Pericles

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Pericles
File:PICT4534.JPG
Bust of Pericles, Altes Museum (Old Museum), Berlin
AllegianceAthens
Rankgeneral (strategos)
Battles / warsBattle 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 BC-429 BC)
For the Shakespeare play, see Pericles, Prince of Tyre.

Pericles or Perikles (ca. 495 BC-429 BC, Greek: Περικλῆς, meaning "surrounded by glory") was a prominent and influential statesman, orator and general of Athens during the city's Golden Age (specifically, between the Persian and Peloponnesian wars). He was a descendant of the renowned Alcmaeonidae family.

Pericles had such a profound influence on Athenian society that Thucydides, his contemporary historian, acclaimed him as "the first citizen of Athens". Pericles turned the Delian League into an Athenian empire and led his countrymen during the first two years of the Peloponnesian War. As a result of his efficient governance of Athens, the period from 461 BC to 429 BC is sometimes known as "The Age of Pericles" (Though this terminology can extend to as late as 379 BC).

Pericles promoted arts and literature and his work contributed to Athens achieving its reputation as the educational and cultural centre of the ancient Greek world. Eager to reinforce Athenian intellectual prowess, he prompted an ambitious building project that included most of the surviving structures on the Acropolis (including the Parthenon). Furthermore, Pericles fostered the blossoming of the Athenian democracy, to such an extent that critics label him as a populist.[1]

Early years

Pericles was born in 495 BC[α] in the deme of Cholargos (modern day Kamatero or Peristeri), just north of Athens. He was the son of the politician Xanthippus, under whose leadership Athens had won at the Battle of Mycale in 479 BC, though he had been ostracized only five years before. Pericles' mother, Agariste, was the offspring of the noble though controversial family of the Alcmaeonids. It was this dynastic marriage that boosted Xanthippus' political career. Agariste was the great-granddaughter of the tyrant of Sicyon Cleisthenes and the niece of the Athenian reformer Cleisthenes,[β] also belonging to the Alcmaeonidae family.[2] According to Herodotus[3] and Plutarch,[4] a few days before Pericles' birth, Agariste dreamed she bore a lion, an ambivalent symbolism, alluding to the unusual size of Pericles' skull. In fact, the asymmetric dimensions of his head led the comedians of his era to taunt and ridicule him.[4]

"Our polity does not copy the laws of neighboring states; we are rather a pattern to others than imitators ourselves. It is called a democracy, because not the few but the many govern. If we look to the laws, they afford equal justice to all in their private differences; if to social standing, advancement in public life falls to reputation for capacity, class considerations not being allowed to interfere with merit; nor again does poverty bar the way, if a man is able to serve the state, he is not hindered by the obscurity of his condition."
Pericles (Funeral Oration, Thucydides, II, 37)

Pericles belonged to the local tribe of Acamantis (Aκαμαντίδα φυλή) and his early years were quiet. Partly because of his intrinsic introversion, he avoided public appearances, preferring his studies instead.

His family's nobility and wealth allowed him to follow his natural inclination toward education. He learned music from the masters (Damon[5] or Pythocleides[6]) and he is considered to be the first politician to attribute great importance to philosophy.[7] He enjoyed the society of Protagoras,[8] Zeno of Elea and Anaxagoras, who became a close friend and influence on him.[5] Pericles' thinking and rhetorical charisma are due partly to the philosopher’s teaching of emotional calm in the face of trouble as well as scepticism about divine phenomena.[2] His proverbial calmness and self-control are also regarded as resulting from the philosopher’s influence.[9]

Political career until 431 BC

Entering politics

If Plutarch's assertion that his political career lasted more than 40 years is true,[10] Pericles must have entered politics about 469 BC. During all these years he endeavored to protect his privacy and to stand as a model for his compatriots. For example, he would often avoid banquets, trying to be frugal.[11]

In 463 BC Pericles was the leading prosecutor against Cimon.[12] The head of the conservative party was accused of neglecting Athens' vital interests in Macedonia. Although Cimon was acquitted, this confrontation proved that Pericles' major political opponent was vulnerable.[13]

Ostracizing Cimon

File:Cholargus.JPG
A modern statue of Pericles in modern Cholargos (Pericles' avenue). The name of the suburb dates to ancient Athens, but the ancient deme of Cholargos, which belonged to the tribe of Acamantis, was near modern Kamatero (or Peristeri).

Around 462 BC-461 BC the leadership of the democratic party considered it was time to take aim at Areios Pagos, which was controlled by the Athenian aristocracy.[14] The leader of the party and mentor of Pericles, Ephialtes, proposed the shrinking of Areios Pagos’ powers. Ecclesia adopted Ephialtes' proposal without strong opposition.[15] This reform signalled the commencement of a new era of "radical democracy".[14] The democratic party gradually became dominant in Athenian politics and Pericles seemed willing to follow a populist policy in order to cajole the public. His stance can be explained by the fact that his main political opponent, Cimon, was rich and generous, having no problem donating large chunks of his fortune. In 461 BC, Pericles achieved the political elimination of this formidable opponent, using the weapon of ostracism. The ostensible accusation was that Cimon betrayed his city, acting as a friend of Sparta,[16] an accusation usually attached to the members of the conservative party.

