WEBVTT 00:00:00.478 --> 00:00:02.945 (dramatic music) 00:00:02.945 --> 00:00:04.942 - [Voiceover] Ancient Greece. 00:00:04.942 --> 00:00:07.983 The birthplace of Western civilization. 00:00:07.983 --> 00:00:12.546 For over 1,000 years this strong and charismatic people 00:00:12.546 --> 00:00:15.281 devised the most advanced technological feats 00:00:15.281 --> 00:00:17.695 the world had ever seen. 00:00:17.695 --> 00:00:20.642 - So you have the appearance of a new generation 00:00:20.642 --> 00:00:24.322 of thinkers, and you have a reason to build things, 00:00:24.322 --> 00:00:27.062 to understand nature, to create technology. 00:00:27.062 --> 00:00:29.559 - [Voiceover] Feats of engineering so amazing 00:00:29.559 --> 00:00:33.621 the ancients believed they had been built by the gods. 00:00:33.621 --> 00:00:36.096 - One thing that we should really wonder 00:00:36.096 --> 00:00:38.532 is how on Earth these people managed 00:00:38.532 --> 00:00:43.532 to lift these truly huge, gigantic stones. 00:00:43.733 --> 00:00:45.439 - [Voiceover] These technological wonders 00:00:45.439 --> 00:00:47.239 were fueled by leaders, 00:00:47.239 --> 00:00:50.176 whose thirst for greatness united a people 00:00:50.176 --> 00:00:53.799 and launched them to the heights of empire. 00:00:53.799 --> 00:00:57.344 (dramatic music) 00:00:57.344 --> 00:01:00.758 But this brilliant burst of culture and creativity 00:01:00.758 --> 00:01:03.277 would fall victim to savage battles 00:01:03.277 --> 00:01:06.353 that pitted brother against brother. 00:01:06.353 --> 00:01:09.661 A duel to the death that would lead to the end 00:01:09.661 --> 00:01:11.607 of a golden age. 00:01:15.617 --> 00:01:20.569 (dramatic music) 00:01:26.274 --> 00:01:29.072 September, 480 BC, 00:01:29.072 --> 00:01:31.975 morning breaks over the island of Salamis 00:01:31.975 --> 00:01:33.901 and the thin, mile wide strait 00:01:33.901 --> 00:01:36.868 that separates it from mainland Greece. 00:01:38.278 --> 00:01:41.458 The calm sea provides no hint of the great battle 00:01:41.458 --> 00:01:44.001 that is about to begin here. 00:01:44.001 --> 00:01:46.172 By day's end, the Mediterranean 00:01:46.172 --> 00:01:49.023 will be flowing red with blood. 00:01:50.816 --> 00:01:52.940 At stake is nothing less than the future 00:01:52.940 --> 00:01:55.076 and independence of Greece, 00:01:55.076 --> 00:01:57.270 a country of islands and city-states 00:01:57.270 --> 00:01:59.453 which lie just outside the reach 00:01:59.453 --> 00:02:02.378 of the greatest empire in the known world, 00:02:02.378 --> 00:02:03.847 Persia. 00:02:07.255 --> 00:02:10.271 - [Barry] Persia was the world's superpower of it's day. 00:02:10.271 --> 00:02:14.069 Enormously wealthy, enormously self-confident. 00:02:14.069 --> 00:02:16.878 The greatest multi-ethnic, multi-cultural empire 00:02:16.878 --> 00:02:19.269 the world had seen. 00:02:19.269 --> 00:02:20.674 - [Voiceover] A Persian invasion force 00:02:20.674 --> 00:02:24.302 of epic proportions is on the horizon. 00:02:27.988 --> 00:02:32.771 As many as 700 ships, carrying 150,000 warriors 00:02:32.771 --> 00:02:36.892 determined to add Greece to their empire, 00:02:36.892 --> 00:02:40.885 but one Greek is poised and ready for battle, 00:02:40.885 --> 00:02:43.567 his name is Themistocles. 00:02:43.567 --> 00:02:45.436 An Athenian admiral and statesman 00:02:45.436 --> 00:02:48.995 who has been preparing for this moment for years. 00:02:51.195 --> 00:02:52.751 - When going up against Persia, 00:02:52.751 --> 00:02:54.468 the world's greatest superpower of the time 00:02:54.468 --> 00:02:57.184 would be no day at the beach for Themistocles. 00:02:57.184 --> 00:02:58.926 Hello, I'm Peter Weller. 00:02:58.926 --> 00:03:00.249 First of all, the Greek naval fleet 00:03:00.249 --> 00:03:02.152 was outnumbered two to one. 00:03:02.152 --> 00:03:04.904 Second of all, Themistocles faced the almost insurmountable 00:03:04.904 --> 00:03:07.471 problem of trying to unite a completely 00:03:07.471 --> 00:03:09.351 disparate and contentious group of warriors 00:03:09.351 --> 00:03:10.871 into one command. 00:03:10.871 --> 00:03:12.833 You see, the good news about the civic development 00:03:12.833 --> 00:03:15.550 of Ancient Greece was the city-state. 00:03:15.550 --> 00:03:17.790 Each of these city-states was sort of a self-contained, 00:03:17.790 --> 00:03:21.204 self-reliant mini country within Greece. 00:03:21.204 --> 00:03:23.583 The bad news about the civic development of Ancient Greece 00:03:23.583 --> 00:03:25.510 was the city-state. 00:03:25.510 --> 00:03:28.609 Because in as much as each of these city-states 00:03:28.609 --> 00:03:31.408 sort of spoke the same lingo, worshiped the same gods, 00:03:31.408 --> 00:03:33.729 there was really no sense of a national unity, 00:03:33.729 --> 00:03:35.842 and their only priority was their own particular 00:03:35.842 --> 00:03:38.002 regional and cultural agenda. 00:03:38.002 --> 00:03:39.627 At best they didn't get along, 00:03:39.627 --> 00:03:42.919 at worst they were violently at each other's throats. 00:03:44.143 --> 00:03:45.709 - [Voiceover] If there was someone who could pull 00:03:45.709 --> 00:03:48.868 the Athenians together, it was Themistocles. 00:03:48.868 --> 00:03:51.910 A man who didn't come from the aristocratic ranks, 00:03:51.910 --> 00:03:55.624 and wasn't ashamed to let his fellow Athenians know it. 00:03:55.624 --> 00:03:57.122 - [Barry] He was always an outsider, 00:03:57.122 --> 00:03:59.385 and he saw himself as an outsider, 00:03:59.385 --> 00:04:04.385 and he prided himself on his lack of polish. 00:04:04.424 --> 00:04:07.628 He said that he might not know how to tune a lyre, 00:04:07.628 --> 00:04:10.647 or to sing well, but he knew all you needed to know 00:04:10.647 --> 00:04:13.862 to make a city great and free. 00:04:13.862 --> 00:04:15.580 - [Voiceover] Themistocles was no stranger 00:04:15.580 --> 00:04:18.099 to facing the Persians in battle. 00:04:18.099 --> 00:04:20.803 Ten years earlier, a smaller Persian force 00:04:20.803 --> 00:04:23.137 had invaded Greece for the first time, 00:04:23.137 --> 00:04:25.285 and fought the Athenians and her allies 00:04:25.285 --> 00:04:27.340 at Marathon. 00:04:27.340 --> 00:04:30.718 Now Themistocles would bring that experience to Salamis, 00:04:30.718 --> 00:04:33.481 and focus his strategy on a fatal flaw he detected 00:04:33.481 --> 00:04:37.637 in the Persian war machine, their navy. 00:04:37.637 --> 00:04:40.400 - He understood that water was not the Persian's 00:04:40.400 --> 00:04:41.816 natural element. 00:04:41.816 --> 00:04:43.616 Persia was a land power, 00:04:43.616 --> 00:04:46.321 in fact, Persian religion considered salt water 00:04:46.321 --> 00:04:48.700 to be demonic. 00:04:48.700 --> 00:04:50.279 - [Voiceover] Themistocles wanted the Greeks 00:04:50.279 --> 00:04:53.820 to build a navy unlike any the world had ever seen. 00:04:53.820 --> 00:04:56.920 Immediately, work began at break-neck speed 00:04:56.920 --> 00:04:59.682 to build a fleet of 200 triremes, 00:04:59.682 --> 00:05:02.545 the deadliest ship in the ancient world. 00:05:03.443 --> 00:05:06.718 - [Barry] Trireme's about 130 feet long, 00:05:06.718 --> 00:05:08.239 it's light and sleek, 00:05:08.239 --> 00:05:10.560 and it's tipped with a wooden ram 00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:13.033 covered in bronze at the water level 00:05:13.033 --> 00:05:16.312 and that is the offensive weapon of the trireme. 00:05:18.094 --> 00:05:19.638 Might think of the trireme, actually, 00:05:19.638 --> 00:05:21.293 as a guided missile. 00:05:22.413 --> 00:05:25.721 - [Voiceover] The trireme consisted of 170 rowers 00:05:25.721 --> 00:05:27.498 on three separate levels, 00:05:27.498 --> 00:05:30.598 62 on the top level, 54 in the middle, 00:05:30.598 --> 00:05:33.337 and 54 on the bottom. 