Pericles

Pericles (c. 495–429 BC) was a Greek statesman and general active during Athens’ Golden Age. His political influence peaked between the Greco-Persian Wars and the Peloponnesian War, and the historian Thucydides called him “the first citizen of Athens.” He transformed the Delian League into an Athenian empire and commanded Athens during the first two years of the Peloponnesian War. The era of his leadership—roughly 461 to 429 BC—is often labeled the “Age of Pericles,” though that term can stretch back to the Persian Wars or forward into the next century. Pericles championed the arts and literature, largely shaping Athens’ reputation as the ancient Greek world’s educational and cultural hub. He launched an ambitious building program that produced most surviving structures on the Acropolis, including the Parthenon. This effort beautified the city, bolstered its defenses, showcased its glory, and provided jobs. He also expanded Athenian democracy so aggressively that critics branded him a populist. Through his mother, Pericles belonged to the powerful Alcmaeonid family. He and several relatives died in the Plague of Athens in 429 BC, a blow that weakened the city-state during its long war with Sparta. Pericles was born in Athens to Xanthippus, a politician who was ostracized in 485–484 BC but later commanded the Athenian contingent at the Greek victory at Mycale. His mother, Agariste, came from the influential Alcmaeonid clan; her family ties helped launch his career. She was the great-granddaughter of Cleisthenes, tyrant of Sicyon, and niece of the Athenian reformer Cleisthenes. Pericles belonged to the Acamantis phyle. His early years were quiet—he avoided public life and focused on his studies. According to Herodotus and Plutarch, Agariste dreamed shortly before his birth that she had borne a lion. (A similar legend surrounds Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great.) The dream may symbolize greatness, or it might reference Pericles’ unusually large skull, which comedians mocked by calling him “Squill-head.” Plutarch claimed this deformity made him always wear a helmet in portraits, but the helmet actually signified his rank as strategos (general). His family’s wealth and status let him pursue education fully. He studied music with masters like Damon or Pythocleides and is considered the first politician to take philosophy seriously. He kept company with philosophers Protagoras, Zeno of Elea, and Anaxagoras, the last becoming a close friend and major influence. Anaxagoras’s emphasis on emotional calm in adversity and skepticism about divine matters likely shaped Pericles’ thought and rhetorical style; his famous composure is often attributed to that influence. In spring 472 BC, Pericles funded a production of Aeschylus’s *The Persians* at the Greater Dionysia, a liturgy that marked him as one of Athens’ wealthiest men. Historian Simon Hornblower suggests this choice—a nostalgic play about Themistocles’ victory at Salamis—showed Pericles backing Themistocles against his rival Cimon, whose faction soon had Themistocles ostracized. Plutarch claims Pericles was first among Athenians for forty years, meaning he likely assumed leadership by the early 460s BC, in his early or mid-thirties. He guarded his privacy and tried to be a model citizen, often skipping banquets to live frugally. In 463 BC, he led the prosecution of Cimon, the conservative leader accused of neglecting Athenian interests in Macedon. Cimon was acquitted, but the clash revealed his political vulnerability. Around 461 BC, the democratic party, led by Ephialtes (Pericles’ mentor), targeted the Areopagus, an aristocratic council once the state’s most powerful body. Ephialtes proposed cutting its powers, and the Ecclesia approved the reform without opposition, ushering in an era of “radical democracy.” The democratic party grew dominant, and Pericles seemed willing to use populist policies to win public favor. Aristotle attributed this stance to Cimon’s wealth and generosity, which let him buy popularity. Historian Loren J.