Even after Cimon's ostracism, Pericles continued to espouse and promote a populist social policy.[15] He first proposed a decree, according to which the poor could watch theatrical plays without paying, as the state would reimburse the equivalent price. By other decrees he lowered the property requirement for the archonship (458 BC-457 BC) and bestowed generous wages to all the citizens who were participating in the court of Heliaia (Ηλιαία), a reform implemented just after 454 BC.[17] His most controversial measure, however, was a law of 451 BC confining Athenian citizenship to those of Athenian parentage on both sides.[18]

"Rather, the admiration of the present and succeeding ages will be ours, since we have not left our power without witness, but have shown it by mighty proofs; and far from needing a Homer for our panegyrist, or other of his craft whose verses might charm for the moment only for the impression which they gave to melt at the touch of fact, we have forced every sea and land to be the highway of our daring, and everywhere, whether for evil or for good, have left imperishable monuments behind us."
Pericles (Funeral Oration, Thucydides, II, 41)

No firsthand sources say why he decided to restrict citizenship,[2] but such measures impelled Pericles' critics to regard him as responsible for the gradual degeneration of the Athenian democracy. K. Paparrigopoulos, a major modern Greek historian and one of Pericles' critics, thought that Pericles sought for the expansion and stabilization of all democratic institutions.[19] Hence, he enacted a legislation enforcing the accession of the lower taxes to the political system and to the public offices. Therefore, Pericles strove to motivate all these social classes, which were previously prohibited by the status quo ante from being more active and from occupying public offices.[20]

On the other hand, Cimon's firm conviction was that no further free space for democratic evolution existed. He was definite that democracy had reached its peak and Pericles’ reforms were leading to the stalemate of populism. According to Paparrigopoulos, history vindicated Cimon, since Athens, after Pericles' death, sunk in the abyss of political turmoil and demagogy. Paparrigopoulos maintains that an unprecedented regression descended upon the city, whose glory perished due to the anterior populist policies of Pericles.[19] According to another historian, J.D. King, radical democracy benefited people individually, but harmed the state.[21]

Leading Athens

Ephialtes' murder in 461 BC paved the way for Pericles to consolidate his authority.[γ] Lacking any robust opposition after the expulsion of his most menacing opponent, the unchallengeable leader of the democratic party became the unchallengeable ruler of Athens. He remained in power almost uninterruptedly until his death in 429 BC.

First Peloponnesian War

Main article: First Peloponnesian War
File:Phidias and the Frieze of the Parthenon.jpg
Phidias Showing the Frieze of the Parthenon to his Friends painted by Alma-Tadema, 1868, Birmingham, Museum and Art Gallery.

Pericles made his first military excursions during the First Peloponnesian War, which was caused in part by Athens' alliance with Megara and Argos and the subsequent reaction of Sparta. In 454 BC he attacked Sicyon and Acarnania.[22] He then unsuccessfully tried to take Oeniadea on the Corinthian gulf, before returning to Athens. In 451 BC, Cimon is said to have returned from exile and negotiated a five years' truce with Sparta after a proposal of Pericles, an event indicating a shift in his initial political philosophy. Pericles may have realized the importance of Cimon's contribution during the ongoing conflicts against the Peloponnesians and the Persians. Plutarch underlines that Cimon struck a power-sharing deal with his opponents, according to which Pericles would carry through the interior affairs and Cimon would be the leader of the Athenian army, campaigning abroad.[23] If true, this deal constitutes a concession of Pericles that he was not a great strategist. Cimon defeated the Persians in the Battle of Salamis, but died of disease in 449 BC.

In the spring of 449 BC, Pericles proposed the Congress Decree, which led to a meeting ("Congress") of all Greek states in order to consider the question of rebuilding the temples destroyed by the Persians. The Congress failed because of Sparta's stance,[24] but Pericles' real intentions remain unclear. Some historians think that he wanted to prompt some kind of confederation with the participation of all the Greek cities, others think he wanted to assert Athenian pre-eminence.[25] According to the historian T. Buckley the objective of the Congress Decree was a new mandate for the Delian League and for the collection of "phoros" (taxes).[26]

"Remember, too, that if your country has the greatest name in all the world, it is because she never bent before disaster; because she has expended more life and effort in war than any other city, and has won for herself a power greater than any hitherto known, the memory of which will descend to the latest posterity."
Pericles (Third Oration, Thucydides, II, 64)

During the Second Sacred War Pericles led the Athenian army against Delphi and reinstated Phocis in its sovereign rights on the oracle.[27] In 447 BC Pericles engaged in his most admired excursion,[2] the expulsion of barbarians from the Thracian peninsula of Gallipoli,[28] in order to establish the Athenian population in new land. The major problems for Athens at that time were, however, the revolts of its allies (or of its subjects, to be more accurate). In 447 BC the oligarchs of Thebes conspired against the democratic faction. The Athenians demanded their immediate surrender, but, after the Battle of Coronea, Pericles introduced a more moderate stance.[7] In 446 BC, a more dangerous arousal erupted. Euboea and Megara revolted and Pericles crossed over to Euboea with his troops. He was forced however to return when the army of Sparta invaded Attica. Through briberies and negotiations, Pericles repulsed the imminent threat.[29] When Pericles was later audited for the handling of public money, an expenditure of 10 talents was not sufficiently justified, since the official documents just referred that the money was spent for a "very serious purpose". Nonetheless, the "serious purpose" (namely the bribery) was so obvious to the auditors that they approved the expenditure without official meddling and without even investigating the mystery.[30] Just after the deliverance of Athens from Sparta's threat, Pericles crossed back to Euboea with 50 ships and 5,000 soldiers, cracking down any opposition. He then inflicted a stringent punishment on the landowners of Chalcis, who lost their properties. The residents of Istiaia, who had butchered the crew of an Athenian trireme, were chastised more harshly, since they were uprooted and replaced by 2,000 Athenian settlers.[30] The arrangement between Sparta and Athens was ratified by the Thirty Years' Peace (winter of 446 BC–445 BC).

