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Athens (Ancient Greek: Ἀθῆναι, Athênai), was a prominent city-state (polis) of ancient Greece during the classical period (480–323 BC), in the peninsula of Attica. Athens was a centre for the arts, learning, and philosophy, and is widely referred to as a cradle of Western civilization largely due to the impact of its cultural and political achievements during the 5th and 4th centuries BC. Athenian democracy was established in 508 BC and, with a few brief interruptions, remained in place for 180 years.
Together with Sparta, Athens played a crucial role in the Greek victories against the Achaemenid Empire during the Greco-Persian Wars. After the Persian wars, Athens established hegemony over a wide range of other Greek polities around the Aegean, known as the Delian League, during the 440s and 430s BC. In the Peloponnesian War, the Athenean empire fought against rival Sparta and the Peloponnesian League, suffering a decisive defeat in 404 BC. Athens recovered and founded the Second Athenian League, while it continued to be a major maritime power in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean up until the end of the Lamian War in 322 BC, one year after the death of Alexander the Great.
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