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{{Short description|Athenian statesman, orator and general (c.495–429 BC)}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox military person
| name          = Pericles
| image         = Pericles Pio-Clementino Inv269 n2.jpg
| caption       = [[Pericles with the Corinthian helmet|Bust of Pericles]] bearing the inscription "Pericles, son of Xanthippus, Athenian". Marble, Roman copy after a Greek original from {{Circa|430&nbsp;BC}}, [[Museo Pio-Clementino]], [[Vatican Museums]],
| birth_date    = {{Circa|495 BC}}
| death_date    = 429 BC (aged 66)
| birth_place   = [[Classical Athens|Athens]], [[Ancient Greece|Greece]]
| death_place   = Athens, Greece
| allegiance    = [[Classical Athens|Athens]]
| rank          = ''[[Strategos]]''
| commands      = 
| battles       = {{tree list}}
* [[First Peloponnesian War]]
** Battles of Sicyon and Acarnania
** [[Second Sacred War]]
* [[Samian War]]
* [[Peloponnesian War]]
{{tree list/end}}
| children      = [[Paralus and Xanthippus]] <br/>
[[Pericles the Younger]]
| relations     = [[Xanthippus]] (father)<br/> Agariste (mother)
| laterwork     = 
}}
'''Pericles''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|ɛr|ɪ|k|l|iː|z|audio=en-us-Pericles.ogg}}; {{langx|grc|[[wikt:Περικλῆς|Περικλῆς]]}}; {{circa|495}}–429 BC) was a Greek statesman and general during the [[Golden Age of Athens]]. He was prominent and influential in [[Ancient Athenian]] politics, particularly between the [[Greco-Persian Wars]] and the [[Peloponnesian War]], and was acclaimed by [[Thucydides]], a contemporary historian, as "the first citizen of Athens".<ref name="Thuc65">Thucydides, [[s:History of the Peloponnesian War/Book 2#2:65|2.65]]</ref><!--All quotes [[WP:FULLCITE]]--> Pericles turned the [[Delian League]] into an Athenian empire and led his countrymen during the first two years of the Peloponnesian War. The period during which he led Athens as its preeminent orator and statesman, roughly from 461 to 429 BC, is sometimes known as the "[[Age of Pericles]]", but the period thus denoted can include times as early as the [[Persian Wars]] or as late as the following century.

Pericles promoted the arts and literature, and it was principally through his efforts that Athens acquired the reputation of being the educational and cultural center of the [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greek]] world. He started an ambitious project that generated most of the surviving structures on the [[Acropolis of Athens|Acropolis]], including the [[Parthenon]]. This project beautified and protected the city, exhibited its glory, and gave work to its people.<ref name="Blois">L. de Blois, ''An Introduction to the Ancient World'' 99</ref> Pericles also fostered [[Athenian democracy]] to such an extent that critics called him a [[populist]].<ref name="Muhl">S. Muhlberger, [http://www.nipissingu.ca/department/history/MUHLBERGER/2055/L23ANC.HTM Periclean Athens] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110414112851/http://www.nipissingu.ca/department/history/muhlberger/2055/l23anc.htm |date=14 April 2011 }}.</ref><ref name = "Ruden 80">S. Ruden, ''Lysistrata'', 80.</ref> Pericles was descended, through his mother, from the powerful and historically influential [[Alcmaeonidae|Alcmaeonid]] family. He, along with several members of his family, succumbed to the [[Plague of Athens]] in 429 BC, which weakened the city-state during a protracted conflict with [[Sparta]].

== Early years ==
Pericles was born {{Circa|495 BC}}, in Athens, Greece.{{efn-lg|Pericles's date of birth is uncertain; he could not have been born later than 492–1 and been of age to present the [[Persae]] in 472. He is not recorded as having taken part in the [[Persian Wars]] of 480–79; some historians argue from this that he was unlikely to have been born before 498, but this argument ''ex silentio'' has also been dismissed.<ref name="For" /><ref name="Davies457">J. K. Davies, ''Athenian propertied families, 600–300 BC'', 457.</ref>}} He was the son of the politician [[Xanthippus]], who, though [[Ostracism|ostracized]] in 485–484 BC,<ref>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Pericles |volume=21 |page=145 |first=Maximilian |last=Caspari}}</ref> returned to Athens to command the Athenian contingent in the Greek victory at [[Battle of Mycale|Mycale]] just five years later. Pericles's mother, Agariste, was a member of the powerful and controversial noble family of the [[Alcmaeonidae]], and her familial connections played a crucial role in helping start his political career. Agariste was the great-granddaughter of the tyrant of [[Sicyon]], [[Cleisthenes of Sicyon|Cleisthenes]], and the niece of the Athenian reformer [[Cleisthenes]].{{efn-lg|Plutarch says "granddaughter" of Cleisthenes,<ref name="Pl3"/> but this is chronologically implausible, and there is consensus that this should be "niece".<ref name="Br"/>}}<ref name="Br">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Pericles|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|year=2002}}</ref> Pericles belonged to the [[Attica|Attic]] ''[[phyle]]'' (clan) of [[Acamantis]]. His early years were quiet; the introverted young Pericles avoided public appearances, instead preferring to devote his time to his studies.<ref name="Helios">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Pericles|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia The Helios|year=1952}}</ref>

