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After being part of a coalition of Greek city-states which repelled the Persian invasion in 480-479 BCE, Athens headed an anti-Persian defence confederation of the independent Greek cities around the eastern Mediterranean, and in enforcing contributions from them, turned them into an empire. When the Persian threat disappeared in a peace in 449 BCE, Athens kept the contributions going by force and used them to glorify Athens (Parthenon etc) and put half its population on the public payroll.

This era of prosperity attracted the best architects, artists, sculptors, poets, philosophers etc and created a society and environment we call the Golden Age - the second half of the 5th Century BCE. Unfortunately the Athenians became too cocky and oppressive, engaged in a 27-year war with the Spartan confederation, lost, lost its empire, and so lost the money it extorted from its empire which had financed its Golden Age.

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12y ago

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