Athens

A celebrated city, the capital of the modern kingdom of Greece, situated in the plain of Attica, about 4 miles northeast of the Gulf of Ægin a. It was for several ages the centre of European civilization. The city is said to have been founded by Cecrops, and afterwards enlarged by These us, who made it the capital of the new state which he formed by uniting into one political body the 12 independent states into which Attica had previously been divided. A new era in the history of the city commences with its capture by Xerxes, who reduced it almost to a heap of ashes, 480 B.C. This event was followed by the rapid development of the maritime power of the city and the establishment of her empire over the islands of the Ægean Sea. Her increasing wealth afforded her ample means for the embellishment of the city, and during the half century which elapsed between the battle of Salamis and the commencement of the Peloponnesian war, the A then i ans erected those masterpieces of architecture which have been the wonder of succeeding ages. The city was captured by the Lacedæmonians in 404 B.C. , and was conquered by Sulla, the Roman general, 86 B.C. , after which it dwindled into insignificance as a maritime city. Its prosperity continued, however, under the Roman sway, and it continued to be famous as the centre of philosophy, literature, and art, many famous buildings having been erected there by foreign rulers after the decline of its power. During the Middle Ages it sunk into insignificance. It has succe ively belonged to the Goths, Byzantines, Bergundians, Franks, Catalans, Florentines, Venetians, and Turks. In 1687 the buildings of the Acropolis suffered severe injury in the siege of Athens by the Venetians under Morosini. In 1834 Athens was declared the capital of the kingdom of Greece.