Changes That Took Place in Greece

When the Persians came in and burned Athens to the ground it was a disaster. Temples were burned, the lower town was destroyed, and they even burned the Acropolis. They created atrocities to the Athenian People. When the Athenian people returned the following your they came back to there beautiful city in ashes. So what did they do, they immediately began the rebuilding of the city. They made it twice as better as it was before . Pericles got fund from the Delian League treasury to create cultural projects in Athens.

Since the structures on the top of the Acropolis were burned they had to rebuild some buildings including the Erechtheum, the Parthenon, and the Athena Nike. For the following years they were able to fortify there beloved city. (A History of Ancient Greece)(History Editors).

When Solon became statesmen he was faced with many problems with Athens, one of them was there debt problems. Athens was being faces with a period of economic crisis and the main problem was that ownership of the agricultural land had become too concentrated by the hands of aristocracies.

This meant that a big number of citizens were being put into labor as dependents to the landed class and being forced to pay one sixth of what they mad or sometimes become slaves if they couldn’t payoff what they owned. Some writers suggested that in a crazy move that Solon should cancel all debt.In practice the hektemoroi had to pay off some debt still but were given the right to still work the land they owned.

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To prevent the lower class from falling into slavery, Solon banned the use of family members as security loans.

Solon also rebuilt the Athenian class by constructing four different groups. They were: the pentakosoimedimnoi, hippeis, zeugitai, thetes. The top class were the pentakosiomedimnoi and they made 500 or more bushels of corn. The hippeis made 300-500. Only pentakosiomedimnoi and hippies could be in high government positions. The zeugitai made 200-300. The thetes or the lower class made less than 200 bushels. They could hold minor positions in the institutions. They also had the right to practice in Athenian assembly and the system of the jurors but couldn’t be in high political positions. Solon aslo armed a council of 400 people which made business for deliberation by the larger plebeian assembly. This was another provision which made sure that political control was not

Pisistratus seized power and became tyrant of Athens in 547 BC. It marked a change for the surrounding land of Attica and for the city-state,but despite its power and size, it was overshadowed by any other city-states of Greece. During his rule he wanted to to make things straight with the other city-states.

He began by constructing other new public buildings, such as new building of worship on the Acropolis Eager to glorify the city, he built the ‘fountain house’ to improve Athens water supply, and he introduce new festivals or celebrations, like the Panathenaic Festival, a July-August festival where sports and procession dedicated to the City Dionysia and Athene, the first known drama contenders. Promised to help the middle class and he also improved the legal system.

But his greatest accomplishment was the alteration of the economy by launching cash crops (olives) and loans. He died in 527 B.C. (Pisistratus Rules as Tyrant & Reforms The Economy)

One of the most important reform that Cleisthenes ever made was that he recognized that citizen body of Athens. Every Political and militarial group would now be able to be based on these new divisions. All male who registered themselves has a deme would automatically became a citizen of that state and would be able to participate in the brand new council of 500 (called the boule). The all had an equal right to talk. Cleisthenes main motive in the reform was to minimize the influence of the traditional groups and allow himself and the Alcmaeonids more power of political maneuvering more stable political system. He came to the conclusion that stability would only come to him if the political base was widened to take in more citizens.

For the regular citizen or the male citizen that reform would allow them to access institutions and some power that was only given the traditional aristocratic families. And although perhaps not fully realized, in practice Cleisthenes established democracy and paved the way for future reforms over the coming years and created a fully functioning democracy in which all the citizens could participate in. Solon made all citizens equal. (Mark Cartwright)

Pericles was born from one of Athens many wealthy families. His father who was a hero in the persian war, his name was Xanthippus. While his mother belonged to a culturally powerful Alcmaeonidae .His child life was full of smart friend who love philosophy and art, these friend include Zeno, Protagoras and one of the pioneers of Athens philosophy Anaxagoras. Pericles’ earliest recorded act, the financial sponsorship of a play by Aeschylus in 472 B.C., foreshadowed the future leader’s wealth, artistic taste and political savvy. The play expressed support for Athens’ embattled populist leader Themistocles over Pericles’ future archrival, the aristocrat Cimon.

Between 463 adn 461 Pericles worked hard to prosecute and son ostracized cimon for allegedly emerging and betraying Athens as the leader of Athens’ democratic party. IN 454 he directed a successful military operation in Corinth and sponsored the establishment of the Athenian colonies in the Black Sea coast and Thrace. In 443 he was decided by the people to be stageous (one of Athens’ leading generals), a position he held on to, with one short gap, for the rest of his life. (History.com Editors)

As I mentioned before Pericles was born in 495 B.C in Athens to his father named Xanthippus. He was a very well known general who came from a very wealthy family. His mother, Agarisite, was neice to celebrated Cleisthenes. When Pericles was just a young lad Persia came to attack Athens but was defeated at the battle of Marathon. The young man had a very good education and his tutor was Damon. Over a several of years Persia attacked athens forcing to be on the move alot. By his late teen years he had set himself as a devoted parton of art through his participations in the Festival of Dionysus. At this time period he had also met his wife Aspasia.