 Pericles
(circa 495-429 BC), Athenian statesman, so influential in Athenian history
that the period of his power is called the Age of Pericles. His father
was the army commander Xanthippus, victor over the Persians at Mycale in
479 BC. Pericles was especially influenced by two teachers, the Athenian
Sophist and master of music Damon (flourished 5th century BC) and the Ionian
philosopher Anaxagoras. Throughout his life he was conspicuous for his
dignity and aloofness, but his eloquence, sagacity, uprightness, and patriotism
won recognition from the majority of citizens. Among his friends were the
dramatist Sophocles, the historian Herodotus, the sculptor Phidias, and
the Sophist Protagoras; his mistress was the former courtesan Aspasia,
a highly cultivated woman. In Athenian politics Pericles sought to enable
all citizens to take an active part in the government. Payment of citizens
for their services to the state was introduced, and members of the council
were chosen by lot from the entire body of Athenians. His foreign policy
was expansionist. Under the Delian League, established in defense against
the Persians, the Athenians created a great naval empire and embraced,
as equal or subject allies, nearly all the larger islands of the Aegean
Sea and many cities to the north. When the aristocratic leader Cimon, who
favored friendship with Sparta, was ostracized (banished) in 461 BC, Pericles
became the undisputed leader of Athens, serving for the following 15 years.
He made Athens supreme at the expense of the subject city-states. With
the great wealth that came into the treasury, Pericles restored the temples
destroyed by the Persians and built many new structures, the most splendid
of which was the Parthenon on the Acropolis. This program provided employment
for the poorer citizens and made Athens the most magnificent city of the
ancient world. Under Pericles' leadership Athens became a great center
of literature and art. The supremacy of Athens aroused the jealousy of
the other Greek city-states, especially of Sparta, long the bitter rival
of Athens. The cities feared the imperialistic schemes of Pericles and
sought to overthrow Athenian domination. In 431 BC the Peloponnesian War
began. Pericles summoned the country residents of Attica within the walls
of Athens and allowed the Peloponnesian army to ravage the country districts.
The following year a plague broke out in the overcrowded city. The people,
exposed to suffering and death, resented Pericles. He was deposed from
office, tried, and fined for misuse of public funds, but he was soon reinstated.
He died shortly thereafter. Source: Microsoft
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