The city of Athens was home to some of the most aesthetically sophisticated architecture of the ancient world. In particular, the Acropolis, a sanctuary of religious structures, has been extensively excavated to reveal the superior place its wonders occupy in classical architectural history. Located on a hill in the center of Athens, these buildings celebrate the origins of Athenian culture through the veneration of the goddess Athena. After the first Acropolis complex was destroyed by Persian troops in 480 BC, a new complex was commissioned by the Athenian ruler Pericles and directed by the architectural sculptor Pheidias. This new complex was much criticized by surrounding communities because their payments to the Delian League’s treasury, kept in Athens to provide military support across the region, was instead used for Pericles’s reconstruction of the Acropolis. In Athens, however, the Acropolis became a symbol of Athenian supremacy across the region, demonstrati...