During the course of a day we meet 24 Athenians from all strata of society—from the slave to the politician, the fishmonger to the philosopher, the soldier to the vase painter—and get to know what the real Athens was like by spending an hour in their company. We encounter a different one of these characters—all from different walks of life—every chapter, with each chapter forming an hour in a day in the life of the ancient city. We also get to spy on the daily doings of notable Athenians through the eyes of regular people as the city hovers on the brink of the fateful war that will destroy its golden age.

在一天的时间里，我们遇到了24个来自社会各阶层的雅典人--从奴隶到政治家，从鱼贩到哲学家，从士兵到花瓶画家，通过与他们相处一小时来了解真正的雅典是什么样的。我们每一章都会遇到不同的人物--他们都来自不同的行业，每一章都构成了这个古城一天中的一个小时的生活。我们还可以通过普通人的眼睛窥探著名的雅典人的日常行为，因为这座城市正徘徊在毁灭其黄金时代的致命战争的边缘。