00:05:33.337 --> 00:05:37.238 On the lowest level, rowers were seated so deep in the ship 00:05:37.238 --> 00:05:39.792 that their oar ports were just 18 inches 00:05:39.792 --> 00:05:42.519 above the water line. 00:05:42.519 --> 00:05:45.956 - So you have a ship, a wooden ship, 00:05:45.956 --> 00:05:48.718 that is powered from the oars. 00:05:48.718 --> 00:05:50.054 It can go up to eight knots, 00:05:50.054 --> 00:05:54.059 but nine knots was an amazing speed for the ancient world. 00:05:54.059 --> 00:05:56.526 And it can attack like a missile. 00:05:59.515 --> 00:06:01.872 - And the rowers, of course have to learn how to 00:06:01.872 --> 00:06:05.436 work as a team, they have to learn to row together in unison 00:06:05.436 --> 00:06:07.769 which is an easy thing to begin to do 00:06:07.769 --> 00:06:10.578 but a very difficult thing to master. 00:06:10.578 --> 00:06:12.737 - [Voiceover] Themistocles' fleet of triremes 00:06:12.737 --> 00:06:14.874 was finished in just a few years 00:06:14.874 --> 00:06:17.068 and in the nick of time. 00:06:17.068 --> 00:06:19.970 In the spring of 480 BC, Persia launched 00:06:19.970 --> 00:06:22.989 a massive invasion of Greece. 00:06:22.989 --> 00:06:24.836 Themistocles knew that the Persian fleet 00:06:24.836 --> 00:06:26.657 outnumbered the combined Greek fleet 00:06:26.657 --> 00:06:28.551 by almost two to one. 00:06:28.551 --> 00:06:31.196 So he devised a simple yet cunning plan 00:06:31.196 --> 00:06:34.574 to keep the Greeks together and level the odds. 00:06:34.574 --> 00:06:36.828 - [George] He had to turn a disadvantage into an advantage, 00:06:36.828 --> 00:06:39.671 the fact that he had fewer ships than the Persians. 00:06:39.671 --> 00:06:42.190 So he had to lure the Persians, if you like, 00:06:42.190 --> 00:06:45.185 into such a battleground that they could not 00:06:45.185 --> 00:06:47.588 advance the whole ranks. 00:06:47.588 --> 00:06:50.328 So he can actually concentrate their power 00:06:50.328 --> 00:06:51.850 and strike it. 00:06:51.850 --> 00:06:53.626 So the best place that he could do that 00:06:53.626 --> 00:06:56.294 was the strait of Salamis. 00:06:56.294 --> 00:06:58.164 - [Voiceover] Themistocles would devise a ruse 00:06:58.164 --> 00:07:00.265 to lure the Persian fleet into the narrows 00:07:00.265 --> 00:07:02.633 Straits of Salamis. 00:07:02.633 --> 00:07:04.828 - Themistocles was a very cunning man, 00:07:04.828 --> 00:07:06.232 a great trickster. 00:07:08.462 --> 00:07:10.737 Themistocles knew that the Persians 00:07:10.737 --> 00:07:14.184 preferred to win battles through diplomacy, 00:07:14.184 --> 00:07:18.062 through intimidation, and through buying traitors. 00:07:18.062 --> 00:07:19.582 - [Voiceover] On the eve of the battle 00:07:19.582 --> 00:07:21.464 Themistocles sent a trusted servant 00:07:21.464 --> 00:07:25.503 across the straits to the Persian camp. 00:07:25.503 --> 00:07:27.721 The servant played the role of a traitor, 00:07:27.721 --> 00:07:30.774 telling the Persian king the Greeks were in disarray, 00:07:30.774 --> 00:07:33.374 and if the Persians sent their ships in the night 00:07:33.374 --> 00:07:37.253 they could surprise the Greek navy in the morning. 00:07:37.253 --> 00:07:39.626 The Persians took the bait. 00:07:44.356 --> 00:07:47.699 - So at dawn, the Persians discovered to their shock, 00:07:47.699 --> 00:07:50.695 that the Greek fleet, instead of being about to flee, 00:07:50.695 --> 00:07:52.900 was getting into battle formation 00:07:52.900 --> 00:07:56.232 and that they, the Persians, would have to fight. 00:07:56.232 --> 00:08:00.876 So it was a perfect setup of a battle by Themistocles. 00:08:00.876 --> 00:08:02.837 - [Voiceover] Now 200 triremes, 00:08:02.837 --> 00:08:05.589 powered by 34,000 Greek rowers, 00:08:05.589 --> 00:08:07.458 formed into a line. 00:08:07.458 --> 00:08:09.455 There was no room for the Persians to maneuver 00:08:09.455 --> 00:08:11.835 in the narrow straits. 00:08:11.835 --> 00:08:14.986 Themistocles had sprung the perfect trap. 00:08:16.398 --> 00:08:18.731 The attacks raged all day long 00:08:18.731 --> 00:08:21.692 as the Greek triremes encircled the Persian ships, 00:08:21.692 --> 00:08:25.196 then pounded them with their forward rams. 00:08:25.196 --> 00:08:29.434 - The Persian officers died in unusually high proportions. 00:08:29.434 --> 00:08:31.210 - [Voiceover] The battle was so confused, 00:08:31.210 --> 00:08:33.068 chaotic, and unnerving, 00:08:33.068 --> 00:08:35.250 that at the end of the day the Greeks weren't even sure 00:08:35.250 --> 00:08:37.212 that they had won. 00:08:37.212 --> 00:08:39.453 But thousands of lifeless enemy bodies 00:08:39.453 --> 00:08:41.193 on the shores of Salamis 00:08:41.193 --> 00:08:44.352 revealed a decisive Greek victory. 00:08:44.352 --> 00:08:46.835 Some historical sources claim the Persians lost 00:08:46.835 --> 00:08:50.586 as many as 200 ships to the Greeks 40. 00:08:50.586 --> 00:08:52.629 Any Persians that didn't drown 00:08:52.629 --> 00:08:56.471 were slaughtered by Greek soldiers waiting onshore. 00:08:56.471 --> 00:09:00.047 - [George] Had the Greeks not won the battle of Salamis 00:09:00.047 --> 00:09:02.206 the Greek civilization, or Ancient Greece, 00:09:02.206 --> 00:09:05.416 it's values that we all share in today's world, 00:09:05.416 --> 00:09:06.902 may never been there. 00:09:06.902 --> 00:09:09.096 - [Voiceover] After the stunning victory at Salamis, 00:09:09.096 --> 00:09:11.719 Themistocles was hailed as a hero, 00:09:11.719 --> 00:09:14.159 but his personal ambitions and greed 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:17.392 began to add to his many political enemies. 00:09:19.021 --> 00:09:21.019 It was only a matter of time 00:09:21.019 --> 00:09:24.676 before the rage of the assembly boiled over. 00:09:24.676 --> 00:09:28.298 - Athens at this time had a practice called ostracism, 00:09:28.298 --> 00:09:31.130 an annual un-popularity contest, 00:09:31.130 --> 00:09:33.638 in which the people would vote for the politician 00:09:33.638 --> 00:09:36.331 who they felt was most disruptive, most dangerous 00:09:36.331 --> 00:09:38.037 to the political process, 00:09:38.037 --> 00:09:41.799 and they would exile him for ten years. 00:09:41.799 --> 00:09:46.291 - [Voiceover] In 471 BC, Themistocles was ostracized, 00:09:46.291 --> 00:09:49.780 in a stunning irony he was forced to embrace the enemy 00:09:49.780 --> 00:09:52.579 he had fought so hard to defeat. 00:09:52.579 --> 00:09:55.197 He would never see Athens again. 00:09:56.339 --> 00:10:00.379 - Amazingly he was forced to flee to Persia itself. 00:10:00.379 --> 00:10:02.608 Where he found refuge and he ended his life 00:10:02.608 --> 00:10:05.405 speaking Persian, working as an adminstrator 00:10:05.405 --> 00:10:06.938 for the Persian king, 00:10:06.938 --> 00:10:10.479 helping the Persians govern western Asia Minor. 00:10:10.479 --> 00:10:12.476 - [Voiceover] Themistocles had played his part 00:10:12.476 --> 00:10:15.819 in an epic story of Greek power and achievement 00:10:15.819 --> 00:10:19.697 that looked to a glorious past for inspiration. 00:10:19.697 --> 00:10:22.518 The legendary tales of the gods and heroes 00:10:22.518 --> 00:10:25.994 told in epics like The Iliad and The Odyssey. 00:10:27.184 --> 00:10:29.181 The stories may be myth, 00:10:29.181 --> 00:10:31.062 but the engineering achievements of these 00:10:31.062 --> 00:10:34.184 Greek ancestors were very real, 00:10:34.184 --> 00:10:36.768 and still stand today. 00:10:38.759 --> 00:10:40.454 In the Greek city-state of Sparta, 00:10:40.454 --> 00:10:43.652 boys began their military training at age seven. 00:10:50.768 --> 00:10:54.308 By 1300 BC, a people speaking an early form 00:10:54.308 --> 00:10:55.946 of the Greek language 00:10:55.946 --> 00:10:59.638 had inhabited large portions of mainland Greece. 