In 447 BC, under the leadership of Pericles, Athens began building a new temple to the goddess Athena on the Acropolis, replacing the one destroyed by the Persians in 480. Designed by the architects Ictinus and Callicrates, with sculptures supervised by Phidias, the Doric marble temple was completed in 438 and decorated until 432. Its subtle curves correct optical illusions. The Parthenon was paid for from the treasury of the Delian League, and expressed the wealth and confidence of Athens at its height. It was a church, a mosque and a powder store before a Venetian shell blew it apart in 1687.
Before and after
- 456 BCEDeath of Aeschylus
- c. 451 BCEThe Twelve Tables, Rome's first written law
- from 450 BCE to 15 CELa Tène culture
- c. 449 BCEConstruction of the Temple of Hephaestus
- from 448 BCE to 433 BCEConstruction of the Parthenon begins
- 445 BCEBirth of Aristophanes
- from 431 BCE to 404 BCEPeloponnesian War
- from c. 430s BCE to 470sStatue of Zeus at Olympia
- c. 430s BCEHerodotus writes the Histories
More in Art, literature & culture
- c. 3,000 BCECuneiform
- c. 2,100s BCEEpic of Gilgamesh
- c. 1,500 BCERigveda
- c. 1,500 BCEOrigins of Zoroastrianism
- c. 750s BCEThe Homeric epics are composed
- 42 CEOrigins of Coptic Orthodox Church
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires. You can also browse everything in the 5th century BCE.