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*Includes pictures *Includes ancient descriptions of Attica and Athens *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading According to Herodotus, the Persians offered the Athenians an alliance in 480 BCE. The other Greek city-states (polei) were understandably concerned that the Athenians, who had proved so crucial in defeating the Persians at Salamis, might take up the offer. The Athenians, however, responded, "If we were offered all the gold in the world or the most beautiful and fertile land imaginable, we would never be willing to join our common enemy and be party to the enslavement of Greece. First there is the burning and desecration of our temples and the images of our gods which compels us to extract from the perpetrators the greatest vengeance we can rather than come to terms with them. Then there is our Greek heritage, the bond of blood and language, our holy altars and sacrifices, and our common way of life, which it would ill become Athens to betray, as long as a single Athenian survives there will be no terms with Xerxes." In this statement, Athenian attitudes toward what it meant to be Greek are clearly and eloquently articulated. The core of being Greek lay in the fact that they shared a common outlook on life, rather than a common country. To an extent, that attitude has even prevailed into modern times; the 20th century Greek monarch, for example, held the title of "King of the Hellenes" rather than "King of Hellas." What, therefore, was the role - if any - of the land itself in shaping Greek (and particularly Athenian) attitudes toward themselves and their way of life? Did the land play any significant part at all in forming Greeks and Athenians? To answer these questions, it is essential to examine the impact of climate and landscape in the region known as Attica on the creation of Greek culture. The Greek world in the Classical period is not synonymous with modern day Greece but extended far more widel