According to [[Herodotus]] and [[Plutarch]], Agariste dreamed, a few nights before Pericles's birth, that she had borne a lion. Legends say that [[Philip II of Macedon]] had a similar dream before the birth of his son, [[Alexander the Great]].<ref name="Her">Herodotus, VI, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hdt%2e+6%2e131/ 131].</ref><ref name="Pl3">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#3|III]].</ref> One interpretation of the dream treats the lion as a traditional symbol of greatness, but the story may also allude to the unusually large size of Pericles's skull, which became a popular target of contemporary comedians (who called him "Squill-head", after the [[Drimia maritima|squill]] or sea-onion).<ref name="Pl3" /><ref name="Ehr239">V.L. Ehrenberg, ''From Solon to Socrates'', a239.</ref> Although Plutarch claims that this deformity was the reason that Pericles was always depicted [[Pericles with the Corinthian helmet|wearing a helmet]], this is not the case; the helmet was actually the symbol of his official rank as [[strategos]] (general).<ref name="Cunn">L. Cunningham & J. Reich, ''Culture and Values'', 73.</ref>

His family's nobility and wealth allowed him to fully pursue his inclination toward education. He learned music from the masters of the time ([[Damon (ancient Greek musicologist)|Damon]] or Pythocleides could have been his teacher)<ref name="P4">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#4|IV]]</ref><ref name="PlatoA">Plato, ''Alcibiades I'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plat%2e+Alc%2e+1+118c/ 118c]</ref> and he is considered to have been the first politician to attribute importance to philosophy.<ref name="Helios" /> He enjoyed the company of the philosophers [[Protagoras]], [[Zeno of Elea]], and [[Anaxagoras]]. Anaxagoras, in particular, became a close friend and influenced him greatly.<ref name="P4" /><ref name="Mend1">M. Mendelson, ''Many Sides'', 1</ref>

Pericles's manner of thought and [[rhetoric]]al charisma may have possibly been in part products of Anaxagoras's emphasis on emotional calm in the face of trouble, and [[philosophical skepticism|skepticism]] about divine phenomena.<ref name="Br" /> His proverbial calmness and self-control are also often regarded as products of Anaxagoras's influence.<ref name="PP6">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#6|VI]] and Plato, Phaedrus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plat%2e+Phaedrus+270a/ 270a]</ref>

{{Timeline of Pericles' life}}

== Political career until 431 BC ==
=== Entering politics ===
[[File:Pericles.jpg|thumb|upright|Bust of Pericles, Roman copy of a Greek original, [[British Museum]]]]
In the spring of 472 BC, Pericles presented ''[[The Persians]]'' of [[Aeschylus]] at the [[Greater Dionysia]] as a [[Liturgy (ancient Greece)|liturgy]], demonstrating that he was one of the wealthier men of Athens.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Pericles|encyclopedia=Oxford Classical Dictionary|year=1996}}</ref> Simon Hornblower has argued that Pericles's selection of this play, which presents a nostalgic picture of [[Themistocles]]'s famous victory at [[Battle of Salamis|Salamis]], shows that the young politician was supporting Themistocles against his political opponent [[Cimon]], whose faction succeeded in having Themistocles ostracized shortly afterward.<ref>S. Hornblower, ''The Greek World, 479–323 BC'', 33–34</ref>

Plutarch says that Pericles stood first among the Athenians for forty years.<ref name="Pl6">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#16|XVI]]</ref> If this was so, Pericles must have taken up a position of leadership by the early 460s BC, which would be in his early or mid-thirties. Throughout these years he endeavored to protect his privacy and to present himself as a model for his fellow citizens. For example, he would often avoid banquets, trying to be frugal.<ref name="Pl7-9">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#7|VII]]</ref><ref name = "Plutarch IX">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#9|IX]]</ref>

In 463 BC, Pericles was the leading prosecutor of Cimon, the leader of the conservative faction who was accused of neglecting Athens's vital interests in [[Macedon]].<ref name="Ar27">Aristotle, ''Constitution of Athens'', {{Athpol|27}}</ref> Although Cimon was acquitted, this confrontation proved that Pericles's major political opponent was vulnerable.<ref name="Cimon">Plutarch, ''Cimon'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0181:text=Cim.:chapter=15:section=1/  XV]</ref>

=== Ostracizing Cimon ===
Around 461 BC, the leadership of the democratic party decided it was time to take aim at the [[Areopagus]], a traditional council controlled by the Athenian aristocracy, which had once been the most powerful body in the state.<ref name="For">Fornara-Samons, ''Athens from Cleisthenes to Pericles'', [http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft2p30058m&chunk.id=d0e2016&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e2016&brand=eschol/ 24–25]</ref> The leader of the party and mentor of Pericles, [[Ephialtes of Athens|Ephialtes]], proposed a reduction of the Areopagus's powers. The [[Ecclesia (ancient Athens)|Ecclesia]] (the Athenian Assembly) adopted Ephialtes's proposal without opposition.<ref name="Plutarch IX"/> This reform signaled the beginning of a new era of "radical democracy".<ref name="For" />

