A slightly idealized portrait of Pericles as strategus is preserved to us in the British Museum bust, No. Being always cautious, he never undertook of his own accord a battle involving much uncertainty and peril and he did not accede to the "vain impulses of the citizens". … [94] Consequently, Pericles asked the Spartans to offer a quid pro quo. Ephialtes' murder in 461 BC paved the way for Pericles to consolidate his authority. His achievements included the construction of the Acropolis, begun in 447. Athens reached the pinnacle of Celebrity. [160][161] According to Plutarch, he avoided using gimmicks in his speeches, unlike the passionate Demosthenes, and always spoke in a calm and tranquil manner. People Black History [94] Another consideration that may well have influenced Pericles' stance was the concern that revolts in the empire might spread if Athens showed itself weak. During his leadership, he built the Acropolis and Parthenon and led Athens' recapture of Delphi, the siege on Samos and the invasion of Megara. Paparrigopoulos wrote that these masterpieces are "sufficient to render the name of Greece immortal in our world". [62], By 450–449 BC the revolts in Miletus and Erythrae were quelled and Athens restored its rule over its allies. According to the most stringent provision of the decree, even proposing a different use of the money or ships would entail the penalty of death. Xanthippus and Agariste were the parents of Pericles. [61] Either because of a genuine fear for its safety after the defeat in Egypt and the revolts of the allies, or as a pretext to gain control of the League's finances, Athens transferred the treasury of the alliance from Delos to Athens in 454–453 BC. [69] When the Samians revolted against Athenian rule, Pericles compelled the rebels to capitulate after a tough siege of eight months, which resulted in substantial discontent among the Athenian sailors. During the Age of Pericles, Athens blossomed as a center of education, art, culture, and democracy. That is to say, Thucydides could simply have used two different writing styles for two different purposes. [139][178], Further assessments about Pericles and his era, "Perikles" redirects here. Worsted in the war, the Milesians came to Athens to plead their case against the Samians. [2] Pericles also fostered Athenian democracy to such an extent that critics call him a populist. Ancient Greek statesman Pericles, leader of Athens from 460–429 B.C., organized the construction of the Parthenon and developed a democracy based on majority rule. Pericles marked a whole era and inspired conflicting judgments about his significant decisions. He gave this speech during a funeral for Athenian soldiers that died in the first year of the brutal Peloponnesian War against Sparta, Athens’s chief rival. Even when in the face of mounting pressure, Pericles did not give in to the demands for immediate action against the enemy or revise his initial strategy. For other uses, see, Ancient Greek statesman, orator, and general of Athens, Thucydides records several speeches which he attributes to Pericles; however, he acknowledges that: "it was in all cases difficult to carry them word for word in one's memory, so my habit has been to make the speakers say what was in my opinion demanded of them by the various occasions, of course adhering as closely as possible to the general sense of what they really said. [21][22], In 463 BC, Pericles was the leading prosecutor of Cimon, the leader of the conservative faction who was accused of neglecting Athens' vital interests in Macedon. [57], After the Spartan threat had been removed, Pericles crossed back to Euboea to crush the revolt there. Euripides was one of the great Athenian playwrights and poets of ancient Greece, known for the many tragedies he wrote, including 'Medea' and 'The Bacchae.'. [103] While the Spartan army remained in Attica, Pericles sent a fleet of 100 ships to loot the coasts of the Peloponnese and charged the cavalry to guard the ravaged farms close to the walls of the city. During the Second Sacred War Pericles led the Athenian army against Delphi and reinstated Phocis in its sovereign rights on the oracle. [131] Pericles also tried to minimize the advantages of Sparta by rebuilding the walls of Athens, which, it has been suggested, radically altered the use of force in Greek international relations. In the late 400s B.C., several Greek city-states formed what was known as the Delian League, a loose alliance system, to meet the threat posed by the invading Persian Empire. This ban strangled the Megarian economy and strained the fragile peace between Athens and Sparta, which was allied with Megara. 