In 88 BC in the
First Mithridatic War, Athens and other Greek city-states
revolted against Rome. Part of the resentment towards Rome was due to the suppression of democracy. At this time
Mithridates VI installed
Aristion as
tyrant. The revolt was suppressed by the
Roman general Sulla who leveled most of the city's fortifications and homes after the
Siege of Athens and Piraeus, although many civic buildings and monuments were left intact. The
Macedonian astronomer Andronicus of
Cyrrhus subsequently designed the
Tower of the Winds for the
Roman forum, which mostly survives to the present day. Under Roman rule, Athens was given the status of a
free city because of its widely admired schools, which meant it was largely autonomous and avoided direct Roman taxation. When
Mark Antony was ruling the eastern provinces he would often use Athens as his base. Many temples and public buildings were built in Greece by emperors and wealthy Roman nobility, especially in Athens.
Julius Caesar began construction of the
Roman agora in Athens, which was finished by
Augustus. The main gate, the
Gate of Athena Archegetis, was dedicated to the patron goddess of Athens,
Athena. The
Agrippeia was built in the centre of the
Ancient Agora of Athens by
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. Emperor
Hadrian () was an Athenian citizen and a
philhellene who before he became emperor had served as
eponymous archon of Athens. He saw himself as an heir to
Pericles and made many contributions to Athens. He built the
Library of Hadrian in the city and completed the construction of the
Temple of Olympian Zeus, some 638 years after its construction had been started by Athenian tyrants but ended because of the belief that building on such a scale would cause
hubris. He also constructed a
gymnasium, an
aqueduct which is still in use, several other temples and sanctuaries and a bridge. Adrianou (
Hadrian Street) exists to this day, leading from the arch to the
Ancient Agora. The Athenians built the
Arch of Hadrian to commemorate the refoundation of the city by Hadrian. As with most of Greece, the Church of Athens was established by
St. Paul during his
second missionary journey, probably in 50 or 51 AD, when he Paul daily preached to the Jews and God-fearing Greeks in the synagogue as well as to the
Agora. He was taken to the court of the
Areopagus where he
preached to the elite including the Greek intellectuals. According to the
Acts of the Apostles (17:16–34), after the sermon, a number of people became followers of Paul, thus forming the kernel of the Church in Athens.
Dionysius the Areopagite was the first
Bishop of Athens. The city was
sacked by the
Heruli in 267 AD, resulting in the burning of all the public buildings, the plundering of the lower city and the damaging of the Agora and Acropolis. After the sack, the city to the north of the Acropolis was hastily refortified on a smaller scale, with the agora left outside the walls. Athens remained a centre of learning and philosophy during its 500 years of Roman rule, patronized by emperors such as
Nero as well as Hadrian. In the early 4th century AD the
Eastern Roman Empire began to be governed from
Constantinople, and with the construction and expansion of the imperial city, many of Athens's works of art were taken by the emperors to adorn it. The Empire became
Christianised, and the use of
Latin declined in favour of exclusive use of
Greek; in the
Roman imperial period, both languages had been used. In the later Roman period, Athens was ruled by the emperors continuing until the 13th century, its citizens identifying themselves as citizens of the Roman Empire ("
Rhomaioi"). The conversion of the empire from paganism to Christianity greatly affected Athens, resulting in reduced reverence for the city. Ancient monuments such as the Parthenon, Erechtheion and the Hephaisteion (Theseion) were converted into churches. As the empire became increasingly anti-pagan, Athens became a provincial town and experienced fluctuating fortunes. The city remained an important centre of learning, especially of
Neoplatonism—with notable pupils including
Gregory of Nazianzus,
Basil of Caesarea and the Roman emperor
Julian ()—and consequently a centre of paganism. Christian items do not appear in the archaeological record until the early 5th century. The sack of the city by the
Herules in 267 and by the
Visigoths under their king
Alaric I () in 396, however, dealt a heavy blow to the city's fabric and fortunes, and Athens was henceforth confined to a small fortified area that embraced a fraction of the ancient city. an event whose impact on the city is much debated, but is generally taken to mark the end of the ancient history of Athens. ==See also==