Page 21 - A History of the World in 25 Cities

In wealthy households, young girls and boys lived with their mothers in the women’s quarters, separate from the men. Children’s toys included swings, see-saws and yo-yos.
At the age of seven, well-off boys were sent to school to learn maths, reading and writing, sport and music. Girls didn’t
go to school – they stayed at home and learned how to spin, weave, sew and look after children. Boys of poorer
households didn’t go to school either – instead they went to work with their parents, along with the girls.
Young men aged 18 were given two years of military training. Athens was often at war, and every citizen aged between 20 and 50 could be called on to fight in battles or patrol Athens’ borders.
In ancient Athens, a girl might be named Lysimache or Syeris, while a boy might be called Stephanos or Theomnestos. But in daily life, girls and women were hardly ever called by their actual names. Instead, they were often referred to as the daughter, wife or sister of a man in their family.
While all the hard work was being done by enslaved people, some Athenians had time for thinking and writing.
The son of a stonemason and a midwife, Socrates became one of the most famous philosophers in history. Unfortunately for him, some people didn’t like his ideas. He was accused of corrupting young people and sentenced to death by poison.
Athens was at war with the Persians for 50 years (the Greeks won), and for 25 years against another Greek city state, Sparta. Sparta won that war, in 404 BCE, and Athens was never as powerful again.
Population of Athens city (including foreigners, women, children and Population of Athens and the surrounding area today: enslaved people): 3OOOOO 375
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Lysimache