00:11:02.174 --> 00:11:04.392 They were known as the Mycenaeans, 00:11:04.392 --> 00:11:06.911 and for years their wars and scandals, 00:11:06.911 --> 00:11:08.688 exploits and achievements, 00:11:08.688 --> 00:11:10.695 became the stuff of legend 00:11:10.695 --> 00:11:13.998 and laid the foundation of Greek civilization. 00:11:17.835 --> 00:11:19.949 Their capital city of Mycenae 00:11:19.949 --> 00:11:22.387 was surrounded by a massive citadel 00:11:22.387 --> 00:11:25.515 built over the course of 150 years. 00:11:29.409 --> 00:11:31.847 According to myth, it was from this city 00:11:31.847 --> 00:11:35.968 that the Mycenaeans were led by a king named Agamemnon. 00:11:35.968 --> 00:11:37.826 Whose epic struggles were written down 00:11:37.826 --> 00:11:40.832 by the 8th century BC poet, Homer, 00:11:40.832 --> 00:11:43.571 in two of history's most famous tales, 00:11:43.571 --> 00:11:46.259 The Iliad and The Odyssey. 00:11:49.689 --> 00:11:52.731 - So, The Iliad was something like the Bible 00:11:52.731 --> 00:11:54.460 for Ancient Greeks. 00:11:54.460 --> 00:11:57.526 It contains a moral story. 00:11:57.526 --> 00:12:00.486 It told you how you should live. 00:12:00.486 --> 00:12:03.307 It described gods, it described religion, 00:12:03.307 --> 00:12:05.246 but also described people. 00:12:05.246 --> 00:12:07.428 It described situations. 00:12:07.428 --> 00:12:11.057 It gave ideals that you should look upon. 00:12:12.084 --> 00:12:14.406 - [Voiceover] The tales of The Iliad and The Odyssey 00:12:14.406 --> 00:12:17.482 had become some of the most famous in history. 00:12:17.482 --> 00:12:19.560 The abduction of Helen by Paris, 00:12:19.560 --> 00:12:22.300 Agamemnon's ten year siege of Troy, 00:12:22.300 --> 00:12:24.180 and the giant wooden horse 00:12:24.180 --> 00:12:28.250 which the Greeks used to enter Troy and destroy the city. 00:12:31.505 --> 00:12:34.965 Although Agamemnon's exploits during the Trojan War 00:12:34.965 --> 00:12:36.787 may have been heroic, 00:12:36.787 --> 00:12:41.187 his return home to Mycenae was far from a hero's welcome. 00:12:41.187 --> 00:12:43.794 He was murdered by his own wife. 00:12:52.065 --> 00:12:53.622 - Scholars have debated for centuries 00:12:53.622 --> 00:12:55.246 whether or not Homer actually penned 00:12:55.246 --> 00:12:56.546 The Iliad and The Odyssey, 00:12:56.546 --> 00:12:58.740 or whether he just collected the folktales of song, 00:12:58.740 --> 00:13:01.016 or whether he had anything with them at all. 00:13:01.016 --> 00:13:02.745 But if the Ancient Greeks came back today 00:13:02.745 --> 00:13:04.998 they'd scoff at this pithy harangue, 00:13:04.998 --> 00:13:06.437 because of the Ancient Greeks, 00:13:06.437 --> 00:13:09.560 Homer wasn't just some top 40s folk singer, 00:13:09.560 --> 00:13:11.475 nor was he the best-selling hack writer 00:13:11.475 --> 00:13:13.101 of some piece of pulp fiction. 00:13:13.101 --> 00:13:14.958 Home was an historian, 00:13:14.958 --> 00:13:17.199 and these legends weren't the bedtime stories 00:13:17.199 --> 00:13:18.754 to be whispered to the kiddies 00:13:18.754 --> 00:13:20.983 before the oil lamps were blown out. 00:13:20.983 --> 00:13:23.038 These were accountable facts. 00:13:23.038 --> 00:13:28.038 (dramatic music) 00:13:29.202 --> 00:13:31.663 This is what is left of Mycenae, 00:13:31.663 --> 00:13:33.556 the capital city of which Homer writes 00:13:33.556 --> 00:13:35.692 and where many, including me, would like to believe 00:13:35.692 --> 00:13:39.220 that Agamemnon really ruled. 00:13:39.220 --> 00:13:41.020 These ruins show us that not only 00:13:41.020 --> 00:13:43.296 were these early Greeks master builders, 00:13:43.296 --> 00:13:48.101 but they were capable of some amazing engineering feats. 00:13:48.101 --> 00:13:50.435 - As you approach Mycenae, first thing, 00:13:50.435 --> 00:13:53.976 of course that you will see is the fortification walls. 00:13:53.976 --> 00:13:56.031 Which are very impressive, 00:13:56.031 --> 00:14:00.640 and immediately you have this feeling of awesome. 00:14:00.640 --> 00:14:02.752 - [Voiceover] The citadel walls of Mycenae 00:14:02.752 --> 00:14:04.610 are buttressed by stone blocks 00:14:04.610 --> 00:14:07.976 which weigh up to ten tons a piece. 00:14:07.976 --> 00:14:10.472 They were engineered with such precision 00:14:10.472 --> 00:14:12.991 that each stone fit perfectly in place 00:14:12.991 --> 00:14:15.145 to its adjacent block. 00:14:18.819 --> 00:14:21.408 But for awe inspiring visuals, 00:14:21.408 --> 00:14:23.776 nothing in Mycenae comes closer 00:14:23.776 --> 00:14:26.817 than the colossal main entrance to the citadel, 00:14:26.817 --> 00:14:29.232 the Lion's Gate. 00:14:29.232 --> 00:14:30.857 - This is the Lion's Gate. 00:14:30.857 --> 00:14:34.676 The main gate to the citadel of Mycenae. 00:14:34.676 --> 00:14:36.116 It is one of the most stunning structures 00:14:36.116 --> 00:14:37.974 of all of early antiquity. 00:14:37.974 --> 00:14:40.133 It is an imposing piece of symbolism, 00:14:40.133 --> 00:14:42.909 it is an imposing piece of engineering. 00:14:42.909 --> 00:14:45.067 Two lions standing fully upright, 00:14:45.067 --> 00:14:47.226 their paws on the base of a column. 00:14:47.226 --> 00:14:48.654 Their heads, which are missing, 00:14:48.654 --> 00:14:50.268 would be turning outward. 00:14:50.268 --> 00:14:51.789 Anybody approaching this gate would know 00:14:51.789 --> 00:14:54.227 that Mycenae stood for one thing, 00:14:54.227 --> 00:14:55.683 power. 00:14:58.069 --> 00:15:00.089 Structurally the gate looks to be a standard 00:15:00.089 --> 00:15:02.945 engineering practice of post and lintel construction. 00:15:02.945 --> 00:15:05.394 These vertical elements here are these massive piers 00:15:05.394 --> 00:15:07.647 are the posts supporting the lintel, 00:15:07.647 --> 00:15:08.645 the horizontal element, 00:15:08.645 --> 00:15:10.375 which weighs about 12 tons. 00:15:10.375 --> 00:15:12.754 But it is above the gate where the lions live 00:15:12.754 --> 00:15:14.809 that the engineers took it one step further. 00:15:14.809 --> 00:15:17.828 If you look at this triangle of indented stones 00:15:17.828 --> 00:15:19.291 right by the lions, 00:15:19.291 --> 00:15:21.635 it develops an element that we call 00:15:21.635 --> 00:15:24.074 the corebelled arch. 00:15:24.074 --> 00:15:26.918 - Suppose you have these four stones, 00:15:26.918 --> 00:15:29.217 and instead of piling them up, 00:15:29.217 --> 00:15:32.536 you try to create an opening from the outside 00:15:32.536 --> 00:15:36.657 and you steal a little bit of space 00:15:36.657 --> 00:15:38.190 by putting them this way. 00:15:38.190 --> 00:15:39.734 This is corbeling. 00:15:39.734 --> 00:15:41.266 If we are little bit more ambitious 00:15:41.266 --> 00:15:44.447 because this is not sufficiently large, 00:15:44.447 --> 00:15:48.952 and we try to displace further these stones, 00:15:48.952 --> 00:15:50.252 still in corbeling, 00:15:50.252 --> 00:15:55.252 then we are running this risk that this is falling down. 00:15:55.511 --> 00:15:58.448 So what is the little trick? 00:15:58.448 --> 00:15:59.829 It's simple. 00:15:59.829 --> 00:16:03.923 You start putting counter weights 00:16:05.134 --> 00:16:10.040 behind each of these corbelstones. 00:16:11.984 --> 00:16:13.551 - [Clairy] Now this triangle, 00:16:13.551 --> 00:16:16.244 first of all we should say that this is a true 00:16:16.244 --> 00:16:17.986 Mycenaean innovation, 00:16:17.986 --> 00:16:21.131 this is something that we see for the first time, 00:16:21.131 --> 00:16:23.883 it was probably worldwide. 00:16:23.883 --> 00:16:26.007 So in that sense we are looking at something 00:16:26.007 --> 00:16:28.932 that's very innovative, very new. 00:16:28.932 --> 00:16:30.372 - [Voiceover] The Mycenaean engineers 00:16:30.372 --> 00:16:33.750 took the corbelled arch one step further. 