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The Athenian Agora and the experiment in democracy
Speakers: Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris

Definition
Athens
Athens, Greece, with its famous Acropolis, has come to symbolize the whole of the country in the popular imagination, and not without cause. It not only has its iconic ruins and the famous port of Piraeus but, thanks to ancient writers, its...

Definition
The Pentecontaetia
The Pentecontaetia (Pentekontætia, πεντηκονταετία) or “the account of the fifty years” is a term first used by Thucydides to describe, in Book 1, Sections 89 to 117 (1.89-117) of his History of the Peloponnesian War, the period between the...

Article
The Delian League, Part 2: From Eurymedon to the Thirty Years Peace (465/4-445/4 BCE)
This text is part of an article series on the Delian League. The second phase of the Delian League's operations begins with the Hellenic victory over Mede forces at Eurymedon and ends with the Thirty Years Peace between Athens and Sparta...

Article
The Delian League, Part 3: From the Thirty Years Peace to the Start of the Ten Years War (445/4–431/0 BCE)
This text is part of an article series on the Delian League. The third phase of the Delian League begins with the Thirty Years Peace between Athens and Sparta and ends with the start of the Ten Years War (445/4 – 431/0 BCE). The First Peloponnesian...

Article
Firing Athenian black and red figure vases
A distinctive red and black colour scheme characterises most of the painted pottery of sixth- and fifth-century Athens. The colours result from the skilful exploitation of the high iron content of Athenian clay by an ingenious process of...

Video
The Early History of the Parthenon, Acropolis and Agora of Ancient Athens
The early history of the Parthenon, the Acropolis and the Agora of Ancient Athens is a rich one, with numerous periods of building and construction. The term Agora in Greek means an ‘open place of assembly’ which was exactly its purpose in...

Article
Making and decorating Athenian black- and red-figure vases
The first stage in making a pot is to dig the clay out of the ground. Pieces of grit or plant matter must be removed before the clay can be used. This was done in ancient times, as it is today, by mixing the clay with water and letting the...

Article
The Delian League, Part 4: The Ten Years War (431/0-421/0 BCE)
This text is part of an article series on the Delian League. The fourth phase of the Delian League encompasses the first part of the Great Peloponnesian War, also referred to as the Ten Years War, sometimes called quite incorrectly The Archidamian...

Article
The Battle of Cynossema
The battle of Cynossema, in 411 BCE, was an Athenian victory during the final years of the Peloponnesian War. It marked the resilience of the renowned Athenian democratic system after their major defeats in Sicily and also after a small civil...