The democratic party gradually became dominant in Athenian politics, and Pericles seemed willing to follow a populist policy to cajole the public. According to [[Aristotle]], Pericles's stance can be explained by the fact that his principal political opponent, Cimon, was both rich and generous, and was able to gain public favor by lavishly handing out portions of his sizable personal fortune.<ref name="Ar27"/> The historian Loren J. Samons II argues, however, that Pericles had enough resources to make a political mark by private means, had he so chosen.<ref name="Samons80">L.J. Samons, ''What's Wrong with Democracy?'', 80</ref>

In 461 BC, Pericles achieved the political elimination of this opponent using [[ostracism]]. The accusation was that Cimon betrayed his city by aiding [[Sparta]].<ref name="Cim16">Plutarch, ''Cimon'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plut%2e+Cim%2e+16%2e2/ XVI]</ref>

After Cimon's ostracism, Pericles continued to promote a populist social policy.<ref name="Plutarch IX"/> He first proposed a decree that permitted the poor to watch theatrical plays without paying, with the state covering the cost of their admission. With other decrees he lowered the property requirement for the [[archon]]ship in 458–457 BC and bestowed generous wages on all citizens who served as jurymen in the [[Heliaia]] (the supreme court of Athens) some time just after 454&nbsp;BC.<ref name="Fornara2">Fornara-Samons, ''Athens from Cleisthenes to Pericles'', [http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft2p30058m&chunk.id=d0e2642&toc.id=&brand=eschol/ 67–73]</ref> His most controversial measure, however, was a law of 451 BC limiting Athenian citizenship to those of Athenian parentage on both sides.<ref name="Martin">R. Martin, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0009%3Ahead%3D%23142/ An Overview of Classical Greek History]</ref>

Such measures impelled Pericles's critics to hold him responsible for the gradual degeneration of the Athenian democracy. The 19th century Greek historian [[Constantine Paparrigopoulos]], argued that Pericles sought for the expansion and stabilization of all democratic institutions.<ref name="Papar">K. Paparrigopoulos, ''History of the Greek Nation'', Ab, 145</ref> Accordingly, he enacted legislation granting the lower classes access to the political system and the public offices, from which they had previously been barred.<ref name="ConP">Aristotle, ''Constitution of Athens'', {{Athpol|24}} and ''Politics'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0058:book=2:section=1274a 1274a]</ref>

According to Samons, Pericles believed that it was necessary to raise the ''[[Deme|demos]]'', in which he saw an untapped source of Athenian power and the crucial element of Athenian military dominance.<ref name="Samons65">L.J. Samons, ''What's Wrong with Democracy?'', 65</ref> (The fleet, backbone of Athenian power since the days of Themistocles, was manned almost entirely by members of the lower classes).<ref name="Fine377-378">Fine, ''The Ancient Greeks'', 377–378</ref>

Cimon, in contrast, apparently believed that no further free space for democratic evolution existed. He was certain that democracy had reached its peak and Pericles's reforms were leading to the stalemate of populism. According to Paparrigopoulos, history vindicated Cimon, because Athens, after Pericles's death, sank into the abyss of political turmoil and [[demagogy]]. Paparrigopoulos maintained that an unprecedented regression descended upon the city, whose glory perished as a result of Pericles's populist policies.<ref name="Papar" />

According to another historian, Justin Daniel King, radical democracy benefited people individually, but harmed the state.<ref name="King24">J.D. King, {{cite web|url=http://www.vu.union.edu/~kingj/classics.pdf |title=Athenian Democracy and Empire |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060921155603/http://www.vu.union.edu/~kingj/classics.pdf |archive-date=21 September 2006 }}&nbsp;{{small|(135&nbsp;KB)}}, 24–25</ref> In contrast, [[Donald Kagan]] asserted that the democratic measures Pericles put into effect provided the basis for an unassailable political strength.<ref name="Out79">D. Kagan, ''The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War'', 79</ref> After all, Cimon finally accepted the new democracy and did not oppose the citizenship law, after he returned from exile in 451&nbsp;BC.<ref name="Kagan135-136">D. Kagan, ''The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War'', 135–136</ref>

=== Leading Athens ===
Ephialtes's murder in 461 BC paved the way for Pericles to consolidate his authority.{{efn-lg|According to Aristotle, Aristodicus of Tanagra killed Ephialtes.<ref name="ArCon25">Aristotle, ''Constitution of Athens'', {{Athpol|25}}</ref> Plutarch cites an Idomeneus as saying that Pericles killed Ephialtes, but does not believe him&nbsp;– he finds it to be out of character for Pericles.<ref name="P10" />}} Without opposition after the expulsion of Cimon, the unchallengeable leader of the democratic party became the unchallengeable ruler of Athens. He remained in power until his death in 429&nbsp;BC.

