Contemporary Athens, home to four million people, is the largest city in Greece. In that sense it remains faithful to its role during the time of Pericles. In the middle of the 5th century BCE Athens had a territory of 2,600 square kilometers and a population of half a million people. It was the wealthiest and most populous Greek city-state. Its coin, struck from silver mined in the south-east of Attica, was the most desirable currency in the Greek world. Its politics were democratic and most offices were open to all citizens (except for the poorest). The general assembly of the people decided many matter with few limits on its freedom, and every politician had to take into consideration the aspirations and dreams of this volatile mass of free citizens.