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History of Athens
Historical summary of ancient Athens / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Athens is one of the oldest named cities in the world, having been continuously inhabited for perhaps 5,000 years. Situated in southern Europe, Athens became the leading city of Ancient Greece in the first millennium BC, and its cultural achievements during the 5th century BC laid the foundations of Western civilization.
This article is about ancient Athens. For modern Athens, see Athens.
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Athens
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![]() Painting of an idealized reconstruction of the Acropolis and Areios Pagos in Athens, by Leo von Klenze (1846) |
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Historical affiliations
- Kingdom of Athens 1556 BC–1068 BC
- City-state of Athens 1068 BC–322 BC
- Hellenic League 338 BC–322 BC
- Kingdom of Macedonia 322 BC–148 BC
- Roman Republic 146 BC–27 BC
- Roman Empire 27 BC–395 AD
Eastern Roman Empire 395–1205
Duchy of Athens 1205–1458
Ottoman Empire 1458–1822, 1826–1832
Provisional Administration of Greece 1822–1826
Kingdom of Greece 1832–1924, 1935–1941, 1944–1973
Second Hellenic Republic 1924–1935
Hellenic State 1941–1944
Greek junta 1973–1974
Third Hellenic Republic 1974–present
During the early Middle Ages, the city experienced a decline, then recovered under the later Byzantine Empire and was relatively prosperous during the period of the Crusades (12th and 13th centuries), benefiting from Italian trade. Following a period of sharp decline under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, Athens re-emerged in the 19th century as the capital of the independent and self-governing Greek state.