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162-630: The prosperity of the Bosporan Kingdom was based on the export of wheat, fish and slaves . As a result, the Kingdom became the economic center of the Black Sea and is often dubbed the ancient Jewel of the Black Sea. The profit of the trade supported a class whose conspicuous wealth is still visible from newly discovered archaeological finds, excavated, often illegally, from numerous burial barrows known as kurgans . The once-thriving cities of

324-408: A national park . The Athens urban area spreads over 50 kilometres (31 mi) from Agios Stefanos in the north to Varkiza in the south. The city is located in the north temperate zone, 38 degrees north of the equator. Athens is built around a large number of hills. Lycabettus is one of the tallest hills of the city proper and provides a view of the entire Attica Basin. The meteorology of Athens

486-471: A slave ship and asked if he was going to be eaten. Yet, the worst for slaves has only begun, and the journey on the water proved to be more harrowing. For every 100 Africans captured, only 64 would reach the coast, and only about 50 would reach the New World. Others believe that slavers had a vested interest in capturing rather than killing, and in keeping their captives alive; and that this coupled with

648-411: A "bycatch" who would have been killed if there had not been an export market for them. British explorer Mungo Park encountered a group of slaves when traveling through Mandinka country: They were all very inquisitive, but they viewed me at first with looks of horror, and repeatedly asked if my countrymen were cannibals. They were very desirous to know what became of the slaves after they had crossed

810-593: A ceremony known as the Annual Customs . As one of West Africa's principal slave states, Dahomey became extremely unpopular with neighbouring peoples. Like the Bambara Empire to the east, the Khasso kingdoms depended heavily on the slave trade for their economy. A family's status was indicated by the number of slaves it owned, leading to wars for the sole purpose of taking more captives. This trade led

972-575: A client state. Such a re-orientation is also evidenced by the presence of Byzantine coins in the Crimea, including coinage of emperors Justin I ( r.  518–527 ) and Justinian I ( r.  527–565 ). By Justinian's time, the Bosporus was under a barbarian ruler once more: the Hunnic ruler Gordas . Though Gordas maintained good relations with Justinian, he was killed in a revolt in 527, which led

1134-703: A connection with Athens ; at least it appears to have been a member of the Delian League in the 5th century. The Bosporan Kingdom was located between the Crimean and Taman peninsulas centered around the Kerch Strait , known in antiquity as the Cimmerian Bosporus, from which the kingdom's name is derived. To south sat the Black Sea , a crossroads connecting Southeast Europe to the west,

1296-835: A hundred yards off on one side, and another of the women on the other side, looking on; they said an Arab who passed early that morning had done it in anger at losing the price he had given for her, because she was unable to walk any longer. 27th June 1866 – To-day we came upon a man dead from starvation, as he was very thin. One of our men wandered and found many slaves with slave-sticks on, abandoned by their masters from want of food; they were too weak to be able to speak or say where they had come from; some were quite young. The strangest disease I have seen in this country seems really to be broken-heartedness, and it attacks free men who have been captured and made slaves... Twenty one were unchained, as now safe; however all ran away at once; but eight with many others still in chains, died in three days after

1458-427: A land area of 38.96 km (15.04 sq mi). Athens is one of the world's oldest cities , with its recorded history spanning over 3,400 years, and its earliest human presence beginning somewhere between the 11th and 7th millennia BC . According to Greek mythology the city was named after Athena , the ancient Greek goddess of wisdom, but modern scholars generally agree that the goddess took her name after

1620-562: A landmark new blue glass roof which was added to the main stadium. A second Olympic complex, next to the sea at the beach of Palaio Faliro, also features modern stadia, shops and an elevated esplanade. Work is underway to transform the grounds of the old Athens Airport – named Elliniko – in the southern suburbs, into one of the largest landscaped parks in Europe, to be named the Hellenikon Metropolitan Park . Many of

1782-460: A large demand for grain, and the strain on their empire meant they could do little about Spartocids attacking the city of Nymphaeum, on which they relied on for Black Sea trade. The Spartocids were willing to trade their grain with Athens in exchange for mainland goods and silver, which presumably furthered Athenian decline. The Bosporan kingdom under the Spartocid kings was heavily influenced by

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1944-568: A new calendar (the " Pontic era ") introduced by Mithridates VI, starting with 297 BC to date their coins. Bosporan kings struck coinage throughout its period as a client state, which included gold staters bearing portraits of both the Roman emperor and Bosporan king. Like Roman coinage, Bosporan coinage became increasingly debased during the 3rd century. The coinage makes their lineages fairly clear to historians, though scarcely any events from their reigns are recorded. The Bosporan Kingdom covered

2106-526: A population of 3,638,281 according to the 2021 census. Athens and Piraeus municipalities serve as the two metropolitan centres of the Athens Metropolitan Area. There are also some inter-municipal centres serving specific areas. For example, Kifissia and Glyfada serve as inter-municipal centres for northern and southern suburbs respectively. The Athens Metropolitan Area consists of 58 densely populated municipalities, sprawling around

2268-546: A significant naval power with a large fleet, and helped the rebellion of the Ionian cities against Persian rule. In the ensuing Greco-Persian Wars Athens, together with Sparta, led the coalition of Greek states that would eventually repel the Persians, defeating them decisively at Marathon in 490 BC, and crucially at Salamis in 480 BC. However, this did not prevent Athens from being captured and sacked twice by

2430-415: A trail of slaves: 19th June 1866 – We passed a woman tied by the neck to a tree and dead, the people of the country explained that she had been unable to keep up with the other slaves in a gang, and her master had determined that she should not become anyone's property if she recovered. 26th June. – ...We passed a slave woman shot or stabbed through the body and lying on the path: a group of men stood about

2592-593: A triangle defined by the Acropolis, the ancient cemetery of Kerameikos and the new palace of the Bavarian king (now housing the Greek Parliament ), so as to highlight the continuity between modern and ancient Athens. Neoclassicism, the international style of this epoch, was the architectural style through which Bavarian, French and Greek architects such as Hansen, Klenze, Boulanger or Kaftantzoglou designed

2754-683: A vassal of the Hunnic Empire , regaining its independence after the empire's collapse in the 450s and 460s. The Byzantine historian Procopius describes the Goths of Crimea fighting against and then allying with the Utigurs , indicating that Gothic control of the region lasted for some time after the departure of the Huns. Despite the waves of barbarian domination, the late Bosporus remained an ancient Hellenistic state in language, culture and traditions;

2916-421: Is allowed in my religion , and I shall capture people and make them slaves ." He said the girls should not have been in school and instead should have been married since girls as young as nine are suitable for marriage. Athens This is an accepted version of this page Athens ( / ˈ æ θ ɪ n z / ATH -inz ) is the capital and largest city of Greece . A major coastal urban area in

3078-604: Is also a current phenomenon. A Nigerien study has found that more than 800,000 people are enslaved, almost 8% of the population. Niger installed an anti-slavery provision in 2003. In a landmark ruling in 2008, the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice declared that the Republic of Niger failed to protect Hadijatou Mani Koraou from slavery, and awarded Mani CFA 10,000,000 (approximately US$ 20,000 ) in reparations. Sexual slavery and forced labor are common in

3240-469: Is both the 2nd busiest passenger port in Europe, and the 13th largest container port in the world. The Athens metropolitan area or Greater Athens extends beyond its administrative municipal city limits as well as its urban agglomeration , with a population of 3,638,281 (2021) over an area of 2,928.717 km (1,131 sq mi). The heritage of the Classical Era is still evident in

3402-479: Is bounded by four large mountains: Mount Aigaleo to the west, Mount Parnitha to the north, Mount Pentelicus to the northeast and Mount Hymettus to the east. Beyond Mount Aegaleo lies the Thriasian plain , which forms an extension of the central plain to the west. The Saronic Gulf lies to the southwest. Mount Parnitha is the tallest of the four mountains (1,413 m (4,636 ft)), and has been declared

