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Classical or ancient Athens (Ancient Greek: Ἀθῆναι, Athênai [atʰɛ̂ːnai̯]; Modern Greek: Αθήναι, Athine [aˈθine]) was the major urban centre of the notable polis (city-state) of Athens during the classical period (480–323 BC) of ancient Greece, located in Attica, Greece. The Athenian democracy, established in 508 BC by Cleisthenes following the tyranny of Isagoras, remained remarkably stable and, with a few brief interruptions, remained in place for 180 years.
Athenians and their generals Miltiades and Themistocles played a crucial role in the Persian defeats at Marathon and Salamis respectively during the Greco-Persian Wars. After the Persian defeat at the battle of Plataea by the Spartan-led allied Greek forces, Athens formed and led the Delian League against the Achaemenid Empire, under the leadership of Cimon in the 470s and 460s. During the Golden Age of Athens, the Athenian hegemony reached its peak during the Age of Pericles in the 440s and 430s BC. The Athenian empire fought against the Peloponnesian League in the Peloponnesian War until its final defeat by Sparta at 404 BC. Nonetheless, Athens soon recovered and founded the Second Athenian League, while it continued to be a major maritime power in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean up until the end of the Lamian War in 322 BC, one year after the death of Alexander the Great.
In the classical period, Athens was a centre for the arts, learning, and philosophy, and it was the home of Plato's Academy and Aristotle's Lyceum. Athens was also the birthplace of Socrates, Plato, Pericles, Aristophanes, Sophocles, and many other prominent philosophers, writers, and politicians of the ancient world. It is widely referred to as the cradle of Western civilization and as the birthplace of democracy, largely due to the impact of its cultural and political achievements during the 5th and 4th centuries BC on the rest of the then-known European continent.
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