Why did Pericles call for Greek states to rebuild temples destroyed during the Persian Wars?

Pericles summoned a conference of all Greek states to address the rebuilding of temples destroyed during the Persian Wars as part of a broader policy to assert and secure Athens’s cultural and political leadership in Greece.1

Beyond the reconstruction of these sacred sites, the conference was intended to consider the payment of sacrifices owed to the gods for the salvation of the Greeks and to address the issue of the freedom of the seas. While Sparta refused to cooperate with this initiative, Pericles proceeded with the program under the Athenian alliance, utilizing its treasury to fund a magnificent building project centered on the Acropolis, including the construction of the Parthenon.1