Pericles
From ABC-CLIO's World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras website
http://ancienthistory.abc-clio.com/
A general and politician, Pericles was one of the most significant figures of Athens during the
fifth century BCE. His leadership in the Peloponnesian War, his importance as a patron of the
arts, and his contributions to Athenian democracy made him famous even in his own day.
Pericles was admired for his abilities and well respected for his strength of character. The
ancient biographer Plutarch devoted one of his biographies in his Parallel Lives to him,
outlining his character and giving us a portrait of his everyday life. An able orator, Pericles
persuaded the populace of Athens to follow his policies through his charisma and oratorical
ability, a skill at which the contemporary historian Thucydides suggests Pericles was gifted.
Pericles was born circa 495 BCE into an aristocratic Athenian family. His father, Xanthippus,
had been an Athenian politician and general during the Persian Wars, taking part in the Battle
of Mycale that destroyed what remained of the Persian forces in 479. Agariste, Pericles'
mother, was the niece of the statesman Cleisthenes of Athens, who had put through important
democratic reforms in the late sixth-century BCE. Like most aristocratic young men, Pericles
was well educated, the necessary beginning for any young man interested in politics. His first
significant involvement in Athenian politics was in the trial of the Athenian general Cimon in
463, where he served as one of the prosecutors. Pericles may have played a very minor role,
however. One theory holds that Pericles was young and therefore had little to contribute, but it
is possible that he had made arrangements with the defense as well.
During 462–461, Pericles helped the prominent politician Ephialtes reduce the powers of the
Areopagus (an ancient council that decided, among other things, important legal issues). Upon
the murder of Ephialtes, whose political activities had made him many enemies, Pericles took
an increasingly vital and notable role in running Athens.
Sources are silent as to Pericles' activities for a few years after the death of Ephialtes, but
many scholars suspect that he was behind a few of the major projects undertaken by Athens.
For example, he may have been instrumental in the building of the Long Walls of Athens
around 460–456. Pericles also may have helped institute the theorika, a state fund that
permitted poor Athenians to attend theater productions. In addition, Athenian power and
influence spread as a result of the cleruchies, a form of Greek colony in which the settlers
retained their citizenship and ties with the mother polis. Under Pericles, several of those
settlements had been founded in what is now modern Turkey. Finally, Pericles was active in
rebuilding parts of Athens destroyed during the Persian Wars and in the construction of new
buildings. The Parthenon, the great temple to Athena atop the Acropolis in Athens, was one of
his chief projects.
As a general, Pericles came to prominence in 454. His diplomacy and military ability helped
Athens maintain its power and empire. In 447 or 446, Athens suffered a series of setbacks
that embroiled it in conflict with a number of other city-states, including Sparta. Through
negotiations (or bribery), Pericles convinced the Spartans to leave and then retook a few of the
areas that had revolted from Athenian control, like Euboea. In 446, Pericles successfully
persuaded Sparta, one of the most powerful states, to recognize what remained of the
Athenian Empire in the Thirty Years' Peace.
It was not long, however, before war threatened again. During the Peloponnesian War, which
began in 431, Pericles encouraged the Athenians to counter Sparta, and for the first year, the
Athenians successfully defended themselves. In 430, however, a plague broke out, and Athens
lost perhaps one quarter of its population. In 429, Pericles succumbed to the plague and died.
The success of Pericles in Athenian politics owed much to his character. Despite being briefly
deposed near the end of his life, Pericles was remembered as a man of integrity, one who not
only helped Athens maintain its greatness, but who also looked after the people, such as when
he increased the pay of jurors. Despite those reforms, Pericles remained very much the
aristocrat. According to Thucydides, Pericles' power after the Thirty Years' Peace belied the
idea that democracy was growing stronger, for Pericles seemed to rule almost on his own.
Thucydides adds, however, that Pericles did that because of his position, skill, and known
character, not because he wished to be a despot. If the funeral oration recorded by Thucydides
was truly one of Pericles' speeches, the statesman genuinely cared for his fellow citizens. The
friend of artists, philosophers, and playwrights; an able general; and a powerful orator,
Pericles represented the height of Athenian power and cultural supremacy.
MLA:
"Pericles." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 6 Jan. 2014.