==== First Peloponnesian War ====
{{Main|First Peloponnesian War}}
[[Image:1868 Lawrence Alma-Tadema - Phidias Showing the Frieze of the Parthenon to his Friends.jpg|thumb|300px|''Phidias Showing the Frieze of the Parthenon to Pericles, Aspasia, Alcibiades and Friends'', by Sir [[Lawrence Alma-Tadema]], 1868, [[Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery]]]]

Pericles made his first military excursions during the First Peloponnesian War, which was caused in part by Athens's alliance with [[Megara]] and [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]] and the subsequent reaction of Sparta. In 454 BC he attacked [[Sicyon]] and [[Acarnania]].<ref name="Th111">Thucydides, [[s:History of the Peloponnesian War/Book 1#1:111|1.111]]</ref> He then unsuccessfully tried to conquer Oeniadea on the [[Corinthian gulf]], before returning to Athens.<ref name="Rhodes44">P.J. Rhodes, ''A History of the Classical Greek World'', 44</ref> In 451 BC, Cimon returned from exile and negotiated a five years' truce with Sparta after a proposal of Pericles, an event which indicates a shift in Pericles's political strategy.<ref name="Cimon17">Plutarch, ''Cimon'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0182&layout=&loc=Cim.+17.1 XVII]</ref> Pericles may have realized the importance of Cimon's contribution during the ongoing conflicts against the Peloponnesians and the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persians]]. Anthony J. Podlecki argues, however, that Pericles's alleged change of position was invented by ancient writers to support "a tendentious view of Pericles' shiftiness".<ref name="Podlecki44">A.J. Podlecki, ''Perikles and his Circle'', 44</ref>

Plutarch states 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.<ref name="P10">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#10|X]]</ref> If it were actually made, this bargain would constitute a concession on Pericles's part that he was not a great strategist. Kagan's view is that Cimon adapted himself to the new conditions and promoted a political marriage between Periclean liberals and Cimonian conservatives.<ref name=Kagan135-136 />

In the mid-450s the Athenians launched an unsuccessful attempt to aid an Egyptian revolt against Persia, which led to a prolonged siege of a Persian fortress in the [[Nile]] Delta. The campaign culminated in disaster; the besieging force was defeated and destroyed.<ref name="Libourel615">J. M. Libourel, ''The Athenian Disaster in Egypt'', 605–615</ref> In 451–450 BC the Athenians sent troops to [[Cyprus]]. Cimon defeated the Persians in the [[Battle of Salamis (in Cyprus)|Battle of Salamis-in-Cyprus]], but died of disease in 449&nbsp;BC. Pericles is said to have initiated both expeditions in Egypt and Cyprus,<ref name="Aird52">H. Aird, ''Pericles: The Rise and Fall of Athenian Democracy'', 52</ref> although some researchers, such as [[Karl Julius Beloch]], argue that the dispatch of such a great fleet conforms with the spirit of Cimon's policy.<ref name="Beloch205">K.J. Beloch, ''Griechische Geschichte'', II, 205</ref>

Complicating the account of this period is the issue of the [[Peace of Callias]], which allegedly ended hostilities between the Greeks and the Persians. The very existence of the treaty is hotly disputed, and its particulars and negotiation are ambiguous.<ref name="Fine359-361">J. Fine, ''The Ancient Greeks'', 359–361.</ref> Ernst Badian believes that a peace between Athens and Persia was first ratified in 463 BC (making the Athenian interventions in Egypt and Cyprus violations of the peace), and renegotiated at the conclusion of the campaign in Cyprus, taking force again by 449–448&nbsp;BC.<ref name="Badian">E. Badian, ''The Peace of Callias'', 1–39.</ref>

John Fine, in contrast, suggests that the first peace between Athens and Persia was concluded in 450–449&nbsp;BC, due to Pericles's calculation that ongoing conflict with Persia was undermining Athens's ability to spread its influence in Greece and the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]].<ref name="Fine359-361" /> Kagan believes that Pericles used [[Callias]], a brother-in-law of Cimon, as a symbol of unity and employed him several times to negotiate important agreements.<ref name="Out108">D. Kagan, ''The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War'', 108.</ref>

In the spring of 449 BC{{Citation needed|date=July 2025}}, Pericles proposed the Congress Decree, which led to a meeting ("Congress") of all Greek states to consider the question of rebuilding the temples destroyed by the Persians. The Congress failed because of Sparta's stance, but Pericles's intentions remain unclear.<ref name="Pl17">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#17|XVII]]</ref> Some historians think that he wanted to prompt a confederation with the participation of all the Greek cities; others think he wanted to assert Athenian pre-eminence.<ref name="Wade212">Wade-Grey, ''The Question of Tribute in 449/8 B.C.'', 212–229.</ref> According to the historian Terry Buckley the objective of the Congress Decree was a new mandate for the [[Delian League]] and for the collection of "phoros" (taxes).<ref name="Buckley">T. Buckley, ''Aspects of Greek History 750–323 BC'', 206.</ref>

During the [[Second Sacred War]] Pericles led the Athenian army against [[Delphi]] and reinstated [[Phocis (ancient region)|Phocis]] in its sovereign rights on the [[oracle]].<ref name="ThPl112">Thucydides, [[s:History of the Peloponnesian War/Book 1#1:112|1.112]] and Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#21|XXI]]</ref> In 447 BC Pericles engaged in his most admired excursion, the expulsion of barbarians from the Thracian peninsula of [[Gallipoli]], to establish Athenian colonists in the region.<ref name="Br" /><ref name="Pl19">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#19|XIX]]</ref> At this time, however, Athens was seriously challenged by a number of revolts among its subjects. In 447 BC the oligarchs of [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]] conspired against the democratic faction. The Athenians demanded their immediate surrender, but after the [[Battle of Coronea (447 BC)|Battle of Coronea]], Pericles was forced to concede the loss of Boeotia to recover the prisoners taken in that battle.<ref name="Helios" /> With Boeotia in hostile hands, Phocis and Locris became untenable and quickly fell under the control of hostile oligarchs.<ref name="Fine368-369">Fine, ''The Ancient Greeks'', 368–369.</ref>