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3564-488: Is deemed to be one of the most complex in the world because its mountains cause a temperature inversion phenomenon which, along with the Greek government's difficulties controlling industrial pollution, was responsible for the air pollution problems the city has faced. This issue is not unique to Athens; for instance, Los Angeles and Mexico City also suffer from similar atmospheric inversion problems. The Cephissus river,

3726-651: Is flanked by the Crimean mountains , with the highest peak being Roman-Kosh at 1,545 meters (5,069 ft.). Towards the west, the mountains drop steeply to the Black Sea, while to the east, they slowly develop into a steppe landscape. The southwestern coast of the Taman peninsula is bound by the Greater Caucasus half of the Caucasus Mountains . Greek colonization in the Black sea region dates back into

3888-505: Is the first city in Europe to appoint a chief heat officer to deal with severe heat waves . Temperatures of 47.5°C have been reported in several locations of the metropolitan area, including within the urban agglomeration. Metropolitan Athens was until 2021 the holder of the World Meteorological Organization record for the highest temperature ever recorded in Europe with 48.0 °C (118.4 °F) which

4050-550: The 2004 Summer Olympics , making it one of five cities to have hosted the Summer Olympics on multiple occasions. In Ancient Greek , the name of the city was Ἀθῆναι ( Athênai , pronounced [atʰɛ̂ːnai̯] in Classical Attic ), which is a plural word. In earlier Greek, such as Homeric Greek , the name had been current in the singular form though, as Ἀθήνη ( Athḗnē ). It was possibly rendered in

4212-401: The 2021 Population and Housing Census , The four regional units that make up the former Athens prefecture have a combined population of 2,611,713 . They together with the regional unit of Piraeus (sometimes referred as Greater Piraeus) make up the dense Athens Urban Area or Greater Athens which reaches a total population of 3,059,764 inhabitants (in 2021). The municipality (Center) of Athens

4374-840: The Acropolis of Athens and the medieval Daphni Monastery . Athens is also home to several museums and cultural institutions, such as the National Archeological Museum , featuring the world's largest collection of ancient Greek antiquities, the Acropolis Museum , the Museum of Cycladic Art , the Benaki Museum , and the Byzantine and Christian Museum . Athens was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and 108 years later it hosted

4536-867: The Akkadian Empire , Assyria , Babylonia , Persia , ancient Israel , ancient Greece , ancient India , the Roman Empire , the Arab Islamic Caliphates and Sultanates , Nubia , the pre-colonial empires of Sub-Saharan Africa, and the pre-Columbian civilizations of the Americas. Ancient slavery consists of a mixture of debt-slavery , punishment for crime, prisoners of war , child abandonment , and children born to slaves. Writing in 1984, French historian Fernand Braudel noted that slavery had been endemic in Africa and part of

4698-619: The Archeanactid dynasty to create the first Bosporan state, lasting from 480-438 BC, at which point it was overthrown by the Spartocid Dynasty , beginning a period of economic expansion. The Black Sea Greeks before this period had dealt largely in goods like animals, slaves, furs, and fish, with grain playing a minor role. Stemming from conditions caused by the Peloponnesian War , the city of Athens had acquired

4860-853: The Dey of Algiers to free many slaves. The trading of children has been reported in modern Nigeria and Benin . In parts of Ghana , a family may be punished for an offense by having to turn over a virgin female to serve as a sex slave within the offended family. In this instance, the woman does not gain the title or status of "wife". In parts of Ghana, Togo , and Benin , shrine slavery persists, despite being illegal in Ghana since 1998. In this system of ritual servitude , sometimes called trokosi (in Ghana) or voodoosi in Togo and Benin, young virgin girls are given as slaves to traditional shrines and are used sexually by

5022-580: The Early Middle Ages but continued to be practiced in some areas. Both Christians and Muslims captured and enslaved each other during centuries of warfare in the Mediterranean and Europe. Islamic slavery encompassed mainly Western and Central Asia, Northern and Eastern Africa, India , and Europe from the 7th to the 20th century. Islamic law approved of enslavement of non-Muslims, and slaves were trafficked from non-Muslim lands: from

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5184-567: The Greek Dark Ages , from which there is ample evidence of cultural and economic exchange as well as hostility between Greek and local populations, such as the Thracians , Dacians , and later Scythians . Scythian expansion and unification in the fifth century BC led to many of these settlements being wiped out or turned into Scythian protectorates, as was the case in the city of Olbia . It has been suggested that this pressure allowed

5346-659: The Ilisos and the Eridanos stream are the historical rivers of Athens. By the late 1970s, the pollution of Athens had become so destructive that according to the then Greek Minister of Culture , Constantine Trypanis, "...the carved details on the five the caryatids of the Erechtheum had seriously degenerated, while the face of the horseman on the Parthenon's west side was all but obliterated." A series of measures taken by

5508-621: The Kanem was about one third enslaved. It was perhaps 40% in Bornu (1396–1893). Between 1750 and 1900 from one- to two-thirds of the entire population of the Fulani jihad states consisted of slaves. The population of the Sokoto caliphate formed by Hausas in northern Nigeria and Cameroon was half-slave in the 19th century. It is estimated that up to 90% of the population of Arab - Swahili Zanzibar

5670-465: The Kerameikos and other locations, are often richly provided for and demonstrate that from 900 BC onwards Athens was one of the leading centres of trade and prosperity in the region. By the sixth century BC, widespread social unrest led to the reforms of Solon . These would pave the way for the eventual introduction of democracy by Cleisthenes in 508 BC. Athens had by this time become

5832-837: The Latin Church brought to the Eastern Mediterranean during the Crusades. Along with rest of Byzantine Greece, Athens was part of the series of feudal fiefs , similar to the Crusader states established in Syria and on Cyprus after the First Crusade . This period is known as the Frankokratia . The first Ottoman attack on Athens, which involved a short-lived occupation of the town, came in 1397, under

5994-908: The Municipality of Athens (the City Centre) in virtually all directions. For the Athenians, all the urban municipalities surrounding the City Centre are called suburbs. According to their geographic location in relation to the City of Athens , the suburbs are divided into four zones; the northern suburbs (including Agios Stefanos , Dionysos , Ekali , Nea Erythraia , Kifissia , Kryoneri , Maroussi , Pefki , Lykovrysi , Metamorfosi , Nea Ionia , Nea Filadelfeia , Irakleio , Vrilissia , Melissia , Penteli , Chalandri , Agia Paraskevi , Gerakas , Pallini , Galatsi , Psychiko and Filothei );

6156-660: The Mycenaean civilization, and the Acropolis was the site of a major Mycenaean fortress, whose remains can be recognised from sections of the characteristic Cyclopean walls. Unlike other Mycenaean centers, such as Mycenae and Pylos , it is not known whether Athens suffered destruction in about 1200 BC, an event often attributed to a Dorian invasion, and the Athenians always maintained that they were pure Ionians with no Dorian element. However, Athens, like many other Bronze Age settlements , went into economic decline for around 150 years afterwards. Iron Age burials, in

6318-831: The National Archaeological Museum . Athens' largest zoo is the Attica Zoological Park , a 20-hectare (49-acre) private zoo located in the suburb of Spata. The zoo is home to around 2000 animals representing 400 species, and is open 365 days a year. Smaller zoos exist within public gardens or parks, such as the zoo within the National Garden of Athens. Athens has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate ( Köppen climate classification : Csa ). The climate in Athens can be considered warmer than some cities that are similar or even less distant from

6480-833: The Sahara , through the Red Sea, from the Indian Ocean ports and across the Atlantic. At least ten centuries of slavery for the benefit of the Muslim countries (from the ninth to the nineteenth)." He continues: "Four million slaves exported via the Red Sea , another four million through the Swahili ports of the Indian Ocean , perhaps as many as nine million along the trans-Saharan caravan route, and eleven to twenty million (depending on

