this channel is part of the history hit Network [Music] over 2000 years ago the first great European Capital Cities Rose around the shores of the Mediterranean [Music] more and more people lived in increasingly crowded conditions the Arts Commerce and Sciences flourished struggling for power and influence these cities tried to outshine each other by erecting magnificent buildings [Music] people from different cultures and parts of the world were drawn to these cities seeking prosperity and happi
ness [Music] foreign rise of Athens began 500 years before the birth of Christ no other city has shaped the Western World so much as Athens history's most famous philosophers lived and taught here the Fine Arts and Natural Sciences blossomed and it was the citizens of Athens who gave the world a new type of government democracy the Greek historian pozanius wrote about an extraordinary woman of that era frene was one of Athens most famous Italy or courtesans the Mistress of important men Scholars
artists and politicians fell under her spell a wealth and Beauty were legendary foreign but Pride led her into mortal Danger [Music] Ed the Gods but it was Mortals who would judge her [Music] in the 5th Century BC 300 000 people lived in Athens the city was at its peak then came a long period of decline and it was only in the 20th century that Athens regained its previous size today it has over 4 million inhabitants it's just after Sunrise architect Nicos toganidis is expecting a special delive
ry foreign block weighing a ton for one of history's most exciting restoration projects it has to be hoisted 150 meters up the Rockies slope of the Acropolis or Citadel which was the impregnable Center of ancient atoms [Music] the Acropolis is crowned by the city's most famous building the Parthenon which the Athenians built to celebrate their victory in 479 BC over the Persians 1 500 years later this Monument is being taken apart and reassembled to rectify the mistakes of 19th century Restorati
ons foreign was the most outstanding building of its time a two-story high gallery of columns supported the roof of this Temple erected by the citizens in honor of athene the goddess of victory [Music] whose Hall stood her statue 12 meters high decorated with gold and Ivory foreign workshops are exactly where the original workers Huts once stood after the restoration the Parthenon will still have its familiar look of a ruin the approach is to repair or complete the damaged parts and to use newly
sculpted marble blocks only when absolutely necessary it's amazing in every Point as we are studying and we are working all these years close to the monument we are discovering again the same techniques it's we are obliged to do the same things because we understand finally that it's the best way to do that piece by piece the Parthenon is being dismantled this is the only way the architectural sins of previous Restorations can be corrected today's Architects aim to make their work as historical
ly accurate as possible their respect for the tremendous Technical and logistical achievements of the ancient Builders increases every day knowing all these facilities that we have in our hands papers computers whatever how difficult it is to organize and to control all these things I cannot imagine that period without paper imagine where they were drawing how they can communicate and to do this fine work it's incredible the Parthenon was built in 15 years beginning in 447 BC the Greek philosoph
ers were laying the foundations of the modern Sciences Pythagoras had developed the basic principles of mathematics and Democritus would soon declare the atom to be the foundation of all things the Parthenon is proof of the superb building techniques of the ancient Greeks the sides of these columns are tapered if extended the sides would eventually meet at a point several kilometers in the sky so none of the columns is truly vertical yet they are all executed precisely to the millimeter every st
one has Secrets let's say from the architectural point of view and the proportions are special and also there are other things about the the function the the real function of the building how it's penetrating the water for instance the curvature of the floor probably it's one of these reasons the material that they use to connect the blocks between them the metal elements I mean the technique is similar than the than the metal work of these arachinius words for instance the ancient Builders achi
eved these perfect proportions using only geometric calculations Compass ruler and Plumb line were their only tools [Music] while the Acropolis was the place to honor democracy with magnificent monuments it was put into practice at the foot of the hill in the Agora Agora was the marketplace of ancient Athens in the city center archaeologists from the American School of classical studies have been working for the past 70 years they have Unearthed a densely built up residential area at the edge of
the agara professor John Camp leads the excavations the purpose of the excavations is to uncover the center of ancient Athens that is where the public life took place and around the big Square which was the Agora proper they were all the public buildings you needed to run the city Senate building the Archive Building the magistrates offices the Law Courts the mint pretty much everything you needed in an administrative way was somewhere near the square and our purpose is to expose the historic c
