The Acropolis of Athens. Ancient. Majestic. World-famous. 

Of all the remains passed on to us by the Ancients, only a handful have achieved the status of “icon.” The Great Wall of China. The Pyramids of Egypt. The Coliseum of Rome. All are testaments to the indomitable will of man … to ambition and power and steely-eyed determination.

The Acropolis of Athens is one of those iconic edifices. It isn’t the highest hill in Athens. Mount Lykabettós—just to the northeast—is almost twice as tall. But the Acropolis had just the right combination of accessibility, flat summit, natural defenses, and fresh water sources. The summit—about 300 yards long and 170 yards wide—made a perfect spot for settlements, then palaces, and—eventually—temples; commoners finding themselves displaced by kings who, in turn, were evicted by the gods.

Whatever the hour, the Acropolis dominates Athens. It is a stunning, beautiful testament to the creativity, artistry, and ambition of the ancient Athenians. In the sunlight of early morning and late afternoon, it glows with a golden patina that takes your breath away.

Realize that the Acropolis as we know it required a perfect storm to be born. A host of conditions had to come together in just the right way at just the right time. It took a Perikles—a man of towering ambition and sweeping vision and vast political clout—to drive an accomplishment of this scale. It took a wealth of talent to translate vision into marble and bronze: Kallíkrates the architect; Pheídias the sculptor; and the hundreds of artisans who squared blocks and fluted columns and coffered ceilings. It required the right circumstances: heroic events to celebrate, great victories to commemorate. And, it needed the right crisis: had the Persians not torn the Acropolis apart, Perikles would not have had a blank slate on which to paint his masterpiece.

And last, but not least, it took a boatload of money. The Acropolis that you see before you cost billions of dollars in today’s money to build. Egypt had such vast reserves of cash. Persia. But Athens? A single city? 

Athens led the Delian League–an association of city-states banded together for mutual defence against the dreaded Persians. Contributions to this common defence poured into Athens from all over the Mediterranean world. What were they to do with all that money lying around? Perikles had a suggestion. Why not invest it to make Athens the greatest city the world had ever known? Why not use the money to build an Athens the world would envy? Perikles called this an appropriate use of the funds managed by the city. His opponents called it the largest embezzlement in known history. Whatever the spin, it seems clear that funds collected out of fear ended up furthering the cause of beauty.

Within a year of finally completing the Acropolis building program, Athens will lose the Peloponnesian War. Its fleet will be destroyed and, with it, its empire and its wealth. Sparta will garrison troops right here … on the Acropolis. For a time, democracy will die. Athens has enjoyed her “Golden Age”—an explosion of achievement in almost every area of human endeavor that lasted 75 years. The Acropolis and her edifices stand as a lasting tribute to that brief flowering of creative and visionary genius. It is as if giants walked the land in those days, larger in ambition and dreams and daring than the lesser mortals who came after them.