Classical Greece · 478-431 BC

Athens in its golden age: Pericles and the Parthenon

After the Persian Wars, Athens led an alliance of island and coastal cities and turned it into an empire. Students follow the tribute money to the Acropolis, where the Parthenon rose in fifteen years, and ask whether the golden age was paid for fairly.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, 477 BC to 432 BC
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

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A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

After the Persian Wars, Athens led an alliance of island and coastal cities and turned it into an empire. Students follow the tribute money to the Acropolis, where the Parthenon rose in fifteen years, and ask whether the golden age was paid for fairly.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Explain what the Delian League was and how Athens turned it into an empire.
  • Locate Athens, Delos and the Acropolis and describe what was built there under Pericles.
  • Weigh the benefits of the golden age against its costs for the allied cities.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

477 BC

The league of Delos

Open the map in 477 BC on the Aegean. Turn on Historical Events (Political) and find "Creation of the Delian League". Athens and over 150 island and coastal cities joined to keep fighting Persia; the treasury stood on the sacred island of Delos. Find Delos in the middle of the Cyclades.

Open this view on the map
b

447 BC

The money moves to Athens

Jump to 447 BC. In 454 BC the treasury was moved from Delos to Athens, and from 447 BC Pericles used league money to build the Parthenon. Zoom in on Athens and the Acropolis. The allies had become subjects who paid tribute. Why might Athens have argued this was fair?

Open this view on the map
c

432 BC

The temple finished

Go to 432 BC and find "Dedication of the Parthenon" in Historical Events (Religious). The temple took fifteen years and held a 12 m statue of Athena in gold and ivory. One year later the war with Sparta began. Trace the corridor of the Long Walls from Athens to its port Piraeus.

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. The Delian League began as a voluntary alliance against Persia. Within thirty years Athens punished cities that tried to leave. When does an alliance become an empire?
  2. Pericles said Athens was "the school of Greece". Theater, philosophy, sculpture and history all flourished there. How much of this depended on money from the allies?
  3. The Parthenon's marble came from Mount Pentelicus, 16 km away, and thousands of craftsmen worked on it. What did a huge building project do for ordinary Athenians?
  4. Athenian citizens voted on everything, yet Athens ruled other Greeks who had no vote. Can a democracy run an empire and stay democratic?
  5. The Parthenon was later a church, a mosque and a gunpowder store that exploded in 1687. Half its sculptures are in London. Who should own a 2,500-year-old building?
4

Game round

10 min

Rule History has no Pericles. Play one round as Augustus, who also rebuilt a capital in marble, then compare: Augustus paid with Egypt's wealth and ruled alone; Pericles paid with allied tribute and had to win a vote every year. Which was the stronger position?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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