enter of Athens the agara was the social and political meeting place of the Athenians people came to see and to be seen [Music] the history of Freeney begins on the agara [Applause] [Music] Trini has achieved wealth and status through her beauty and intelligence [Music] has aroused Envy and rumors have spread that could prove dangerous to her [Music] I know Freeney is used to curiosity but she has no inkling of the Scandal that is brewing she's being accused of a capital offense blasphemy [Music
] she is rumored to have commissioned the sculptor Trex Italy's to create a statue of the goddess Aphrodite in her own likeness [Music] foreign [Music] the representation of nude bodies or even erotic scenes was not frowned upon by ancient Athenians but for an itera to be portrayed as the goddess of beauty would surely bring Divine wrath upon the city [Music] in ancient times the agarah was an open Square shaded by trees and surrounded by spacious arcades a restored version of such an arcade the
two-story stowa of atalos now houses the American School of classical studies here in the shade the Athenian Merchants had their stalls and citizens gathered to exchange news and gossip [Music] [Music] nowadays the fines from the agara excavations are examined and archived here at the Institute [Music] the square itself was used for a variety of functions one day they might set up booths and have a market on another day they might be using it for an election another time it could be for athleti
c contests for military drill for festivals for for spectacles of All Sorts so it would be used for a variety of purposes uh every single day but not always the same purpose and then around it in the in the buildings is simply where the city was managed by the magistrates by the bully or the Senate of the 500 and by the boards and commissions the water Commissioners the green Commissioners all the people responsible for running this huge City had their their administrative offices somewhere righ
t next to the square even in a large city-like Athens the agarah functioned as a Village Square direct communication between citizens was the basis for the development of democracy the archaeologists have found a deep well at the edge of the agara it was dug at the time the Parthenon was built foreign 's team has been studying this well for three years now they are gradually getting an idea of what this site may want to look like [Music] behind the administrative buildings adjoining the Agra nar
row little streets led into a cramped densely built up residential area here live the common citizens close to the place that contributed so significantly to the development of democracy while there are certainly very rich houses and elegant Villas most of the houses we have near the agara are very poor and not very comfortable they have Clay floors their rooms are centered around a courtyard which would have provided some light and air but they would have been very dark from our point of view v
ery badly furnished probably not too many windows because in a way of closing them off and still letting the light in so I think that's one of the reasons it's such an outdoor public life as being home wasn't all that much fun the artifacts are analyzed and classified in the institute's laboratory sometimes it's the small items that reveal a great deal about larger issues the purpose and significance of these small bowls was a puzzle at first they were found near the Hearth in the dwellings of h
umble Athenians alongside the burnt bones of small animals they may have been sacrificial bones for domestic religious rituals asking the gods for health happiness and success in business religion played a large part in Athenian daily life the visible proof of that was the Parthenon [Music] an elaborate freeze that once crowned the Parthenon illustrates the athenian's relationship with their gods it was originally painted but the colors wore away long ago the freeze shows the Magnificent annual
procession of the Athenians to the Acropolis in honor of their Patron athene the panathina was a colorful procession up the Steep Hill where charioteers demonstrated their skill at maneuvering their Nimble chariots venerable Elders accompanied the procession young men carried heavy ampharas of water the panathina involved sacrificing animals to the Gods such events were always a big celebration for everyone there were no priests in Democratic Athens Athenians related to their gods in a relaxed a
nd confident way odds frequently descended from Mount Olympus taking on human form to mingle with Mortals and enjoy themselves licentiously but the gods demanded humility and absolute respect from Mortals [Music] the Athenians know that prax Italy's is working on a statue of Aphrodite the Goddess of beauty and the rumors actually seem to be true Freeney is the model for the image of the goddess foreign [Music] if God's take on human form it's seen as an expression of their divinity but for a mor
tal woman to allow herself to be represented as a goddess is a crime [Music] by this presumption frini puts her life and Liberty at risk in Athens the well-to-do citizens were the chief patrons of artists such as praxitlis it was considered good form to support the Arts Greek culture flourished thanks to this Spirit of patronage even today the art of ancient Athens provides people with a livelihood reproductions of antique art objects are sold all over the world the art of casting in bronze live