Final battle with the conservatives

In 444 BC, the conservative and the democratic faction confronted each other in a fierce strife. The new ambitious leader of the conservatives, who had the same name as the historian - Thucydides, accused Pericles of profligacy, criticizing the way his political opponent spent the money for the ongoing building plan. Thucydides managed, initially, to incite the passions in ecclesia in his favor, but, when the leader of the democrats took the floor, he put the conservatives in the shade. Pericles responded resolutely, proposing to reimburse the city for all the expenses from his private property, under the term that he would make the inscriptions of dedication in his own name.[31] His stance was greeted with applause and Thucydides suffered an unexpected defeat. In 442 BC, the Athenian public ostracized Thucydides for 10 years and Pericles remained once again the unchallenged suzerain of the Athenian political arena.[31]

Athens' rule over its alliance

Pericles wanted to stabilize Athens' dominance over its alliance and to enforce its pre-eminence in Greece. Through various measures, he turned the Delian League into an Athenian empire. In 454 BC, the treasury of the alliance was transferred from Delos to Athens and around 447 BC Clearcus proposed the Coinage Decree, which imposed Athenian silver coinage, weights and measures on all of the allies.[26] According to one of the decree's most stringent provisions, surplus from a minting operation was to go into a special fund, and one proposing to do otherwise was subject to the death penalty.[32]

It was from the alliance's treasury that Pericles drew the necessary funds, in order to materialize his ambitious building plan centered on the "Periclean Acropolis"; a plan that included the Propylaea, the Parthenon and the golden statue of Athena, sculpted by Pericles’ friend, Phidias.[33] In 449 BC Pericles proposed a decree, allowing the use of 9,000 talents to finance the massive rebuilding program of Athenian temples.[26] Decrees like the ones mentioned reveal Athens' will to exert a more solid leadership over its allies. A. Vlachos, a Greek Academician, points out that the utilization of the alliance's treasury, initiated and executed by Pericles, is one of the worst defalcations throughout human history; a defalcation that financed, however, some of the most marvellous artistic creations.[34]

Samian War

File:Pericles-piece.jpg
A 20 drachma coin of the Hellenic Republic picturing Pericles.
Main article: Samian War

The Samian War was the last historically significant military event before the Peloponnesian War. After Thucydides' ostracism, Pericles was being continuously re-elected to the generalship, the only office he ever officially occupied, although he constituted the absolute ruler of Athens. In 440 BC Samos was at war with Miletus and the Athenians were asked to play the role of mediator. Nonetheless, the Samians did not display the adequate level of obedience and Pericles passed a decree for his expedition to Samos, "alleging against its people that, though they were ordered to break off their war against the Milesians, they were not complying".[δ] In a naval battle the Athenians led by Pericles and the other 9 generals defeated the forces of Samos and imposed on the island an administration pleasing to them.[35] When the Samians revolted against the Athenian rule, Pericles compelled the rebels to capitulate after a tough siege of 8 months, which resulted in huge discontent among the Athenian sailors.[36] Pericles also subdued Byzantium and, when he returned to Athens, he delivered the funeral oration for the soldiers who died in the expedition.

Pericles led Athens' fleet against Byzantium once more in 438 BC in a demonstration of the city's imperial pre-eminence.[7] He then focused mostly on internal projects: the fortification of Athens (the building of the "middle wall" about 440 BC) and the creation of new cleruchies, such as Andros, Naxos and Thurii (444 BC) as well as Amphipolis.[37]

Personal attacks

Aspasia of Miletus (c.469 BC–c.406 BC), Pericles' companion.

Pericles and his friends were never immune from attack, because in ancient Athens predominance was not equivalent to absolute rule.[38] Nonetheless, just before the eruption of the war, Pericles and two of his closest associates, Phidias and the hetaira Aspasia, confronted a series of orchestrated persecutions. Phidias was first accused of embezzling gold intended for the statue of Athena and then of impiety, because, when he wrought the battle of the Amazons on the shield of Athena, he carved out a figure that suggested himself as a bald old man lifting on high a stone with both hands, and also inserted a very fine likeness of Pericles fighting with an Amazon.[39] Pericles' enemies also found a false witness against Phidias, named Menon.

Aspasia was accused of corrupting the women of Athens in order to satisfy Pericles' perversions. All these accusations were, probably, nothing more than unproven slanders, but the whole experience was very bitter for the Athenian politician. Although Aspasia was acquitted thanks to a rare emotional outburst of Pericles, his friend, Phidias, died in prison and another friend of his, Anaxagoras, was attacked by the ecclesia for his religious beliefs.[39] Further to these initial prosecutions, the ecclesia took the liberty of personally attacking Pericles by asking him to justify the ostensible profligacy and maladministration of public money.[40] According to Plutarch, Pericles was so afraid of the oncoming trial that he did not let the Athenians yield to the Lacedaemonians and he "kindled into flame the threatening and smoldering war, hoping thereby to dissipate the charges made against him".[40] The fact is that, when the great war erupted, Pericles did not seem as powerful as he used to be and, consequently, Athens' imperial pre-eminence started to tremble.

Peloponnesian War

Main article: Peloponnesian War

Plutarch seems to predicate that Pericles and the Athenians incited the war, scrambling to implement their hawkish tactics "with a sort of arrogance and a love of strife".[ε] Thucydides hints at the same thing, although he admires and profoundly respects his compatriot, but the great historian has, at this point, been criticised for bias and sympathy for Sparta.[στ]

Prelude of the war

File:ThAnaxagorasPericles.jpg
Anaxagoras and Pericles by Augustin-Louis Belle (1757 – 1841).

Pericles was convinced that the war against Sparta, which could not conceal its envy of Athens' pre-eminence, was inevitable if not welcomed. Therefore, he did not hesitate to send troops to Corcyra to reinforce the Corcyraean fleet, which was fighting against Corinth.[41] In 433 BC the enemy fleets confronted each other at the Battle of Sybota and a year later the Athenians and Corinthians fought again at the Battle of Potidaea; two military events resulting in Corinth's lasting hatred of Athens. At the same period, Pericles proposed the Megarian Decree, which was something like a modern trade embargo. According to the provisions of the decree, the Megarian merchants were excluded from the market of Athens and the ports in its empire. This ban strangled the Megarian economy and strained the fragile peace between Athens and Sparta, which was allied with Megara. According to George Cawkwell, a praelector in ancient history, with this decree Pericles breached the Thirty Years Peace "but, perhaps, not without the semblance of an excuse".[42] The Athenians' justification was that the Megarians had cultivated the sacred land consecrated to Demeter and had given refuge to runaway slaves, a behavior deemed by the Athenians as very impious.[43]

