The Golden Age of Greece lasts from the reign of Pisistratus, a tyrant who ruled over Athens around 528 BC, until the death of Alexander the Great, in 323 BC. So right about 200 years. The Golden Age of Greece is also known as the Classical Period, or Classical Greece.
So what made it golden? What made it a classic? Well, there were two ascendent cities during this time, Athens and Sparta. They both were incredibly prosperous, and both laid claim to be the leading city in Greece. They fought several times during this period, and we’ll talk about those battles in the next episode. But what really made this time period unique was all of the stuff going on in Athens during this time. So the Golden Age of Greece is really a mostly Athenian thing, even though Sparta was doing very well during this time also. But all the ‘golden’ stuff came from Athens.