The Athenian Democracy

Primary Sources and Maps (you will select THREE of these to address in your main discussion post)

• Map of the city center:
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_Athens#/media/File:Map_ancient_athens.png
• Map of the Delian League/Athenian Empire:
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_Athens#/media/File:Map_athenian_empire_431_BC-en.svg
• The Parthenon and Statue of Athena Parthenos:
  • https://www.reed.edu/humanities/110Tech/Parthenon.html
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athena_Parthenos#/media/File:Athena_Parthenos_LeQuire.jpg
• Athenian Coinage:
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_Athens#/media/File:EarlyAthenianCoin.jpg
  • https://rg.ancients.info/owls/
• Vase paintings:
  https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/getty-museum/antiquities/getty-ancient-greek-vases/a/an-overview-of-athenian-painted-ceramic-vases
• Ostraka:
  https://www.petersommer.com/blog/archaeology-history/ostraka
• Tribute Lists:
  • http://www.davidgill.co.uk/attica/atl578.htm (example of what one of these looked like)
  • https://www.atticinscriptions.com/inscription/IGI3/259 (translation of the Tribute List from the year 454/3 BC)
• War Casualty Lists:
  https://digital.library.cornell.edu/?f%5Bsubject_tesim%5D%5B%5D=War+casualties

Instructions for your main post: During the fifth century BC, Athens and Sparta were arguably the two most powerful Greek poleis (city-states). But while few primary sources survive from Sparta, the Athenians’ love of public documentation in a variety of media has left us with an abundance of written and archaeological sources. Using at least THREE of the material sources above, write a 2-3 paragraph main post describing your reaction to the city of Athens and your experience living in the city or visiting it from the perspective of ONE of the following individuals:

• A leading Athenian statesman (you can be Pericles himself, if you’d like!)
• A merchant who is an Athenian citizen
• A merchant who is a citizen of another Greek city-state, and is visiting Athens for business
• A poor Athenian resident
• A foreign vase-painter living and practicing his trade in Athens
• An Athenian citizen’s wife
• A slave of an Athenian citizen
• An Athenian farmer living in one of the villages outside the city walls
• A confused Spartan citizen in town for a diplomatic missio