After consultations with its allies, Sparta sent a deputation to Athens demanding some concessions, such as the immediate expulsion of the Alcmaeonidae family including Pericles and the retraction of the Megarian Decree. The obvious purpose of these proposals was the instigation of a confrontation between Pericles and the rabble, something that later did happen.[44] At that time, however, the Athenians followed uncomplainingly Pericles' instructions. In the first legendary oration Thucydides puts in his mouth, Pericles advised the Athenians not to yield to their opponents' demands, since they were militarily stronger.[45] Pericles was not prepared to make unilateral concessions, believing that "if Athens conceded on that issue, then Sparta was sure to come up with further demands".[46] Consequently, Pericles asked the Spartans to offer a quid pro quo. In exchange for retracting the Megarian Decree, the Athenians demanded from Sparta to abandon their practice of periodic expulsion of foreigners from their territory (xenelasia) and to recognize the autonomy of its allied cities, a request implying that Sparta's hegemony was also ruthless.[47] The terms were rejected by the Spartans and thus the war became inevitable. According to A.G. Platias and C. Koliopoulos, professors of strategic studies and international politics, "rather than to submit to coercive demands, Pericles chose war".[46]

First year of the war (431 BC)

The Parthenon, a masterpiece prompted by Pericles, from the south.

In 431 BC, while peace already was on the razor's edge, Archidamus, Sparta's king, sent a new delegation to Athens, demanding the Athenians' surrender. Nevertheless, the deputation was not allowed to enter Athens, because Pericles had already passed a resolution, according to which no Spartan deputation would be welcomed, if their opponents had previously initiated any hostile military actions. Since the army of Sparta was already gathered in Corinth, this manoeuvre was deemed a hostile action. Hence, Archidamus invaded Attica, but no Athenians were found there, because Pericles had previously evacuated the rural residents, leaving their farms and transferring them into the city.

No definite record exists on how exactly Pericles managed to convince the Athenian Assembly, and the residents, to agree to move into the crowded urban areas. For most it would mean abandoning their land, their ancestral shrines and a whole change in lifestyle.[48] Thereby, though they agreed to leave, they were not all happy about it.[49] Pericles also reassured his compatriots that, if the enemy did not plunder his farms, he would offer his property to the city. He did that being afraid that Archidamus could spare his estate, either because of their personal friendship or trying to calumniate him.[50]

"For heroes have the whole earth for their tomb; and in lands far from their own, where the column with its epitaph declares it, there is enshrined in every breast a record unwritten with no tablet to preserve it, except that of the heart."
Pericles (Funeral Oration, Thucydides, II, 43)

In any case, seeing the pillage, the Athenians were outraged and they started in some indirect ways to express their discontent towards their leader. In the eyes of many Athenians, Pericles drew them to war. Nonetheless, Pericles did not give in to the pressures for immediate action against the enemy and he did not revise his initial strategy. He also avoided convening the ecclesia, in an attempt to ease the tensions. At the same time, he sent a fleet of 100 ships to loot the coasts of the Peloponnese and charged the cavalry to guard the ravaged farms close to the walls of the city.[51] When the enemy retired and the pillage came to an end, Pericles proposed a decree, according to which the authorities of the city should put aside 1,000 talents and 100 ships, in case Athens was attacked by naval forces. According to the most stringent provision of the decree, even the simple proposition for a different utilization of the money or ships would entail the penalty of death. During the autumn of 431 BC, Pericles led the Athenian forces that invaded Megara and a few months later (winter of 431 BC-430 BC) he delivered his monumental and emotional Funeral Oration, honoring the Athenians who died for their city.[52]

Last military operations and death

Portrait of Pericles - a copy of the bronze original by Cresilas (British Museum, No 549).

In 430 BC, the army of Sparta looted Attica for a second time, but Pericles was not daunted and refused to revise his initial strategy. Unwilling to engage the Spartan army in battle, he preferred to lead himself a naval force of 100 ships, which plundered once again the coasts of Peloponnese. According to Plutarch, just before the sailing of the ships an eclipse of the moon frightened the crews, but Pericles used his astronomical knowledge, taught to him by Anaxagoras, to calm them down.[53] In the summer of the same year an epidemic broke out and decimated the Athenians.[54] About the nature of the disease nobody can be sure, but, taking into consideration its symptoms, most researchers and scientists now believe that it was typhus or typhoid fever and not cholera, plague or measles.[ζ] In any case, the city's plight, caused by the epidemic, triggered a new wave of public uproar and Pericles took great pains to defend himself in his last emotional speech exposed by Thucydides.[55] This is considered to be a monumental oration, revealing Pericles' virtues but also his bitterness towards his compatriots' ingratitude.[7] Temporarily, he managed to tame the rabble's resentment and to ride out the storm, but his internal enemies' final bid to undermine him came off; they achieved to deprive him of the generalship and to fine him with an amount of money estimated between 15 and 50 talents.[56] Ancient sources mention Cleon, a rising and dynamic protagonist of the Athenian political scene during the war, as the public prosecutor in Pericles' trial.[56]

Nevertheless, within just a year, in 429 BC, the Athenians not only forgave him but they also re-elected him as strategos (general).[η] He was reinstated in command of the Athenian army and led all its military operations during 429 BC,[7] having once again under his control the levers of power. However, the death of both his legitimate sons from his first wife, Xanthippus and his beloved Paralus, hit by the epidemic, was a huge blow for Pericles. With his morale undermined, he burst into tears and not even Aspasia's companionship could console him. He legitimised his third son, Pericles the younger (Athenians allowed a change in the law that made Pericles' half-Athenian son a citizen and legitimate heir), whose mother was Aspasia.[57] He died in the autumn of 429 BC after being affected by the disease.

Just before his death, Pericles' friends were concentrated around his bed, enumerating his virtues during peace and underscoring his nine war trophies. Pericles, though moribund, heard them and interrupted them, pointing out that they forgot to mention his fairest and greatest title to their admiration; "for", said he, "no living Athenian ever put on mourning because of me".[58] Pericles lived during the first two and a half years of the Peloponnesian War and, according to Thucydides, his death constituted a disaster for Athens, since his successors were inferior to him; they preferred to incite all the bad habits of the rabble and they followed an unstable policy, endeavoring to be likeable rather than useful.[59] With these bitter comments, Thucydides not only laments the loss a man he admired, but he also heralds the flickering of Athens' unique glory and grandeur.