6642-530: The Sindi (from central Crimea) and other branches of the Maeotae . Surviving material (texts, inscriptions and coins) do not supply enough information to reconstruct a complete chronology of kings of the region. Satyrus (431–387 BC), successor to Spartocus, established his rule over the whole region, adding Nymphaeum to his kingdom and besieging Theodosia , which was wealthy because, unlike other cities in

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6804-499: The Sirace king Aripharnes , brought twenty thousand Scythian cavalry and even more infantry. The northern Black Sea underwent what some historians refer to as a "long Hellenistic Age" due to the institutions typically associated with the era occurring independently from the greater Greek world. Their relatively isolated position, and constant contact/conflict with barbarians along their borders, allowed monarchs with traditions rooted in

6966-807: The United States , France , Spain , Portugal , Holland , West Africa and Arabia . The King of Bonny (now in Nigeria ) allegedly became dissatisfied of the British intervention in stopping the trade of slaves: "We think this trade must go on. That is the verdict of our oracle and the priests. They say that your country, however great, can never stop a trade ordained by God himself." Joseph Miller states that African buyers would prefer males, but in reality, women and children would be more easily captured as men fled. Those captured would be sold for various reasons such as food, debts, or servitude. Once captured,

7128-492: The present day . Likewise, its victims have come from many different ethnicities and religious groups. The social, economic , and legal positions of slaves have differed vastly in different systems of slavery in different times and places. Slavery has been found in some hunter-gatherer populations, particularly as hereditary slavery, but the conditions of agriculture with increasing social and economic complexity offer greater opportunity for mass chattel slavery . Slavery

7290-602: The private sector ; 15.4 million live in forced marriages. Forms of slavery include domestic labour, forced labour in manufacturing, fishing, mining and construction, and sexual slavery . Evidence of slavery predates written records; the practice has existed in many cultures and can be traced back 11,000 years ago due to the conditions created by the invention of agriculture during the Neolithic Revolution . Economic surpluses and high population densities were conditions that made mass slavery viable. Slavery occurred in civilizations including ancient Egypt , ancient China ,

7452-429: The regional unit of Piraeus . The Athens urban area spans over 412 km (159 sq mi), with a population of 3,059,764 people as of 2021. The Athens metropolitan area spans 2,928.717 km (1,131 sq mi) within the Attica region and includes a total of 58 municipalities, which are organized in seven regional units (those outlined above, along with East Attica and West Attica ), having reached

7614-405: The temple of Athena Nike was dismantled by the Ottomans to fortify the Parthenon. A shot fired during the bombardment of the Acropolis caused a powder magazine in the Parthenon to explode (26 September), and the building was severely damaged, giving it largely the appearance it has today. The Venetian occupation of Athens lasted for six months, and both the Venetians and the Ottomans participated in

7776-406: The 10th and 11th centuries, which in turn gave way to Tatar domination. From time to time Byzantine Greek officers built fortresses and exercised authority at Bosporus, which constituted an archbishopric . A relevant Byzantine usage of the term is found in a newly discovered seal of a general of the early 11th century as of " Πο ⟨σ⟩ φορ(ου) ", i.e., of the Cimmerian Bosporos. Also, in

7938-435: The 17th century. In Sierra Leone in the 19th century about half of the population consisted of slaves. In the 19th century at least half the population was enslaved among the Duala of the Cameroon , the Igbo and other peoples of the lower Niger , the Kongo , and the Kasanje kingdom and Chokwe of Angola . Among the Ashanti and Yoruba a third of the population consisted of slaves as well as Bono . The population of

8100-399: The 1840s, King Gezo of Dahomey said: "The slave trade is the ruling principle of my people. It is the source and the glory of their wealth...the mother lulls the child to sleep with notes of triumph over an enemy reduced to slavery." In 1807 the United Kingdom made the international trade of slaves illegal with the Slave Trade Act . The Royal Navy was deployed to prevent slavers from

8262-679: The 5th century BC, particularly in Panticapaeum . Gold staters of Panticapaeum bearing Pan 's head and a griffin are especially remarkable for their weight and fine workmanship. There are coins with the names of the later Spartocids and a complete series of dated solidi issued by the later or Achaemenian dynasty. In them may be noticed the swift degeneration of the gold solidus through silver and potin to bronze. 45°15′36″N 37°02′24″E  /  45.26000°N 37.04000°E  / 45.26000; 37.04000 History of slavery The history of slavery spans many cultures , nationalities , and religions from ancient times to

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8424-532: The Americas . The merchants were sources of desired goods including guns, gunpowder, copper manillas , and cloth, and this demand for imported goods drove local wars and other means to the enslavement of Africans in ever greater numbers. In India and throughout the New World, people were forced into slavery to create the local workforce. The transatlantic slave trade was eventually curtailed after European and American governments passed legislation abolishing their nations' involvement in it. Practical efforts to enforce

8586-423: The Americas. The Dutch imported slaves from Asia into their colony at the Cape of Good Hope (now Cape Town ) in the 17th century. In 1807 Britain (which already held a small coastal territory, intended for the resettlement of former slaves, in Freetown , Sierra Leone ) made the slave trade within its empire illegal with the Slave Trade Act 1807 , and worked to extend the prohibition to other territory, as did

8748-421: The Athenians the first domesticated olive tree . Cecrops accepted this gift and declared Athena the patron goddess of Athens. Eight different etymologies, now commonly rejected, have been proposed since the 17th century. Christian Lobeck proposed as the root of the name the word ἄθος ( áthos ) or ἄνθος ( ánthos ) meaning "flower", to denote Athens as the "flowering city". Ludwig von Döderlein proposed

8910-420: The Athens basin compared to the precipitation amounts seen in a typical Mediterranean climate is due to the rain shadow effect caused by the Pindus mountain range and the Dirfys and Parnitha mountains, substantially drying the westerly and northerly winds respectively. Snowfall is not very common, though it occurs almost annually. It usually does not cause heavy disruption to daily life, in contrast to

9072-401: The Attica region experienced a number of brush fires , including a blaze that burned a significant portion of a large forested national park in Mount Parnitha , considered critical to maintaining a better air quality in Athens all year round. Damage to the park has led to worries over a stalling in the improvement of air quality in the city. The major waste management efforts undertaken in

9234-487: The Bosporan Kingdom was restored to Asander and Dynamis by Caesar's great nephew and heir Octavian . Asander ruled as an archon and later as king until his death in 17 BC. After the death of Asander, Dynamis was compelled to marry a Roman usurper called Scribonius, but the Romans under Agrippa intervened and established Polemon I of Pontus (16–8 BC) in his place. Polemon married Dynamis in 16 BC and she died in 14 BC. Polemon ruled as king until his death in 8 BC. After

9396-412: The Bosporan grain exports: Leucon I of Bosporus created privileges for Athenian ships at Bosporan ports. The Attic orators make numerous references to this. In return the Athenians granted Leucon Athenian citizenship and made decrees in honour of him and his sons. After his defeat by Roman General Pompey in 66 BC, King Mithridates VI of Pontus fled with a small army from Colchis (modern Georgia) over

9558-435: The Bosporan king Cotys I . It is possible that Nero wanted to minimize the power of local client rulers and wanted the Bosporans to be subsumed into the Roman empire. The Bosporan Kingdom was incorporated as part of the Roman province of Moesia Inferior from 63 to 68. In 68, the new Roman emperor Galba restored the Bosporan Kingdom to Rhescuporis I , the son of Cotys I. Following the Jewish diaspora , Judaism emerged in

9720-422: The Bosporus left extensive architectural and sculptural remains, while the kurgans continue to yield spectacular Greco-Sarmatian objects, the best examples of which are now preserved in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg . These include gold work, vases imported from Athens , coarse terracottas , textile fragments, and specimens of carpentry and marquetry . The whole area was dotted with Greek cities: in

9882-408: The Capital ( Greek : Πολεοδομικό Συγκρότημα Πρωτεύουσας , romanized :  Poleodomikó Synkrótima Protévousas ) or Greater Athens ( Greek : Ευρύτερη Αθήνα , romanized :  Evrýteri Athína ), today consists of 40 municipalities: 35 of them divided in four regional units ( Central Athens , North Athens , West Athens , South Athens ), and a further 5 municipalities which make up