In 446 BC, a more dangerous uprising erupted. [[Euboea]] and [[Megara]] revolted. Pericles crossed over to Euboea with his troops, but was forced to return when the Spartan army invaded [[Attica]]. Through bribery and negotiations, Pericles defused the imminent threat, and the Spartans returned home.<ref name="ThAr">Thucydides, [[s:History of the Peloponnesian War/Book 2#2:21|2.21]] and Aristophanes, ''The Acharnians'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0023;query=card%3D%2340;layout=;loc=836 832]</ref> When Pericles was later audited for the handling of public money, an expenditure of 10 [[Greek talent|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.<ref name="P23">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#23|XXIII]]</ref>

After the Spartan threat had been removed, Pericles crossed back to Euboea to crush the revolt there. He then punished the landowners of [[Chalcis]], who lost their properties. The residents of [[Oreus|Histiaea]], meanwhile, who had butchered the crew of an Athenian [[trireme]], were uprooted and replaced by 2,000 Athenian settlers.<ref name="P23" /> The crisis was brought to an official end by the [[Thirty Years' Peace]] (winter of 446–445&nbsp;BC), in which Athens relinquished most of the possessions and interests on the Greek mainland which it had acquired since 460&nbsp;BC, and both Athens and Sparta agreed not to attempt to win over the other state's allies.<ref name="Fine368-369" />

==== Final battle with the conservatives ====
In 444 BC, the conservative and the democratic factions confronted each other in a fierce struggle. The ambitious new leader of the conservatives, [[Thucydides (politician)|Thucydides]] (not to be confused with the historian of the same name), accused Pericles of profligacy, criticizing the way he spent the money for the ongoing building plan. Thucydides initially managed to incite the passions of the ecclesia regarding these charges in his favor. However, when Pericles took the floor, his resolute arguments put Thucydides and the conservatives firmly on the defensive. Finally, Pericles proposed to reimburse the city for all questionable expenses from his private property, with the proviso that he would make the inscriptions of dedication in his own name.<ref name="Pl4">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#14|XIV]]</ref> His stance was greeted with applause, and Thucydides was soundly, if unexpectedly, defeated. In 442&nbsp;BC, the Athenian public voted to [[Ostracism|ostracize]] Thucydides from the city for 10 years and Pericles was once again the unchallenged ruler of the Athenian political arena.<ref name="Pl4" />

==== Athens's rule over its alliance ====
[[Image:Perikles altes Museum.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Bust of Pericles after Kresilas, [[Altes Museum]], Berlin]]
Pericles wanted to stabilize Athens's dominance over its alliance and to enforce its pre-eminence in Greece. The process by which the Delian League transformed into an Athenian empire is generally considered to have begun well before Pericles's time,<ref name="Buckley196">T. Buckley, ''Aspects of Greek History 750–323 BC'', 196.</ref> as various allies in the league chose to pay tribute to Athens instead of manning ships for the league's fleet, but the transformation was speeded and brought to its conclusion by Pericles.<ref name="Butler195">H. Butler, ''The Story of Athens'', 195</ref>

The final steps in the shift to empire may have been triggered by Athens's defeat in Egypt, which challenged the city's dominance in the Aegean and led to the revolt of several allies, such as [[Miletus]] and [[Erythrae]].<ref name="Out98">D. Kagan, ''The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War'', 98</ref> Either because of a genuine fear for its safety after the defeat in Egypt and the revolts of the allies, or as a pretext to gain control of the League's finances, Athens transferred the treasury of the alliance from [[Delos]] to Athens in 454–453&nbsp;BC.<ref name="Buckley204">T. Buckley, ''Aspects of Greek History 750–323 BC'', 204.</ref>

By 450–449 BC the revolts in Miletus and Erythrae were quelled and Athens restored its rule over its allies.<ref name="Sealey275">R. Sealey, ''A History of the Greek City States, 700–338 BC'', 275.</ref> Around 447 BC Clearchus<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9V2hAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA229|title=From Solon to Socrates: Greek History and Civilization During the 6th and 5th Centuries BC|first=V.|last=Ehrenberg|date= 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1136783944 |via=Google Books}}</ref> proposed the Coinage Decree, which imposed Athenian silver coinage, weights and measures on all of the allies.<ref name="Buckley" /> According to one of the decree's most stringent provisions, surplus from a minting operation was to go into a special fund, and anyone proposing to use it otherwise was subject to the death penalty.<ref name="Hornblower">S. Hornblower, ''The Greek World 479–323 BC'', 120.</ref>

It was from the alliance's treasury that Pericles drew the funds necessary to enable his ambitious building plan, centered on the "Periclean Acropolis", which included the [[Propylaea (Acropolis of Athens)|Propylaea]], the Parthenon and the golden statue of Athena, sculpted by Pericles's friend, [[Phidias]].<ref name="Hurwit87">J. M. Hurwit, ''The Acropolis in the Age of Pericles'', 87 etc.</ref> In 449 BC Pericles proposed a decree allowing the use of 9,000 talents to finance the major rebuilding program of Athenian temples.<ref name="Buckley" /> Angelos Vlachos, a Greek [[Academician]], points out the use of the alliance's treasury, initiated and executed by Pericles, as one of the largest embezzlements in human history; this misappropriation financed, however, some of the most marvellous artistic creations of the ancient world.<ref name=";;;Vl62-63">A. Vlachos, ''Thucydides' Bias'', 62–63.</ref>