Personal life

Pericles, following Athenian custom, was first married to one of his closest relatives and he had with his wife two sons, Xanthippus and Paralus. Nevertheless, his marriage was not a happy one. As a result, Pericles got divorced (c. 445 BC) and offered his wife to another husband with the agreement of her male relatives.[60] The name of his first wife is not known; the only information about her is that she was the wife of Hipponicus, before being married to Pericles, and the mother of Callius from this first marriage.[61]

"For men can endure to hear others praised only so long as they can severally persuade themselves of their own ability to equal the actions recounted: when this point is passed, envy comes in and with it incredulity."
Pericles (Funeral Oration, Thucydides, II, 35)

The woman he really adored was Aspasia, a hetaera, whose intellectual powers astonished Pericles. She became his mistress and they began to live together as if they were married. This relationship aroused many reactions and even Pericles' own son, Xanthippus, who had political ambitions, did not hesitate to slander his father.[62] Nonetheless, these persecutions did not undermine Pericles' morale, although he had to burst into tears in order to protect his beloved Aspasia when she was accused of corrupting Athenian society. His greatest personal tragedy was the death of his sister and of both his legitimate sons, Xanthippus and Paralus, all affected by the epidemic, a calamity he never managed to overcome.

Assessments

Pericles marked a whole era and inspired conflicting judgments about his various and significant decisions, which is something normal for a political personality of his magnitude. The fact that he constituted at the same time a vigorous statesman, general and orator makes more difficult and complex the objective and comprehensive assessment of his actions.

Political leadership

File:AGMA Ostrakon Pericles.jpg
An ostracon with Pericles' name written on it (c. 444 BC - 443 BC), Museum of the ancient Agora of Athens.

Some contemporary scholars, for example Sarah Ruden, call Pericles a populist, a demagogue and a hawk;[63] while other scholars admire his charismatic leadership. According to Plutarch, after assuming the leadership of Athens, "he was no longer the same man as before, nor alike submissive to the people and ready to yield and give in to the desires of the multitude as a steersman to the breezes".[64] It is told that, when his political opponent, Thucydides, was asked by Sparta's king, Archidamus, if he or Pericles was a better fighter, Thucydides answered without any hesitation that Pericles was a better fighter, because, even when he is defeated, he achieves to convince the audience that he won.[7] In matters of character, Pericles was above reproach in the eyes of the ancient historians, since "he kept himself untainted by corruption, although he was not altogether indifferent to money-making".[10]

Thucydides, an admirer of Pericles, maintains that Athens was "in name a democracy but, in fact, governed by its first citizen".[59] Through this comment, the historian illustrates what he perceives as Pericles' charisma to lead, convince and, sometimes, manipulate. Although Thucydides mentions the fining of Pericles,[59] he does not mention the accusations against the politician[θ] but instead focuses on Pericles' integrity. On the other hand, in one of his dialogues, Plato rejects the glorification of Pericles and quotes Socrates as saying: "As far as I know, Pericles made the Athenians slothful, garrulous and avaricious, by starting the system of public fees".[65] Plutarch mentions other criticism of Pericles' leadership: "many others say that the people was first led on by him into allotments of public lands, festival-grants, and distributions of fees for public services, thereby falling into bad habits, and becoming luxurious and wanton under the influence of his public measures, instead of frugal and self-sufficing".[15]

Thucydides predicates that Pericles "was not carried away by the people, but he was the one guiding the people"[59]. Thucydides' judgement is not unquestioned - some 20th century critics, such as M.F. McGregor and J.S. Morrison, proposed that he may have been a charismatic public face acting as an advocate on the proposals of advisors, or the people themselves.[66][67] According to J.D. King, by increasing the power of the people, the Athenians left themselves with no authoritative leader. During the Peloponnesian War even Pericles' lack of executive power was obvious.[21]

Military achievements

For more than 20 years Pericles led numerous expeditions, mainly naval ones. Being always cautious, he never undertook of his own accord a battle involving much uncertainty and peril and he did not accede to the "vain impulses of the citizens".[68] He based his military policy on Themistocles' principle that Athens' predominance depends on its superior naval power and believed that the Peloponnesians were near-invincible on land.[69] Pericles tried also to minimize the advantages of Sparta by rebuilding the walls of Athens. According to J. Ober, professor of classics in Princeton University, the strategy of rebuilding the walls radically altered the use of force in Greek international relations.[70]

"These glories may incur the censure of the slow and unambitious; but in the breast of energy they will awake emulation, and in those who must remain without them an envious regret. Hatred and unpopularity at the moment have fallen to the lot of all who have aspired to rule others."
Pericles (Third Oration, Thucydides, II, 64)

During the Peloponnesian War, Pericles initiated a defensive "grand strategy" whose aim was the exhaustion of the enemy and the preservation of the status quo.[71] According to A.G. Platias and C. Koliopoulos, Athens as the strongest party did not have to beat Sparta in military terms and "chose to foil the Spartan plan for victory".[71] The two basic principles of the "Periclean Grand Strategy" were the rejection of appeasement (thereby he urged the Athenians not to revoke the Megarian Decree) and the avoidance of overextension.[ι] Although his strategy is said to have been "inherently unpopular", Pericles managed to persuade the Athenian public.[72] It is for that reason that Hans Delbrück called Pericles one of the greatest statesmen and military leaders in history.[73] Even after fining him, the Athenians remained true to the Periclean strategy and did not depart from it until long after his death.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).