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10044-453: The Caucasus Mountains to Crimea and made plans to raise yet another army to take on the Romans. His eldest living son, Machares , regent of Cimmerian Bosporus, was unwilling to aid his father, so Mithridates had Machares killed, acquiring the throne for himself. Mithridates then ordered the conscriptions and preparations for war. In 63 BC, Pharnaces , the youngest son of Mithridates, led a rebellion against his father, joined by Roman exiles in

10206-425: The Crimea, it is possible that Rhescuporis was overthrown by a Sarmatian or Alan tribal leader, who established his own dynasty on the Bosporan throne. It is known that the Goths later held power in the Crimea, from c. 380 onwards, since a 404 letter to John Chrysostom , archbishop of Constantinople , refers to the local ruler as a rex Gothiorum ("king of the Goths"). The Gothic Bosporan realm likely became

10368-489: The Democratic Republic of Congo. Many pygmies in the Republic of Congo and Democratic Republic of Congo belong from birth to Bantus in a system of slavery. Evidence emerged in the late 1990s of systematic slavery in cacao plantations in West Africa; see the chocolate and slavery article. According to the U.S. State Department , more than 109,000 children were working on cocoa farms alone in Ivory Coast in "the worst forms of child labour " in 2002. On

10530-401: The EU to help enhance the project. The landmark Dionysiou Areopagitou Street has been pedestrianised, forming a scenic route. The route starts from the Temple of Olympian Zeus at Vasilissis Olgas Avenue, continues under the southern slopes of the Acropolis near Plaka , and finishes just beyond the Temple of Hephaestus in Thiseio . The route in its entirety provides visitors with views of

10692-450: The Eurasian steppes to the north, the Caucasus and Central Asia to the east, Asia Minor and Mesopotamia to the south, and Greece to the southwest. To the north is the Sea of Azov , sometimes considered part of the Black Sea, with shallow waters and abundant rivers flowing toward it. Most of the kingdom fell in the Pontic-Caspian Steppe , a temperate grassland ideal for nomadic pastoralism . The south-eastern Crimean coastline

10854-576: The Greek capital falls directly within the Municipality of Athens ( Greek : Δήμος Αθηναίων , romanized :  Dímos Athinaíon ), which is the largest in population size in Greece and forms the core of the Athens urban area, followed by the Municipality of Piraeus , which forms a significant city centre on its own within the Athens urban area and it is the second largest in population size within it. The Athens Urban Area ( Greek : Πολεοδομικό Συγκρότημα Αθηνών , romanized :  Poleodomikó Synkrótima Athinón ), also known as Urban Area of

11016-405: The Greek city-states including Athens and Thebes at the Battle of Chaeronea. Later, under Rome, Athens was given the status of a free city because of its widely admired schools. In the second century AD, the Roman emperor Hadrian, himself an Athenian citizen, ordered the construction of a library, a gymnasium, an aqueduct which is still in use, several temples and sanctuaries, a bridge and financed

11178-412: The Khasso into increasing contact with the European settlements of Africa's west coast, particularly the French . Benin grew increasingly rich during the 16th and 17th centuries on the trade of slaves with Europe; slaves from enemy states of the interior were sold, and carried to the Americas in Dutch and Portuguese ships. The Bight of Benin 's shore soon came to be known as the "Slave Coast". In

11340-460: The Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica region and is the southernmost capital on the European mainland . With its urban area's population numbering over three and a quarter million, it is the eighth largest urban area in the European Union . The Municipality of Athens (also City of Athens), which constitutes a small administrative unit of the entire urban area, had a population of 643,452 (2021) within its official limits, and

11502-682: The North via the Balkan slave trade and the Crimean slave trade ; from the East via the Bukhara slave trade ; from the West via Andalusian slave trade ; and from the South via the Trans-Saharan slave trade , the Red Sea slave trade and the Indian Ocean slave trade . Beginning in the 16th century , European merchants , starting mainly with merchants from Portugal , initiated the transatlantic slave trade . Few traders ventured far inland, attempting to avoid tropical diseases and violence. They mostly purchased imprisoned Africans (and exported commodities including gold and ivory ) from West African kingdoms, transporting them to Europe's colonies in

11664-592: The Ottoman generals Yaqub Pasha and Timurtash. Finally, in 1458, Athens was captured by the Ottomans under the personal leadership of Sultan Mehmed II . As the Ottoman Sultan rode into the city, he was greatly struck by the beauty of its ancient monuments and issued a firman (imperial edict) forbidding their looting or destruction, on pain of death. The Parthenon was converted into the main mosque of

11826-553: The Parthenon and the Agora (the meeting point of ancient Athenians), away from the busy City Centre. The hills of Athens also provide green space. Lycabettus , Philopappos hill and the area around it, including Pnyx and Ardettos hill , are planted with pines and other trees, with the character of a small forest rather than typical metropolitan parkland. Also to be found is the Pedion tou Areos ( Field of Mars ) of 27.7 hectares, near

11988-605: The Persians within one year, after a heroic but ultimately failed resistance at Thermopylae by Spartans and other Greeks led by King Leonidas , after both Boeotia and Attica fell to the Persians. The decades that followed became known as the Golden Age of Athenian democracy , during which time Athens became the leading city of Ancient Greece , with its cultural achievements laying the foundations for Western civilization . The playwrights Aeschylus , Sophocles and Euripides flourished in Athens during this time, as did

12150-1032: The Philippines during the Iberian Union (1580–1640). The Middle Passage , the crossing of the Atlantic to the Americas , endured by slaves laid out in rows in the holds of ships, was only one element of the well-known triangular trade engaged in by Portuguese, American, Dutch, Danish-Norwegians, French, British and others. Ships having landed with slaves in Caribbean ports would take on sugar, indigo, raw cotton, and later coffee, and make for Liverpool , Nantes , Lisbon or Amsterdam . Ships leaving European ports for West Africa would carry printed cotton textiles, some originally from India, copper utensils and bangles, pewter plates and pots, iron bars more valued than gold, hats, trinkets, gunpowder and firearms and alcohol. Tropical shipworms were eliminated in

12312-528: The United States in 1808. In Senegambia , between 1300 and 1900, close to one-third of the population was enslaved. In early Islamic states of the Western Sudan , including Ghana (750–1076), Mali (1235–1645), Segou (1712–1861), and Songhai (1275–1591), about a third of the population was enslaved. The earliest Akan state of Bonoman which had third of its population being enslaved in

12474-886: The abolition of slavery included the British Preventative Squadron and the American African Slave Trade Patrol , the abolition of slavery in the Americas, and the widespread imposition of European political control in Africa. In modern times, human trafficking remains an international problem. Slavery in the 21st century continues and generates an estimated $ 150 billion in annual profits. Populations in regions with armed conflict are especially vulnerable, and modern transportation has made human trafficking easier. In 2019, there were an estimated 40.3 million people worldwide subject to some form of slavery, and 25% were children. 24.9 million are used for forced labor , mostly in

12636-556: The ancient monuments suffered badly. The Ottoman forces remained in possession until March 1833, when they withdrew. Following the Greek War of Independence and the establishment of the Greek Kingdom , Athens was chosen to replace Nafplio as the second capital of the newly independent Greek state in 1834, largely because of historical and sentimental reasons. At the time, after the extensive destruction it had suffered during

12798-469: The area, called in the help of Diophantus , general of King Mithridates VI of Pontus , leaving him his kingdom. Paerisades was killed by a Scythian named Saumacus who led a rebellion against him. The Spartocids were well known as a line of enlightened and wise princes; although Greek opinion could not deny that they were, strictly speaking, tyrants , they are always described as dynasts. They maintained close relations with Athens , their best customer for