549, which is a good copy of the well-known bronze original by Cresilas. Ancient Greek statesman Pericles was born c. 495 B.C. ... Pericles is most known for * answer choices . Pericles (/ˈpɛrɪkliːz/; Attic Greek: Περικλῆς, pronounced [pe.ri.klɛ̂ːs] in Classical Attic; c. 495 – 429 BC) was a prominent and influential Greek statesman, orator and general of Athens during its golden age, specifically the time between the Persian and the Peloponnesian Wars. In the first legendary oration Thucydides puts in his mouth, Pericles advised the Athenians not to yield to their opponents' demands, since they were militarily stronger. [31], According to Samons, Pericles believed that it was necessary to raise the demos, in which he saw an untapped source of Athenian power and the crucial element of Athenian military dominance. The period from 460 to 429 is in fact often referred to as the Age of Pericles in Ancient Greek history. Pericles was the reason democratic Athens was able to smoothly change or make gradual steps from simple polis into an Empire. From The Delian League To The Athenian Empire, Jebb, R.C. [53] In 447 BC Pericles engaged in his most admired excursion, the expulsion of barbarians from the Thracian peninsula of Gallipoli, to establish Athenian colonists in the region. According to George Cawkwell, a praelector in ancient history, with this decree Pericles breached the Thirty Years' Peace "but, perhaps, not without the semblance of an excuse". To many historians, these events marked the true beginning of Athenian democracy. [96], In 431 BC, while peace already was precarious, Archidamus II, Sparta's king, sent a new delegation to Athens, demanding that the Athenians submit to Sparta's demands. Agariste was the great-granddaughter of the tyrant of Sicyon, Cleisthenes, and the niece of the Athenian reformer Cleisthenes. [173][174], Other analysts maintain an Athenian humanism illustrated in the Golden Age. [6] The leader of the party and mentor of Pericles, Ephialtes, proposed a reduction of the Areopagus' powers. [124] It is told that when his political opponent, Thucydides, was asked by Sparta's king, Archidamus, whether he or Pericles was the better fighter, Thucydides answered without any hesitation that Pericles was better, because even when he was defeated, he managed to convince the audience that he had won. [97] With his last attempt at negotiation thus declined, Archidamus invaded Attica, but found no Athenians there; Pericles, aware that Sparta's strategy would be to invade and ravage Athenian territory, had previously arranged to evacuate the entire population of the region to within the walls of Athens. Although Pericles was a main source of his inspiration, some historians have noted that the passionate and idealistic literary style of the speeches Thucydides attributes to Pericles is completely at odds with Thucydides' own cold and analytical writing style. Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, together with Socrates and Plato, laid much of the groundwork for western philosophy. [40] In 451 BC, Cimon returned from exile and negotiated a five years' truce with Sparta after a proposal of Pericles, an event which indicates a shift in Pericles' political strategy. He was condemned to death for his Socratic method of questioning. [50] According to the historian Terry Buckley the objective of the Congress Decree was a new mandate for the Delian League and for the collection of "phoros" (taxes).[51]. Pericles promoted the arts and literature, and it is principally through his efforts that Athens acquired the reputation of being the educational and cultural center of the ancient Greek world. Toussaint L'Ouverture was a leader of the Haitian independence movement during the French Revolution. [42], Plutarch states that Cimon struck a power-sharing deal with his opponents, according to which Pericles would carry through the interior affairs and Cimon would be the leader of the Athenian army, campaigning abroad. [63] Around 447 BC Clearchus[64] proposed the Coinage Decree, which imposed Athenian silver coinage, weights and measures on all of the allies. He was descended, through his mother, from the powerful and historically-influential Alcmaeonid family. [75] Just before the eruption of the Peloponnesian War, Pericles and two of his closest associates, Phidias and his companion, Aspasia, faced a series of personal and judicial attacks. Pericles is said to have initiated both expeditions in Egypt and Cyprus,[44] although some researchers, such as Karl Julius Beloch, argue that the dispatch of such a great fleet conforms with the spirit of Cimon's policy. [67], The Samian War was