Pericles (Born on c. 495 BC, in Athens, Greece – Died on 429 BC, in Athens, Greece) was the city’s leading statesman, a skilled general, a patron of the arts, and an orator without peers. Under his leadership, Athens flourished almost unlike any other city in history. It is no surprise, then, that Pericles became known as the “First Citizen of Athens.”
It was a true golden age that would go on to have a tremendous influence not only on the Greek world but on all of Western civilization. Socrates was laying down the foundations of Western philosophy, aided by students such as Plato, as well as other prominent thinkers of that time such as Anaxagoras, Empedocles, and Democritus.
In the arts, the Athenian theater was the envy of the Greek world thanks to talented playwrights such as Euripides, Sophocles, Aristophanes, and Aeschylus. A man named Phidias cemented his position as the best sculptor of his time when he made the Statue of Zeus at Olympia ranked among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Not to mention the fact that almost all the structures located on the Acropolis, most famously the Parthenon, were also built during this time. Other Athenians thought that history was important enough to be recorded for future generations. Here we see, Herodotus, as well as Thucydides and Xenophon.
The architect Hippodamus of Miletus was considered one of the founders of urban planning while Hippocrates pioneered western medicine and gave his name to the Hippocratic Oath. All of these great people lived and worked in one place, at one time.
And then, of course, there was Pericles. Sometimes, this golden age of Athens is also called the “Age of Pericles” because Pericles was there to support and oversee it all. Pericles promotes the Athenian democracy to such an extent that critics call it a populist.
Quick Facts About Pericles
- Born: c. 495 BC, in Athens, Greece
- Age of Pericles: aged c. 65 – 66
- Nickname: The Olympian
- Also Known as: The First Citizen of Athens
- Spouse: Aspasia
- Children: Pericles the Younger, Paralus, Xanthippus
- Father: Xanthippus
- Mother: Agariste
- Allegiance: Athens
- Rank: Strategos
- Died: 429 BC, in Athens, Greece
- Cause of Death: Plague of Athens
- Battles:-
Battle in Sicyon and Acarnania (454 BC)
Second Sacred War (448 BC)
Expulsion of barbarians from Gallipoli (447 BC)
Samian War (440 BC)
Siege of Byzantium (438 BC)
Peloponnesian War (431–429 BC) - Books: Pericles’ funeral oration: Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War
Biography of Pericles
Pericles was born circa 495 BC, in Athens, Greece. His father was a wealthy politician named Xanthippus, while his mother was named Agariste and came from one of the oldest, most influential families in the city – the Alcmaeonidae.
According to Plutarch, (who will serve as one of our primary ancient sources here) a few days before Pericles was born, his mother had a dream that she would give birth to a lion. Afterward, the historian goes on to specify that, even though Pericles’s personal appearance was “unimpeachable,” the Athenian apparently had quite a large and elongated head and, for this, he was often the butt of jokes of Greek poets.
Plutarch says that Pericles’s head looked like a squill, also known as a sea onion and that he was sometimes called “Schinocephalus” or squill-head. Besides the unusual shape of his cranium, it was also said that Pericles greatly resembled in appearance a man named Peisistratus, a former tyrant of Athens who was not remembered fondly in his time.
Therefore, as a youth, Pericles did not enjoy speaking in public and, instead, focused on his military career as he believed that that would be his biggest calling. It wasn’t until he got a bit older that he became more eager to enter the world of politics. Given his family’s high status, it comes as no surprise that young Pericles benefited from a good education.
Some of his known teachers included Pythocleides who taught him music, Zeno who educated him on the natural world, and, his most beloved tutor, Anaxagoras who told him about philosophy. Despite his privileged childhood, Pericles saw firsthand how fleeting power can be.
When he was around ten, his family’s status was almost wiped out when his father, Xanthippus, was ostracized. Back then, ostracism didn’t just mean that he got left out of Athenian politics, this was an official procedure that resulted in a 10-year exile from the city. However, in this case, it only lasted a few years, until the Persians invaded Greece again.
As one of Athens’ most capable military leaders, Xanthippus was recalled in defense of the city. He acquitted himself very well when he led the Athenian navy in the Battle of Mycale in 479 BC. It was a decisive victory for the Greek cities and, together with another triumph at Plataea, marked the end of the second Persian invasion.
Xanthippus only lived for a few more years after that, but he died a hero of Athens and ensured that his son would be welcomed into the city’s political world with open arms.
Athenian Politics
Before we get into the details of how Pericles rose to power, we should try to get some background on the ruling political classes of Athens. There are basically two groups that we need to discuss: the archons and the strategoi.
The Archons
Were the chief magistrates of Athens and other Greek cities and they had been around for hundreds of years before the Age of Pericles. Basically, whenever Athens was not ruled by a king or a tyrant, it was ruled by these archons who usually came in three: the eponymous archon, the polemarch, and the archon basileus.
The length of their office terms varied greatly depending on the exact time period we’re talking about. At first, they ruled for life, then they were limited to ten years and, finally, were restricted to a single year. With the emergence of democracy, the power and influence of the archons diminished greatly.
In fact, by the time of Pericles, the office of the archon was mainly ceremonial, with just a few minor civic responsibilities.
The Strategoi
The authority was now in the hands of the strategoi. Generally speaking, a strategos simply meant a military leader; the ancient Greek version of a general. However, in 5th century Athens, there was aboard always consisting of ten strategoi who were in charge of all the important duties of the city.
