Life in Ancient Athens

In reading of the life of ordinary Athenians, I can't help but realize how, generally, simple, their lives were. This is not to say that their lives were boring, far from it, in fact, I am very surprised to find out just how eventful life in the ancient world could be. By simple I am referring to the lifestyle that the average Athenian expected, to the "standard of living". I think it is very important to recognize that the Athenians of the classical age--at least the early classical age--lived, for the most part, without luxuries, and, although there certainly were a good deal of festivals and holidays in early Athens, the average person was not really concerned with luxury. In my opinion, this is something that is of key importance in a society, and, although I'm not sure of this, I'm willing to bet that the Greeks began to be eclipsed by their simple and straightforward western neighbors, the Romans at the same time as they began to embrace luxury, and to seek a lifestyle more expensive than that of their fathers.…