In this instalment of ‘Lost Worlds’, a team of field investigators painstakingly reconstruct the city of Athens as it would have looked in the fifth century BC. Using the latest research, expert analysis and cutting edge graphic technology, our experts take us on a compelling journey through Greek history.

Firstly, we embark upon a comprehensive examination of Pericles’ life, assessing the leader’s role in Athens’ ascent to greatness, as well as in the city’s eventual undoing. Described by the historian Thucydides as the ‘first citizen of Athens’, Pericles ruled from 461BC until 429BC. This elected statesman has been credited with leading Athens towards greatness, consolidating the Athenian Empire, and paving the way for western civilisation.

This programme slowly reassembles the city which Pericles presided over, and examines his considerable architectural legacy. The statesman was responsible for masterminding the most costly and ambitious construction campaign which had ever been undertaken in the western world, as he created a model city of temples, houses, market places, civic buildings and a highly innovative sanitation system.

However, Pericles drew the funds necessary to accomplish these feats directly from the Greek alliance’s treasury. Widely seen as one of the largest embezzlements in human history, the decision to use money which had been earmarked for the defence of the city states eventually lead to the downfall of Athens, and of Pericles himself.

Two and a half thousand years after Athens was bought down by war and disease, we recreate Pericles’ magnificent city. Impregnable fortifications, the first senate house, and one of the most advanced water systems in the world, are all important hallmarks of the ‘Age of Pericles. ’ We also gaze in awe at the Parthenon: a building which is often hailed as the most perfect structure ever completed. An examination of the terrifying power of the Greek navy completes our exciting foray into the breathtaking world of fifth century Greece.