A Day in the Life of an Athenian
Journal of Euthicles, Athens
Entry 1: ACL 5 Hekatombaion, Ol. Praxiergus
Arrived at the agora early, hauling wine and olives to trade for some copper and tin. There is some talk about war between the poleis, which poleis are involved I do not know. I have heard Sparta to Thebes to any and all, made no matter who. I needed to purchase copper and tin to get a new helmet. My friend, Saphoraion, took a blow in the last battle against the Persians and his helmet is the reason he is still making pottery, teaching his son the ways of Athens, and pestering his wife. There has been peace since then, so I assumed I would not have to fight again, but that does not seem to be the case.
The metals I looked for usually came from Phoenician traders out of the west, so I headed to the barbarian section of the agora. Â Along the way, I traded for some wheat, and I stopped in front of the Altar of the 12 Gods and made a quick offering to Hermes, may he grant me skill in negotiation. Reached the Phoenician metal traders before midday. The long skirts of the Phoenicians in front of me were laced with gold, accenting their dark hair and eyes tastefully (9).
Entry 2: ACL 5 Hekatombaion, Ol. Praxiergus
The copper merchants were friendly but negotiated fiercely, they seemed to place a high value on trading and commerce over more noble pursuits. Â We Hellenes value art, philosophy, politics, and notably warfare as well as trade. Such is my goal in acquiring the materials for my new helm. I held my own over the commercial battlefield, eventually haggling down to a crate of olives for the copper I need. After the deal was done and my copper packed into the cart I asked the two copper sellers about the goings-on from around the Great Sea (Mediterranean Sea). Â Apparently, Naxos is threatening to leave the Delian League (1.) and some more Hellenic colonies are being founded in Southern Italia. Â I do not understand why anyone would want to leave one of the polis, they are the most excellent civilizations on Earth. Or why Naxos would leave the Delian League, the most noble alliance since Zeusâs pantheon, the Spartans are brutes with little appreciation for the virtues of freedom. Â Wonder what will come of these developments (14).
I thanked the Phoenician merchants for the information and they said that another Phoenician ship from far away would be arriving tomorrow. Â I left the agora, stopped by the Altar again on the way back home, thanking Hermes and asking for wisdom from Athena for the Archon in dealing with Naxos.
Entry 3: ACL 6 Hekatombaion, Ol. Praxiergus
Woke up this morning eager to deliver the materials for my helmet to the smith, the news about Naxos has been troubling me, better get my armor ready as soon as I can. First, I spend some time with my son, training him on the doru, before his lessons at the palaestra (13 and 15).
I arrived at the agora early and caught sight of the Phoenicians goods traveling to the market. The tin traders were even more richly dressed and bearded than their copper trader counterparts (2). They wore elegant collars and simple bracelets. Â Their fashion actually reminded me of some Egyptian traders that I saw in the agora a few archons past (3 and 4). Â The tin trade must be lucrative.
I had save my good wine to trade for the tin today, so the traders and I found an agreement fairly quickly.  They tried to get more wine for the price by bringing out a slave of theirs with fair hair and skin. He looked strange and out of place among the brown Phoenicians, but the tin merchants told me that he was from the island where they acquired the tin.  I asked them afterwards where that was.  They smiled cleverly and merely said âfar west and north, where the sun is dimmerâ (comes from the idea that winter is harsher and overcast and rain is common on the British Isles), I could tell they were being purposefully vague, so  I asked what this place was called. They called them the Tin Islands or Cassiterides (Herodotus), the slave perked up when he heard this name, but stayed silent (5).
I thanked the Phoenicians, packed up my purchases, and headed to the smith. Â I delivered the materials and the payment to the smith and approved the standard design of the helmet. I went home and spoke to my wife about the day. Â I shall sleep well tonight.
Entry 4: ACL 28 Hekatombaion, Ol. Praxiergus
The Athenian fleet has set sail for Naxos, carrying the fate of Naxos with it. I took my son to see the naĂştÄs (sailors) off (14). Â I told him that these were brave men upholding the might and virtue of Athens, he must know this if he is to be a citizen of Athens one day. Next, I took him to the Parthenon atop the Acropolis to visit the goddess of Athena and ask for the fleet to have wisdom in strategy and battle. On the way up I told my son to always honor the gods when making a decision or engaging in big events and the gods will see that he is successful.
