Temples were the prime demonstration of state wealth, to say nothing of piety (the backroom of the Parthenon was the
treasury). They were also, in their way, the first museums, being display places for precious booty and for interesting
bygones (Heracles' cup, the Amazon queen's belt, and so on). The tyrants of archaic Ionia went for sheer size with no little
element of competition in overall dimensions (the late Archaic Artemisium at Ephesus measured 115.14 X 55.10m.). This
was a tradition sustained by the nouveaux riches tyrants of the western colonies as at Syracuse or Acragas, but the
Parthenon shows that a democracy too could aim to impress by bulk (69.50 X 30.88 m.). The logistics of these undertakings
probably presented more problems of personnel than of finance. Slaves might be hired for haulage, but for the finer work
Pericles had to drain Greece of masons to rebuild Athens, though there seems to have been a remarkable reservoir of citizen
talent.
Even with a democracy it was open to prominent private citizens to promote building. After the Persian invasion Cimon and
his kin in Athens appear to have been responsible for the creation of a shrine for Theseus (which he endowed with a prize
exhibit, the bones of the hero himself) and of the gallery which became known as the Painted Stoa for its panel paintings,
which combined mythological narrative with state propaganda.
Pericles' decision to use League funds, contributed for the war against Persia, for the rebuilding of Athens (above p. 219)
heralded the most important programme of state patronage to have been seen in Greece, only to be rivalled later in the
capitals of the Hellenistic kings. Work was not completed until the end of the century, the last phase being undertaken
despite the distractions of a crippling and unsuccessful war. But even these latest additions can be seen as necessary parts of
the overall programme. The Acropolis was to have a new, or rather redesigned, temple to replace the incomplete one
overthrown by the Persians. The Parthenon was less a cult place than a war memorial, dedicated as much to the glory of
Athens and Athenians as to the city goddess Athena. While it was building other temples were planned and under
construction in Athens and in the Attic countryside, some not to be completed until later in the century, when also the
Acropolis received its new monumental gateway (Propylaea, in the 430s) and the Erechtheum (mainly 421-406), to house
its oldest cults. The architects, Ictinus, Mnesicles, and whoever planned most of the countryside temples (with the
Hephaesteum in Athens) refined principles of proportion and detail for the Doric order, introducing new subtleties of line to
distract the eye from the possible deadening effect which the comparatively primitive engineering of the structures could
induce. The highest standards of design and execution were applied at every stage, from overall plan to the detail of a
ceiling coffer. An infinite ability to take pains has not always been a characteristic of major art, and in some arts it proves
positively hostile, but it is part of the essence of Greek art and architecture, an enhancement not a distraction.
The state too took a hand in the construction of other public buildings, the colonnaded stoas which served administration or
commerce, council halls, theatres whose function was social as well as religious. Away from home a tyranny or state
advertised itself by expensive dedications in the national sanctuaries. In the Archaic period these might take the form of
treasuries, elaborate architectural and sculptural pavilions. At Delphi we should single out that of Siphnos (about 525 B.C.)
with its proliferation of sculptural ornament, a tithe from a lucky strike of gold and silver in the island; and at Olympia the
series of treasuries dedicated by prosperous colonies in south Italy and Sicily. At Delphi Athens set the bronze group which
celebrated the victory at Marathon, but many a state dedication was for success over other Greeks, and the sanctuaries
commemorated inter-state conflict far more often than any co-operative efforts against foreign aggressors.