s on in this Athenian Workshop it was one of the earliest Technologies and has been practiced for over 4 000 years a tripodon a large bowl on three legs is being cast today a new mold is made for every casting and each of the many individual Parts requires a separate mold generations of fathers have passed down to their sons the composition of a special kind of Earth that makes it possible to produce these detailed casting molds Texas distance the mold for the underside of the bowl is ready with
an ordinary spoon the bronze Caster is digging channels into which the liquid bronze will later be poured foreign [Music] with delicate reliefs this is the most difficult part because every detail must be correct before the molds are put together the bronze has been heated for over two hours now the molten metal is poured into the molds [Applause] foreign foreign destroys it now we will see if the cast has been successful piece by piece The Foundry workers lift the separate parts out of the ste
aming molds there is still a great deal of delicate work to be done before the tripodon is completed [Music] tripadons played a special role in the ancient world they were handed out as prizes to the patrons of successful plays frini who financed a theater group also received such a prize the tripodons were placed on high stone pedestals in public view lining the street leading to the theater which is still called tripodon Street the vast majority of ancient bronze artworks have disappeared melt
ed down by later generations many marble statues were burned to make lime textiles and almost all wood or leather artifacts have also been lost the ancient world was colorful and Traders brought exotic Goods to Athens from all over the world the market where today's inhabitants of the old city shop for their fresh fruit vegetables Meat and Fish the ancient Athenians ate more modestly very few could afford meat poorer people at it only when an animal was sacrificed for a special Festival small an
imals were kept in the house and supplied milk and eggs all right but Athens was close to the Sea so at least there was plenty of fish which with bread and thick lentil soup formed a stable diet fruit and vegetables were very different from today's the melons were tiny apples rare and it was two Millennia before potatoes and tomatoes reached Europe but in addition to figs and olives Athenians were also fond of grasshoppers and cicadas which Aristotle praised as great Delicacies it's fairly clear
that Athenian trading connections were very extensive a lot of their grain maybe most of their grain came from the Ukraine from the north side of the Black Sea they were importing wine from Asia Minor in the island of Rhodes Athenian coins have been found in Egypt they've been found practically as far away as Afghanistan and far to the West as well the coins obviously can pass from hand to hand but it's clear that Goods came in from all over the world Emperors were the universal containers for
transporting goods in Antiquity hundreds were excavated at the Agora alone Athens was a training power and democracy took up a great deal of citizens time but no one would lose money by taking part in political decisions the Potter who made these amphoras also received money when he went to vote [Music] outside the city gates with the city's Quarries in scorching heat thousands of slaves cut the marble for Adam's magnificent buildings it is estimated that there were three slaves to every free ci
tizen of atoms foreign used to reconstruct the Parthenon is cut by a handful of workers using heavy equipment [Applause] the latest technology is used to cut the marble Specialists drill hole several meters into the Rock long steel cables set with diamond chips are threaded through the rock like a giant Band Saw to cut blocks weighing several tons but the ancient methods of getting marble for buildings such as the Parthenon have not been lost either [Applause] stone is still split the same way a
s it was two thousand years ago with heavy hammers iron chisels and a deep knowledge of the structure of marble thank you the gigantic blocks had to be transported many kilometers to the Acropolis carts pulled by several teams of oxen hauled the huge loads and while in the city Splendid monuments were being erected to the glory of democracy in the quarries those at the bottom of society were slaving under the most inhumane conditions slavery was certainly a fact of daily life and it's I think mo
re a question of Manpower than anything but when we look at the records for the buildings on the Acropolis we find that free Athenians Greeks from other city-states and slaves all worked on the building together all doing exactly the same jobs and all being paid a daily wage and the the lot of a slave varied tremendously at the bottom end of the scale they worked in the Silver Mines and their lives must have been very hard and very short there were slaves who were public servants like accountant