12960-641: The arrival of the Portuguese . Because it had been established within his kingdom, Afonso I of Kongo believed that the slave trade should be subject to Kongo law. When he suspected the Portuguese of receiving illegally slaves to sell, he wrote letters to the King João III of Portugal in 1526 imploring him to put a stop to the practice. The kings of Dahomey sold their war captives into transatlantic slavery, who otherwise may have been killed in

13122-752: The author) across the Atlantic Ocean" Zanzibar was once East Africa's main slave-trading port, during the Indian Ocean slave trade and under Omani Arabs in the 19th century, with as many as 50,000 slaves passing through the city each year. Prior to the 16th century, the bulk of slaves exported from Africa were shipped from East Africa to the Arabian peninsula . Zanzibar became a leading port in this trade. Arab traders of slaves differed from European ones in that they would often conduct raiding expeditions themselves, sometimes penetrating deep into

13284-492: The authorities of the city throughout the 1990s resulted in the improvement of air quality; the appearance of smog (or nefos as the Athenians used to call it) has become less common. Measures taken by the Greek authorities throughout the 1990s have improved the quality of air over the Attica Basin. Nevertheless, air pollution still remains an issue for Athens, particularly during the hottest summer days. In late June 2007,

13446-411: The best clothing, meaning they were even more exposed to diseases. On top of the fear of disease, people were afraid of why they were being captured. The popular assumption was that Europeans were cannibals . Stories and rumours spread that whites captured Africans to eat them. Olaudah Equiano accounts his experience about the sorrow slaves encountered at the ports. He talks about his first moment on

13608-400: The better gift would become their patron and appointed Cecrops , the king of Athens, as the judge. According to the account given by Pseudo-Apollodorus , Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and a salt water spring welled up. In an alternative version of the myth from Vergil 's poem Georgics , Poseidon instead gave the Athenians the first horse. In both versions, Athena offered

13770-505: The city is much debated, but is generally taken to mark the end of the ancient history of Athens. Athens was sacked by the Slavs in 582, but remained in imperial hands thereafter, as highlighted by the visit of the emperor Constans II ( r.  641–668 ) in 662/3 and its inclusion in the Theme of Hellas . The city was threatened by Saracen raids in the 8th–9th centuries—in 896, Athens

13932-585: The city was sometimes referred to as the City of the Violet Crown , first documented in Pindar's ἰοστέφανοι Ἀθᾶναι ( iostéphanoi Athânai ), or as τὸ κλεινὸν ἄστυ ( tò kleinòn ásty , "the glorious city"). During the medieval period, the name of the city was rendered once again in the singular as Ἀθήνα . Variant names included Setines, Satine, and Astines, all derivations involving false splitting of prepositional phrases. King Alphonse X of Castile gives

14094-756: The city's infrastructure (including the Attiki Odos motorway, the expansion of the Athens Metro , and the new Athens International Airport ), considerably alleviated pollution and transformed Athens into a much more functional city. In 2004, Athens hosted the 2004 Summer Olympics . Athens sprawls across the central plain of Attica that is often referred to as the Athens Basin or the Attica Basin ( Greek : Λεκανοπέδιο Αθηνών/Αττικής , romanized :  Lekanopédio Athinón/Attikís ). The basin

14256-665: The city, in response of complaints of maladministration by the local governors. After her death, Athens came under the purview of the Kizlar Agha. The Turks began a practice of storing gunpowder and explosives in the Parthenon and Propylaea . In 1640, a lightning bolt struck the Propylaea, causing its destruction. In 1687, during the Morean War , the Acropolis was besieged by the Venetians under Francesco Morosini , and

14418-458: The city, represented by ancient monuments , and works of art, the most famous of all being the Parthenon , considered a key landmark of early Western culture . The city also retains Roman , Byzantine and a smaller number of Ottoman monuments, while its historical urban core features elements of continuity through its millennia of history. Athens is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites ,

14580-555: The city. Under Ottoman rule, Athens was denuded of any importance and its population severely declined, leaving it as a "small country town" ( Franz Babinger ). From the early 17th century, Athens came under the jurisdiction of the Kizlar Agha , the chief black eunuch of the Sultan's harem . The city had originally been granted by Sultan Ahmed I ( r.  1603–1617 ) to Basilica, one of his favourite concubines, who hailed from

14742-523: The city. Classical Athens was one of the most powerful city-states in ancient Greece . It was a centre for democracy, the arts, education and philosophy, and was highly influential throughout the European continent, particularly in Ancient Rome . For this reason, it is often regarded as the cradle of Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy in its own right independently from

14904-509: The city. Modern scholars now generally agree that the goddess takes her name from the city, because the ending - ene is common in names of locations, but rare for personal names. According to the ancient Athenian founding myth , Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war, competed against Poseidon , the God of the Seas, for patronage of the yet-unnamed city; they agreed that whoever gave the Athenians

15066-549: The city. The National Garden of Athens was completed in 1840 and is a green refuge of 15.5 hectares in the centre of the Greek capital. It is to be found between the Parliament and Zappeion buildings, the latter of which maintains its own garden of seven hectares. Parts of the City Centre have been redeveloped under a masterplan called the Unification of Archeological Sites of Athens , which has also gathered funding from

15228-631: The cold Atlantic waters, and at each unloading, a profit was made. The Atlantic slave trade peaked in the late 18th century when the largest number of people were captured and enslaved on raiding expeditions into the interior of West Africa. These expeditions were typically carried out by African states, such as the Bono State , Oyo empire ( Yoruba ), Kong Empire , Kingdom of Benin , Imamate of Futa Jallon , Imamate of Futa Toro , Kingdom of Koya , Kingdom of Khasso , Kingdom of Kaabu , Fante Confederacy , Ashanti Confederacy , Aro Confederacy and

15390-496: The colder half of the year with the remaining rainfall falling sparsely, mainly during thunderstorms. Fog is rare in the city center, but somewhat more frequent in areas to the east, close to mount Hymettus . The southern section of the Athens metropolitan area (i.e., Elliniko , Athens Riviera ) lies in the transitional zone between Mediterranean ( Csa ) and hot semi-arid climate ( BSh ), with its port-city of Piraeus being

15552-625: The completion of the Temple of Olympian Zeus . In the early 4th century AD, the Eastern Roman Empire began to be governed from Constantinople , and with the construction and expansion of the imperial city, many of Athens's works of art were taken by the emperors to adorn it. The Empire became Christianized, and the use of Latin declined in favour of exclusive use of Greek ; in the Roman imperial period , both languages had been used. In

15714-585: The continent. They also differed in that their market greatly preferred the purchase of enslaved females over male. The increased presence of European rivals along the East coast led Arab traders to concentrate on the overland slave caravan routes across the Sahara from the Sahel to North Africa. The German explorer Gustav Nachtigal reported seeing slave caravans departing from Kukawa in Bornu bound for Tripoli and Egypt in 1870. The trade of slaves represented

15876-538: The core of Mithridates's Pontic army. Mithridates VI withdrew to the citadel in Panticapaeum , where he committed suicide. Pompey buried Mithridates VI in a rock-cut tomb in either Sinope or Amasia , the capital of the Kingdom of Pontus . After the death of Mithridates VI (63 BC), Pharnaces II (63–47 BC) supplicated to Pompey, and then tried to regain his dominion during Julius Caesar's Civil War , but

16038-429: The crew. Death was so common that ships were called tumbeiros, or floating tombs. What shocked Africans the most was how death was handled in the ships. Smallwood says the traditions for an African death were delicate and community-based. On ships, bodies would be thrown into the sea. Because the sea represented bad omens, bodies in the sea represented a form of purgatory and the ship a form of hell. Any Africans who made

16200-713: The crossing. They described their only pain in the heart, and placed the hand correctly on the spot, though many think the organ stands high up in the breast-bone. African states played a key role in the trade of slaves, and slavery was a common practice among Sub Saharan Africans even before the involvement of the Arabs , Berbers and Europeans . There were three types: those who were enslaved through conquest, instead of unpaid debts, or those whose parents gave them as property to tribal chiefs. Chieftains would barter their slaves to Arab, Berber, Ottoman or European buyers for rum, spices, cloth or other goods. Selling captives or prisoners