00:16:33.750 --> 00:16:35.364 They applied the idea to create 00:16:35.364 --> 00:16:37.802 a revolutionary interior space, 00:16:37.802 --> 00:16:40.786 called a corbelled dome. 00:16:40.786 --> 00:16:44.466 The dome was used in only one kind of construction, 00:16:44.466 --> 00:16:46.126 a tomb. 00:16:46.126 --> 00:16:47.368 Like the Egyptians, 00:16:47.368 --> 00:16:49.864 the Mycenaeans built incredible structures 00:16:49.864 --> 00:16:53.184 to house their leaders in the afterlife. 00:16:53.184 --> 00:16:55.564 These tombs are called tholos. 00:16:55.564 --> 00:16:57.340 Their construction departed from anything 00:16:57.340 --> 00:17:00.841 the Mycenaean engineers had ever done before. 00:17:01.948 --> 00:17:04.549 - The circular form, it's completely absent 00:17:04.549 --> 00:17:07.684 in the architectural minds of the Mycenaeans. 00:17:07.684 --> 00:17:12.465 The Mycenaeans work with straight lines and right angles. 00:17:12.465 --> 00:17:17.387 So the circle is just for this kind of structure. 00:17:17.387 --> 00:17:20.059 So that makes the impression and the symbolism 00:17:20.059 --> 00:17:24.621 of the circle as related to death, even stronger. 00:17:24.621 --> 00:17:28.057 - [Voiceover] Building a tholos was a giant engineering feat 00:17:28.057 --> 00:17:29.845 The first step would have been to hollow out 00:17:29.845 --> 00:17:32.260 the side of a hill. 00:17:32.260 --> 00:17:34.304 - So they dug this trench, 00:17:34.304 --> 00:17:36.718 and this trench would form the dromos, 00:17:36.718 --> 00:17:39.167 which means in Greek, road or way, 00:17:39.167 --> 00:17:42.104 in this case it's a walkway to the tomb, 00:17:42.104 --> 00:17:44.496 and it's flanked on each side by these beautiful 00:17:44.496 --> 00:17:49.418 almond stones set in linked wise and edgewise. 00:17:49.418 --> 00:17:52.146 Now 3,200 years ago in 1200 BC, 00:17:52.146 --> 00:17:54.619 a visitor approaching would walk down this dromos 00:17:54.619 --> 00:17:55.862 and then he would be confronted by 00:17:55.862 --> 00:17:58.578 an unbelievably magnificent and stunning site, 00:17:58.578 --> 00:18:00.731 this massive doorway. 00:18:02.200 --> 00:18:05.299 The doorway would be flanked by two fantastic columns, 00:18:05.299 --> 00:18:07.284 carved out of solid green marble, 00:18:07.284 --> 00:18:10.808 with zigzag and spiral designs going all the way up. 00:18:13.681 --> 00:18:16.479 Each one of these massive stones is two and a half feet tall 00:18:16.479 --> 00:18:18.603 and there are 33 rings of these stones 00:18:18.603 --> 00:18:20.263 laid out in a conical shape. 00:18:20.263 --> 00:18:23.096 Now each layer of stone is laid over the lower one 00:18:23.096 --> 00:18:24.976 in a sort of protruding fashion, 00:18:24.976 --> 00:18:27.263 that's what we mean by the corbelled style. 00:18:27.263 --> 00:18:31.257 Then they're shaved down to make it all very smooth. 00:18:31.257 --> 00:18:34.356 - [Clairy] In order for this structure to be stable, 00:18:34.356 --> 00:18:37.259 you need a constant pressure 00:18:37.259 --> 00:18:39.800 from outwards, inwards. 00:18:39.800 --> 00:18:42.715 Very much like a barrel, 00:18:42.715 --> 00:18:46.093 where you need this band, this metallic band 00:18:46.093 --> 00:18:49.018 around to keep the rings together. 00:18:49.018 --> 00:18:52.432 This pressure comes from the addition of earth. 00:18:52.432 --> 00:18:55.671 As they build, they add earth from around 00:18:55.671 --> 00:18:58.479 and quite a lot of earth, and there comes a point 00:18:58.479 --> 00:19:01.231 when they have finished the beehive structure inside 00:19:01.231 --> 00:19:04.029 at the same time they have built a whole 00:19:04.029 --> 00:19:06.567 earthen mound on top. 00:19:09.752 --> 00:19:12.039 - [Voiceover] Around 1,100 BC, 00:19:12.039 --> 00:19:15.650 this early Greek civilization suddenly and mysteriously 00:19:15.650 --> 00:19:18.442 disintegrated and disappeared. 00:19:20.757 --> 00:19:22.336 - [George] There's a lot of theories about that. 00:19:22.336 --> 00:19:24.449 I think the most dominant one is new tribes, 00:19:24.449 --> 00:19:27.537 new barbarian tribes came from the steps, 00:19:27.537 --> 00:19:29.952 and they attacked the civilizations of Egypt, 00:19:29.952 --> 00:19:32.088 they attacked the civilization of Mesopotamia, 00:19:32.088 --> 00:19:34.433 causing disruption in the trade routes. 00:19:34.433 --> 00:19:36.627 But that became their fall. 00:19:36.627 --> 00:19:38.414 - [Voiceover] With the fall of Mycenaea, 00:19:38.414 --> 00:19:41.015 Greece entered a dark age. 00:19:41.015 --> 00:19:45.067 Over four centuries, it's culture fell into a deep slumber. 00:19:45.067 --> 00:19:47.574 Then, in the 8th century BC, 00:19:47.574 --> 00:19:51.672 individual city-states began to develop and flourish. 00:19:51.672 --> 00:19:54.251 Each one forging its own identity, 00:19:54.251 --> 00:19:56.733 competing for economic, military, 00:19:56.733 --> 00:19:59.392 and engineering prominence. 00:19:59.392 --> 00:20:02.515 One Greek island in particular, Samos, 00:20:02.515 --> 00:20:04.407 would see the construction of one of the most 00:20:04.407 --> 00:20:08.992 amazing engineering feats seen in the ancient world. 00:20:08.992 --> 00:20:12.679 Moving mountains to bring water to the people. 00:20:15.726 --> 00:20:17.363 - [Voiceover] The Ancient Greeks believed that Homer, 00:20:17.363 --> 00:20:19.812 the 8th century poet who wrote The Iliad and Odyssey, 00:20:19.812 --> 00:20:21.514 was actually blind. 00:20:22.785 --> 00:20:27.289 (dramatic music) 00:20:27.289 --> 00:20:31.131 - [Voiceover] Sparta, Athens, Corinth, Thebes, 00:20:31.131 --> 00:20:33.801 these are just a few of the more than 100 00:20:33.801 --> 00:20:36.704 city-states that emerged all around Greece 00:20:36.704 --> 00:20:38.851 400 years after the disappearance 00:20:38.851 --> 00:20:41.655 of the Mycenaean civilization. 00:20:42.624 --> 00:20:45.643 Before the advent of democracy in Greece, 00:20:45.643 --> 00:20:49.090 many of these city-states were led by a single ruler, 00:20:49.090 --> 00:20:51.836 called a tyrant in Ancient Greek. 00:20:53.560 --> 00:20:57.530 Around 540 BC, a tyrant named Polycrates 00:20:57.530 --> 00:21:00.850 came to rule over the island city-state of Samos 00:21:00.850 --> 00:21:04.426 in the Eastern Aegean Sea. 00:21:04.426 --> 00:21:06.469 - He was quite a player on the international scene. 00:21:06.469 --> 00:21:09.360 He made tactical alliances, not just with the Persians, 00:21:09.360 --> 00:21:11.507 but also, for example, with the Egyptians. 00:21:11.507 --> 00:21:13.319 He was an ambitious figure. 00:21:13.319 --> 00:21:15.686 - [Voiceover] Polycrates saw that the path to power 00:21:15.686 --> 00:21:17.346 for an island like Samos, 00:21:17.346 --> 00:21:19.198 lay through the sea. 00:21:20.150 --> 00:21:22.773 He built a fleet of 100 triremes, 00:21:22.773 --> 00:21:25.050 terrorizing neighboring city-states 00:21:25.050 --> 00:21:28.783 and taxing ships that passed through the surrounding waters. 00:21:31.492 --> 00:21:35.985 - Under Polycrates Samos, his home island, 00:21:35.985 --> 00:21:38.191 became the dominant sea power, 00:21:38.191 --> 00:21:41.627 and that was the basis of his wealth and power. 00:21:41.627 --> 00:21:43.566 - [Voiceover] With his newly found riches, 00:21:43.566 --> 00:21:45.529 Polycrates built up defensive walls 00:21:45.529 --> 00:21:47.327 around his capital city 00:21:47.327 --> 00:21:49.068 and set about to solve a problem 00:21:49.068 --> 00:21:52.910 that plagued many cities in the arid Mediterranean climate, 00:21:52.910 --> 00:21:54.525 drinking water. 00:21:54.525 --> 00:21:58.924 - Samos was a very, very important and powerful city 00:21:58.924 --> 00:22:01.664 They were needing a lot of water, 00:22:01.664 --> 00:22:03.869 and they were short of water. 