During the Antiquity, Athens was the most famous Greek city states, with its philosophy, arts and democratic ideal. It continued to thrive in the Roman Empire as a center of learnings. It suffered slow decline during 400 years of Ottoman rule. When Athens became the capital of modern Greece in 1834, 2 years after independence from the Ottoman Turks, it was only a town of modest size around the foot of the Acropolis. It has grown into a city of 3 million.