improve: Pericles

rulers/pericles.md

@@ -23,29 +23,41 @@ Pericles (Greek: Περικλῆς, "surrounded by glory"; ~495–429 BCE) was a
 - Led the prosecution of Cimon in 463 BCE on charges of corruption in his dealings with Macedon; Cimon was acquitted but ostracized in 461 BCE, clearing the path for Pericles' dominance @t[=463 BCE] [^2]
 - After Ephialtes' assassination (461 BCE), became the preeminent leader of Athens @t[=461 BCE]
 - The period of his leadership (~461–429 BCE) is known as the "Age of Pericles" @t[461 BCE..429 BCE] [^2]
+- In 444 BCE, Thucydides son of Melesias (not the historian) led the conservative faction against Pericles, accusing him of misusing Delian League funds for the building program; Pericles prevailed and Thucydides was ostracized in 442 BCE @t[=442 BCE] [^1]
 
 ## Achievements
 - Expanded Athenian democracy: Introduced pay for jury service, opening participation to poorer citizens [^1]
 - Citizenship law (451 BCE): Restricted Athenian citizenship to those born of two Athenian citizen parents @t[=451 BCE] [^1]
 - Congress Decree (449 BCE): Invited all Greek city-states to a pan-Hellenic congress to discuss rebuilding temples destroyed by Persia; Sparta refused to attend, stalling the initiative @t[=449 BCE] [^4]
-- Commissioned the Parthenon and other Acropolis buildings (~447–432 BCE), with sculptor Phidias overseeing the artistic program @t[447 BCE..432 BCE] [^1]
+- Commissioned the Parthenon, Propylaea (monumental gateway to the Acropolis, begun 437 BCE), and other Acropolis buildings (~447–432 BCE), with sculptor Phidias overseeing the artistic program @t[447 BCE..432 BCE] [^1]
+- Also built the Odeon of Pericles (~446 BCE), a large roofed music hall near the Acropolis used for musical contests @t[~446 BCE] [^4]
 - Led the Delian League, transforming it into an Athenian empire [^2]
 - Funded free theater access for all citizens, reinforcing cultural and civic participation [^1]
 - Funeral Oration (431 BCE): Celebrated Athenian democracy and values @t[=431 BCE] [^2]
 - Led Athenian forces in the siege of Samos (440 BCE) @t[=440 BCE] [^4]
+- Founded the Panhellenic colony of Thurii in southern Italy (444 BCE) as a cleruch settlement @t[=444 BCE] [^4]
 
 ## Personal Life
 - Companion: Aspasia of Miletus (~470–410 BCE), an intellectual and rhetorician; could not legally marry her under his own citizenship law [^1]
 - Divorced his first wife (name unknown) around 445 BCE to live with Aspasia @t[~445 BCE] [^4]
+- Had two legitimate sons, Paralus and Xanthippus, by his first wife; both died in the plague of 429 BCE [^1]
 - Had a son, Pericles the Younger, by Aspasia; citizenship was granted to him by special decree [^3]
 
 ## First Peloponnesian War (460–446 BCE)
 - Athens fought Sparta and its allies (primarily Corinth) for supremacy in Greece @t[460 BCE..446 BCE] [^2]
 - Pericles commanded Athenian forces in multiple engagements; neither side gained a decisive advantage [^4]
 - Cimon, returning from exile in 451 BCE, brokered a truce between Athens and Sparta on Pericles' behalf @t[=451 BCE] [^4]
-- The war concluded with a treaty establishing limits on both Athenian and Spartan power [^2]
+- The war concluded with the Thirty Years' Peace (446/445 BCE), in which Athens relinquished most of its mainland possessions acquired since 460 BCE, and both sides agreed not to recruit from the other's allies @t[=446 BCE] [^2]
+
+## Personal Attacks (~438–431 BCE)
+- Just before the Peloponnesian War, Pericles and his associates faced a series of judicial attacks aimed at undermining him politically [^1]
+- Phidias, overseer of the Acropolis building program, was accused of embezzling gold meant for the statue of Athena Parthenos and of impiety (~438 BCE); he reportedly died in prison, though this is disputed @t[~438 BCE] [^1]
+- Aspasia was charged with impiety (asebeia); Pericles reportedly wept in court to secure her acquittal [^1]
+- Anaxagoras, Pericles' philosophical mentor, was also attacked by the assembly for his religious views [^1]
+- These prosecutions are widely interpreted as politically motivated attacks on Pericles through his associates [^1]
 
 ## Peloponnesian War
+- Pericles proposed the Megarian Decree (~432 BCE), a trade embargo excluding Megarian merchants from Athenian markets and ports; Sparta demanded its retraction as a condition for peace @t[~432 BCE] [^2]
 - His defensive strategy against Sparta (retreating behind the Long Walls) led to overcrowding in Athens [^2]
 - Plague of Athens (430–426 BCE) killed ~25% of the population, including Pericles himself in 429 BCE @t[430 BCE..426 BCE] [^2]
 - Was tried and fined by the Athenians during the war, then re-elected strategos shortly before his death [^2]