one of the last significant military events before the Peloponnesian War. Athens under Pericles saw the construction of the Acropolis and the glory of the Parthenon, begun in 447 BCE. [144] It is a popular conclusion that those succeeding him lacked his abilities and character. The obvious purpose of these proposals was the instigation of a confrontation between Pericles and the people; this event, indeed, would come about a few years later. Socrates was an ancient Greek philosopher considered to be the main source of Western thought. [9] His proverbial calmness and self-control are also often regarded as products of Anaxagoras' influence. [88] Therefore, he did not hesitate to send troops to Corcyra to reinforce the Corcyraean fleet, which was fighting against Corinth. Pericles, following Athenian custom, was first married to one of his closest relatives, with whom he had two sons, Paralus and Xanthippus, but around 445 BC, Pericles divorced his wife. Pericles turned the Delian Leagueinto an Athenian empire and led his countryme… In 430 BC, the army of Sparta looted Attica for a second time, but Pericles was not daunted and refused to revise his initial strategy. [102] As meetings of the assembly were called at the discretion of its rotating presidents, the "prytanies", Pericles had no formal control over their scheduling; rather, the respect in which Pericles was held by the prytanies was apparently sufficient to persuade them to do as he wished. [135] It is for that reason that Hans Delbrück called him one of the greatest statesmen and military leaders in history. [13] In matters of character, Pericles was above reproach in the eyes of the ancient historians, since "he kept himself untainted by corruption, although he was not altogether indifferent to money-making". [119] His sister and both his legitimate sons, Xanthippus and Paralus, died during an epidemic of plague. [20], Thucydides (the historian), an admirer of Pericles, maintains that Athens was "in name a democracy but, in fact, governed by its first citizen". [99] Therefore, although they agreed to leave, many rural residents were far from happy with Pericles' decision. [1] Through this comment, the historian illustrates what he perceives as Pericles' charisma to lead, convince and, sometimes, to manipulate. Pericles made his first military excursions during the First Peloponnesian War, which was caused in part by Athens' alliance with Megara and Argos and the subsequent reaction of Sparta. [ζ] Thucydides hints at the same thing, believing the reason for the war was Sparta's fear of Athenian power and growth. The residents of Histiaea, meanwhile, who had butchered the crew of an Athenian trireme, were uprooted and replaced by 2,000 Athenian settlers. According to Vlachos, Thucydides must have been about 30 years old when Pericles delivered his Funeral Oration and he was probably among the audience. © 2021 Biography and the Biography logo are registered trademarks of A&E Television Networks, LLC. These glories may incur the censure of the slow and unambitious; but in the breast of energy they will awake emulation, and in those who must remain without them an envious regret. This speech became known as Pericles' Funeral Oration, and it occurred in 431 B.C., just after the start of war. After inheriting money as a teen, the ancient Greek statesman Pericles became a great patron of the arts. The social and financial … 9th grade. [78] Beloch also believes that Pericles deliberately brought on the war to protect his political position at home. The ambitious new leader of the conservatives, Thucydides (not to be confused with the historian of the same name), accused Pericles of profligacy, criticizing the way he spent the money for the ongoing building plan. Vlachos points out that he does not know who wrote the oration, but "these were the words which should have been spoken at the end of 431 BC". Athens was known for its naval prowess, as well as its influence on the intellectual culture of Greece and the rest of the world. Around 461 BC, the leadership of the democratic party decided it was time to take aim at the Areopagus, a traditional council controlled by the Athenian aristocracy, which had once been the most powerful body in the state. Legends say that Philip II of Macedon had a similar dream before the birth of his son, Alexander the Great. Vlachos underlines, however, that the defeat of Athens could entail a much more ruthless Spartan empire, something that did indeed happen. [76], Aspasia, who was noted for her ability as a conversationalist and adviser, was accused of corrupting the women of Athens to satisfy Pericles' perversions. [117] This