Inside the temple, I could see my son perk up and grow a little taller. Â We walked to the magnificent statue of Athena. My son looked in awe at the stunning white and gold statue of the goddess of wisdom. He was silent for a moment before asking why Athena did not look like a normal Greek, âwhy is she so pale?â. Â I thought for a moment and answered: âBecause she is a goddess, why would she look like a normal human?â. Â My son looked disappointed at this answer, so I leaned close to him and whispered, âand probably she looks that way because the artist liked these colors on his statue over other colors.â Â My son smiled a little, like he was in on the secret with the artist, looked at Athena one last time and turned away. I think my son will remember today (12).
The preceding entries all focus on an Athenian citizen who believes in Athenian greatness and in the values and qualities of his society. Each entry covers a particular aspect of the ancient world that a person in the Mediterranean or Aegean Seas would encounter. Â The man is more well off than most Athenians. However, this financial security means nothing in the heat of battle when a stray javelin or spear may find your flesh, so he is investing in the materials for an armor upgrade. Â Greek hoplites had to provide their own equipment for battle and it was seen as a civic duty to battle for your city-states glory. The battle where the manâs friend took a blow is the Battle of Plataea, the final land battle of the Persian invasion of Greece in 479 BCE, only about 6 years from the time of the entries. Â The sources for these entries include websites referencing trade in Ancient Greece and Greek warfare.
The man goes to Phoenician merchants for the raw materials that the blacksmith would use to create bronze: copper and tin. Tin specifically was found in the British Isles, or what Herodotus called the Cassiterides or the Tin Islands, even though he believed the islands to be a myth.  The Phoenicianâs trade network spanned most of the Mediterranean, and they may have also travelled to the British Isles and Ireland. The  information about their voyages to Northern Europe  comes from late, and not necessarlily reliable, Roman sources(https://phoenicia.org/himilco.html; https://gatesofnineveh.wordpress.com/2011/12/13/high-north-carthaginian-exploration-of-ireland/) It is, however, a well-established fact that tin came to the Mediterranean from the British Isles.  I used dramatic license to allow the Phoenician traders to havea slave from Northern Europe. Herodotus describes the people that he calls Budini who live somewhere in Eastern Europe. He explains that the Budini have blue eyes and ruddish hair, and thus they look different from the Greek colonists living in the same area (Book IV, 108-9, see http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0064:entry=budini-geo) Recent research of the ancient Greek DNA suggests that Ancient Greeks looked similar to modern Greek, who are generally dark-eyed and dark-haired (http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/08/greeks-really-do-have-near-mythical-origins-ancient-dna-reveals ) The description of the dress Phoenicians traders is sourced from a late nineteenth century French classicist and archaeologist, so this information is dated.
In the year of Praxiergus, or 470-471 BCE the island of Naxos attempted to leave the Delian League, causing the Athenians to respond with naval force. The source for this was a book by Peter Brand on Sparta and Athens. Â I set this as the backdrop of the scene where the man visits the Parthenon even though the Parthenon was not finished until 432 BCE. The statue of Athena in the Parthenon is a magnificent gold and ivory statue that showed off the godâs splendour to the Athenians. The statueâs surface is much lighter than traditional Greek skin tones, and I wanted the son to question his father on the reason for this. The source for the statue is the ancient Greek historian Pausanias circa 200 AD.
Each entry represented a part of Athenian or Greek life that a citizen might experience and shows the attitude of the Greeks to their surroundings.
Journal of Olorus, Olympia
After travelling to Olympia, we have finally arrived at the festival. My son and I were at the events all day taking in all the sights.  At one point a crowd begin gathering in the amphitheater and a man came on stage.  My son pulled me into one of the seats and the man began to speak.  He told of the war with the Persians and our great triumph (my son especially loved this part), he told of the many peoples of the world from the Scythians in the north and their eyes the color of the sky and the lessons of the slave war, to the black (chroma de melanas) Ethiopians  in the south. A rather embarrassing moment came when the man told of far off lands and  my son burst into tears in front of the whole assembly.  My son was rather proud though, when the man responded to my sonâs tears by telling me that âyour sonâs soul yearns for knowledgeâ (6).  Afterward my son told me he wants to become a scholar like the man. My son, Thucydides, will make a great scholar if he refrains from sudden bouts of emotion.
