There's a story that in 1822 during the Greek War of Independence, the Ottoman Turkish forces in Athens found themselves trapped on the historic Acropolis.

The ruins of the ancient temple complex had been converted by the Turks into a fortress, where they were now besieged by the advancing Greek revolutionary army.

The story goes that as the Greeks tightened the noose around the famous hilltop, the Turkish garrison

ran out of ammunition. The desperate Turks looked around for anything that might be quickly made

into ammo, and it didn't take long for them to turn their eyes to what remained of the Parthenon.

The iconic temple of Athena had stood for over two millennia, having first been erected

during the heyday of ancient Athenian democracy.

The ancient Greeks had used specially designed lead clamps to help fasten the structure's huge marble

blocks. But now, with the revolutionaries closing in, that ancient lead looked like little more

than potential bullets. So, the Turkish garrison set about dismantling the monument to salvage what they could

for hastily cast ammunition.

Meanwhile, the Greeks noticed what was happening and became distressed.

Why were the Ottomans so violently attacking the Parthenon?

We're told that to get an answer, the revolutionary commander, Odysseus,

sent a pair of young messengers to parlay with the Turks on the Acropolis.

When they returned, the messengers explained to Andrusos that the enemy had told them

that they had run out of ammunition and were

using the Parthenon lead to cast bullets. So a fateful decision was made. To preserve one of the most

symbolically important monuments in Greece, the Greek revolutionaries chose to deliver ammunition

to their sworn enemies. We're told that Odysseus Andrusos ordered that a load of ammo be

sent to the Turks with an accompanying Greek letter reading, quote,

here are your bullets, don't touch the pillars, end quote.

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