ABSTRACT
The fifth century BC marked the high point of Athens, with extraordinary achievements in literature, architecture, and visual arts matched by political power and wealth. Its only rival for leadership of the Greek world was Sparta, always militarily strong. This dominance would be brief. Although Athens continued as an intellectual center in the fourth century BC and indeed beyond, defeat at the hands of the Spartans in 404 BC and the dissolution of its empire at the end of the long Peloponnesian War ended both Athens's power and the profits reaped from the states once subject to it. In this chapter we shall examine the major material remains of fifth-century BC Athens - the building program on the Acropolis and the Classical Agora - and explore how the Acropolis monuments, in particular, served to enhance the prestige of the city in this its century of glory.
