Athens’s “Golden Age” saw the works of the philosophers Socrates,
Plato, and Aristotle; the dramatists Sophocles, Aristophanes, and Eurip-
ides; the historians Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon; and the sculptors Praxiteles and Phidias. The Peloponnesian Wars with Sparta ended in Ath¬ ens’s defeat in 404, but it quickly recovered its independence and pros¬ perity. After 338 bc Athens came under Macedonia’s hegemony, which was lifted with the aid of Rome in 197 bc in a battle at Cynoscephalae. It became subject to Rome in 146 bc. In the 13th century Athens was taken by the Crusaders. It was conquered in 1456 by the Ottoman Turks, who held it until 1833, when it was declared the capital of independent Greece. Athens is Greece’s principal centre for business and foreign trade. The city’s ruins and many museums make it a major tourist destination. It was selected to host the 2004 Olympic Games.
The Varvakeion, a Roman marble copy (c. ad 130) of the colossal gold and ivory statue of the Athena Parthenos by Phidias (438 bc); in the National Archaeological Museum, Athens.
AUNARI/ART RESOURCE, NEW >ORK
atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries Chronic disease characterized by abnormal thickening of the walls of the arteries due to fatty deposits (atheromas) of cholesterol on the arterial inner walls (see- artery). These thicken, forming plaques that narrow the vessel channel (lumen) and impede blood flow. Scarring and calcification make the walls less elastic, raising blood pressure. Eventually plaques may completely block a lumen, or a blood clot (thrombus) may obstruct a narrowed chan¬ nel. Atherosclerosis of one or more coronary arteries (also called coro¬ nary heart disease) can decrease the heart muscle’s blood supply, causing angina pectoris. Complete blockage causes heart attack. In the brain, ath¬ erosclerosis may result in stroke. Treatments include drugs that reduce the level of cholesterol and fat in the blood, anticoagulants and other drugs that prevent the formation of blood clots, coronary bypass, and balloon ANGIOPLASTY.
athlete's foot Form of ringworm that affects the feet. In the inflam¬ matory type, the infection may lie inactive much of the time, with occa¬ sional acute episodes in which blisters develop, mostly between the toes. The dry type is a chronic condition marked by slight redness of the skin and dry scaling that may involve the sole and sides of the foot and the toenails, which become thick and brittle.
athletics See track and field
Athos Va- ,thos. Mount Mountain, northern Greece. Reaching a height of 6,670 ft (2,033 m), it occupies Aktf, a promontory of the Chalcidice Peninsula. It is the site of a semiautonomous republic of 20 monasteries and dependencies (skftes). Organized monastic life began there in 963, when St. Athanasius the Athonite founded the first monastery. By 1400
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Athyr ► atlas I 125
there were 40 monasteries. Long regarded as the holy mountain of the Greek Orthodox Church, it was declared a theocratic republic in 1927. Its churches and libraries house a rich collection of Byzantine art and ancient and medieval manuscripts.
Athyr See Hathor
Atitlan \,a-te-'tlan\, Lake Lake, southwestern Guatemala. It lies at an elevation of about 5,100 ft (1,560 m) in the central highlands. Occupy¬ ing a crater some 1,000 ft (300 m) deep, the lake is 12 mi (19 km) long and 6 mi (10 km) wide. On its borders are three volcanoes: Atitlan, Toliman, and San Pedro. Many of the towns along the lake, including Ati¬ tlan and San Lucas, are popular tourist destinations.
Atkins, Chet orig. Chester Burton Atkins (b. June 20, 1924, Lut- trell, Tenn., U.S.—d. June 30, 2001, Nashville, Tenn.) U.S. guitarist and record company executive. Atkins began his musical career as a fiddler in the early 1940s, but it was his signature style of playing guitar (bass rhythm played with thumb, melody picked with three fingers) that brought him worldwide acclaim. In the early 1950s he began playing electric guitar, pio¬ neering its use in country music. As an RCA Records executive, he pro¬ duced hit recordings for Elvis Presley, Jim Reeves, and Waylon Jennings.
Atlanta City (pop., 2000: 416,474; metro, area pop.: 4,112,198), capi¬ tal of Georgia, U.S. Lying in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Atlanta is Georgia’s largest city. In 1837 a spot was selected there for a railroad terminus that would serve the southeastern U.S. First named Ter¬ minus and later Marthasville, it was given the name Atlanta in 1845. An important supply depot during the American Civil War, it was burned by Union forces under William T. Sherman. Atlanta became the state capital in 1868. As it recovered from the war’s destruction, it began to epitomize the spirit of the “New South” in seeking reconciliation with the North. It was the home of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the first major Southern city to elect a black mayor (1970). It is the principal trade and transportation centre of the southeastern U.S.
Atlanta Campaign Important series of battles in the American Civil War in Georgia (May-September 1864). Though most of the battles ended in draws, they eventually cut off the main Confederate supply centre, Atlanta. Union troops under William T. Sherman forced the evacuation of the city (August 31-September 1) and then burned it. His victory assured the reelection of Pres. Abraham Lincoln later that year.
Atlanta Compromise Classic statement on race relations by Booker T. Washington, made in a speech at the Atlanta Exposition (1895). He asserted that vocational education, which gave blacks a chance for eco¬ nomic security, was more valuable than social equality or political office. Many African Americans feared that such a limited goal would doom them to indefinite subservience to whites; that fear led to the Niagara Move¬ ment and later to the founding of the NAACP.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Daily morning newspaper published in Atlanta, Ga., based largely on the former Atlanta Constitution. Gener¬ ally regarded as the “voice of the New South,” the Constitution counted among the great newspapers of the U.S. It became a leader among South¬ ern papers soon after its founding in 1868, and a succession of outstand¬ ing editors contributed to its distinction: Henry W. Grady (1850-89), in the late 1870s and 1880s; Clark Howell (1897-1938); and Ralph McGill, who served as both editor (1942-60) and publisher (1960-69). In 1950 it was bought by James M. Cox, who already owned the evening Atlanta Journal (founded 1883); for many years a merged paper, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, was published on weekends until the two papers were fully merged in 2001.
Atlantic Charter Joint declaration issued on Aug. 14, 1941, during World War II, by Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Among the statements made in this propaganda manifesto, signed when the U.S. had not yet entered the war, were that neither the U.S. nor Britain sought aggrandizement and that both advocated the restoration of self- government to peoples forcibly deprived of it. The charter was incorpo¬ rated by reference in the Declaration of the UN (1942).
Atlantic City City (pop., 2000: 40,517) and resort, southeastern New Jersey, U.S. Lying on narrow Absecon Island, the resort began to be developed in the mid-19th century. Amusement piers were constructed, and the first beachfront boardwalk was built there in 1870. The Miss America Pageant was established in Atlantic City in 1921. After World War II the city began to decline. In 1976 the state approved legalized