Pericles ancient greece biography

The vote resulted in the complete loss of power for the old noble council, Areopagus. Cimon, the conservative Athenian leader whose policy it was to maintain friendly relations with Sparta, was exiled. To many historians, these events marked the true beginning of Athenian democracy. Pericles quickly seized the helm, organizing democratic institutions throughout the city and in becoming the ruler of Athens—a title he would hold until his death.

The period from to is in fact often referred to as the Age of Pericles in Ancient Greek history. Over the course of his leadership, Pericles organized the construction of the Acropolis and the Parthenon in Athens. He also led several crucial military missions. Among them were Athens' recapture of Delphi from the Spartans inthe Athenian Navy's siege on Samos during the Samian War, and the misfortunate invasion of Megara inwhich ended in Athens' defeat and ultimately its ruination.

The Biography. He avoided land battles with the formidable Spartan army, instead relying on naval supremacy to maintain supply lines and harass enemy coasts. Effective in the short term, but it led to hardship and discontent among Athenians. It wiped out a huge chunk of the population. Pericles himself fell victim to the plague in BC, leaving Athens leaderless at a critical time.

Pericles married Aspasia, a foreign-born intellectual and courtesan. Quite the unorthodox pairing by Athenian standards. Aspasia was known for her intelligence, wit, and beauty. Their partnership challenged traditional Athenian norms and sparked plenty of gossip. Pericles weathered his fair share of controversies and scandals. His citizenship law and relationship with Aspasia drew criticism.

But he had a knack for overcoming these challenges. Pericles met his end in BC during the Peloponnesian War, likely due to the plague ravaging Athens. His death left a gaping power vacuum in Athenian politics. He also tipped his hat to the bumps and heated debates Pericles stumbled into along the way. His leadership during the golden age helped establish Athens as a cultural, intellectual, and political powerhouse.

The art, architecture, philosophy, and democracy he championed left an indelible mark. Pericles turned Athens into a cultural and intellectual beacon, championing democracy, arts, and philosophy. Despite challenges like the Peloponnesian War and personal controversies, his legacy as a visionary leader endures. From initiating groundbreaking political reforms to commanding respect on both domestic and international fronts, his influence echoes throughout time.

Sunday, December 29, By: Jon Giunta. July 24, Complicating the account of this period is the issue of the Peace of Calliaswhich allegedly ended hostilities between the Greeks and the Persians. The very existence of the treaty is hotly disputed, and its particulars and negotiation are ambiguous. John Fine, in contrast, suggests that the first peace between Athens and Persia was concluded in — BC, due to Pericles' calculation that ongoing conflict with Persia was undermining Athens' ability to spread its influence in Greece and the Aegean.

In the spring of BC, Pericles proposed the Congress Decree, which led to a meeting "Congress" of all Greek states to consider the question of rebuilding the temples destroyed by the Persians. The Congress failed because of Sparta's stance, but Pericles' intentions remain unclear. 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 pericles ancient greece biography than any hitherto known, the memory of which will descend to the latest posterity.

During the Second Sacred War Pericles led the Athenian army against Delphi and reinstated Phocis in its sovereign rights on the oracle. In BC the oligarchs of Thebes conspired against the democratic faction. The Athenians demanded their immediate surrender, but after the Battle of CoroneaPericles was forced to concede the loss of Boeotia to recover the prisoners taken in that battle.

In BC, a more dangerous uprising erupted. Euboea and Megara revolted. Pericles crossed over to Euboea with his troops, but was forced to return when the Spartan army invaded Attica. Through bribery and negotiations, Pericles defused the imminent threat, and the Spartans returned home. Nonetheless, the "serious purpose" namely the bribery was so obvious to the auditors that they approved the expenditure without official meddling and without even investigating the mystery.

After the Spartan threat had been removed, Pericles crossed back to Euboea to crush the revolt there. He then punished the landowners of Chalciswho lost their properties. The residents of Histiaeameanwhile, who had butchered the crew of an Athenian triremewere uprooted and replaced by 2, Athenian settlers. In BC, the conservative and the democratic factions confronted each other in a fierce struggle.

