Post-War Athens

After the Persian Wars Athens and Sparta became "superpowers" of the Hellenistic world. While Athens was transformed into an extravagant center of culture and intellectualism, Sparta remained focused on their military. The video excerpt above is from a documentary on the rise of ancient Athens under Pericles.

Pericles rebuilt the Athenian acropolis, which included the Parthenon with Pheidias' Athene Parthenos still intact, and the Erechtheion. However, it was because of these expenditures that the Athenians found themselves underfunded when the war with Sparta began. While the wars came and went, at least some of the beautiful architecture of the Acropolis can still be seen.