16362-407: The death of Polemon, Aspurgus , the son of Dynamis and Asander, succeeded Polemon. The Bosporan Kingdom of Aspurgus was a client state of the Roman Empire , protected by Roman garrisons. Aspurgus (8 BC – AD 38) founded a dynasty of kings which endured with a couple of interruptions until AD 341. Aspurgus adopted the Roman name "Tiberius Julius" when he received Roman citizenship and enjoyed

16524-468: The disproportionate removal of males and the introduction of new crops from the Americas ( cassava , maize) would have limited general population decline to particular regions of western Africa around 1760–1810, and in Mozambique and neighbouring areas half a century later. There has also been speculation that within Africa, females were most often captured as brides , with their male protectors being

16686-597: The early 12th century reference is made of the Byzantine Empire's reassertion of control over the Cimmerian Bosporos ( Κιμμέριον Βόσπορον) . Although considered rare among collectors prior to the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991, Bosporan coins are now well known on the international coin markets, hinting at the quantities produced. Several large series were produced by Bosporan cities from

16848-560: The early 5th century. The sack of the city by the Herules in 267 and by the Visigoths under their king Alaric I ( r.  395–410 ) in 396, however, dealt a heavy blow to the city's fabric and fortunes, and Athens was henceforth confined to a small fortified area that embraced a fraction of the ancient city. The emperor Justinian I ( r.  527–565 ) banned the teaching of philosophy by pagans in 529, an event whose impact on

17010-651: The eastern half of Crimea and the Taman peninsula , and extended along the east coast of the Maeotian marshes to Tanais at the mouth of the Don in the north-east, a great market for trade with the interior. Throughout the period there was perpetual war with the native tribes of Scythians and Sarmatians , and in this the Bosporan Kingdom was supported by its Roman suzerains, who lent the assistance of garrisons and fleets. In AD 62 for reasons unknown, Roman emperor Nero deposed

17172-496: The emperor to send armies to the Bosporus, conquering the lands of the kingdom and establishing imperial control there. The Bosporan cities enjoyed a revival, under Byzantine and Bulgarian protection. The ancient Greek city of Phanagoria became the capital of Old Great Bulgaria between 632 and 665. The town of Tmutarakan , on the eastern side of the strait, became the seat of the Kievan Rus principality of Tmutarakan in

17334-417: The empire became increasingly anti-pagan, Athens became a provincial town and experienced fluctuating fortunes. The city remained an important center of learning, especially of Neoplatonism —with notable pupils including Gregory of Nazianzus , Basil of Caesarea and emperor Julian ( r.  355–363 )—and consequently a center of paganism. Christian items do not appear in the archaeological record until

17496-548: The end of his reign by the Goths and the Huns , there is no concrete evidence for this. There is an inscription by a Bosporan ruler named Douptounos from c. 483, nearly a century and a half after Rhescuporis VI, which makes it unlikely that the kingdom and its line of kings came to an end in the mid-4th century. Additionally, archaeological data from the time indicate a period with a growing economy rather than societal collapse. Because of evidence of their increasing prominence in

17658-580: The ending of the first period of Iconoclasm at the Second Council of Nicaea in 787. A few years later, another Athenian, Theophano , became empress as the wife of Staurakios (r. 811–812). Invasion of the empire by the Turks after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, and the ensuing civil wars, largely passed the region by and Athens continued its provincial existence unharmed. When the Byzantine Empire

17820-609: The equator such as Seoul, Melbourne, Buenos Aires, Cape Town and Norfolk (Virgina, US). According to the meteorological station near the city center which is operated by the National Observatory of Athens , the downtown area has simple mean annual temperature of 19.2 °C (66.6 °F) while parts of the urban agglomeration may reach up to 19.8 °C (67.6 °F), being affected by the urban heat island effect. Athens receives about 433.1 millimetres (17.05 in) of precipitation per year, largely concentrated during

17982-483: The family name, more recent historians have posited he was likely of Greco-Scythian descent, as was typical of the region. Spartocus founded a dynasty which seems to have endured until c. 110 BC, known as the Spartocids . The Spartocids left many inscriptions, indicating that the earliest members of the house ruled under the titles of archons of the Greek cities and kings of various minor native tribes, notably

18144-478: The fight against the Persians, the league soon turned into a vehicle for Athens's own imperial ambitions. The resulting tensions brought about the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), in which Athens was defeated by its rival Sparta. By the mid-4th century BC, the northern Greek kingdom of Macedon was becoming dominant in Athenian affairs. In 338 BC the armies of Philip II defeated an alliance of some of

18306-466: The first important public buildings of the new capital. In 1896, Athens hosted the first modern Olympic Games . During the 1920s a number of Greek refugees , expelled from Asia Minor after the Greco-Turkish War and Population exchange between Greece and Turkey , swelled Athens's population; nevertheless it was most particularly following World War II , and from the 1950s and 1960s, that

18468-698: The growth of the town in general. However, this medieval prosperity was not to last. In 1204, the Fourth Crusade conquered Athens and the city was not recovered from the Latins before it was taken by the Ottoman Turks . It did not become Greek in government again until the 19th century. From 1204 until 1458, Athens was ruled by Latins in three separate periods, following the Crusades . The "Latins", or " Franks ", were western Europeans and followers of

18630-429: The historians Herodotus and Thucydides , the physician Hippocrates , and the philosopher Socrates . Guided by Pericles , who promoted the arts and fostered democracy, Athens embarked on an ambitious building program that saw the construction of the Acropolis of Athens (including the Parthenon ), as well as empire-building via the Delian League . Originally intended as an association of Greek city-states to continue

18792-425: The incident. According to police, approximately 276 children were taken in the attack, of whom 53 had escaped as of 2 May. Other reports said that 329 girls were kidnapped, 53 had escaped and 276 were still missing. The students have been forced to convert to Islam and into marriage with members of Boko Haram, with a reputed " bride price " of ₦ 2,000 each ( $ 12.50/ £ 7.50). Many of the students were taken to

18954-574: The journey to the coast killed many and weakened others. Disease engulfed many, and insufficient food damaged those who made it to the coasts. Scurvy was common, and was often referred to as mal de Luanda ("Luanda sickness," after the port in Angola). The assumption for those who died on the journey died from malnutrition . As food was limited, water may have been just as bad. Dysentery was widespread and poor sanitary conditions at ports did not help. Since supplies were poor, slaves were not equipped with

19116-654: The journey would have survived extreme disease and malnutrition, as well as trauma from being on the open ocean and the death of their friends. In Algiers during the time of the Regency of Algiers in North Africa in the 19th century, up to 1.5 million Christians and Europeans were captured and forced into slavery. This eventually led to the Bombardment of Algiers in 1816 by the British and Dutch , forcing

19278-540: The kingdom of Dahomey . Europeans rarely entered the interior of Africa, due to fear of disease and moreover fierce African resistance. The slaves were brought to coastal outposts where they were traded for goods. The people captured on these expeditions were shipped by European traders to the colonies of the New World . It is estimated that over the centuries, twelve to twenty million slaves were shipped from Africa by European traders, of whom some 15 percent died during

19440-493: The last decade (particularly the plant built on the small island of Psytalia) have greatly improved water quality in the Saronic Gulf, and the coastal waters of Athens are now accessible again to swimmers. Parnitha National Park is punctuated by well-marked paths, gorges, springs, torrents and caves dotting the protected area. Hiking and mountain-biking in all four mountains are popular outdoor activities for residents of

19602-547: The later Roman period, Athens was ruled by the emperors continuing until the 13th century, its citizens identifying themselves as citizens of the Roman Empire (" Rhomaioi "). The conversion of the empire from paganism to Christianity greatly affected Athens, resulting in reduced reverence for the city. Ancient monuments such as the Parthenon, Erechtheion and the Hephaisteion (Theseion) were converted into churches. As