The ambitious new leader of the conservatives, Thucydides not to be confused with the historian of the same nameaccused Pericles of profligacy, criticizing the way he spent the money for the ongoing building plan. Thucydides initially managed to incite the passions of the ecclesia regarding these charges in his favor. However, when Pericles took the floor, his resolute arguments put Thucydides and the conservatives firmly on the defensive.

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. In BC, the Athenian public voted to ostracize Thucydides from the city for 10 years and Pericles was once again the unchallenged ruler of the Athenian political arena.

Pericles wanted to stabilize Athens' dominance over its alliance and to enforce its pre-eminence in Greece. The process by which the Delian League transformed into an Athenian empire is generally considered to have begun well before Pericles' time, [ 60 ] as various allies in the league chose to pay tribute to Athens instead of manning ships for the league's fleet, but the transformation was speeded and brought to its conclusion by Pericles.

The final steps in the shift to empire may have been triggered by Athens' defeat in Egypt, which challenged the city's dominance in the Aegean and led to the revolt of several allies, such as Miletus and Erythrae. By — BC the revolts in Miletus and Erythrae were quelled and Athens restored its rule over its allies. It was from the alliance's treasury that Pericles drew the funds necessary to enable his ambitious building plan, centered on the "Periclean Acropolis", which included the Propylaeathe Parthenon and the golden statue of Athena, sculpted by Pericles' friend, Phidias.

The Samian War was one of the last significant military events before the Peloponnesian War. After Thucydides' ostracism, Pericles was re-elected yearly to the generalship, the only office he ever officially occupied, although his influence was so great as to make him the de facto ruler of the state. Worsted in the "pericles ancient greece biography," the Milesians came to Athens to plead their case against the Samians.

When the Athenians ordered the two sides to stop fighting and submit the case to arbitration in Athens, the Samians refused. In a naval battle the Athenians led by Pericles and nine other generals defeated the forces of Samos and imposed on the island an Athenian administration. Between and BC Pericles led Athens' fleet in Pontus and established friendly relations with the Greek cities of the region.

Pericles and his friends were never immune from attack, as preeminence in democratic Athens was not equivalent to absolute rule. Phidiaswho had been in charge of all building projects, was first accused of embezzling gold meant for the statue of Athena and then of impiety, because, when he wrought the battle of the Amazons on the shield of Athena, he carved out a figure that suggested himself as a bald old man, and also inserted a very fine likeness of Pericles fighting with an Amazon.

Aspasiawho was noted for her ability as a conversationalist and adviser, was accused of corrupting the women of Athens to satisfy Pericles' perversions. Although Aspasia was acquitted thanks to a rare emotional outburst of Pericles, his friend Phidias died in prison according to Plutarch; however, he is also credited with the later statue of Zeus at Olympiatherefore this is debated, and another friend of his, Anaxagoras, was attacked by the ecclesia for his religious beliefs.

Beyond these initial prosecutions, the ecclesia attacked Pericles himself by asking him to justify his ostensible profligacy with, and maladministration of, public money. The causes of the Peloponnesian War have been much debated, but many ancient historians lay the blame on Pericles and Athens. Plutarch seems to believe that Pericles and the Athenians incited the war, scrambling to implement their belligerent tactics "with a sort of arrogance and a love of strife".

However, as he is generally regarded as an admirer of Pericles, Thucydides has been criticized for bias against Sparta. Pericles was convinced that the war against Sparta, which could not conceal its envy of Athens' pre-eminence, was inevitable if unfortunate. During the same period, Pericles proposed the Megarian decreewhich resembled a modern trade embargo.

According to the provisions of the decree, Megarian merchants were excluded from the market of Athens and the ports in its empire. This ban strangled the Megarian economy and strained the fragile peace between Athens and Sparta, which was allied with Megara. According to George Cawkwella praelector in ancient historywith this decree Pericles breached the Thirty Years' Peace "but, perhaps, not without the semblance of an excuse".

