Pericles

Overview

Pericles (Greek: Περικλῆς, "surrounded by glory"; ~495–429 BCE) was an Athenian statesman and general who led Athens during its Golden Age, championing democracy, arts, and the construction of the Parthenon. Thucydides, his contemporary, acclaimed him "the first citizen of Athens." ¹

Key Facts

Born: ~495 BCE, Athens @t[~495 BCE]
Died: 429 BCE, Athens (plague) @t[=429 BCE]
Role: Strategos (general), elected repeatedly ~443–429 BCE @t[443 BCE..429 BCE]
Political alignment: Democratic faction
Family: Son of Xanthippus (general, hero of the Persian Wars) and Agariste (niece of Cleisthenes; Alcmaeonidae clan) ²

Early Life and Education

Descended from the aristocratic Alcmaeonidae family through his mother Agariste ²
Music teacher: Damon of Oa (though Aristotle names Pythoclides); Damon was later ostracized partly due to his association with Pericles ²
Intellectual mentor: Anaxagoras, the philosopher, who shaped Pericles' rationalist outlook ²
As a young man (~472 BCE), funded the production of Aeschylus's The Persae as choregos @t[~472 BCE] ²
Entered politics around 470 BCE; initially introverted, he avoided public appearances in his youth @t[~470 BCE] ³

Rise to Power

Aligned with Ephialtes to curtail the powers of the Areopagus (~462–461 BCE), marking the start of radical Athenian democracy @t[462 BCE..461 BCE] ¹
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] ¹
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] ¹
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] ²

Achievements

Expanded Athenian democracy: Introduced pay for jury service, opening participation to poorer citizens ²
Citizenship law (451 BCE): Restricted Athenian citizenship to those born of two Athenian citizen parents @t[=451 BCE] ²
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] ³
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] ²
Also built the Odeon of Pericles (~446 BCE), a large roofed music hall near the Acropolis used for musical contests @t[~446 BCE] ³
Led the Delian League, transforming it into an Athenian empire ¹
Funded free theater access for all citizens, reinforcing cultural and civic participation ²
Funeral Oration (431 BCE): Celebrated Athenian democracy and values @t[=431 BCE] ¹
Led Athenian forces in the siege of Samos (440 BCE) @t[=440 BCE] ³
Founded the Panhellenic colony of Thurii in southern Italy (444 BCE) as a cleruch settlement @t[=444 BCE] ³

Personal Life

Companion: Aspasia of Miletus (~470–410 BCE), an intellectual and rhetorician; could not legally marry her under his own citizenship law ²
Divorced his first wife (name unknown) around 445 BCE to live with Aspasia @t[~445 BCE] ³
Had two legitimate sons, Paralus and Xanthippus, by his first wife; both died in the plague of 429 BCE ²
Had a son, Pericles the Younger, by Aspasia; citizenship was granted to him by special decree ⁴

First Peloponnesian War (460–446 BCE)

Athens fought Sparta and its allies (primarily Corinth) for supremacy in Greece @t[460 BCE..446 BCE] ¹
Pericles commanded Athenian forces in multiple engagements; neither side gained a decisive advantage ³
Cimon, returning from exile in 451 BCE, brokered a truce between Athens and Sparta on Pericles' behalf @t[=451 BCE] ³
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] ¹

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 ²
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] ²
Aspasia was charged with impiety (asebeia); Pericles reportedly wept in court to secure her acquittal ²
Anaxagoras, Pericles' philosophical mentor, was also attacked by the assembly for his religious views ²
These prosecutions are widely interpreted as politically motivated attacks on Pericles through his associates ²

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] ¹
His defensive strategy against Sparta (retreating behind the Long Walls) led to overcrowding in Athens ¹
Plague of Athens (430–426 BCE) killed ~25% of the population, including Pericles himself in 429 BCE @t[430 BCE..426 BCE] ¹
Was tried and fined by the Athenians during the war, then re-elected strategos shortly before his death ¹

Legacy

The sculptor Kresilas created an idealized portrait bust of Pericles (~425 BCE), widely copied in antiquity @t[~425 BCE] ³
Thucydides argued that Pericles' successors, seeking popularity over effectiveness, led Athens to ruin — culminating in defeat by Sparta in 404 BCE ¹

Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 2.35–46 ↩︎
Plutarch, Life of Pericles ↩︎
Mark, Joshua J. "Pericles." World History Encyclopedia, 28 Mar 2018. https://www.worldhistory.org/pericles/ ↩︎
Plutarch, Life of Pericles; cf. Researchgate, "Pericles the Younger and the Citizenship Law" (2008) ↩︎

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