00:22:03.869 --> 00:22:06.029 - [Voiceover] There was a plentiful spring available, 00:22:06.029 --> 00:22:07.469 but it was separated from the city 00:22:07.469 --> 00:22:10.591 by the 900 foot high Mt. Castro. 00:22:10.591 --> 00:22:13.285 Somehow, Polycrates and his engineers 00:22:13.285 --> 00:22:16.907 had to figure out how to connect the city and the spring. 00:22:16.907 --> 00:22:19.102 Running an aqueduct around the mountain 00:22:19.102 --> 00:22:20.483 was not an option. 00:22:20.483 --> 00:22:23.303 - You could construct a water supply system 00:22:23.303 --> 00:22:24.649 around the mountain, 00:22:24.649 --> 00:22:27.448 but the first thing a besieging enemy would do 00:22:27.448 --> 00:22:29.282 to cut off that water line, 00:22:29.282 --> 00:22:32.940 and there you are with your wonderful fortification, 00:22:32.940 --> 00:22:35.028 with your wonderful new walls, 00:22:35.028 --> 00:22:37.420 and you're drying out. 00:22:37.420 --> 00:22:40.868 - [Voiceover] A solution required thinking outside the box. 00:22:40.868 --> 00:22:44.861 Polycrates turned to an engineer named Eupalinos. 00:22:44.861 --> 00:22:47.066 Eupalinos came up with a solution 00:22:47.066 --> 00:22:49.783 that literally meant moving a mountain. 00:22:49.783 --> 00:22:53.302 A tunnel running straight through Mt. Castro. 00:22:53.302 --> 00:22:56.784 It would be a huge project, and a lengthy one. 00:22:56.784 --> 00:22:59.883 - [Theodosios] The time needed for such tunneling 00:22:59.883 --> 00:23:02.797 should be enormous, therefore, 00:23:02.797 --> 00:23:05.223 the decision was taken to drive 00:23:05.223 --> 00:23:08.416 tunnels from both sides. 00:23:08.416 --> 00:23:12.444 This is a mathematical and a technical problem. 00:23:12.444 --> 00:23:14.836 - [Voiceover] Like the engineers of the modern day chunnel 00:23:14.836 --> 00:23:16.682 under the English Channel, 00:23:16.682 --> 00:23:19.978 Eupalinos dug tunnels from each side of the mountain 00:23:19.978 --> 00:23:22.044 until they met in the middle. 00:23:22.044 --> 00:23:25.283 To succeed, Eupalinos would have to be sure 00:23:25.283 --> 00:23:28.325 that each tunnel started at the same vertical height 00:23:28.325 --> 00:23:31.577 on opposite sides of the mountain. 00:23:31.577 --> 00:23:35.302 The tunnels also had to match up on a horizontal plane. 00:23:35.302 --> 00:23:37.078 Otherwise they would pass each other 00:23:37.078 --> 00:23:39.075 like ships in the night. 00:23:39.075 --> 00:23:41.734 Without sophisticated surveying equipment, 00:23:41.734 --> 00:23:46.121 it was a remarkable challenge for an engineer to take on. 00:23:46.121 --> 00:23:50.463 One theory involves a short walk around a large mountain. 00:23:50.463 --> 00:23:53.401 By forging a path from the spring to the city, 00:23:53.401 --> 00:23:55.792 in short perpendicular lines, 00:23:55.792 --> 00:23:58.660 Eupalinos could measure each small length 00:23:58.660 --> 00:24:02.734 in order to calculate two sides of a right triangle. 00:24:02.734 --> 00:24:05.277 With two known sides of the triangle, 00:24:05.277 --> 00:24:07.715 the hypotenuse became the path of the tunnel 00:24:07.715 --> 00:24:10.140 through the mountain. 00:24:10.140 --> 00:24:12.857 What made this prodigious feat of engineering 00:24:12.857 --> 00:24:16.990 even more amazing is that it involved not one tunnel, 00:24:16.990 --> 00:24:18.315 but two. 00:24:18.315 --> 00:24:20.635 The main tunnel was dug at a height and length 00:24:20.635 --> 00:24:23.272 of about six feet by six feet, 00:24:23.272 --> 00:24:26.893 but was only used as a workspace to dig a second tunnel 00:24:26.893 --> 00:24:29.052 adjacent and below the main one. 00:24:29.052 --> 00:24:31.629 That would serve as the actual aqueduct. 00:24:31.629 --> 00:24:34.415 While the work tunnel was dug on a straight plane, 00:24:34.415 --> 00:24:37.910 the aqueduct tunnel was dug along the side and below. 00:24:37.910 --> 00:24:41.694 This second tunnel needed to be angled on a slight gradient 00:24:41.694 --> 00:24:45.931 to allow the water to flow gently downward toward the city. 00:24:45.931 --> 00:24:47.568 It was a matter of life and death 00:24:47.568 --> 00:24:50.855 in the dark and dangerous bowels of the mountain. 00:24:50.855 --> 00:24:53.337 - [Lothar] Once they were in the mountains, 00:24:53.337 --> 00:24:56.472 the difficulties must have been paramount 00:24:56.472 --> 00:25:00.628 because rock may be moving in unpredictable ways, 00:25:00.628 --> 00:25:05.155 water may all of a sudden splash up and cause havoc. 00:25:05.155 --> 00:25:08.035 This was probably a constant danger. 00:25:08.035 --> 00:25:10.508 Apart from that it was dark, 00:25:10.508 --> 00:25:12.388 and needed to be illuminated 00:25:12.388 --> 00:25:16.254 and you needed to constantly know where you are 00:25:16.254 --> 00:25:20.526 in order to keep your line straight. 00:25:20.526 --> 00:25:22.210 - [Voiceover] After slight adjustments, 00:25:22.210 --> 00:25:23.626 the two crews met in the middle 00:25:23.626 --> 00:25:27.445 almost exactly where Eupalinos had originally determined. 00:25:27.445 --> 00:25:29.245 The floors of each tunnel connected 00:25:29.245 --> 00:25:32.530 with only 24 inches difference between them. 00:25:32.530 --> 00:25:35.491 A discrepancy of less than 1/8th of a percent 00:25:35.491 --> 00:25:39.426 of the tunnel's 3,500 foot length. 00:25:39.426 --> 00:25:41.829 This stunning engineering acheivement 00:25:41.829 --> 00:25:43.304 may have been the shining moment 00:25:43.304 --> 00:25:45.311 of Polycrates reign. 00:25:45.311 --> 00:25:49.080 But his political fortunes would not prove so bright. 00:25:50.769 --> 00:25:55.769 - The Persian governor on the coast of Asia Minor 00:25:55.922 --> 00:25:58.870 decided that that degree of autonomy 00:25:58.870 --> 00:26:02.504 that Polycrates enjoyed was unsuitable 00:26:02.504 --> 00:26:04.803 to the development of Persian power 00:26:04.803 --> 00:26:06.788 and he was arrested, 00:26:06.788 --> 00:26:10.660 and brutally tortured and crucified. 00:26:12.768 --> 00:26:15.970 - [Voiceover] Polycrates was just one tyrant among many 00:26:15.970 --> 00:26:18.547 who ruled the city-states of Ancient Greece 00:26:18.547 --> 00:26:22.959 between 800 BC and 500 BC. 00:26:22.959 --> 00:26:25.304 The rule of the few over the many 00:26:25.304 --> 00:26:26.687 was the only form of government 00:26:26.687 --> 00:26:28.520 humans had ever known. 00:26:28.520 --> 00:26:31.027 But that was about to change. 00:26:31.027 --> 00:26:32.688 The city-state of Athens 00:26:32.688 --> 00:26:36.763 was going to change the course of world history. 00:26:36.763 --> 00:26:39.142 The visionary leader who would make it happen 00:26:39.142 --> 00:26:41.789 was named Pericles. 00:26:41.789 --> 00:26:44.727 His legacy would be an everlasting monument 00:26:44.727 --> 00:26:48.986 on the Athenian acropolis that rose above the clouds. 00:26:48.986 --> 00:26:51.925 An amazing piece of precision engineering 00:26:51.925 --> 00:26:54.113 call the Parthenon. 00:26:57.299 --> 00:26:59.156 - [Voiceover] The word encyclopedia comes from 00:26:59.156 --> 00:27:02.634 two Greek words meaning "a circle of learning." 00:27:05.506 --> 00:27:08.920 - [Voiceover] In 480 BC, when Themistocles defeated 00:27:08.920 --> 00:27:11.416 the Persians at the Battle of Salamis, 00:27:11.416 --> 00:27:13.296 he saved not only Athens, 00:27:13.296 --> 00:27:15.606 but also it's young democracy, 00:27:15.606 --> 00:27:19.043 which had been born about 25 years earlier. 00:27:19.043 --> 00:27:21.597 For Athens, the age of the single ruler 00:27:21.597 --> 00:27:23.779 was over. 00:27:23.779 --> 00:27:26.577 Athens was rich in military might, 00:27:26.577 --> 00:27:30.176 treasure, technology, and ideas. 00:27:30.176 --> 00:27:32.741 She was poised for her golden age, 00:27:32.741 --> 00:27:35.563 and one man would take her there. 