In the classical period, Athens was a center for the arts, learning and philosophy, home of Plato's "Akademia" and Aristotle's "Lyceum". Athens was also the birthplace of Socrates, Pericles, Sophocles, and other philosophers, writers and politicians of the ancient world. It is widely referred to as the cradle of western civilization, and the birthplace of democracy. Its culture and political achievements during the 5th and 4th centuries BC had widespread effects.