Athens in the Age of Pericles, 461-429 BCE | Calm Bedtime History

The morning light comes early over Mount Hymettus, catching the dust that rises from the Agora where fish-sellers are already laying out their catch. It is the spring of 438 BCE in Athens, and the city has been rebuilding itself for nearly a generation since the Persian fires of 480 BCE. On the Acropolis above, the Parthenon stands nearly complete, its freshly painted marble gleaming pale gold in the dawn, visible from ships approaching the harbour at Piraeus seven kilometres away.