The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1897-03-23
OLD AND NEW ATHENS.
The City Il Nearly a. PopuIous Now -
Ever In Its History,

~~"IA AA 4A@ 14ABNOEys
Ancient Athens spread round the
Acropolis, especially on the hills
facing the south, which are now un-
inhabited. The new town lies to the
north of the antique Citadel-an ex-
tension of the cluster of houses al
ready existing at the foot of the rock
when the war was ended. Two main
intersecting streets were laid out
Eolus street, starting from below
the Acropolis and running north
ward, and HermeS street, leading
from the royal palace toward the
Piraus. The capital was thus de-
signed to lie in the valley between
the Acropolis on one side and Mount
Lycabettus on the other. No ambi-
ton of future development is trace
able in the original plan. The ground
chosen and the width of the main
streets tend to show that the found
ers of the new city little dreamed of
its rapid extension. Squeezing her
self out of her narrow confines, the
city has gradually scaled the foot
of Lycabettus and spread beyond
the valley on both sides, principally
in a southwesterly direction. If the
extension had been in a straight
line toward the sea, Athens would
now be nearing a junction with the
Piraus. But both towns, as if avoid
ing each other, extend in parallel
lines, and one must look to a prob
ably distant future for the day when
they shall be connected by rows of
houses instead of the long walls of
ancient days.
The fashionable quarters of the
capital are to be found in the new
additions to the primitive plan-the
Neapolis, as it is called. Large thor
oughfares have there been opened,
fine buildings erected, both public
and private, and Athens, already
the finest city in the east of Europe,
bids fair to become, if no stop be put
to her progress, one of the hand
soonest cities on the Mediterranean.
Under King Otho's reign progress
was comparatively slow. AT the ac-
cession of King George, in the year
1868, the population did not exceed
$4,000. The advance has been more
rapid since then, especially during
the last 20 years of material pros
perity, which has lately been inter
rupted, let us hope temporarily, by
the financial entanglements of the
Greek government. During that
period the immigration of well to do
Greeks from abroad has not been
one of the least causes of this devel-
Opment. In 1879 the census showed
a population of nearly "a, 900; in
1889, Ia, 600, and today, Judging by
the vital and building statistics, the
number of inhabitants, if it does not
exceed, cannot fall short of 14O, 600.
The progress of the newly created
town of Piraeus is not less remark
able. From 5000 to 5000 souls,
which had already gathered there
some 30years ago, its population had
grown to "a, 600 in 1885, and is now
estimated at more than 40, 600. To
gether the two towns number as
many inhabitants as they probably
possessed in the fourth century B. c.
The sources of information as to
the population of ancient Athens
are, indeed, vague. But from a pas
sage of Xenophen giving the num-
ber of families as 10, 600, and from
passage of Athen8us indicating the
proportion of slaves to freemen at
the time of Demetrius Phalereus. it
may becalculated that at that epoch
the population of Athens, including
that of the Piraus, was about $780,
600. The area included within the
walls of both towns seems rather to
confirm this estimate The surround
ing country was thickly populated
much more so than at any sue
ceeding period. But it is more than
probable that the inhabitants of
Athens proper and of her seaport
never exceeded 200, 0OO.-D. Bikelas
in Century.