Pericles (person)

Pericles (495-429 BC) was a Greek statesman whose name was given to the greatest period of Athenian history. He was commander in-chief of all the physical and spiritual forces of Athens during her Golden Age and came to stand for that period highest in classical art and learning.

He was born in Athens some three years before the Battle of Marathon, to the high-ranking noble family of Xanthippus and Agariste. His father has fought at Salamis and had led the Athenian fleet in the Battle of Mycale. Agariste, his mother, was a niece of Cleisthenes, a statesman who had made many reforms in the Athenian government. Pericles' education consisted of music, literature, gymnastics, and philosophy, taught to him by some of the greatest men of his day: Damon the musician, Pythocleides, and Anaxogoras, the philosopher. Throughout his youth he absorbed the rapidly growing culture of Athens and brought together all the threads of Athenian civilization - economic, military, literary, artistic and philosophical. Pericles was probably the most complete man that Greece has ever produced.

When this young statesman began his political career, he attached himself to the party of the Demos - i.e. the free population of Athens. Pericles lost no time in becoming second only to the party leader, Ephialtes. Later in 460 BC when Ephialtes was killed, Pericles became the most powerful man in the state. There were several changes he made as head of state:

1. Public officials in his day received no pay. However, he passed reforms that called for the price of two obols to be paid out to these officials. (Two obols is equivalent to about 34 cents in today's currency.), and
2. He extended the authority of the people by increasing the power of the popular courts, and
3. Pericles' greatest reform came in 457 BC when he allowed the common people to serve in any state office.

Pericles is also considered to be one of the most powerful and eloquent speakers in Greek history. He addressed the Assembly on major issues only and carefully planned every speech so as not to neglect any aspect of education. It is also said that he prayed to the gods frequently asking for guidance that he never would utter a word beside the point. However, his influence was not only due to his eloquence of speech, but also to his probity; he was capable of using bribery to secure state ends, though he never increased his own wealth or estate through his political position. Plutarch says Pericles was "manifestly free from every kind of corruption, and superior to all considerations of money".

Whether it was one of the above mentioned characteristics of Pericles that got him elected and re-elected for thirty years, or something else, it does not matter. He was very popular with the citizens of Athens and used his political position for the betterment of that city. He believed firmly in democracy, commercial expansion and capitalism. However, Athens not only enjoyed the privileges of his democracy but also the advantages of aristocracy and dictatorship. Thucydides the historian described Pericles' administration as having been "Democracy in name, but in practice, government by the first citizen". As leader of this ancient city-state, Pericles developed Athenian democracy, but he also wanted to make his city the most powerful state in Greece. Eventually he did make her the "Education of Hellas".

Through this powerful and eloquent statesman, Athens fully blossomed. Under his leadership the city adorned itself more splendidly than any other in history. Pericles extended the naval and commercial policies of Themistocles (a previous leader); carried out the artistic ideas of Cimon (also a previous leader) and as stated previously, completed the democratic programs of his great-uncle, Cleisthenes.

Pericles, when his political position was secured, turned his attention to economic statesmanship. By making the state an employer for the idle people, he formed a tremendous working class to carry out his plans. Ships were added to the already supreme sea fleet, arsenals were built and a great corn exchange was erected at the Piraeus. Then, to protect Athens from a siege by land, Pericles persuaded the Assembly to supply funds for constructing eight miles of "Long Walls", as they were to be called, connecting Athens, the Piraeus and the Phalerum. The city was enclosed in one huge fortification, whose only opening during war was the harbor, and Athens was already supreme ruler of the seas.

At this time Pericles also devoted his energies to the beautification of Athens. Sculpture, architecture, drama, and philosophy all flourished wondrously during the thirty years of his leadership. He devised a plan that would utilize the flourishing artistic talent along with the remaining unemployed to rebuild ancient shrines destroyed by the Persians and for the architectural adornment of the Acropolis.

For financing his project Pericles proposed to the Assembly that the treasure of the Delian League, which lay idle and insecure on the island of Delos, be moved to Athens and any part not utilized for common defense should be used to beautify what he deemed the legitimate capital of a beneficent empire. As far as the Athenians were concerned, this was quite acceptable, however, they were loath to spend any great amount on adorning the city.

"Very well," responded Pericles, "let nothing be charged to the public treasure, but all to my own estate, and I will dedicate the public buildings in my name."

Whether it vas surprise in his show of spirit or a desire to get in on the glory, the Athenians shouted their approval, "Spend on and spare no cost til all is finished." (from Plutarch.)

Pericles was the greatest leader and statesman Athens has ever known. He did more for his city and the advancement of Athenian culture and power than any other leader before or after. But his excessive nationalism was also to be the downfall of his beloved city.

Athens at the time of the expulsion of the Persians was empress of Maritime Greece. She was the only city to survive the wars without sustaining too much damage. So Athens became the leader in the Delian Confederacy, when it formed in 477 BC as a defense mechanism should the Persians decide to return. Ionia, though liberated, was impoverished and Sparta was disordered by demobilization and insurrection. All members contributed to the treasure located at Delos and due to the fact that Athens contributed ships, (with Athenian crews) instead of money, dominance of their allies soon followed.

This growth of the Athenian Empire eventually led to the Peloponnesian Wars and the end of the Golden Age of Greece. Athens developed control over commercial and political life in the Aegean. Free trade was allowed during peace time, but only under consent of her government. The destinations of grain and food ships were always determined by Athenian agents. The reason for such control on trade routes stemmed from the fact that Athens depended heavily on imported food, and she was determined to guard those routes by which it came. A fine illustration of this control came when Methone a city to the north, starving with drought, had to ask Athens's leave to import a little corn.

The growing empire also reserved the right to try all cases arising within the confederacy in her own courts, the Athenian mint gradually replaced the previous island coinage, and to top it all off, they moved the treasury from Delos to their own city and used the money to adorn their buildings.

To help maintain control, galleys made the grand tour every year, collecting protection taxes from a dozen or more "allies". However, Athens was very careful to maintain the idea of a defensive "league". When confronted with any rebellions, Athens swiftly suppressed them by force, as she did in Aegina in 457 BC and on Samos in 440 BC.

This inherent contradiction between the worship of liberty and the despotism of empire cooperated with the individualism of the Greek city-states to end the Golden Age of Athens. Pericles knew how to sway a multitude and direct the spirit of many people working together, but his own excessive nationalism to Athens caused him to neglect the other city states and strive for Athenian dominance of the Aegean world. Nationalism and independence developed among these neglected states to the breaking point until 431 BC when Sparta declared war on doomed Athens.