relationship aroused many reactions and even Pericles' own son, Xanthippus, who had political ambitions, did not hesitate to slander his father. Pericles has been credited with many accomplishments, including building the Pantheon and establishing democracy. left his mark on the world in far more ways than the iconic Acropolis that still defines the skyline of Athens. Pericles was able to consolidate his position as leading statesmen for Athens. in Athens, Greece. [66] In 449 BC Pericles proposed a decree allowing the use of 9,000 talents to finance the major rebuilding program of Athenian temples. [36], In the mid-450s the Athenians launched an unsuccessful attempt to aid an Egyptian revolt against Persia, which led to a prolonged siege of a Persian fortress in the Nile Delta. Pericles crossed over to Euboea with his troops, but was forced to return when the Spartan army invaded Attica. 1. Pericles was known for his integrity and did not seek power while he led the people to a better system of governing. [55], In 444 BC, the conservative and the democratic factions confronted each other in a fierce struggle. [113] This is considered to be a monumental oration, revealing Pericles' virtues but also his bitterness towards his compatriots' ingratitude. His early years were quiet; the introverted young Pericles avoided public appearances, instead preferring to devote his time to his studies. [41] Pericles may have realized the importance of Cimon's contribution during the ongoing conflicts against the Peloponnesians and the Persians. [72], Between 438–436 BC Pericles led Athens' fleet in Pontus and established friendly relations with the Greek cities of the region. The young Pericles received a stellar education in music under the tutelage of Damon and in math under theoretical physicist Zeno of Elea. Pericles' mother, Agariste, was niece to the famed statesman and reformer Cleisthenes, who lead the controversial Alcmaeonidae clan. The characteristics of the Periclean age have been discussed here. [89] In 433 BC the enemy fleets confronted each other at the Battle of Sybota and a year later the Athenians fought Corinthian colonists at the Battle of Potidaea; these two events contributed greatly to Corinth's lasting hatred of Athens. He was known to keep the company of early philosophers such as … ), who said he was quoting Pericles himself. Among them were Athens' recapture of Delphi from the Spartans in 448, the Athenian Navy's siege on Samos during the Samian War, and the misfortunate invasion of Megara in 431, which ended in Athens' defeat and ultimately its ruination. A common criticism is that Pericles was always a better politician and orator than strategist. Pericles received the best education available, studying music under Damon and mathematics under Zeno of Elea. [175][176] The freedom of expression is regarded as the lasting legacy deriving from this period. Our polity does not copy the laws of neighboring states; we are rather a pattern to others than imitators ourselves. For example, he would often avoid banquets, trying to be frugal. [132], During the Peloponnesian War, Pericles initiated a defensive "grand strategy" whose aim was the exhaustion of the enemy and the preservation of the status quo. [126] [136] Although his countrymen engaged in several aggressive actions soon after his death,[137] Platias and Koliopoulos argue that the Athenians remained true to the larger Periclean strategy of seeking to preserve, not expand, the empire, and did not depart from it until the Sicilian Expedition. Some of his strongest arguments included in the Introduction of the speech, (Thuc.11.35). [177] Pericles is lauded as "the ideal type of the perfect statesman in ancient Greece" and his Funeral Oration is nowadays synonymous with the struggle for participatory democracy and civic pride. [13], His family's nobility and wealth allowed him to fully pursue his inclination toward education. Paparrigopoulos maintains that an unprecedented regression descended upon the city, whose glory perished as a result of Pericles' populist policies. [109] In the summer of the same year an epidemic broke out and devastated the Athenians. After the _____ war, Pericles convinced Athenians to rebuild the_____. [κ][1] On the other hand, in one of his dialogues, Plato rejects the glorification of Pericles and declares: "as I know, Pericles made the Athenians slothful, garrulous and avaricious, by starting the system of public fees". This deputation was not allowed to enter Athens, as Pericles had already passed a resolution according to which no Spartan deputation would be welcomed if the Spartans had previously initiated any hostile