This is an actual story told in Byzantine tales of the Ancient Greece called the Photius Bibliothec about how Thucydides went to a telling by Herodotus of his histories, where a young Thucydides broke down and Herodotus responded in the manner told in the entry.  However, the original Byzantine story is not very reliableand is not sourced well. Olorus is supposedly the name of the father of Thucydides as well as the name of a famous Thracian king (6). âEthiopiaâ was the Greek name for the area south of Egypt, and they often used it for the kingdom of Nubia (also known as Kush). For  Herodotusâs account of the Ethiopians, or Nubians, see http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/nebrowser?id=tgn,7000489&query=Perseus:text:1999.01.0126
For the Scythian war with their slaves, see, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.%204.1&lang=original Herodotus and other ancient authors described the way different peoples looked, but they did not have the concept of race (http://maximum-cat-entropy.tumblr.com/post/168023302098/ancient-greeks-and-race-herodotus)
Journal of Male, Farmer, Wartime
The war forced me from my daily life of tending to my fields; for in fearing for my life, I had to take refuge in the crowded city with those who are defenseless like me. Disappointment flooded my being as when I returned home from the safety of the city, for everything in my name was destroyed by Spartan hands. However, I must thank the gods for my good fortune compared to others; those who do not have homes are forced to live in god-forsaken places within the city, where privacy and cleanliness have come to naught. If time continues this way, I fear for my ruin, as my fields are my source of survival. War has not only disrupted my life, but other families as well. Women whose husbands have died at war are now forced to find lowly jobs, as opposed to the lives used to consist of solely weaving and bearing children. Those who once supervised slaves have almost becomes slaves themselves.
Source: The History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides, Book 5
Athenian Soldier present at the Melian Dialogue
Entry 1: Wartime has caused Athens to consider making the strategic takeover of the Melos. Their island is a crucial location for the triremes to resupply and reorganize, for they do not have the capability of carrying long-term supplies that the men need to stay strong and steadfast. We were instructed to accompany ambassadors to speak with the Melian councilmen, for they were steadfast in their convictions that they would like peace. They pleaded with the Athenian men sent that they were too descendants of the Lacedaemonians, and to consider them equals, but this was to no avail, for our men stated they would only consider those who were equal in power their equals. As this discussion ended in a stalemate, we returned to our camp and await further instructions.
Entry 2: I am saddened by the turn of events that has occurred. At first the Melians were adamant in their ways that the Lacedaemonians would come to save them from their fate of takeover by our men. However, as time closed in, and our armies came back to besiege the Melians, some broke in their steadfastness, and surrendered. However, I do not believe that anyone could have anticipated the only other ending that would occur today would be of their lives.We were instructed to have no mercy upon them, and no Melian walked away free. Melian men were left with not a measure of life left in them, and I can still hear the screams of the women and children as they watched their men as they were subjected to this horror. I pray to the gods that I will always be spared a life of hardship these women and children will to be subjected to.
The preceding entries reflect that of an individual who is a soldier, and ends at Thucydidesâ dramatization of the Siege of Melos, reflecting his Melian Dialogue. Thucydides played a large role in documenting the history of the Peloponnesian War; these entries are an alternative means of presenting his information.
Brand, Peter J. Athens & Sparta: Democracy vs. Dictatorship.
Perrot et Chipiez, pp. 519, 523, &c.
Ibid. pp. 531, 533; Di Cesnola, pp. 129, 131, &c.
Perrot et Chipiez, pp. 527, 533, 539; Di Cesnola, pp. 129, 145, 154.
https://gatesofnineveh.wordpress.com/2011/12/13/high-north-carthaginian-exploration-of-ireland/
Photius Bibliothec. Cod. lx p 59, cited by Rawlinson (1859), p. 15
https://www.ancient.eu/article/833/the-athenian-calendar/
https://www.ancient.eu/article/115/trade-in-ancient-greece/
http://www.phoenician.org/phoenicians.htm
http://classics.mit.edu/Thucydides/pelopwar.html
https://www.ancient.eu/article/785/athena-parthenos-by-phidias/
https://weaponsandwarfare.com/2015/08/06/armament-and-fighting-style-greek-vs-persian/
Brand, Peter J. Athens & Sparta: Democracy vs. Dictatorship.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/education/Athens