==== Samian War ====
{{Main|Samian War}}

The Samian War was one of the last significant military events before the Peloponnesian War. After Thucydides's ostracism, Pericles was re-elected yearly to the generalship, the only office he ever officially occupied, although his influence was so great as to make him the ''de facto'' ruler of the state. In 440 BC [[Samos]] went to war against [[Miletus]] over control of [[Priene]], an ancient city of [[Ionia]] on the foot-hills of [[Mycale]]. Worsted in the war, the Milesians came to Athens to plead their case against the Samians.<ref name="Th115">Thucydides, [[s:History of the Peloponnesian War/Book 1#1:115|1.115]]</ref>

When the Athenians ordered the two sides to stop fighting and submit the case to arbitration in Athens, the Samians refused.<ref name="Pl25">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#25|XXV]]</ref> In response, Pericles passed a decree dispatching an expedition to Samos, "alleging against its people that, although they were ordered to break off their war against the Milesians, they were not complying".{{efn-lg|According to Plutarch, it was thought that Pericles proceeded against the Samians to gratify Aspasia of Miletus.<ref name="Pl24" />}}

In a naval battle the Athenians led by Pericles and nine other generals defeated the forces of Samos and imposed on the island an Athenian administration.<ref name="Pl25" /> When the Samians revolted against Athenian rule, Pericles compelled the rebels to capitulate after a tough siege of eight months, which resulted in substantial discontent among the Athenian sailors.<ref name="Pl28">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#28|XXVIII]]</ref> Pericles then quelled a revolt in [[Byzantium]] and, when he returned to Athens, gave a funeral oration to honor the soldiers who died in the expedition.<ref name="Sealey310">R. Sealey, ''A History of the Greek City States'', 310</ref>

Between 438 and 436 BC Pericles led Athens's fleet in [[Pontus (region)|Pontus]] and established friendly relations with the Greek cities of the region.<ref name="Pontus">C.J. Tuplin, ''Pontus and the Outside World'', 28</ref> Pericles focused also on internal projects, such as the fortification of Athens (the building of the "middle wall" about 440&nbsp;BC), and on the creation of new [[Cleruchy|cleruchies]], such as [[Andros]], [[Naxos Island|Naxos]] and [[Thurii]] (444&nbsp;BC) as well as [[Amphipolis]] (437–436&nbsp;BC).<ref name="PlPl11">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#11|XI]] and Plato, ''Gorgias'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0178;query=section%3D%23491;layout=;loc=Gorg.%20456a 455e]</ref>

==== Personal attacks ====
[[Image:Aspasie Pio-Clementino Inv272.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Aspasia]] of Miletus ({{Circa|469 BC|406&nbsp;BC}}), Pericles's companion]]
Pericles and his friends were never immune from attack, as preeminence in democratic Athens was not equivalent to absolute rule.<ref name="For2">Fornara-Samons, ''Athens from Cleisthenes to Pericles'', [http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft2p30058m&chunk.id=d0e2016&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e2016&brand=eschol/ 31]</ref> Just before the eruption of the Peloponnesian War, Pericles and two of his closest associates, Phidias and his companion, [[Aspasia]], faced a series of personal and judicial attacks.

[[Phidias]], who had been in charge of all building projects, was first accused of embezzling gold meant 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, and also inserted a very fine likeness of Pericles fighting with an Amazon.<ref name="P31">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#31|XXXI]]</ref>

[[Aspasia]], who was noted for her ability as a conversationalist and adviser, was accused of corrupting the women of Athens to satisfy Pericles's perversions.<ref name="SudaAsp">Suda, article [http://www.stoa.org/sol-bin/search.pl?login=guest&enlogin=guest&db=REAL&field=adlerhw_gr&searchstr=alpha,4202 Aspasia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924122324/http://www.stoa.org/sol-bin/search.pl?login=guest&enlogin=guest&db=REAL&field=adlerhw_gr&searchstr=alpha,4202 |date=24 September 2015 }}</ref><ref name="P32">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#32|XXXII]]</ref><ref name="Loraux">N. Loraux, ''Aspasie, l'étrangère, l'intellectuelle'', 133–164</ref><ref name="H138-139">M. Henry, ''Prisoner of History'', 138–139</ref> The accusations against her were probably nothing more than unproven slanders, but the whole experience was very bitter for Pericles. Although Aspasia was acquitted thanks to a rare emotional outburst of Pericles, his friend Phidias died in prison according to Plutarch; however, he is also credited with the later [[statue of Zeus at Olympia]], therefore this is debated, and another friend of his, Anaxagoras, was attacked by the [[Ecclesia (ancient Athens)|ecclesia]] for his religious beliefs.<ref name="P31" />

Beyond these initial prosecutions, the ecclesia attacked Pericles himself by asking him to justify his ostensible profligacy with, and maladministration of, public money.<ref name="P32" /> According to Plutarch, Pericles was so afraid of the oncoming trial that he did not let the Athenians yield to the [[Lacedaemonians]].<ref name="P32" /> Beloch also believes that Pericles deliberately brought on the war to protect his political position at home.<ref name="Beloch19-22">K.J. Beloch, ''Die Attische Politik seit Perikles'', 19–22</ref> Thus, at the start of the Peloponnesian War, Athens found itself in the awkward position of entrusting its future to a leader whose pre-eminence had just been seriously shaken for the first time in over a decade.<ref name="Helios" />

