Athens

Athens, the principal city-state of ancient Greece, pioneered democracy under Cleisthenes (508 BCE) and achieved a cultural flowering in the Age of Pericles (461-429 BCE). The Parthenon, tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides, philosophy of Socrates and Plato, and histories of Thucydides emerged from this golden age. Leader of the Delian League against Persia, Athens fell to Sparta in the Peloponnesian War (404 BCE) but remained a cultural capital throughout antiquity.

• Existed: 508 BCE – 338 BCE
• Type: Entity
• Government: Direct democracy (ekklesia of all male citizens; 500-member boule by lot)
• Capital: Athens