00:27:35.563 --> 00:27:37.733 His name was Pericles, 00:27:37.733 --> 00:27:40.404 a democrat and enlightened intellectual 00:27:40.404 --> 00:27:43.061 who encouraged the arts. 00:27:43.061 --> 00:27:46.254 But Pericles would also expand Athenian power 00:27:46.254 --> 00:27:49.679 through any means, including threats, bribery, 00:27:49.679 --> 00:27:51.803 and naked force. 00:27:51.803 --> 00:27:54.775 - Pericles came from one of the old aristocratic families 00:27:54.775 --> 00:27:55.959 of Athens. 00:27:55.959 --> 00:27:58.873 So he came from the kind of family background 00:27:58.873 --> 00:28:02.716 in which a career of political and military leadership 00:28:02.716 --> 00:28:04.451 was expected. 00:28:06.896 --> 00:28:08.671 - [Voiceover] His rise to power began 00:28:08.671 --> 00:28:10.436 when he was elected as a young man 00:28:10.436 --> 00:28:12.559 to the position of strategos, 00:28:12.559 --> 00:28:15.451 one of ten such men who commanded the army 00:28:15.451 --> 00:28:18.178 and set foreign policy. 00:28:18.178 --> 00:28:21.290 A natural at politics and a gifted orator, 00:28:21.290 --> 00:28:24.274 Pericles was soon Athens' most influential 00:28:24.274 --> 00:28:26.456 and powerful statesmen. 00:28:26.456 --> 00:28:30.797 - Pericles was the typical political animal, if you like. 00:28:30.797 --> 00:28:32.690 This guy was a politician. 00:28:32.690 --> 00:28:35.534 He was able to speak and convince. 00:28:35.534 --> 00:28:39.110 He was completely dedicated to what he did. 00:28:39.110 --> 00:28:41.548 - [Voiceover] Pericles became leader of Athens 00:28:41.548 --> 00:28:44.217 in 461 BC. 00:28:44.217 --> 00:28:47.793 Thanks to the fleet of triremes Themistocles had built, 00:28:47.793 --> 00:28:50.591 the Athenian navy held unrivaled power 00:28:50.591 --> 00:28:53.110 in the Eastern Mediterranean. 00:28:53.110 --> 00:28:56.547 But despite the defeat of the Persian empire at Salamis, 00:28:56.547 --> 00:29:00.586 the threat of another invasion was always looming. 00:29:00.586 --> 00:29:04.835 In 478 BC, Athens, together with the city-states 00:29:04.835 --> 00:29:08.492 of the Aegean, formed a mutual defense alliance 00:29:08.492 --> 00:29:10.675 called the Delian League. 00:29:10.675 --> 00:29:13.745 The ancient world's version of NATO. 00:29:16.026 --> 00:29:20.495 - By 450 BC Athens has become the undisputed leader 00:29:20.495 --> 00:29:22.087 of the Delian League, 00:29:22.087 --> 00:29:23.514 which is nothing more than a money faucet 00:29:23.514 --> 00:29:24.953 for the city-state. 00:29:24.953 --> 00:29:28.088 But Pericles, as undisputed leader of Athens, 00:29:28.088 --> 00:29:31.130 finds ways to put this money to the best possible use 00:29:31.130 --> 00:29:33.405 by building massive public structures 00:29:33.405 --> 00:29:37.254 that best reflect the grandeur and magnificence of Athens. 00:29:39.046 --> 00:29:42.263 Now legend has it that Poseidon, god of the sea, 00:29:42.263 --> 00:29:44.051 and Athena, goddess of wisdom, 00:29:44.051 --> 00:29:46.187 each came to the Acropolis to compete 00:29:46.187 --> 00:29:47.811 for the patronage of the city, 00:29:47.811 --> 00:29:50.865 the outcome to be decided by the inhabitants. 00:29:50.865 --> 00:29:53.012 Poseidon struck the ground with his trident 00:29:53.012 --> 00:29:54.905 and up popped a spring. 00:29:54.905 --> 00:29:56.844 Athena struck the ground with her spear 00:29:56.844 --> 00:29:58.550 and up came an olive tree, 00:29:58.550 --> 00:30:01.730 which not only suggested sustenance for the Greeks, 00:30:01.730 --> 00:30:04.389 but a possible outlet for commercial venue. 00:30:04.389 --> 00:30:07.861 Thus Athena became the patron goddess of the city. 00:30:07.861 --> 00:30:11.587 Over the centuries there were several temples to Athena, 00:30:11.587 --> 00:30:13.131 most of them destroyed. 00:30:13.131 --> 00:30:15.105 But we leave it to Pericles 00:30:15.105 --> 00:30:18.123 to give the world the most remarkable piece of architecture 00:30:18.123 --> 00:30:20.143 in all of Greek antiquity, 00:30:20.143 --> 00:30:22.134 the Parthenon. 00:30:26.586 --> 00:30:29.465 - [Voiceover] Pericles decided to rebuild the Parthenon 00:30:29.465 --> 00:30:30.963 on the Acropolis, 00:30:30.963 --> 00:30:33.308 using the crumbling foundations of an older 00:30:33.308 --> 00:30:35.218 Athenian temple. 00:30:36.384 --> 00:30:40.226 It would take thousands of laborers and skilled craftsman 00:30:40.226 --> 00:30:43.024 to create this magnificent temple. 00:30:43.024 --> 00:30:44.846 And it would cost more than any building 00:30:44.846 --> 00:30:46.983 the Greeks had ever engineered. 00:30:46.983 --> 00:30:49.084 30 million dracmas. 00:30:49.084 --> 00:30:52.462 In our terms, billions of dollars. 00:30:52.462 --> 00:30:54.762 - That's an amazing amount, 00:30:54.762 --> 00:30:59.706 but keep in mind that was a huge state enterprise. 00:30:59.706 --> 00:31:01.181 - [Voiceover] Construction on the gargantuan 00:31:01.181 --> 00:31:05.185 building project began in 447 BC. 00:31:05.185 --> 00:31:07.659 The Parthenon was to be about 2/3rds the length 00:31:07.659 --> 00:31:09.504 of a football field, 00:31:09.504 --> 00:31:12.697 it's outer dimensions, 228 feet long, 00:31:12.697 --> 00:31:15.482 by 101 feet wide. 00:31:15.482 --> 00:31:17.538 The first challenge was to cleave the marble 00:31:17.538 --> 00:31:21.242 from a mountain quarry ten miles away. 00:31:21.242 --> 00:31:24.957 In all, about 30,000 tons of the fine white stone 00:31:24.957 --> 00:31:26.803 would be needed. 00:31:26.803 --> 00:31:30.841 In the quarry, workers used the natural cracks of the stone 00:31:30.841 --> 00:31:34.800 to separate giant marble slabs from the mountainside. 00:31:34.800 --> 00:31:37.423 - The first step is to locate this crux 00:31:37.423 --> 00:31:41.301 and calculate if this piece of marble 00:31:41.301 --> 00:31:44.297 is sufficient for my specific purpose. 00:31:44.297 --> 00:31:47.152 The second step is to put within these cracks, 00:31:47.152 --> 00:31:50.381 those horizontal cracks and vertical cracks 00:31:50.381 --> 00:31:52.957 wedges, iron wedges, why? 00:31:52.957 --> 00:31:57.613 Because an enormous energy 00:31:57.613 --> 00:32:00.876 was given by hammering 00:32:00.876 --> 00:32:04.812 all these wedges simultaneously, 00:32:04.812 --> 00:32:08.515 so that the brittleness of the material 00:32:08.515 --> 00:32:12.056 makes further cracking. 00:32:12.056 --> 00:32:14.331 - [Voiceover] Once the giant slabs were ready, 00:32:14.331 --> 00:32:17.477 gangs of men used levers, ropes, and pulleys, 00:32:17.477 --> 00:32:20.054 to maneuver the marble and prepare the stone 00:32:20.054 --> 00:32:23.050 for transportation to the Acropolis. 00:32:23.050 --> 00:32:26.114 But accidents often happened. 00:32:26.114 --> 00:32:28.448 - It was an enormous risk 00:32:28.448 --> 00:32:32.319 that this big block 00:32:32.319 --> 00:32:33.945 would slide further down 00:32:33.945 --> 00:32:36.053 killing people underneath. 00:32:38.276 --> 00:32:40.157 - [Voiceover] But cutting and transporting the marble 00:32:40.157 --> 00:32:41.619 from the side of the mountain 00:32:41.619 --> 00:32:43.581 was only half the battle in the construction 00:32:43.581 --> 00:32:45.583 of the Parthenon. 00:32:46.563 --> 00:32:49.176 Engineers now had to answer the question 00:32:49.176 --> 00:32:52.415 of how to lift these ten ton marble behemoths 00:32:52.415 --> 00:32:56.530 and erect the greatest temple the world had ever seen. 00:32:59.636 --> 00:33:02.399 - [Voiceover] No medals were awarded in the ancient Olympics 00:33:02.399 --> 00:33:05.470 A winner received an olive wreath on his head. 00:33:08.261 --> 00:33:11.279 - [Voiceover] July, 447 BC. 00:33:11.279 --> 00:33:13.997 Construction began on a magnificent temple 00:33:13.997 --> 00:33:16.539 on the Athenian Acropolis. 