== Peloponnesian War ==
{{Main|Peloponnesian War}}
The causes of the Peloponnesian War have been much debated, but many ancient historians lay the blame on Pericles and Athens. Plutarch seems to believe that Pericles and the Athenians incited the war, scrambling to implement their belligerent tactics "with a sort of arrogance and a love of strife".{{efn-lg|Plutarch describes these allegations without espousing them.<ref name="P31" /> Thucydides insists, however, that the Athenian politician was still powerful.<ref name="ThI139">Thucydides, [[s:History of the Peloponnesian War/Book 1#1:139|1.139]]</ref> Gomme and Vlachos support Thucydides's view.<ref name="Go1">A. W. Gomme, ''An Historical Commentary on Thucydides'', I, 452</ref><ref name="Vl141">A. Vlachos, ''Comments on Thucydides'', 141</ref>}} Thucydides hints at the same thing, believing the reason for the war was Sparta's fear of Athenian power and growth. However, as he is generally regarded as an admirer of Pericles, Thucydides has been criticized for bias against [[Sparta]].{{efn-lg|Vlachos maintains that Thucydides's narration gives the impression that Athens's alliance had become an authoritarian and oppressive empire, while the historian makes no comment for Sparta's equally harsh rule. Vlachos underlines, however, that the defeat of Athens could entail a much more ruthless Spartan empire, something that did indeed happen. Hence, the historian's hinted assertion that Greek public opinion espoused Sparta's pledges of liberating Greece almost uncomplainingly seems tendentious.<ref name="Vl60">A. Vlachos, ''Thucydides' bias'', 60 etc</ref> [[G.E.M. de Ste. Croix|Geoffrey Ernest Maurice de Ste Croix]], for his part, argues that Athens's imperium was welcomed and valuable for the stability of democracy all over Greece.<ref name="Ste Croix">Ste Croix, ''The Character of the Athenian Empire'', 1–41.</ref> According to Fornara and Samons, "any view proposing that popularity or its opposite can be inferred simply from narrow ideological considerations is superficial".<ref name="For77">Fornara-Samons, ''Athens from Cleisthenes to Pericles'', [http://content.cdlib.org/view?docId=ft2p30058m&chunk.id=d0e5453/ 77]</ref>}}

=== Prelude to the war ===
[[Image:Anaxagoras and Pericles.jpg|thumb|270px|''[[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's pre-eminence, was inevitable if unfortunate.<ref name="Podlecki158">A.J. Podlecki, ''Perikles and his Circle'', 158</ref> Therefore, he did not hesitate to send troops to [[Corcyra]] to reinforce the Corcyraean fleet, which was fighting against [[Ancient Corinth|Corinth]].<ref name="Th31-54">Thucydides, [[s:History of the Peloponnesian War/Book 1#1:31|1.31–54]]</ref> In 433 BC the enemy fleets confronted each other at the [[Battle of Sybota]] and a year later the Athenians fought Corinthian colonists at the [[Battle of Potidaea]]; these two events contributed greatly to Corinth's lasting hatred of Athens. During the same period, Pericles proposed the [[Megarian decree]], which resembled a modern trade embargo. According to the provisions of the decree, 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".<ref name="Cawkwell">G. Cawkwell, ''Thucydides and the Peloponnesian War'', 33</ref> The Athenians' justification was that the Megarians had cultivated the sacred land consecrated to [[Demeter]] and had given refuge to runaway slaves, a behavior which the Athenians considered to be impious.<ref name="Buckley322">T. Buckley, ''Aspects of Greek History 750–323 BC'', 322.</ref>

After consultations with its allies, Sparta sent a deputation to Athens demanding certain concessions, such as the immediate expulsion of the Alcmaeonidae family including Pericles and the retraction of the Megarian Decree, threatening war if the demands were not met. The obvious purpose of these proposals was the instigation of a confrontation between Pericles and the people; this event, indeed, would come about a few years later.<ref name="Th127">Thucydides, [[s:History of the Peloponnesian War/Book 1#1:127|1.127]]</ref> At that time, the Athenians unhesitatingly followed Pericles's 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.<ref name="Th140-144">Thucydides, [[s:History of the Peloponnesian War/Book 1#1:140|1.140–144]]</ref> 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".<ref name="Platias100-103">A.G. Platias-C. Koliopoulos, ''Thucydides on Strategy'', 100–103.</ref> 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.<ref name="Vlachos20">A. Vlachos, ''Thucydides' Bias'', 20</ref> The terms were rejected by the Spartans, and with neither side willing to back down, the two cities prepared for war. According to Athanasios G. Platias and Constantinos Koliopoulos, professors of strategic studies and [[international politics]], "rather than to submit to coercive demands, Pericles chose war".<ref name="Platias100-103" /> Another consideration that may well have influenced Pericles's stance was the concern that revolts in the empire might spread if Athens showed itself weak.<ref name="Ehr264">V.L. Ehrenberg, ''From Solon to Socrates'', 264.</ref>