19764-484: The local material culture from the third to sixth centuries is distinguished both by its great complexity and by syncretism , intertwining both ancient and new barbarian elements. Through some means, the Goths appear to have left or been driven away, leading to the resumption of local self-rule in the late 5th century under rulers such as Douptounos, who re-oriented the kingdom towards the Byzantine Empire as

19926-498: The looting of the Parthenon. One of its western pediments was removed, causing even more damage to the structure. During the Venetian occupation, the two mosques of the city were converted into Catholic and Protestant churches, but on 9 April 1688 the Venetians abandoned Athens again to the Ottomans. In 1822, a Greek insurgency captured the city, but it fell to the Ottomans again in 1826 (though Acropolis held till June 1827). Again

20088-580: The major commercial port of Piraeus to the southernmost suburb of Varkiza for some 25 km (20 mi), is also connected to the City Centre by tram. In the northern suburb of Maroussi, the upgraded main Olympic Complex (known by its Greek acronym OAKA) dominates the skyline. The area has been redeveloped according to a design by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava , with steel arches, landscaped gardens, fountains, futuristic glass, and

20250-530: The major source of revenue for the state of Bornu as late as 1898. The eastern regions of the Central African Republic have never recovered demographically from the impact of 19th-century raids from the Sudan and still have a population density of less than 1 person/km . During the 1870s, European initiatives against the trade of slaves caused an economic crisis in northern Sudan, precipitating

20412-447: The mixing of local Scythian and Greeks at all levels of society, particularly in the nobility. In an internal conflict between Satyrus II and his brother Eumelus , the royal Bosporan army was said to contain no more than two thousand Greeks, and an equal number of Thracians fighting as mercenaries. The vast majority of the army was Scythian, with ten thousand cavalry and more than twenty thousand infantry reported. Eumelus, allied with

20574-463: The most extreme example, receiving just 331.9 millimetres (13.07 in) per year. The areas to the south generally see less extreme temperature variations as their climate is moderated by the Saronic gulf . The northern part of the city (i.e., Kifissia ), owing to its higher elevation, features moderately lower temperatures and slightly increased precipitation year-round. The generally dry climate of

20736-578: The nearby town of Loutraki (accessible by car via the Athens – Corinth National Highway, or the Athens Suburban Railway ). The concept of a partner city is used under different names in different countries, but they mean the same thing, that two cities in different countries assist each other as partners. Athens has quite a number of partners, whether as a "twin", a "sister", or a "partner." The Municipality of Athens has an official population of 643,452 people (in 2021). According to

20898-545: The neighbouring countries of Chad and Cameroon , with sightings reported of the students crossing borders with the militants, and sightings of the students by villagers living in the Sambisa Forest , which is considered a refuge for Boko Haram. On 5 May 2014 a video in which Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau claimed responsibility for the kidnappings emerged. Shekau claimed that "Allah instructed me to sell them...I will carry out his instructions" and " [s]lavery

21060-683: The night of 14–15 April 2014, a group of militants attacked the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok , Nigeria. They broke into the school, pretending to be guards, telling the girls to get out and come with them. A large number of students were taken away in trucks, possibly into the Konduga area of the Sambisa Forest where Boko Haram were known to have fortified camps. Houses in Chibok were also burned down in

21222-440: The northern parts of the city, where blizzards occur on a somewhat more regular basis. The most recent examples include the snowstorms of 16 February 2021 and 24 January 2022, when the entire urban area was blanketed in snow. Athens may get particularly hot in the summer, owing partly to the strong urban heat island effect characterizing the city. In fact, Athens is considered to be the hottest city in mainland Europe , and

21384-496: The patronage of the first two Roman Emperors , Augustus and Tiberius . All of the following kings adopted these two Roman names followed by a third name, of Thracian (Kotys, Rhescuporis or Rhoemetalces) or local origin (such as Sauromates, Eupator, Ininthimeus, Pharsanzes, Synges, Terianes, Theothorses or Rhadamsades). The Roman client kings of the dynasty had descended from King Mithridates VI of Pontus and his first wife, his sister Laodice , through Aspurgus. The kings adopted

21546-481: The period from the late 19th century and early 20th century, demand for the labour-intensive harvesting of rubber drove frontier expansion and forced labour . The personal monarchy of Belgian King Leopold II in the Congo Free State saw mass killings and slavery to extract rubber. Surviving the voyage was the main struggle. Close quarters meant everyone was infected by any diseases that spread, including

21708-493: The plural later on, like those of Θῆβαι ( Thêbai ) and Μυκῆναι ( Μukênai ). The root of the word is probably not of Greek or Indo-European origin, and is possibly a remnant of the Pre-Greek substrate of Attica. In antiquity, it was debated whether Athens took its name from its patron goddess Athena ( Attic Ἀθηνᾶ , Athēnâ , Ionic Ἀθήνη , Athḗnē , and Doric Ἀθάνα , Athā́nā ) or Athena took her name from

21870-425: The population of the city exploded, and Athens experienced a gradual expansion. In the 1980s, it became evident that smog from factories and an ever-increasing fleet of automobiles, as well as a lack of adequate free space due to congestion, had evolved into the city's most important challenge. A series of anti-pollution measures taken by the city's authorities in the 1990s, combined with a substantial improvement of

22032-432: The priests in addition to providing free labor for the shrine. An article in the Middle East Quarterly in 1999 reported that slavery is endemic in Sudan . Estimates of abductions during the Second Sudanese Civil War range from 14,000 to 200,000 people. During the Second Sudanese Civil War people were taken into slavery; estimates of abductions range from 14,000 to 200,000. Abduction of Dinka women and children

22194-429: The pseudo-etymology 'the one without death/ignorance'. In Ottoman Turkish, it was called آتينا ‎ Ātīnā , and in modern Turkish, it is Atina . The oldest known human presence in Athens is the Cave of Schist, which has been dated to between the 11th and 7th millennia BC. Athens has been continuously inhabited for at least 5,000 years (3000 BC). By 1400 BC, the settlement had become an important centre of

22356-400: The region to establish independent kingdoms from those of the successor states.   According to Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (xii. 31) the region was governed between 480 and 438 BC by a line of kings called the Archaeanactidae , probably a ruling family, usurped by a tyrant called Spartocus (438–431 BC). While Spartocus was traditionally considered to be a Thracian due to

22518-401: The region, and Jewish communities developed in some of the cities of the region (especially Tanais ). The Jewish or Thracian influence on the region may have inspired the foundation of a cult to the "Most High God", a distinct regional cult which emerged in the 1st century AD, which professed monotheism without being distinctively Jewish or Christian. The balance of power among the local tribes

22680-442: The region, it had a port which was free of ice throughout the year, allowing it to trade grain with the rest of the Greek world, even in winter. Satyrus' son Leucon (387–347 BC) eventually took the city. He was succeeded jointly by his two sons, Spartocus II, and Paerisades; Spartocus died in 342 BC, allowing Paerisades to reign alone until 310 BC. After Paerisades' death, a war of succession between his sons Satyrus and Eumelus

22842-420: The rest of Greece. In modern times, Athens is a large cosmopolitan metropolis and central to economic, financial, industrial, maritime, political and cultural life in Greece. It is a Beta (+) - status global city according to the Globalization and World Cities Research Network , and is one of the biggest economic centers in Southeastern Europe. It also has a large financial sector, and its port Piraeus

23004-448: The rise of Mahdist forces. Mahdi 's victory created an Islamic state , one that quickly reinstituted slavery. European involvement in the East African trade of enslaved people began when Portugal established Estado da Índia in the early 16th century. From then until the 1830s, c.  200 enslaved people were exported from Portuguese Mozambique annually and similar figures has been estimated for enslaved people brought from Asia to

23166-485: The salt water. I told them that they were employed in cultivation the land; but they would not believe me ... A deeply-rooted idea that the whites purchase negroes for the purpose of devouring them, or of selling them to others that they may be devoured hereafter, naturally makes the slaves contemplate a journey towards the coast with great terror, insomuch that the slatees are forced to keep them constantly in irons, and watch them very closely, to prevent their escape. During

