Profiles in History: Pericles

Hey Guys.
This is going to be my first post, so take it easy. So, I figure I will focus on more of the Profile type blogs that are focused on whoever gets mentioned in class.

Pericles was the Greek leader of Athens during the high point of the city's culture. His name means "surrounded in glory", which is appropriate due to the things that were achieved during his term. New fields of science were advanced and the Arts flourished during the fifteen years he was in office. Many of the magnificent monuments and sculptures around Athens were also created during that time. Until the end of his political time, he always focused on making Athens an even greater center of religion, intellectualism, athleticism, and artistry.

Pericles was born in 495 BCE to Xanthippus, a politician and a commander in the Greek navy, and Agariste, a descendant of a powerful Greek family. His youth was spent on schooling, which involved music and philosophy. Pericles entered politics in 472 BCE and soon managed to join up with the Democratic Party. During this time, he tried to act like a model citizen, even going so far as to avoiding banquets to save money. Around the 460’s BCE, Pericles’s political party began to take over Athens from the old aristocrats. Pericles in particular, declared that one his rivals only held on to power because of his wealth, not the fact that the people were supporting him. This is a foreshadowing of Pericles’s attitude towards politics, as he believed the public as a whole should be the ones controlling government.

At about the same time, the leader of the Democratic Party was murdered, opening the way for Pericles to take control of Athens. In the initial stages of his reign, Athens was involved in several wars, but starting at 445 BCE, there was a Thirty Year Peace between Athens and her rival, Sparta. During this time, Pericles funded many ambitious building projects, including the Acropolis and the restoration of several major temples. He also focused on putting power into the lower class citizens of Athens by including them in the Democratic process, allowing them to vote and to run for office. Pericles believed that there was power in the masses of lower citizens and gave them many opportunities to advance themselves, including free access to the theater, payment for government service, and hired them to work on his numerous construction projects.

Athens flourished at this time, with many of the most brilliant minds of the ancient world calling her home. Philosophers such as Socrates, playwrights that still influence theater today, architects whose styles can be seen around the world, and scientists that developed fields like biology all lived in Athens at that time. It became an educational center of the world and its people were enjoying a Golden Age under Pericles. At this time, even though Pericles had done so much good for Athens, he was not immune to the ravages of politics. He himself was charged with gross misuse of public funds and his friends were not spared. His wife was slandered and his friends were accused of embezzlement.

Nearing the end of his life and his reign, Pericles launched a series of failed raids around Sicily, resulting in a drastic reduction of Athen’s military power. Simultaneously, a plague appeared in Athens, killing almost a third of the population. Due to these circumstances, Pericles was not re-elected to public office and watched as his wife and sons fell to the disease. In 429 BCE Pericles also contracted the plague and died, taking with him the glory of Athens. Soon after his death, Athens collapsed into anarchy and infighting.