Performances of prosperity during the heyday of the Athens city-state (Pericles period, BC443~BC429):
1. Rapid increase in population: during the Peloponnesian War (BC431~BC404) In 431 BC when the outbreak broke out, the total population of the Athens city-state (including slaves, female citizens who actually had no rights, and foreigners) reached 390,000, of which the number of male citizens exceeded 40,000. In the era of ancient Greek civilization, most city-states had a total population of only tens of thousands, including slaves. It should be said that Athens' population of 390,000 was already an astronomical figure.
2. Slavery reached its peak: In 431 BC, the total population of the city-state of Athens was 390,000, of which 250,000 were male and female slaves. Slaves, who accounted for the vast majority of the population, undertook most of the social production tasks. Almost all farmland was cultivated by slaves. Handicraft products and almost all commodities were also produced by slaves. On average, every fourth estate (employee level) citizen had them in their home. 2 slaves, slave labor was used by almost all citizens of Athens.
3. The industrial and commercial economy developed unprecedentedly, and the commodity economy was extremely prosperous: During the Periclean period, Athens' mining, urban construction, pottery, metallurgy, and shipbuilding industries developed to their peak. During this period, Athens' foreign trade mainly focused on exporting olives, grapes and other cash crops and industrial products, and relied on imported food. The Delian League (BC477~BC404), headed by Athens, controlled the sea lines of communication between the Bosporus and the Hellespont (Dardanelles). The maritime trade range ranged from the northeast to the Crimean Peninsula on the northern coast of the Black Sea. (today's Crimean Republic of the Russian Federation), to Egypt in the southeast, to Sicily and even Carthage (today's Tunisia in the Republic of Tunisia) to the west. Thanks to the development of maritime trade, the port of Piraeus in the city-state of Athens quickly prospered, with many docks, shops, hotels, and even financial places for currency exchange. In addition, the slave trade in Athens was also very prosperous during the Periclean period. There were many slave markets in the Acropolis, and each market had a large daily trading volume.
4. The city-state of Athens became powerful and became the overlord of the Greek peninsula: During the Periclean period, Athens had completely controlled the Delian League and turned it into the "Athenian Empire". At this time, there were more than 250 city-states in the Delian League, covering almost all city-states along the Aegean coast and islands except the Peloponnese Peninsula, and also included the western coastal areas of the Asia Minor Peninsula. At that time, Athens had more than 30,000 troops and the Athenian navy had thousands of warships. During this period, Athens' hegemony even surpassed that of Sparta.
5. Athens’ culture flourished and became the “school of all Greece”: During the Periclean period, Athens was full of talented people, including politicians such as Pericles and Nicias, philosophers such as Socrates, and historians. The family includes Thucydides and Herodotus, the tragedians include Sophocles and Euripides (formerly translated as "Odridis"), and the comedy writers include Aristephan. During this period, literature (poetry, tragedy, comedy), art (architecture, painting, music, dance, sports), philosophy, history, geography, medicine, and natural science (mathematics, physics, astronomy) flourished in Athens. A hundred schools of thought contended, and the Parthenon was rebuilt, and the worship of the goddess Athena was promoted throughout Greece. All city-states in ancient Greece and even other civilizations in the Mediterranean region admired the cultural achievements of Athens and came to Athens to study Athenian culture. Athens became the "school of all Greece."