23328-689: The southern suburbs (including Alimos , Nea Smyrni , Moschato , Tavros , Agios Ioannis Renti , Kallithea , Piraeus , Agios Dimitrios , Palaio Faliro , Elliniko , Glyfada , Lagonisi , Saronida , Argyroupoli , Ilioupoli , Varkiza , Voula , Vari and Vouliagmeni ); the eastern suburbs (including Zografou , Dafni , Vyronas , Kaisariani , Cholargos and Papagou ); and the western suburbs (including Peristeri , Ilion , Egaleo , Koridallos , Agia Varvara , Keratsini , Perama , Nikaia , Drapetsona , Chaidari , Petroupoli , Agioi Anargyroi , Ano Liosia , Aspropyrgos , Eleusina , Acharnes and Kamatero ). The Athens city coastline, extending from

23490-410: The southern suburbs (such as Alimos , Palaio Faliro , Elliniko , Glyfada , Voula , Vouliagmeni and Varkiza ) known as the Athens Riviera , host a number of sandy beaches, most of which are operated by the Greek National Tourism Organisation and require an entrance fee. Casinos operate on both Mount Parnitha, some 25 km (16 mi) from downtown Athens (accessible by car or cable car), and

23652-440: The stem of the verb θάω , stem θη- ( tháō , thē- , "to suck") to denote Athens as having fertile soil. Athenians were called cicada -wearers (Ancient Greek: Τεττιγοφόροι ) because they used to wear pins of golden cicadas. A symbol of being autochthonous (earth-born), because the legendary founder of Athens, Erechtheus was an autochthon or of being musicians, because the cicada is a "musician" insect. In classical literature,

23814-454: The structure of everyday life throughout the 15th to the 18th century. "Slavery came in different guises in different societies: there were court slaves, slaves incorporated into princely armies, domestic and household slaves, slaves working on the land, in industry, as couriers and intermediaries, even as traders". During the 16th century, Europe began to outpace the Arab world in the export traffic, with its trafficking of slaves from Africa to

23976-420: The surrounding areas in northern Nigeria at the turn of the 20th century, approximately 2 million to 2.5 million people living there were enslaved. Slavery in northern Nigeria was finally outlawed in 1936. Writing in 1998 about the extent of trade coming through and from Africa, the Congolese journalist Elikia M'bokolo wrote "The African continent was bled of its human resources via all possible routes. Across

24138-422: The terrible voyage, many during the arduous journey through the Middle Passage . The great majority were shipped to the Americas, but some also went to Europe and Southern Africa. While talking about the trade of slaves in East Africa in his journals, David Livingstone said To overdraw its evil is a simple impossibility. While travelling in the African Great Lakes Region in 1866, Livingstone described

24300-511: The town became an important centre for the production of soaps and dyes. The growth of the town attracted the Venetians , and various other traders who frequented the ports of the Aegean, to Athens. This interest in trade appears to have further increased the economic prosperity of the town. The 11th and 12th centuries were the Golden Age of Byzantine art in Athens. Almost all of the most important Middle Byzantine churches in and around Athens were built during these two centuries, and this reflects

24462-400: The war of independence, it was reduced to a town of about 4,000 people (less than half its earlier population) in a loose swarm of houses along the foot of the Acropolis. The first King of Greece , King Otto of Bavaria, commissioned the architects Stamatios Kleanthis and Eduard Schaubert to design a modern city plan fit for the capital of a state. The first modern city plan consisted of

24624-412: The west, Panticapaeum ( Kerch )—the most significant city in the region, Nymphaeum and Myrmekion ; on the east Phanagoria (the second city of the region), Kepoi , Hermonassa , Portus Sindicus and Gorgippia. These Greek colonies were originally settled by Milesians in the 7th and 6th centuries BC. Phanagoria (c. 540 BC) was a colony of Teos , and the foundation of Nymphaeum may have had

24786-415: Was institutionalized by the time the first civilizations emerged (such as Sumer in Mesopotamia , which dates back as far as 3500 BC). Slavery features in the Mesopotamian Code of Hammurabi (c. 1750 BC), which refers to it as an established institution. Slavery was widespread in the ancient world in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Slavery became less common throughout Europe during

24948-718: Was a common practice among Africans, Turks, Berbers and Arabs during that era. However, as the Atlantic trade of slaves increased its demand, local systems which primarily serviced indentured servitude expanded. European trading of slaves, as a result, was the most pivotal change in the social, economic, cultural, spiritual, religious, political dynamics of the concept of trading in slaves. It ultimately undermined local economies and political stability as villages' vital labour forces were shipped overseas as slave raids and civil wars became commonplace. Crimes which were previously punishable by some other means became punishable by enslavement. Slavery already existed in Kingdom of Kongo prior to

25110-431: Was common. In Mauritania it is estimated that up to 600,000 men, women and children, or 20% of the population, are currently enslaved, many of them used as bonded labor . Slavery in Mauritania was criminalized in August 2007. During the Darfur conflict that began in 2003, many people were kidnapped by Janjaweed and sold into slavery as agricultural labor, domestic servants and sex slaves. In Niger , slavery

25272-508: Was defeated by Caesar at Zela and was later killed by his former governor and son-in-law Asander . Before the death of Pharnaces II, Asander had married Pharnaces II's daughter Dynamis . Asander and Dynamis were the ruling monarchs until Caesar commanded a paternal uncle of Dynamis, Mithridates II to declare war on the Bosporan Kingdom and claimed the kingship for himself. Asander and Dynamis were defeated by Caesar's ally and went into political exile. However, after Caesar's death in 44 BC,

25434-424: Was enslaved. Roughly half the population of Madagascar was enslaved. Slavery in Ethiopia persisted until 1942. The Anti-Slavery Society estimated that there were 2,000,000 slaves in the early 1930s, out of an estimated population of between 8 and 16 million. It was finally abolished by order of emperor Haile Selassie on 26 August 1942. When British rule was first imposed on the Sokoto Caliphate and

25596-469: Was fought. Satyrus defeated his younger brother Eumelus at the Battle of the River Thatis in 310 BC but was then killed in battle, giving Eumelus the throne. Eumelus' successor was Spartocus III (303–283 BC) and after him Paerisades II. Succeeding princes repeated the family names, so it is impossible to assign them a definite order. The last of them, however, Paerisades V, unable to make headway against increasingly violent attacks from nomadic tribes in

25758-420: Was raided and possibly occupied for a short period, an event which left some archaeological remains and elements of Arabic ornamentation in contemporary buildings —but there is also evidence of a mosque existing in the city at the time. In the great dispute over Byzantine Iconoclasm , Athens is commonly held to have supported the iconophile position, chiefly due to the role played by Empress Irene of Athens in

25920-511: Was recorded in the areas of Elefsina and Tatoi on 10 July 1977. Athens became the capital of Greece in 1834, following Nafplion , which was the provisional capital from 1829. The municipality (city) of Athens is also the capital of the Attica region. The term Athens can refer either to the municipality of Athens, to Greater Athens or urban area, or to the entire Athens Metropolitan Area. The large city centre ( Greek : Κέντρο της Αθήνας , romanized :  Kéntro tis Athínas ) of

26082-432: Was rescued by the resolute leadership of the three Komnenos emperors Alexios , John and Manuel , Attica and the rest of Greece prospered. Archaeological evidence tells us that the medieval town experienced a period of rapid and sustained growth, starting in the 11th century and continuing until the end of the 12th century. The Agora (marketplace) had been deserted since late antiquity, began to be built over, and soon

26244-421: Was severely disturbed by westward migration in the 3rd–4th centuries. In the 250s AD, the Goths and Borani were able to seize Bosporan shipping and even raid the shores of Anatolia . There are no known coins from the Bosporan Kingdom after the last ones minted by Rhescuporis VI in 341, which makes constructing a chronology very difficult. Though the kingdom is traditionally believed to have been destroyed at

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