Athens

Education

In Athens at the time of The Peloponnesian War, the popular view was that the State and its government was run in order to benefit the people. The training of boys, both physical and mental, was geared towards citizenship, not just for warfare as was Sparta's. Education was much more mental than physical and it had goals such as character, good taste, and above all, patience.

Little children were taught at home by a parent or by a slave. At the age of six or seven the boys were sent to primary school, which was usually in the neighbourhood.

Military

Athens had the largest and best navel fleet in the world, at the time. This gave them a major advantage against the Spartans, who's navy was much weaker. Athens' numbers where smaller than those of the Peloponnesian League's, this gave them a disadvantage on land.

Athenian Democracy

The democratically system is viewed today as the fairest form of government. It was formed in ancient Greece, by a man named Cleisthenes, a member of the noble Alcmaeonid family.

He suggested an equitable division with ten tribes, one third of the tribes came from coastal cities, one third from Athens, and one third from the inland.

The people from Athens could easily sit on the council, because it was in their own city, although nowhere in Attica was more than two days walk from Athens, so no-one was greatly inconvenienced.

Cleisthenes, replaced the old council of five hundred, with a new council of five hundred, fifty from each of the ten tribes. The executive met daily to discuss matters, and meet foreign embassies. Each tribe also elected a military general or strategos, who would sit on a board that included ten generals, one from each tribe. This board would discuss any military issues. The generals were selected by as fair vote. Any other offices could be filled with a democratical vote, and any citizen could fill them.

Another work of Cleisthenes was the ostracism, in which anyone who is behaving badly can be voted into a ten year exile. Every January, the council would decide if there should be an ostracism, if so, whoever received the most votes against him, would be exiled, along with his family, for ten years. This measure was used to rid Athens of anyone who might try again for tyranny.

Geography

Athens was the capital of The Republic of Greece and was considered the birthplace of modern western civilisation. Athens lies 8 kilometres from the bay of Phaleron, an inlet of the Aegean Sea where Piraeus, the port of Athens is situated, in a mountain basin which is divided north-south by a mountain range. Greater Athens has an area of 427 square kilometres. The Kifisós River, a mere trickle during the summer months, flows through the western part of Athens. The Ilisós river, often dry, separates the eastern Athens. The surrounding mountains - Parnis (4636 feet), Pentelicus (3631 feet), Hymettos (3365 feet) and Aigaleon (1535 feet) - add to the impression of barrenness.