It took only 150 years for Athens to rise to dominance and then fall, a short enough time for the city's fluctuating fortunes to be felt by its citizens. In this well-written and accessible study, Robin Waterfield describes the `tragic drama' that is Athenian history, focusing on the events of 480 to 340 BC. This is not a conventional narrative history, although chronological discussions are included, instead, Robin Waterfield focuses on themes as well as the people who shaped Athenian history and formed its legacy. The book begins with an assessment of the Olympic ideal, followed by studies of Athens' political structures, its political peculiarities and curiosities, and the self-serving interests of its leaders. Waterfield also examines the relationship between warfare and democracy, Periklean Athens, poetry, religion, civil war, the Greek taste for symposia , sex and scandal, work and leisure, the Agora, slaves and women, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine Athens, and the 19th-century war for independence. The epilogue focuses once more on the Olympic Games, examining the modern history of the games and the significance of the 2004 games for the Athens of today. Includes maps and a list of key dates.