ABSTRACT
The City of Greece most renowned for stately Edifices, for the Genius of its Inhabitants, and for the culture of every Art, was Athens. After the defeat of Xerxes, the Grecians, secure from invaders and in full possession of their Liberty, arrived at the height of their Prosperity. It was then, they applied themselves with the greatest assiduity and success to the culture of the Arts. Sculpture and Architecture attained their highest degree of excellence at Athens in the time of Pericles, when Phidias distinguished himself with such superior ability, that his works were considered as wonders by the Ancients so long as any knowledge or taste remained among them. The city of Greece being now Mistress of the world, and possessed of unbounded Wealth and Power, became ambitious also of the utmost embellishments which the arts could bestow.