00:33:16.539 --> 00:33:19.660 The Parthenon was the vision of Pericles, 00:33:19.660 --> 00:33:22.041 a dynamic and ambitious leader 00:33:22.041 --> 00:33:24.990 who would take Athens into a golden age 00:33:24.990 --> 00:33:28.612 never before seen in ancient Greece. 00:33:28.612 --> 00:33:30.191 - It was a statement, 00:33:30.191 --> 00:33:32.710 We are the most powerful city. 00:33:32.710 --> 00:33:37.051 We are the cauldron of democracy and freethinking. 00:33:37.051 --> 00:33:39.734 We have the best people, we have the best army, 00:33:39.734 --> 00:33:42.282 the best navy, we are the leaders. 00:33:43.414 --> 00:33:44.655 - [Voiceover] The Parthenon would differ 00:33:44.655 --> 00:33:46.571 from most temples of the day 00:33:46.571 --> 00:33:49.613 which consisted of a hexistyle construction, 00:33:49.613 --> 00:33:51.796 featuring six columns on one end 00:33:51.796 --> 00:33:54.036 and 13 on the side. 00:33:54.036 --> 00:33:57.008 The Parthenon would be a larger octistyle, 00:33:57.008 --> 00:33:59.661 with 8 by 17 columns. 00:34:00.932 --> 00:34:03.254 - That makes the building very different 00:34:03.254 --> 00:34:06.168 because they basically have all the same proportions. 00:34:06.168 --> 00:34:11.031 When you make them larger you simply scale up everything. 00:34:11.031 --> 00:34:14.705 To make it wider was to give it an extra dimension. 00:34:16.128 --> 00:34:18.112 - [Voiceover] The columns provide the main support 00:34:18.112 --> 00:34:19.864 for the structure. 00:34:19.864 --> 00:34:22.989 Each column consisted of 11 separate drums 00:34:22.989 --> 00:34:26.147 stacked one on top of the other like checkers. 00:34:26.147 --> 00:34:28.608 They were carved so that they would perfectly fit 00:34:28.608 --> 00:34:31.847 when laid together in a column. 00:34:31.847 --> 00:34:34.655 To do this, the top of each drum was divided 00:34:34.655 --> 00:34:37.070 into four concentric circles, 00:34:37.070 --> 00:34:39.914 with each ring either smoothed or roughed out, 00:34:39.914 --> 00:34:41.888 depending on the amount of grit needed 00:34:41.888 --> 00:34:44.605 to interlock with the next drum. 00:34:44.605 --> 00:34:46.230 In the center of each drum 00:34:46.230 --> 00:34:48.563 masons cut a rectangular notch 00:34:48.563 --> 00:34:51.290 measuring about four to six inches square 00:34:51.290 --> 00:34:53.404 and three to four inches deep. 00:34:53.404 --> 00:34:56.887 Carpenters then inserted wooden plugs into the notches 00:34:56.887 --> 00:34:59.267 which served to align and center each drum 00:34:59.267 --> 00:35:02.053 with the one above it. 00:35:02.053 --> 00:35:03.748 The next challenge was in lifting 00:35:03.748 --> 00:35:05.943 the enormously heavy drums, 00:35:05.943 --> 00:35:07.742 especially those for the upper sections 00:35:07.742 --> 00:35:09.192 of the columns. 00:35:09.192 --> 00:35:11.211 A single column of the Parthenon 00:35:11.211 --> 00:35:16.211 could weigh between 63 and 119 tons. 00:35:16.390 --> 00:35:20.000 - A crane is an extremely simple device. 00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:22.728 You have just the boom, and then 00:35:22.728 --> 00:35:25.364 you have a series of pulleys, 00:35:25.364 --> 00:35:29.520 which, as we know, just give you the possibility 00:35:29.520 --> 00:35:34.070 of taking up a weight of say, 00:35:34.070 --> 00:35:39.070 ten tons by pulling down only 100 kilos. 00:35:39.202 --> 00:35:41.303 - [Voiceover] Engineers attached the stone to the crane 00:35:41.303 --> 00:35:43.463 in one of several ways. 00:35:43.463 --> 00:35:45.447 The method most often used 00:35:45.447 --> 00:35:47.745 was to tie the end of the rope to the top part 00:35:47.745 --> 00:35:49.766 of a metal S-hook, 00:35:49.766 --> 00:35:52.644 fasten shorter ropes to the bottom of the hook, 00:35:52.644 --> 00:35:55.744 and then loop these around small protruding knobs 00:35:55.744 --> 00:35:59.540 called bosses, that had been left uncut from the marble 00:35:59.540 --> 00:36:01.399 for this very purpose. 00:36:01.399 --> 00:36:03.442 Typically four bosses would be left 00:36:03.442 --> 00:36:05.822 surrounding the drum or stone block, 00:36:05.822 --> 00:36:07.620 evenly distributing the force needed 00:36:07.620 --> 00:36:10.059 to hoist the object. 00:36:10.059 --> 00:36:12.381 The walls enclosing interior spaces 00:36:12.381 --> 00:36:15.282 had to be laid down with extreme precision 00:36:15.282 --> 00:36:18.742 since the builders did not use mortar. 00:36:18.742 --> 00:36:21.076 To hold the ends of each block together, 00:36:21.076 --> 00:36:22.597 builders hollowed out the ends 00:36:22.597 --> 00:36:25.023 in a double T design. 00:36:25.023 --> 00:36:28.877 Then, iron rods were inserted to clamp them together. 00:36:28.877 --> 00:36:31.721 After the columns and blocks were put in place, 00:36:31.721 --> 00:36:33.962 the bosses used to lift them were chipped off 00:36:33.962 --> 00:36:35.872 and smoothed over. 00:36:40.997 --> 00:36:43.574 - There's a saying that there are no straight lines 00:36:43.574 --> 00:36:45.095 in the Parthenon. 00:36:45.095 --> 00:36:47.335 Now what's meant by this is the architects 00:36:47.335 --> 00:36:49.379 incorporated a series of sort of 00:36:49.379 --> 00:36:52.303 optical illusions when they built it. 00:36:52.303 --> 00:36:53.558 It starts with the stairs, 00:36:53.558 --> 00:36:54.602 goes up to the columns, 00:36:54.602 --> 00:36:56.019 all the way up to the top of the building, 00:36:56.019 --> 00:36:59.560 the pediment, that triangular element at the top. 00:36:59.560 --> 00:37:01.173 So let's take a look at the stairs, 00:37:01.173 --> 00:37:02.717 they seem to be straight, but no, 00:37:02.717 --> 00:37:04.795 a closer look they bow in the center 00:37:04.795 --> 00:37:06.501 and they go back down at the end. 00:37:06.501 --> 00:37:07.814 Now this conceit, if you will, 00:37:07.814 --> 00:37:09.973 continues right up to the columns. 00:37:09.973 --> 00:37:14.059 This column is of the Doric order, there's no base. 00:37:14.059 --> 00:37:16.892 It seems to grow right up out of the stone. 00:37:16.892 --> 00:37:19.213 Each column has 20 flutes, 00:37:19.213 --> 00:37:21.071 which makes the column sort of ungulate 00:37:21.071 --> 00:37:22.616 as you look around it. 00:37:22.616 --> 00:37:25.854 Then the column bows out in the center 00:37:25.854 --> 00:37:27.677 and bows back up at the top. 00:37:27.677 --> 00:37:30.870 This is a process called entasis. 00:37:30.870 --> 00:37:33.075 - [Clairy] Such long lines, which are more or less 00:37:33.075 --> 00:37:35.130 at the level of your horizon, 00:37:35.130 --> 00:37:37.371 tend to curve. 00:37:37.371 --> 00:37:41.596 So in order to extinguish this effect, 00:37:41.596 --> 00:37:44.371 they curve them the other way 00:37:44.371 --> 00:37:48.596 so the result, again, is more harmonious and you 00:37:48.596 --> 00:37:50.871 see it as being straight, 00:37:50.871 --> 00:37:54.471 because if it was all straight, perfect right angles, 00:37:54.471 --> 00:37:57.546 then you will see it like that. 00:37:57.546 --> 00:37:59.555 - [Voiceover] The Parthenon's main function 00:37:59.555 --> 00:38:02.133 was to provide shelter for the monumental statue 00:38:02.133 --> 00:38:04.453 of Athena. 00:38:04.453 --> 00:38:07.566 - Parthenon was an extremely expensive building. 00:38:07.566 --> 00:38:11.465 But the statue inside of it was almost equal in cost 00:38:11.465 --> 00:38:15.564 to the building itself, if not even more expensive. 00:38:15.564 --> 00:38:20.509 - Athena's statue was about 10, 11 meters high, 00:38:20.509 --> 00:38:24.445 it means 30 to 35 feet or so. 00:38:24.445 --> 00:38:29.445 And it was of the materials gold and ivory. 00:38:29.553 --> 00:38:30.726 - [Voiceover] Hundreds of sculptures 00:38:30.726 --> 00:38:34.243 created lifelike figures that proved that craftsmanship 00:38:34.243 --> 00:38:37.063 wasn't simply in the engineering. 