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Peisistratos, around the middle of the 6th century, made his first attempt to establish himself as a tyrant when he seized the Acropolis. In 574 BC, Peisistratos finally and firmly established his position on the Acropolis with the use of mercenaries. Peisistratos" son, Hippias, held the Acropolis after the death of his father and murder of his brother; the Acropolis was now his stronghold over the Athenian people. In 510 BC, Hippias was attacked and blockaded in the Acropolis by the Spartans; he seemed to have held out against his opponents until the capturing of his children forced him to surrender. With Hippias" stronghold, it would therefore seem that the Acropolis was defensible until a few years later when the Spartans, besieged in turn in the Acropolis, were forced to surrender to the Athenians. The Acropolis was clearly not very effective as a long-term defense system, (Durant).
During the decade of the 480's BC, the Persians returned after their defeat at Marathon only to meet their demise in a naval battle at Salamis. Themistokles led the fleet of Athenian ships and defeated the Persian leader Xerxes on sea and land. But after the Persians were run out of Attica, the Athenian people came home to a city of mass destruction. The walls of the city had been destroyed; the houses built of fieldstone and mud-brick, lay in utter ruin; shrines and temples had been burnt and their dedications either broken up or carried off. An entire city had to be rebuilt. In fact, no temple had been built at this time atop of the Acropolis. With the occupation of the Persians in Athens, they had put an end to the project. The only structures of the temple that stood on the Acropolis were; the great platform and steps were already set in place but the temple was many dollars and many years away from completion.
Yet, thanks to the enormous political and economic revival of Athens after the war and destruction of the city, the task of building a new city and temple were relatively soon accomplished.
