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Footnotes
Plutarch, the Roman historian, reports that Phidias had been advised by Pericles to make all the gold on the statue removable so that it could be weighed and accounted for, in the event the sculptor was accused of theft; indeed, such a charge was brought, so the plan was indeed well-advised.
Almost half of the frieze was removed by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century and placed in the British Museum in London. See Jacob Rothenberg, “Lord Elgin’s Marbles: How Sculptures from the Parthenon Got to the British Museum,” Archaeology Odyssey, Spring 1998.
By the time the Propylaea was constructed, the Acropolis itself was no longer fortified. After the Persians departed, walls were constructed to encompass much of Athens, not just the Acropolis.
The standard view is that the Propylaea was not finished because of the Peloponnesian War. I believe that construction was stopped because the northeast wing could not be built without modifications to the central building and the northwest wing.