Fifth and fourth century B. C.E. Athens was dirty and crowded, and dangerous after dark. There was no organized development of the city as it began spreading out from the Acropolis at the end of the Dark Age. So after about three centuries the glorious sights atop the Acropolis looked down upon a densely packed conglomeration of little houses on narrow, winding, crowded streets.
Poorer people lived in homes made of mud brick or loosely mortared stone that were so flimsy that thieves could enter them by breaking through a wall. Some of the poorest homes were put up against the side of a rock or in small cave-like openings of a rock wall, from which two or three small rooms were fashioned. If rent was overdue, the landlord could remove the door or the roof, or block the tenant’s access to water. Some Athenian dwellings were similar to modern apartment buildings,
With several families or tenants having their own rooms in the same large building. Xenophon estimated that in his day there were about 10,000 dwellings in Athens, most of them humble.
The agora, or marketplace, was the heart of the city. Not only was commerce of every kind conducted there, but it was where mature men met to discuss politics and culture. Though poorer working women had little choice, it was considered unseemly for women to be seen there, and younger men were discouraged from visiting the agora until later in the day. Ideally, house slaves or married men did the household shopping and errands there.
The City Walls
The first wall around the city of Athens was built in the sixth century b. c.e. during the reign of Pisis-tratus (d. 527 b. c.e.). After the victory over the Persians, the walls were strengthened, supposedly with the help of all the city's men, women, and children. Most residents of the polls lived outside the city's walls.
Outside the city walls was the city’s main cemetery. A little further west was the deme of Colonus and just past that was the Academy, a parklike area dedicated to Athena with a grove of 12 sacred olive trees. It was from those trees that athletic winners at the Panathenaic games received prizes of olive oil. The Academy (where Plato founded his school in 387 B. C.E.), a popular place for strolls, was also the site of a gymnasium that included a running track and a wrestling area.
Going much further out into the country was difficult, because roads were rough and only passable on foot or by donkey. In the dark, roads outside the city were dangerous, as well, because robbers could roam freely at night in isolated areas.
World History