Nonetheless, there are also many criticisms on the effectiveness of his strategy. A common criticism against him is that he always was a better politician and orator than strategist.[74] Donald Kagan called the Periclean strategy "a form of wishful thinking that failed",[75] whilst S.Strauss and J. Ober have stated that "as strategist he was a failure and deserves a share of the blame for Athens' great defeat".[76]. Kagan criticizes the Periclean strategy on four counts: first that by rejecting minor concessions it brought about war; second, that it was unforseen by the enemy and hence lacked credibility; third that it was too feeble to exploit any opportunities; fourth, it depended on Pericles for its execution and this was bound to be anandoned after his death.[77] Kagan estimates Pericles' expenditure on his military strategy in the Peloponnesian War to be about 2000 talents annually, and that he would only have enough money to keep the war going for 3 years. He asserts that since Pericles must have known about these limitations he probably planned for a much shorter war.[78] Others, such as D. W. Knight, conclude that the strategy was too defensive and would not succeed.[79]

On the other hand, A.G. Platias and C. Koliopoulos reject these criticisms and underscore that "the Athenians lost the war only when they dramatically reversed the Periclean grand strategy that explicitely disdained further conquests".[80] It is a popular conclusion that those succeeding him lacked his abilities and character.[81] The most charismatic of his successors, Alcibiades, would have a completely different plan in mind and what may be called a dubious agenda.

Skill of oratory

Painting of Hector Leroux (1682 - 1740), which portrays Pericles and Aspasia, admiring the gigantic Athena's statue in Pheidias' studio.

Thucydides' modern commentators are still trying to unriddle the puzzle of Pericles' orations and to figure out if the wording belongs to the Athenian statesman or if it is merely a creation of the historian.[ια] Taking into consideration the fact that Pericles never wrote down or distributed his orations,[ιβ] no historians are able answer this with certainty;[ιγ] Thucydides recreated three of them[82] from memory and, thereby, it cannot be ascertained that he did not add his own notions and thoughts. In any case, Pericles was a main source of his inspiration, and the orations attributed to him are one of the main reasons for studying Thucydides' influential work, especially the Funeral Oration and his emotional third oration.[55] One could not fail to note, however, that the passionate and idealistic literary style of the speeches Thucydides attributes to Pericles is completely at odds with Thucydides' own cold and analytical writing style,[ιδ] although this might be the result of the incorporation of the genre of rhetoric into the genre of historiography. That is to say, Thucydides could simply have used two different writing styles for two different purposes.

D. Kagan describes that Pericles adopted "an elevated mode of speech, free from the vulgar and knavish tricks of mob-orators"[83] and, according to Diodorus Siculus, he "excelled all his fellow citizens in skill of oratory".[84] According to Plutarch, he avoided any gimmicks while orating, contrary to the passionate Demosthenes, and imposed himself with his tranquil manner of speaking,[85] though Plutarch also points out that the poet Ion described Pericle's manner of speech as: "a presumptuous and somewhat arrogant manner of address, and that into his haughtiness there entered a good deal of disdain and contempt for others".[85] Gorgias in Plato's homonymous dialogue uses Pericles as an example of powerful oratory.[86] The ancient Greek writers call him "Olympian" and they vaunt him, underlining that "he was thundering and lightening and exciting Greece" and he was carrying the weapons of Zeus when orating.[87] According to Quintilian, Pericles would always prepare assiduously for his orations and, before going on the rostrum, he would always pray to the Gods, so as not to utter any improper word.[88][89] Sir Richard C. Jebb concludes that "unique as an Athenian statesman, Pericles must have been in two respects unique also as an Athenian orator; first, because he occupied such a position of personal ascendancy as no man before or after him attained; secondly, because his thoughts and his moral force won him such renown for eloquence as no one else ever got from Athenians".[90]

Legacy

Pericles' main legacy are the literally and artistic works of his Golden Age, most of which can be still found this day. The Acropolis, though in ruins, still stands and is a symbol of modern Athens. K. Paparrigopoulos wrote that these masterpieces are "sufficient to render the name of Greece immortal in our world".[74]

In terms of politics, V. L. Ehrenberg argues that a basic element of Pericles' legacy is the imperialism, which denies the principles of democracy and freedom.[91] Nonetheless, other analysts underscore an Athenian humanism illustrated in the Golden Age.[92] Pericles is lauded as "the ideal type of the perfect statesman in ancient Greece"[74] and his Funeral Oration is nowadays synonymous to the struggle for participatory democracy and civic pride.[93]