military actions. Ancient Greek philosopher Plato founded the Academy and is the author of philosophical works of unparalleled influence in Western thought. Period also known as "Golden Age of Greece" -marks the peak of the polis. to 429 B.C. The period of his life during which he led the Athenian people is today known as the Age of Pericles, because of his legacy, what he did for the city, and what he did for its people. [51] According to one of the decree's most stringent provisions, surplus from a minting operation was to go into a special fund, and anyone proposing to use it otherwise was subject to the death penalty. [76], Beyond these initial prosecutions, the ecclesia attacked Pericles himself by asking him to justify his ostensible profligacy with, and maladministration of, public money. Throughout these years he endeavored to protect his privacy and to present himself as a model for his fellow citizens. [68], When the Athenians ordered the two sides to stop fighting and submit the case to arbitration in Athens, the Samians refused. [δ] Without opposition after the expulsion of Cimon, the unchallengeable leader of the democratic party became the unchallengeable ruler of Athens. [30] Accordingly, he enacted legislation granting the lower classes access to the political system and the public offices, from which they had previously been barred. Remember, too, that if your country has the greatest name in all the world, it is because she never bent before disaster; because she has expended more life and effort in war than any other city, and has won for herself a power greater than any hitherto known, the memory of which will descend to the latest posterity. [ο] This might, however, be the result of the incorporation of the genre of rhetoric into the genre of historiography. According to Plutarch, it was thought that Pericles proceeded against the Samians to gratify Aspasia of Miletus. Taking into consideration its symptoms, most researchers and scientists now believe that it was. He learned music from the masters of the time (Damon or Pythocleides could have been his teacher)[14][15] and he is considered to have been the first politician to attribute importance to philosophy. staging of playwright Aeschylus’ The Persae. [73] Pericles focused also on internal projects, such as the fortification of Athens (the building of the "middle wall" about 440 BC), and on the creation of new cleruchies, such as Andros, Naxos and Thurii (444 BC) as well as Amphipolis (437–436 BC).[74]. According to Athanasios G. Platias and Constantinos Koliopoulos, professors of strategic studies and international politics, "rather than to submit to coercive demands, Pericles chose war". [71] Pericles then quelled a revolt in Byzantium and, when he returned to Athens, gave a funeral oration to honor the soldiers who died in the expedition. [133] According to Platias and Koliopoulos, Athens as the strongest party did not have to beat Sparta in military terms and "chose to foil the Spartan plan for victory". [159] Gomme rejects Kakridis's position, defending the fact that "Nobody of men has ever been so conscious of envy and its workings as the Greeks, and that the Greeks and Thucydides in particular had a passion for covering all ground in their generalizations, not always relevantly. Over the course of his leadership, Pericles organized the construction of the Acropolis and the Parthenon in Athens. [139] Donald Kagan called the Periclean strategy "a form of wishful thinking that failed", Barry S. Strauss and Josiah Ober have stated that "as strategist he was a failure and deserves a share of the blame for Athens' great defeat", and Victor Davis Hanson believes that Pericles had not worked out a clear strategy for an effective offensive action that could possibly force Thebes or Sparta to stop the war. [104] When the enemy retired and the pillaging came to an end, Pericles proposed a decree according to which the authorities of the city should put aside 1,000 talents and 100 ships, in case Athens was attacked by naval forces. Rather, the admiration of the present and succeeding ages will be ours, since we have not left our power without witness, but have shown it by mighty proofs; and far from needing a Homer for our panegyrist, or other of his craft whose verses might charm for the moment only for the impression which they gave to melt at the touch of fact, we have forced every sea and land to be the highway of our daring, and everywhere, whether for evil or for good, have left imperishable monuments behind us. B) Democratic Explanation: The time during which he started Athens, approximately from 461 to 429 BC, is seldom recognized