While other positions like that of archon were assigned by drawing lots, the strategoi were elected every year. All strategoi were technical of equal rank and made decisions through a vote. However, as you might expect, some were considerably more influential than the rest and their opinion carried a lot more weight.
Rise to Power
Back to Pericles, he entered the political world of Athens when he was in his early 20s. The earliest recorded act of his is dated to 472 BC when he sponsored a play by Aeschylus called The Persians. In this case, Pericles was a choregos – a rich citizen of Athens who paid for the production of a play, whether he wanted to or not.
These roles were usually assigned and, in fact, represented one of the few duties still performed by the archons but, in this case, it is believed Pericles wanted to sponsor this particular play to send a message. Like we said, even though all strategoi were equal in rank, some were “more equal” than others.
At this time, the leadership of Athens was divided between two factions, one led by Themistocles, the other by Cimon. The play sponsored by Pericles evoked the Battle of Salamis where the Greeks led by Themistocles defeated the Persians. People regarded this as Pericles officially siding with him in his power struggle against Cimon. Unfortunately for Pericles, he chose poorly.
The list of enemies for Themistocles was growing larger and larger and it included all of Sparta who was friendly with Cimon. Eventually, after multiple accusations, Themistocles was ostracized and exiled. That wasn’t enough for Sparta, though, which accused the former war hero of aiding a Spartan conspiracy plot and wanted him tried by all the Greek cities, not just Athens.
Since this likely meant a death sentence, Themistocles was forced to leave the whole of Greece, and, of all places, he ended up in Persia which was now led by King Artaxerxes I, the son of the man that Themistocles defeated in battle. Fortunately for him, the king was not interested in revenge. If anything, he was happy to have one of his father’s most capable foes in his service.
The exiled Greek relocated to the prosperous city of Magnesia where he was named governor and spent the rest of his days. Back in Athens, Pericles was steadily growing in power and winning over the people. However, he still had a major obstacle in the form of Cimon.
Like Pericles, he was the son of a beloved war hero. In this case, Miltiades, the man who led Greece to victory at the Battle of Marathon. However, Cimon was also himself a distinguished military veteran, known for his triumph at the Battle of the Eurymedon. He was also richer than Pericles and could afford to be more generous in his spending to win the affections of the public.
It seemed like Cimon had a clear advantage, but fortunes are often fleeting. All Pericles had to do was wait for the opportune moment to strike against his opponent and destroy his public standing. He first acted on some rumors that Cimon had taken bribes from Alexander I of Macedon. No, not the famous one. Who knows, Pericles may have even started the rumors himself.
The important thing is that they allowed him to formally charge his rival with bribery and, even though Cimon was acquitted, it still attacked his credibility. That being said, Cimon’s fall was the ultimate of his own doing. As we said, he was close to Sparta.
In fact, he acted as their proxenos – sort of an ambassador – and advocated for a close relationship between the two powerful Greek states. In 462 BC, Sparta experienced a helot rebellion, the helots being the lower class of Spartan society, similar to medieval serfs. Cimon believed that sending soldiers to aid Sparta would help cement the bond between them.
Other leaders were not as eager. With the Persians out of the picture, they saw Sparta for what it truly was – their main competitor and biggest threat. Even so, Cimon convinced everyone and personally led thousands of troops to Sparta. When he arrived, though, he received a very unpleasant surprise – the Spartans did not want them.
In fact, the last thing they needed was for the helots to learn about that damn Athenian democracy. Cimon was turned back and had to return to Athens completely humiliated. Afterward, Pericles had no difficulty in getting Cimon ostracized in 461 BC and exiled for ten years.
With the opposition gone, Pericles’s party was the most powerful political entity in Athens, but it was not led by Pericles. Not yet, anyway. It was led by its senior member and mentor of Pericles, a man named Ephialtes.
He began enacting reforms to restrict the power of Athenian oligarchs and to expand the democratic privileges of the citizens, but he didn’t get to see his policies in action as he was assassinated that same year. Nobody knew who did the deed so, obviously, enemies of Pericles accused the Athenian of killing his mentor to take over his position.
Such accusations were considered baseless. Plutarch, for example, said that they were “hurled, as if so much venom, against one…who had a noble disposition and an ambitious spirit, wherein no such savage and bestial feelings can have their abode.” He also mentions, quoting Aristotle as his source, that the killer of Ephialtes was a man named Aristodicus of Tanagra.
Who he was, why he did it, and how Aristotle came to learn of him, we have no idea. The point is that, with the leader of the opposition exiled and the leader of his own party dead, Pericles was now able to consolidate power and become the most powerful man in Athens, a position he would maintain until his death.
Athens VS Sparta
When Persia first began its invasion of the Greek cities at the start of the 5th century BC, Sparta was unofficial, but the uncontested leader of the Greek forces. After Sparta came its close allies who were all part of the Peloponnesian League, a group of city-states all located in or around the Peloponnese Peninsula. These included Corinth, Elis, Pylos, Kythira, and others.
Finally, there were the rest of the Greek states that would probably not have been allies if they were not fighting a common foe, the Persians. These last states came to resent Sparta, mainly due to two factors. For starters, naval warfare ended up becoming a very important factor in the wars. Sparta did not have a strong navy, not as powerful as Athens, for instance, or Argos, or Chalcis, or Chios.