After consultations with its allies, Sparta sent a deputation to Athens demanding certain concessions, such as the immediate expulsion of the Alcmaeonidae family including Pericles and the retraction of the Megarian Decree, threatening war if the demands were not met.

Pericles ancient greece biography: › World History › Military Leaders.

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. 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.

In exchange for retracting the Megarian Decree, the Athenians demanded from Sparta to abandon their practice of periodic expulsion of foreigners from their territory xenelasia and to recognize the autonomy of its allied cities, a request implying that Sparta's hegemony was also ruthless. 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".

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. The Spartan army was at this time gathered at Corinth, and, citing this as a hostile action, the Athenians refused to admit their emissaries.

No definite record exists of how exactly Pericles managed to convince the residents of Attica to agree to move into the pericles ancient greece biography urban areas. For most, the move meant abandoning their land and ancestral shrines and completely changing their lifestyle. This promise was prompted by his concern that Archidamus, who was a friend of his, might pass by his estate without ravaging it, either as a gesture of friendship or as a calculated political move aimed to alienate Pericles from his constituents.

In any case, seeing the pillage of their farms, the Athenians were outraged, and they soon began to indirectly express their discontent towards their leader, who many of them considered to have drawn them into the war. 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.

He also avoided convening the ecclesia, fearing that the populace, outraged by the unopposed ravaging of their farms, might rashly decide to challenge the vaunted Spartan army in the field. 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. During the autumn of BC, Pericles led the Athenian forces that invaded Megara and a few months later winter of — BC he delivered his monumental and emotional Funeral Orationhonoring the Athenians who died for their city.

For heroes have the whole earth for their tomb; and in lands far from their own, where the column with its epitaph declares it, there is enshrined in every breast a record unwritten with no tablet to preserve it, except that of the heart. In BC, the army of Sparta looted Attica for a second time, but Pericles was not daunted and refused to revise his initial strategy.

Nevertheless, within just a year, in BC, the Athenians not only forgave Pericles but also re-elected him as strategos. His morale undermined, overwhelmed with grief, Pericles wept copiously for his loss and not even the companionship of Aspasia could console him. He himself died of the plague later in the year.

Pericles ancient greece biography: Pericles was a Greek

Just before his death, Pericles' friends were concentrated around his bed, enumerating his virtues during peace and underscoring his nine war trophies. Pericles, though moribund, heard them and interrupted them, pointing out that they forgot to mention his fairest and greatest title to their admiration; "for", said he, "no living Athenian ever put on mourning because of me".

For men can endure to hear others praised pericles ancient greece biography so long as they can severally persuade themselves of their own ability to equal the actions recounted: when this point is passed, envy comes in and with it incredulity. Pericles, following Athenian custom, was first married to one of his closest relatives, with whom he had two sons, Paralus and Xanthippusbut around BC, Pericles divorced his wife.

He offered her to another husband, with the agreement of her male relatives. After Pericles divorced his wife, he had a long-term relationship with Aspasia of Miletus, with whom he had a son, Pericles the Younger. Even Pericles' son, Xanthippus, who had political ambitions, did not hesitate to slander his father. His sister and both his legitimate sons, Xanthippus and Paralus, died during the Plague of Athens.

Pericles marked a whole era and inspired conflicting judgments about his significant decisions. The fact that he was at the same time a vigorous statesman, general and orator only tends to make an objective assessment of his actions more difficult. Some contemporary scholars call Pericles a populist, a demagogue and a hawk, [ ] while other scholars admire his charismatic leadership.

According to Plutarch, after assuming the leadership of Athens, "he was no longer the same man as before, nor alike submissive to the people and ready to yield and give in to the desires of the multitude as a steersman to the breezes". Thucydides the historianan admirer of Pericles, maintains that Athens was "in name a democracy but, in fact, governed by its first citizen".

Although Thucydides mentions the fining of Pericles, he does not mention the accusations against Pericles but instead focuses on Pericles' integrity. Thucydides argues that Pericles "was not carried away by the people, but he was the one guiding the people". 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.