as the Age of Pericles, though the period thus expressed can hold times as old as the Persian Wars, or as late as the next century. [24], Around 461 BC, the leadership of the democratic party decided it was time to take aim at the Areopagus, a traditional council controlled by the Athenian aristocracy, which had once been the most powerful body in the state. [32] (The fleet, backbone of Athenian power since the days of Themistocles, was manned almost entirely by members of the lower classes. But still, there is very little evidence of Pericles’ personal writing that exists, and the mysteries to his actions will remain constantly debated by contemp… Hatred and unpopularity at the moment have fallen to the lot of all who have aspired to rule others. Pericles had such a profound influence on Athenian society that he was acclaimed by Thucydides, a contemporary historian, as "the first citizen of Athens". In it, Pericles (or Thucydides) extols the values of democracy. ... Pericles was famous for building the Parthenon. The period during which he led Athens, roughly from 461 to 429 BC, is sometimes known as the "Age of Pericles", but the period thus denoted can include times as early as the Persian Wars or as late as the next century. When he was 17, Pericles inherited a large fortune which he used to fund others’ artistic endeavors, including a 472 B.C. [171] The promotion of such an arrogant imperialism is said to have ruined Athens. This was an abuse of the treasury funds. He was descended, through his mother, from the powerful and historically-influential Alcmaeonid family. Pericles was known as: the politician for Democracy. [46] Ernst Badian believes that a peace between Athens and Persia was first ratified in 463 BC (making the Athenian interventions in Egypt and Cyprus violations of the peace), and renegotiated at the conclusion of the campaign in Cyprus, taking force again by 449–448 BC. [170], Pericles' most visible legacy can be found in the literary and artistic works of the Golden Age, much of which survive to this day. [162] The biographer points out, however, that the poet Ion reported that Pericles' speaking style was "a presumptuous and somewhat arrogant manner of address, and that into his haughtiness there entered a good deal of disdain and contempt for others". During the autumn of 431 BC, Pericles led the Athenian forces that invaded Megara and a few months later (winter of 431–430 BC) he delivered his monumental and emotional Funeral Oration, honoring the Athenians who died for their city.[105]. After establishing his prominence in the law courts, Pericles entered politics in 470 B.C. Perikles was an aristocratic politician in Athens during (and considered widely responsible for) the city's Golden Age in the 5th century BC. Athens was the head of a league of city-states from which it collected money that was placed into a central treasury. Document A: Pericles (Modified) The following excerpt is from a speech known as “The Funeral Oration,” delivered by the Athenian general and politician Pericles in 431 BCE. Kagan's view is that Cimon adapted himself to the new conditions and promoted a political marriage between Periclean liberals and Cimonian conservatives. [167], Nothing was more alien to the Greeks than the notion of a Separation between church and state. Pericles is perhaps most famous for his great building projects. What happened in Athens during the "Golden Age" of Pericles? [34] In contrast, Donald Kagan asserts that the democratic measures Pericles put into effect provided the basis for an unassailable political strength. Plutarch says "granddaughter" of Cleisthenes. Play this game to review World History. According to Paparrigopoulos, history vindicated Cimon, because Athens, after Pericles' death, sank into the abyss of political turmoil and demagogy. [1] His judgement is not unquestioned; some 20th-century critics, such as Malcolm F. McGregor and John S. Morrison, proposed that he may have been a charismatic public face acting as an advocate on the proposals of advisors, or the people themselves. Finally, Pericles proposed to reimburse the city for all questionable expenses from his private property, with the proviso that he would make the inscriptions of dedication in his own name. His morale undermined, he burst into tears and not even Aspasia's companionship could console him. [148], Modern commentators of Thucydides, with other modern historians and writers, take varying stances on the issue of how much of the speeches of Pericles, as given by this historian, do actually represent Pericles' own words and how much of them is free literary creation or paraphrase by Thucydides.