s whose lives were not too bad and some slaves even ran some of the major banks in Athens slavery was taken completely for granted even in the enlightened democracy of Athens while Athenian citizens were primarily concerned with politics slaves guaranteed the commercial success of the city many slaves were well-trained artisans their work is the model for today's stone masons on the Acropolis New pieces for the Parthenon are chiseled from the blocks with utmost precision foreign become blunt the
blacksmith provides new Sharp Tools like a feastus the god of fire and Forge he has mastered the interplay of fire and water to produce hard Steel [Music] the finest tools for the best stonemasons in Greece in the residential quarter around the agara buildings were constructed with much less care houses were small and cramped even though their inhabitants were not the rich of atoms here too archaeologists are uncovering shards of elaborately painted bowls and vessels foreign [Music] they provid
e an impressive image of Greek daily life [Music] the art mostly reflects the aristocratic style of living and there were plenty of aristocrats in rich people even in Democratic Athens there are some parts that show sort of normal activities in shops and fish monitors cutting up fish and butchers and people working in workshops but generally the art is is sponsored by the aristocracy and they're going to be interested in feasting and hunting and partying and the things that Aristocrats like to d
o Athenian democracy had deprived the aristocracy of power every citizen had equal rights but not all citizens were equal many old aristocratic families heart back to a long tradition of privilege and still had considerable wealth and influence even in the democracy they were the ones who could afford these costly amphoras the best bars painters were famous throughout Greece and their work fetched high prices foreign [Music] Carries On The Art of the ancient masters with great passion the verse
is the secret lies in the paint liquid clay is used to paint the barses before firing only after they've been fired in the Kiln do the vases acquire their characteristic color [Music] but it isn't just the artistic or technical aspects of the painter's work that matter to him foreign the symposia of Athenian High Society were famous in those days Symposium meant simply drinking session Richard Athenians attended lavish feasts with music and dancing [Music] the symposia hosted by Freeney were leg
endary her guests were philosophers artists and politicians thank you [Music] this evening praxitalis is the center of attention he has announced that he will soon unveil his statue of Aphrodite [Music] the guest Vi at telling Tales while drinking games and riddles amuse the men and their courtesans [Music] in the course of the evening the drinking bowls reveal their secret foreign foreign foreign but this evening freny's Symposium is disrupted [Music] prax Italy's slave would not normally be al
lowed to intrude but the news he has rushed through the dark streets to tell is to upon foreign has a premonition of the catastrophe [Music] [Music] oh fantastic at the studio their worst fears are confirmed [Music] Intruders have broken in and smashed Flex Italy's work thus revealing frini's Secret [Music] now the whole city knows that freely intended to create the image of a goddess in her own likeness no mortal has ever dared to this [Music] [Applause] [Music] her act Disturbed the delicate b
alance between the worlds of the Gods and of Mortals to ensure the continued benevolence of the Gods on Mount Olympus the Athenians established holy places throughout their Realm they honored more than their Patron affini The Temple at Cape suneon was dedicated to Poseidon the god of the sea who protected shipping and trade with the colonies Athens had established commercial links from Sicily to the Black Sea there were even Greek settlements in Egypt [Music] the gods were known to be capricious
it was better not to rely only on them foreign their influence and repel enemies Athens maintained an enormous Navy [Laughter] [Music] Pride of the fleet were the trirems war galleys with three Banks of oars which were able to protect the heavily loaded cargo ships [Music] in the harbor at Perez 200 of these ships were waiting to be deployed [Applause] [Music] one of the Civic duties of Athenians was to crew these dreaded warships fully mobilized the Athenian Fleet required 40 000 oarsmen while
the rich could pay for the upkeep of the fleet and send their slaves to Sea the poor had no choice but to do the rowing themselves [Applause] foreign [Applause] was manned by 170 oarsmen they were often crammed together for days on end and for heat below deck must have been Dreadful at the beginning of the 5th Century BC the great strategist the mysticles convinced the Athenians to invest a large proportion of their National Assets in the fleet thus turning the city-state into a sea power [Musi
c] a few decades Athens dominated the Eastern Mediterranean and the numerous Greek city-states but soon the old conflicts broke out again and Greece became embroiled in seemingly endless Wars once more Warfare was virtually a yearly occurrence and these are citizen armies so that virtually everybody must have fought quite frequently they were all eligible for military duty from age 18 to 59 they had large land armies and they had those huge fleets that required tens of thousands of rowers so I t