See also


Citations

  1. ^ S. Muhlberger, Periclean Athens and S. Ruden, Lysistrata, 80
  2. ^ a b c d "Pericles". Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2002.
  3. ^ Herodotus, VI, 131
  4. ^ a b c Plutarch, Pericles, III
  5. ^ a b Plutarch, Pericles, IV
  6. ^ Plato, Alciviades I, 118c
  7. ^ a b c d e f g "Pericles". Encyclopaedia The Helios. 1952.
  8. ^ M. Mendelson, Many Sides, 1
  9. ^ Plutarch, Pericles, VI and Plato, Phaedrus, 270a
  10. ^ a b Plutarch, Pericles XVI
  11. ^ Plutarch, Pericles, VII, but also Plutarch, Pericles, IX
  12. ^ Aristotle, Constitution of Athens, 27.1
  13. ^ Plutarch, Cimon, XV
  14. ^ a b c Fornara-Samons, Athens from Cleisthenes to Pericles, 24-25
  15. ^ a b c Plutarch, Pericles, IX
  16. ^ Plutarch, Cimon, XVI
  17. ^ Fornara-Samons, Athens from Cleisthenes to Pericles, 67-73
  18. ^ R. Martin, An Overview of Classical Greek History
  19. ^ a b K. Paparrigopoulos, History of the Greek Nation, Ab, 145
  20. ^ Aristotle, Constitution of Athens, 24 and Politics, 1274a
  21. ^ a b J.D. King, Athenian Democracy and Empire, 24-25
  22. ^ Thucydides, I, 111
  23. ^ a b Plutarch, Pericles, X
  24. ^ Plutarch, Pericles, XVII
  25. ^ Wade-Grey, The Question of Tribute in 449/8 B. C., 212-229
  26. ^ a b c T. Buckley, Aspects of Greek History 750-323 BC, 206
  27. ^ Thucydides, I, 112 and Plutarch, Pericles, XXI
  28. ^ Plutarch, Pericles, XIX
  29. ^ Thucydides, II, 21 and Aristophanes, The Acharnians, 832
  30. ^ a b Plutarch, Pericles, XXIII
  31. ^ a b Plutarch, Pericles, XIV
  32. ^ S. Hornblower, The Greek World 479-323 BC, 120
  33. ^ J. M. Hurwit, The Acropolis in the Age of Pericles, 87 etc.
  34. ^ A. Vlachos, Thucydides' Bias, 62-63
  35. ^ Plutarch, Pericles, XXV
  36. ^ Plutarch, Pericles, XXVIII
  37. ^ Plutarch, Pericles, XI and Plato, Gorgias, 455e
  38. ^ a b Fornara-Samons, Athens from Cleisthenes to Pericles, 31
  39. ^ a b c Plutarch, Pericles, XXXI
  40. ^ a b Plutarch, Pericles, XXXII
  41. ^ Thucydides, I, 31-54
  42. ^ G. Cawkwell, Thucydides and the Peloponnesian War, 33
  43. ^ T. Buckley, Aspects of Greek History 750-323 BC, 322
  44. ^ Thucydides, I, 127
  45. ^ Thucydides, I, 140-144
  46. ^ a b A.G. Platias-C. Koliopoulos, Thucydides on Strategy, 100-103
  47. ^ A. Vlachos, Thucydides' Bias, 20
  48. ^ J. Ober, The Athenian Revolution, 72-85
  49. ^ Thucydides, II, 16
  50. ^ Thucydides, II, 13
  51. ^ Thucydides, II, 18 and Xenophon(?),Constitution of Athens, 2
  52. ^ Thucydides, II, 35-46
  53. ^ Plutarch, Pericles, XXXIV
  54. ^ Thucydides, II, 48 etc. and 56
  55. ^ a b Thucydides, II, 60-64
  56. ^ a b Plutarch, Pericles, XXXV
  57. ^ Plutarch, Pericles, XXXVII
  58. ^ Plutarch, Pericles, XXXVIII
  59. ^ a b c d Thucydides, II, 65
  60. ^ K. Paparrigopoulos, Aa, 221
  61. ^ Plutarch, Pericles, XXIV
  62. ^ Plutarch, Pericles, XXXVI
  63. ^ Sarah Ruden, Lysistrata , 80
  64. ^ Plutarch, Pericles, XV
  65. ^ Plato, Gorgias, 515e
  66. ^ McGregor, Government in Athens, 122-123
  67. ^ J.S. Morrison-A. W. Gomme, Pericles Monarchos, 76-77
  68. ^ Plutarch, Pericles, XVIII
  69. ^ A.G. Platias-C. Koliopoulos, Thucydides on Strategy, 105
  70. ^ J. Ober, National Ideology and Strategic Defence of the Population, 254
  71. ^ a b A.G. Platias-C. Koliopoulos, Thucydides on Strategy, 98-99
  72. ^ A.G. Platias-C. Koliopoulos, Thucydides on Strategy, 119-120
  73. ^ H. Delbrück, History of the Art of War, I, 137
  74. ^ a b c K. Paparrigopoulos, Aa, 241-242
  75. ^ D. Kagan, Athenian Strategy in the Peloponnesial War, 54
  76. ^ S. Strauss-J. Ober, The Anatomy of Error, 47
  77. ^ D. Kagan, The Archidamian War, 28,41
  78. ^ D. Kagan, The Peloponnesian War, 61-62
  79. ^ D. Knight, Thucydides and the War Strategy of Pericles, 150-160
  80. ^ A.G. Platias-C. Koliopoulos, Thucydides on Strategy, 138
  81. ^ L.J. Samons, What's Wrong with Democracy?, 131-132
  82. ^ Thucydides, I 140-144, II, 35-46 and 60-64
  83. ^ Donald Kagan, The Peloponnesian War
  84. ^ Diodorus, XII, 39
  85. ^ a b Plutarch, Pericles, V
  86. ^ Plato, Gorgias, 455d
  87. ^ Aristophanes, Acharnians, 528-531 and Diodorus, XII, 40
  88. ^ Quintilian, Institutiones, XII, 9
  89. ^ a b Plutarch, Pericles, VIII
  90. ^ a b Sir Richard C. Jebb, The Attic Orators
  91. ^ V. L. Ehrenberg, From Solon to Socrates, 332
  92. ^ E.J. Power, A Legacy of Learning, 52
  93. ^ K. Mattson, Creating a Democratic Public, 32
  94. ^ Aristotle, Constitution of Athens, 25.4
  95. ^ Plutarch, Pericles, XXIV
  96. ^ Thucydides, I, 139
  97. ^ A.W. Gomme, An Historical Commentary on Thucydides, I, 452
  98. ^ A. Vlachos, Comments on Thucydides, 141
  99. ^ A. Vlachos, Thucydides' bias, 60 etc
  100. ^ St. Croix, The Character of the Athenian Empire, 1-41
  101. ^ Fornara-Samons, Athens from Cleisthenes to Pericles, 77
  102. ^ A.W. Gomme, An Historical Commentary on Thucydides, II, 145-162
  103. ^ A. Vlachos, Remarks on Thucydides, 177
  104. ^ A. Vlachos, Thucydides' bias, 62
  105. ^ A.G. Platias-C. Koliopoulos, Thucydides on Strategy, 104 etc.
  106. ^ a b A. Vlachos, Remarks on Thucydides, 170
  107. ^ J.F. Dobson, The Greek Orators
  108. ^ I. Kakridis, Interpretative comments on the Funeral Oration, 6
  109. ^ Suda, article Pericles
  110. ^ Cicero, De Oratote, II, 93
  111. ^ Quintilian, Institutiones, III, 1
  112. ^ H. Yunis, Taming Democracy, 63

References

Primary sources (Greeks and Romans)

