of the population as slaves.

Another one of Pericles" building projects was known as the "Long Walls." They were two walls, 200 yards apart, which ran from Athens to the harbor city of Piraeus, about four miles away.

Theatre itself was born in ancient Greece, in Classical Athens. The three dramatic genres of theatre satyr, comedy and tragedy, were all born there.

After the Spartans lost the Battle of Cyzicus in 410 BC, they attempted to sue for peace but the democratic government of Athens refused their terms.

After Pericles died, Cleon took over as leader of Athens, but proved to be much more brutal. For instance, as punishment for Mytilene rebelling against Athenian rule, he had all the adult males of the city executed and all the adult females and children sold into slavery.

The Athenian statesman and general, Pericles (ca. 495-429 BC), led Athens until he died from a plague.

Demetrius I was known by the epithet "Poliorcetes," which is translated as "city besieger." He became known for this because he besieged Athens among other Greeks cities to attain and keep the kingship of Macedonia and Greece.

Although Pericles was an ardent supporter of Athenian democracy, he also believed that Athens should be the sole ruler of Greece.

In ancient Athens, a person who committed suicide without the approval of the state was denied the honors of a normal burial. The person would be buried alone, on the outskirts of the city, without a headstone. However it was deemed to be an acceptable method to deal with military defeat.

The Parthenon is 45 feet tall, and its base is 228 feet by 101 feet. It sits on a hill called the Acropolis overlooking Athens.

The Greek goddess Athena was Athen's patron goddess. She was the goddess of wisdom, warfare, and courage.

Athens suffered a severe famine under Pericles" leadership in 445 BC. The famine was relieved when Pericles arranged for shipments of grain from Egypt.

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