hink most Athenians experience War several times in the course of their lives it's it's done seasonally as to say if you're a farmer you're going to attend your Fields first and then go fight your neighbor when you're not trying to get in your crop but it was a part of daily life no question [Music] the theater provided distraction from daily cares [Music] under the guardianship of Mary Dionysus the god of wine playwrights pilloried often coarsely the abuse is prevalent in their society dignitar
ies and politicians in their seats of Honor were often the targets of this public mockery [Music] theater was a democratic institution to which every Athenian had access there was room for more than 17 000 Spectators in the steeply tiered seating [Music] political decisions were made on the panics the place of the people's assembly and inconspicuous open space within sight of the Acropolis here the first parliament in history assembled the most famous orators of antiquity stood on these steps an
d addressed the citizens of Athens voting by show of hands took place on the panics the birthplace of democracy Athenians lived in an Information Society every citizen was obliged to learn to read and write during the excavations at the agara alone thousands of inscriptions on Stone were uncovered public appeals information for Citizens or funerary inscriptions like this stealer [Music] foreign such as the Athenian one virtually the entire government would change every year except for a handful
of officials and that means you need very very good record keeping because not all the projects are going to stop in a year and somebody has to keep track of the money so you have to say how much money you got when you became the grain commissioner how you spent that money and how much money you you passed on the following year to the next Green commissioner so essentially you have to have excellent record keeping because of this constant changing of the officials [Music] the Greek script has no
t changed in more than two thousand years [Music] this dealer was erected in memory of a young woman whose name is immortalized here beside her husband's no other culture is Left Behind so much written evidence as Athens so we know that Freeney did actually live however whether the details of her story are Truth or Fiction is still in doubt Court of Athens is in session Trina appears flanked by her lawyer iparitus and is met by her Accuser [Music] that's not even her influential patrons have bee
n able to prevent the legal proceedings [Music] opinion in the city has turned against the famous courtesan if the jury finds her guilty she faces the threat of banishment slavery or even death [Music] but Trini knows what she's doing thank God [Music] to everyone's surprise iparidis does not dispute the charge against Freeney how so he must slide anonymous [Music] she herself provides the proof that her beauty is worthy of a goddess if ever there was a mortal woman who might lend her body to Ap
hrodite foreign judicial system was one of the greatest achievements of Athenian democracy citizens had no obligation to any ruler or God only to themselves a demonstration of this is the propelia which is also being restored for 2500 years the properlya has been the gateway to the Acropolis and the Parthenon like the Parthenon the propolia is being renovated in a historically accurate way to this end every stone is being removed cleaned of old mortar and restored the architect tessos tanulas is
overseeing the work first planned over 30 years ago his interests extend beyond architecture for him the properlya is a symbol of Athenian democracy what appears to be a temple is not dedicated to any God rather it is a place of leisure for the citizens of Athens the propeller is uh par Excellence a secular building I mean and this is a new idea in the ancient Greek architecture this is a building which was meant for the people it had the benches all around along all along the walls of the porc
hes and the central building and also the rooms of the Wings which were never built or the pinakothiki which still is a room they were meant for sacrificial meals so they were for the people to be to enter them and to enjoy their architecture and luxury so there was a Temple's luxury in a secular building [Music] the first time in history a splendid building such as the propalea was not erected for gods or Kings but by citizens for the citizens of a free City it is a symbol of the self-confidenc
e and pride of democratic Athens Freeney has been acquitted and prax italies can now complete the statue to praise and honor Aphrodite the historian posanias reports that the goddess was flattered by frene's Beauty and the gods were reconciled with Athens though the original is lost the statue is thought to be the first significant nude of a woman ever sculpted foreign the rise of Athens to a leading position among Greek cities was due to democracy which led to an unparalleled blossoming of the
Arts and Sciences in the fourth and 5th centuries BC [Music] the power of Athens extended far beyond Greece and throughout the Mediterranean [Music] but even in ancient times the influence of the Metropolis began to wane other cities took over its leading role cities such as Alexandria Carthage and Rome but none of those could dispute the place of Athens in history [Music] this was the Cradle of democracy [Music]
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