Secondary sources

  • Aird, Hamish (2004). Pericles: The Rise and Fall of Athenian Democracy. The Rosen Publishing Group. ISBN 082393828X.
  • Buckley, Terry (1996). Aspects of Greek History 750-323 BC. Routledge (UK). ISBN 0415099579.
  • Cawkwell, George (1997). Thucydides and the Peloponnesian War. Routledge (UK). ISBN 0415165520.
  • Delbrück, Hans (1920): History of the Art of War, University of Nebraska Press; Reprint edition, 1990. Translated by Walter, J. Renfroe. Volume 1.
  • "Pericles". Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2002.
  • Encyclopaedic Dictionary The Helios. Volume VIII. article: The Funeral Speech over the Fallen. Volume XV. article: Pericles (in Greek).
  • Ehrenberg, Victor L. (1990). From Solon to Socrates. Routledge (UK). ISBN 0415040248.
  • Fornara Charles W., Loren J. Samons II (1991). Athens from Cleisthenes to Pericles. Berkeley: University of California Press.
  • Gomme, A. W. (A. Andrewes and K. J. Dover). An Historical Commentary on Thucydides (I-V). Oxford University Press (1945-1981). ISBN 019814198X. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  • Hornblower, Simon (2002). The Greek World. Routledge (UK). ISBN 0415153441.
  • Hurwit, Jeffrey M. (2004). The Acropolis in the Age of Pericles. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521820405.
  • Kagan, Donald (1996). "Athenian Strategy in the Peloponnesian War". The Making of Strategy: Rules, States and Wars by Williamson Murray, Alvin Bernstein, MacGregor Knox. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521566274.
  • Kagan, Donald (1974). The Archidamian War. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 080140889X.
  • Kagan, Donald (2003). "War aims and resources (432-431)". The Peloponnesian War. Viking Penguin (Penguin Group). ISBN 0-670-03211-5.
  • Kakridis, Ioannis Th. (1993). Interpretative Comments on the Pericles' Funeral Oration. Estia (in Greek).
  • King, J.D. (2005). Athenian Democracy and Empire.
  • Knight, D.W. (1970). "Thucydides and the War Strategy of Pericles". Mnemosyne. 23: pp 150-160. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  • Mattson, Kevin (1998). Creating a Democratic Public. Penn State Press. ISBN 0271017236.
  • McGregor, Malcolm F. (1987). "Government in Athens". The Athenians and their Empire. The University of British Columbia Press. ISBN 0-7748-0269-3.
  • Mendelson, Michael (2002). Many Sides: A Protagorean Approach to the Theory, Practice, and Pedagogy of Argument. Springer. ISBN 1402004028.
  • Morrison, J.S. (1950). "Pericles Monarchos". Journal of Hellenic Studies. 70: pp76-77. Retrieved 2006-07-13. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Ober, Josiah (1991). "National Ideology and Strategic Defence of the Population, from Athens to Star Wars". Hegemonic Rivalry: From Thucydides to the Nuclear Age. Westview Pr. ISBN 0813377447.
  • Ober, Josiah (1996). The Athenian Revolution - Essays on Ancient Greek Democracy and Political Theory. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-01095-1.
  • Paparrigopoulos, Konstantinos (-Pavlos Karolidis)(1925), History of the Hellenic Nation (Volume Ab). Eleftheroudakis (in Greek).
  • Platias Athanasios G., Koliopoulos Constantinos (2006). Thucydides on Strategy. Eurasia Publications. ISBN 9608187168.
  • Power, Edward J. (1991). A Legacy of Learning. SUNY Press. ISBN 0791406105.
  • Ruden, Sarah (2003). Lysistrata. Hackett Publishing. ISBN 0872206033.
  • Samons, Loren J. (2004). "The Peloponnesian War". What's Wrong with Democracy?: From Athenian Practice to American Worship. Los Angeles,California: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-23660-2.
  • de Ste Croix, GEM (1955–1956). The Character of the Athenian Empire. Historia III.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)
  • Ober Josiah, Strauss Barry S. (1990). The Anatomy of Error: Ancient Military Disasters and Their Lessons for Modern Strategists. St Martins Pr. ISBN 0312050518.
  • Vlachos, Angelos (1992). Remarks on Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War (Α΄-Δ΄). Volume I. Estia (in Greek).
  • Vlachos, Angelos (1974). Thucydides' bias. Estia (in Greek).
  • Wade-Grey, H.T. (July–September 1945). "The Question of Tribute in 449/8 B. C." "Hesperia". 14 (No.3). American School of Classical Studies at Athens: 212–229. Retrieved 2006-07-08. {{cite journal}}: |issue= has extra text (help)CS1 maint: date format (link)
  • de Wet, B.X. (1969). "This So-Called Defensive Policy of Pericles". Acta classica. 12: pp 103-119. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  • Yunis, Harvey (1996). Taming Democracy. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0801483581.

Further Reading

Wikiquote has quotations related to Pericles.
Wikisource has original works by or about:
Pericles
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pericles.
  • Evelyn Abbott (1898). Pericles and the Golden Age of Athens. G. P. Putnam's Sons.
  • Roger Brock, Stephen Hodkinson (2003). Alternatives to Athens: Varieties of Political Organization and Community in Ancient Greece. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0199258104.
  • Percy Gardner (1902). Ancient Athens.
  • A. J. (Arthur James) Grant (1893). Greece in the Age of Pericles. John Murray.
  • Jon Hesk (2000). Deception and Democracy in Classical Athens. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521643228.
  • Donald Kagan (1991). Pericles of Athens and the Birth of Democracy. The Free Press. ISBN 0684863952.
  • C. Douglas Lummis (1997). Radical Democracy. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0801484510.
  • Josiah Ober (2001). Political Dissent in Democratic Athens: Intellectual Critics of Popular Rule. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0691089817.
  • P J Rhodes (2005). A History of the Classical Greek World: 478-323 BC. Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 063122565X.
  • Leonard Whibley (1889). A History of the Classical Greek World: 478-323 BC. University Press.


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