During the Peloponnesian War, Pericles' dependence on popular support to govern was obvious. 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. Hatred and unpopularity at the moment have fallen to the lot of all who have aspired to rule others.

For more than 20 years Pericles led many expeditions, mainly naval ones. 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".

Pericles ancient greece biography: Pericles (born c. bce, Athens—died ,

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. Critics of Pericles' strategy, however, have been just as numerous as its supporters. A common criticism is that Pericles was always a better politician and orator than strategist.

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. He asserts that since Pericles must have known about these limitations he probably planned for a much shorter war.

Knight, conclude that the strategy was too defensive and would not succeed. In contrast, Platias and Koliopoulos reject these criticisms and state that "the Athenians lost the war only when they dramatically reversed the Periclean grand strategy that explicitly disdained further conquests". Modern commentators of Thucydideswith 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.

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. That is to say, Thucydides could simply have used two different writing styles for two different purposes.

Ioannis Kakridis and Arnold Gomme were two scholars who debated the originality of Pericles' oratory and last speech. Kakridis believes that Thucydides altered Pericles words. Some of his strongest arguments included in the Introduction of the speech, Thuc. Kagan states that Pericles adopted "an elevated mode of speech, free from the vulgar and knavish tricks of mob-orators" and, according to Diodorus Siculushe "excelled all his pericles ancient greece biography citizens in skill of oratory".

Gorgiasin Plato's homonymous dialogue, uses Pericles as an example of powerful oratory. Sir Richard C. Jebb concludes that "unique as an Athenian statesman, Pericles must have been in two respects unique also as an Athenian orator; first, because he occupied such a position of personal ascendancy as no man before or after him attained; secondly, because his thoughts and his moral force won him such renown for eloquence as no one else ever got from Athenians".

Ancient Greek writers call Pericles "Olympian" and extol his talents; referring to him "thundering and lightning and exciting Greece" and carrying the weapons of Zeus when orating. Nothing was more alien to the Greeks than the notion of a Separation between church and state. In Athens, the community provided a tight framework for religious manifestations while, symmetrically, religion was deeply embedded in civic life.

Within this context, participation in the rituals was an action highly political in the broadest sense of the term. To analyze Pericles's relations with gods, one has to position oneself at the intersection of the general and the particular, where what was personal and pericles ancient greece biography was shared by the whole community came together.

On the one hand, the career of the strategos will illuminate the Athenians' collective relationship to all that was divine. As a reelected strategos and a persuasive orator, Pericles was the spokesman of a civic religion that was undergoing a mutation. He was implicated in a policy of making constant offerings and of launching huge architectural religious works not only on the Acropolis but also throughout Attica; and, furthermore, he was engaged in such activities at a time when city was introducing profound changes into its religious account of its origins—that is, autochthony —within a context of strained diplomatic relations.

On the other hand, the ancient sources made it possible to glimpse the personal relations that Pericles had developed with gods. But then, there were also relations that emphasized distance: some philosophical accounts presented him as a man close to the sophists or even as a freethinker. Finally, there were relations involving irreverence: some later and less trustworthy sources made much of several trials for impiety in which those close to him were involved, and this raises the question of religious tolerance in fifth-century Athens and, in particular, how far individuals enjoyed freedom of thought when faced with the civic community.

He worked to democratize the fine arts by subsidizing theater admission for poorer citizens and enabled civic participation by offering pay for jury duty and other civil service. Pericles maintained close friendships with the leading intellects of his time. The playwright Sophocles and the sculptor Phidias were among his friends. Pericles himself was a master orator.

His speeches and elegies as recorded and possibly interpreted by Thucydides celebrate the greatness of a democratic Athens at its peak. This icon of classical architecture perched atop the Acropolis has dominated the Athens skyline for 2, years. Temples and monuments built in ancient Greece were so commanding, their ruins remain impressive thousands of years later.

As Athens grew in power under Pericles, Sparta felt more and more threatened and began to demand concessions from the Athenians.