Why did it take 638 years to finish the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens?

Wars & Conflicts · Published 15 October 2026 · Updated 25 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Construction of this colossal Athenian landmark began in the 6th century BC but stalled for centuries. Viewed by some as a symbol of tyrannical excess, the project faced repeated abandonment, looting, and architectural shifts. It was finally completed by a Roman emperor, only to be ruined by later invasions.

The Temple of Olympian Zeus began as a grand vision under the Athenian tyrants around 520 BC. Hippias and Hipparchos intended to build a structure that would eclipse the greatest temples of the ancient world. However, the project was abandoned in 510 BC after the tyranny fell. For over three centuries, the site remained largely unfinished, with some historians suggesting that the democratic Greeks viewed such massive, state-sponsored construction as an act of hubris.

The project saw a brief revival in 174 BC under the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who hired the Roman architect Decimus Cossutius. This phase introduced the Corinthian order to the exterior of a major temple and shifted the material to high-quality Pentelic marble. Despite these advancements, work halted again in 164 BC upon the king's death. Further misfortune followed in 86 BC when the Roman general Sulla sacked Athens and seized some of the incomplete columns to decorate a temple in Rome.

It was not until the 2nd century AD that Emperor Hadrian finally completed the temple, roughly 638 years after the initial foundations were laid. Hadrian dedicated the site in 132 AD, adorning it with a massive chryselephantine statue of Zeus and numerous tributes to himself. The temple's glory was short-lived; it suffered significant damage during a Germanic invasion in 267 AD and was eventually reduced to ruins by an earthquake in the 5th century. By the medieval period, the site was systematically quarried for building materials.

Today, the site serves as a central archaeological landmark in Athens. While the cella and the great statue are long gone, fifteen of the original 104 columns remain standing. A sixteenth column, which toppled during a severe weather event in 1852, still lies where it landed. Modern excavations have since clarified the temple's complex history, revealing layers of construction that span from the Archaic period through the height of the Roman Empire.

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