00:38:37.063 --> 00:38:38.850 The most famous carving in the decoration 00:38:38.850 --> 00:38:42.683 of the temple is the frieze running on the interior walls 00:38:42.683 --> 00:38:44.608 of the Parthenon. 00:38:44.608 --> 00:38:46.468 It was carved in a low relief, 00:38:46.468 --> 00:38:48.510 just inches off the stone, 00:38:48.510 --> 00:38:50.390 and depicts the panathenia, 00:38:50.390 --> 00:38:52.284 a celebration to the goddess Athena 00:38:52.284 --> 00:38:55.743 held in Athens every four years. 00:38:55.743 --> 00:38:58.367 - What survives on the side of the Parthenon today 00:38:58.367 --> 00:39:00.443 are the white marble remains of the building. 00:39:00.443 --> 00:39:02.359 In antiquity, not only the sculptures, 00:39:02.359 --> 00:39:04.368 but also many other parts of the building 00:39:04.368 --> 00:39:07.409 were richly decorated with paint. 00:39:07.409 --> 00:39:09.070 - [Voiceover] But not every citizen was enthralled 00:39:09.070 --> 00:39:10.567 by the Parthenon. 00:39:10.567 --> 00:39:12.924 Some saw Pericles' pet project 00:39:12.924 --> 00:39:14.979 as an Athenian eyesore 00:39:14.979 --> 00:39:18.821 and simply a monument to his own glory. 00:39:18.821 --> 00:39:22.943 - Now many Athenians hated the Parthenon, the temples. 00:39:22.943 --> 00:39:24.707 They thought it was disgusting. 00:39:24.707 --> 00:39:26.820 They thought it was terrible. 00:39:26.820 --> 00:39:29.060 Plato didn't like it at all. 00:39:29.060 --> 00:39:31.242 For many Athenians, when they saw in their 00:39:31.242 --> 00:39:33.380 holiest of holies, if you like, 00:39:33.380 --> 00:39:35.399 those new buildings coming up, 00:39:35.399 --> 00:39:38.244 buildings that had incorporated novelties, 00:39:38.244 --> 00:39:41.145 buildings that were making a break from the tide. 00:39:41.145 --> 00:39:43.119 - [Voiceover] The whispers of discontent in Athens 00:39:43.119 --> 00:39:45.499 weren't limited to the Parthenon. 00:39:45.499 --> 00:39:49.097 As Pericles continued to expand Athens domination 00:39:49.097 --> 00:39:52.905 his rivals began to conspire against him. 00:39:52.905 --> 00:39:56.643 Soon they lashed out and attacked his close associates. 00:39:56.643 --> 00:40:00.381 At the top of the list was an elegant and educated woman 00:40:00.381 --> 00:40:02.123 named Aspasia, 00:40:02.123 --> 00:40:05.258 a member of the elite Hetaerae social caste, 00:40:05.258 --> 00:40:07.551 and Pericles consort. 00:40:08.901 --> 00:40:12.664 - Hetaerae were high-class courtesans, 00:40:12.664 --> 00:40:15.079 often compared, for example, 00:40:15.079 --> 00:40:19.013 to Geishas in Japanese culture. 00:40:19.013 --> 00:40:22.277 Hetaerae moved in the top circles 00:40:22.277 --> 00:40:25.642 in Athenian and Greek cultural life. 00:40:25.642 --> 00:40:27.220 - [Voiceover] In classical Athens, 00:40:27.220 --> 00:40:30.042 a woman's role lay under the dominion of men, 00:40:30.042 --> 00:40:32.794 but Aspasia was the exception to the rule. 00:40:32.794 --> 00:40:35.499 Pericles treated Aspasia as an equal, 00:40:35.499 --> 00:40:37.855 and his consort quickly became part 00:40:37.855 --> 00:40:40.316 of the Athenian elite. 00:40:40.316 --> 00:40:42.580 - But they became a well-known couple 00:40:42.580 --> 00:40:47.131 and to the sort of astonishment 00:40:47.131 --> 00:40:52.131 and some scandal of the Athenian people, 00:40:52.158 --> 00:40:54.096 Pericles was even to be seen actually 00:40:54.096 --> 00:40:57.312 kissing Aspasia publicly. 00:40:57.312 --> 00:40:59.332 And of course, public displays of affection 00:40:59.332 --> 00:41:01.933 were not anything that one expected to see 00:41:01.933 --> 00:41:03.785 in classical Athens. 00:41:05.996 --> 00:41:10.570 - [Voiceover] By 432, after nearly 15 years of construction, 00:41:10.570 --> 00:41:13.379 the Parthenon was completed. 00:41:13.379 --> 00:41:17.511 This temple to Athena did just what Pericles wanted, 00:41:17.511 --> 00:41:21.656 it advertised the power of Athens to the world. 00:41:21.656 --> 00:41:25.312 Ironically, the supremacy the Parthenon symbolized 00:41:25.312 --> 00:41:27.135 was already waning, 00:41:27.135 --> 00:41:29.655 and Athens long time enemy, Sparta 00:41:29.655 --> 00:41:31.438 was on the rise. 00:41:36.551 --> 00:41:40.289 - Once Athens had established this great alliance system, 00:41:40.289 --> 00:41:43.213 or as some people put it, this Athenian empire, 00:41:43.213 --> 00:41:45.873 and arguably that's what it became, 00:41:45.873 --> 00:41:49.007 the Spartans began more and more to look 00:41:49.007 --> 00:41:51.492 askance, as it were, at the Athenians 00:41:51.492 --> 00:41:54.847 and eventually, by the 430s, 00:41:54.847 --> 00:41:58.526 to feel threatened by the Athenians. 00:41:58.526 --> 00:42:00.535 - [Voiceover] In 431 BC, 00:42:00.535 --> 00:42:03.193 Sparta moved on Athens. 00:42:03.193 --> 00:42:05.712 For two long years, Athens held out 00:42:05.712 --> 00:42:08.104 against the Spartan siege. 00:42:08.104 --> 00:42:11.250 But Pericles' shining city was about to come under attack 00:42:11.250 --> 00:42:14.048 by an invisible enemy. 00:42:14.048 --> 00:42:15.892 - After a couple of years, 00:42:15.892 --> 00:42:19.212 because of the overcrowding in the city of Athens, 00:42:19.212 --> 00:42:21.709 disease that seems to have come originally 00:42:21.709 --> 00:42:23.625 from the near East, 00:42:23.625 --> 00:42:25.413 attacked the Athenian people. 00:42:25.413 --> 00:42:29.093 It's known as the Great Athenian Plague. 00:42:29.093 --> 00:42:32.594 Large numbers of Athenians died in this plague. 00:42:33.492 --> 00:42:36.046 - [Voiceover] Pericles, now in his early 60s, 00:42:36.046 --> 00:42:39.390 survived the plague, but was physically weakened 00:42:39.390 --> 00:42:41.142 and bore the brunt of the blame 00:42:41.142 --> 00:42:44.023 for the city's misfortune. 00:42:44.023 --> 00:42:47.885 In 429, with plague and war 00:42:47.885 --> 00:42:52.885 overshadowing his beloved city, Pericles died. 00:42:53.539 --> 00:42:58.432 (somber music) 00:43:01.839 --> 00:43:05.705 The bloody and brutal conflict between Athens and Sparta 00:43:05.705 --> 00:43:08.062 known as the Peloponnesian War, 00:43:08.062 --> 00:43:10.964 continued for another 25 years, 00:43:10.964 --> 00:43:14.122 until finally in 404 BC, 00:43:14.122 --> 00:43:16.055 Athens fell. 00:43:18.242 --> 00:43:19.798 - With the end of the Peloponnesian War 00:43:19.798 --> 00:43:23.304 the time of Pericles and the dominance of Athens was over. 00:43:23.304 --> 00:43:25.823 Great marvels of Greek culture and Greek engineering 00:43:25.823 --> 00:43:27.077 would live on, 00:43:27.077 --> 00:43:29.399 and the irony was that the two men, 00:43:29.399 --> 00:43:32.301 the two purveyors of the fantastic legacy 00:43:32.301 --> 00:43:34.578 of classical age of Athens, 00:43:34.578 --> 00:43:36.811 were not Athenians at all. 00:43:40.822 --> 00:43:43.039 The names of these two men would be synonymous 00:43:43.039 --> 00:43:46.011 not only with conquest, but with Helenism, 00:43:46.011 --> 00:43:48.601 the spreading of the Greek ideal of culture and value 00:43:48.601 --> 00:43:50.075 throughout the world right on up 00:43:50.075 --> 00:43:52.048 to our own modern day. 00:43:52.048 --> 00:43:54.717 These two men were Phillip II of Macedonia, 00:43:54.717 --> 00:43:57.457 and his son, a man who would be the envy 00:43:57.457 --> 00:43:59.291 of every single general and emperor 00:43:59.291 --> 00:44:02.634 from Julius Caesar and Napoleon, to George Patton. 00:44:02.634 --> 00:44:05.293 A man who would traverse most of his known world 00:44:05.293 --> 00:44:07.789 in his short 33 years, 00:44:07.789 --> 00:44:09.868 that student of Aristotle, 00:44:09.868 --> 00:44:12.410 and self-proclaimed god, 00:44:12.410 --> 00:44:14.435 Alexander the Great. 00:44:15.451 --> 00:44:18.806 I'm Peter Weller for the History Channel. 00:44:18.806 --> 00:44:23.806 (dramatic music)