=== First year of the war (431 BC) ===
[[Image:Parthenon from south.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Parthenon]] was prompted by Pericles.]]
In 431 BC, while peace already was precarious, [[Archidamus&nbsp;II]], Sparta's king, sent a new delegation to Athens, demanding that the Athenians submit to Sparta's demands. This deputation was not allowed to enter Athens, as Pericles had already passed a resolution according to which no Spartan deputation would be welcomed if the Spartans had previously initiated any hostile military actions. The Spartan army was at this time gathered at Corinth, and, citing this as a hostile action, the Athenians refused to admit their emissaries.<ref name="ThII12">Thucydides, [[s:History of the Peloponnesian War/Book 2#2:12|2.12]]</ref> With his last attempt at negotiation thus declined, Archidamus invaded [[Attica]], but found no Athenians there; Pericles, aware that Sparta's strategy would be to invade and ravage Athenian territory, had previously arranged to evacuate the entire population of the region to within the walls of Athens.<ref name="ThII14">Thucydides, [[s:History of the Peloponnesian War/Book 2#2:14|2.14]]</ref>

No definite record exists of how exactly Pericles managed to convince the residents of Attica to agree to move into the crowded urban areas. For most, the move meant abandoning their land and ancestral shrines and completely changing their lifestyle.<ref name="OberCh6">J. Ober, ''The Athenian Revolution'', 72–85</ref> Therefore, although they agreed to leave, many rural residents were far from happy with Pericles's decision.<ref name="ThII16">Thucydides, [[s:History of the Peloponnesian War/Book 2#2:16|2.16]]</ref> Pericles also gave his compatriots some advice on their present affairs and reassured them that, if the enemy did not plunder his farms, he would offer his property to the city. This promise was prompted by his concern that Archidamus, who was a friend of his, might pass by his estate without ravaging it, either as a gesture of friendship or as a calculated political move aimed to alienate Pericles from his constituents.<ref name="ThII13">Thucydides, [[s:History of the Peloponnesian War/Book 2#2:13|2.13]]</ref>

[[File:Discurso funebre pericles.PNG|thumb|300px|left|''Pericles' Funeral Oration'' (''Perikles hält die Leichenrede'') by [[Philipp Foltz]] (1852)]]

In any case, seeing the pillage of their farms, the Athenians were outraged, and they soon began to indirectly express their discontent towards their leader, who many of them considered to have drawn them into the war. Even when in the face of mounting pressure, Pericles did not give in to the demands for immediate action against the enemy or revise his initial strategy. He also avoided convening the ecclesia, fearing that the populace, outraged by the unopposed ravaging of their farms, might rashly decide to challenge the vaunted Spartan army in the field.<ref name="ThII22">Thucydides, [[s:History of the Peloponnesian War/Book 2#2:22|2.22]]</ref> As meetings of the assembly were called at the discretion of its rotating presidents, the "prytani" (singular, "prytaneis"), Pericles had no formal control over their scheduling; rather, the respect in which Pericles was held by the prytanies was apparently sufficient to persuade them to do as he wished.<ref name="KaganPe69">D. Kagan, ''The Peloponnesian War'', 69</ref> While the Spartan army remained in Attica, Pericles 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.<ref name="ThX18">Thucydides, [[s:History of the Peloponnesian War/Book 2#2:18|2.18]] and Xenophon(?),''Constitution of Athens'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0158;layout=;query=chapter%3D%232;loc=1.1 2]</ref> When the enemy retired and the pillaging 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 proposing a different use 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 431–430 BC) he delivered his monumental and emotional [[Pericles' Funeral Oration|Funeral Oration]], honoring the Athenians who died for their city.<ref name="ThII35-46">Thucydides, [[s:History of the Peloponnesian War/Book 2#2:35|2.35–46]]</ref>

=== Last military operations and death ===
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.<ref name="Thuc55">Thucydides, [[s:History of the Peloponnesian War/Book 2#2:55|2.55]]</ref> Unwilling to engage the Spartan army in battle, he again led a naval expedition to plunder the coasts of the Peloponnese, this time taking 100 Athenian ships with him.<ref name="Thuc56">Thucydides, [[s:History of the Peloponnesian War/Book 2#2:56|2.56]]</ref> According to Plutarch, just before the sailing of the ships an [[eclipse]] of the [[sun]] frightened the crews, but Pericles used the astronomical knowledge he had acquired from Anaxagoras to calm them.<ref name="Pl34">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#35|XXXV]]</ref> In the summer of the same year [[Plague of Athens|an epidemic broke out]] and devastated the Athenians.<ref name="Th48-56">Thucydides, [[s:History of the Peloponnesian War/Book 2#2:48|2.48]] and [[s:History of the Peloponnesian War/Book 2#2:56|2.56]]</ref> The exact identity of the disease is uncertain; typhus or typhoid fever are suspected, but this has been the source of much debate.{{efn-lg|Taking into consideration its symptoms, most researchers and scientists now believe that it was [[typhus]] or [[typhoid fever]] and not [[cholera]], [[Bubonic plague|plague]] or [[measles]].<ref name="Go2">A.W. Gomme, ''An Historical Commentary on Thucydides'', II, 145–162.</ref><ref name="Vl177">A. Vlachos, ''Remarks on Thucydides'', 177</ref>}} In any case, the city's plight, caused by the epidemic, triggered a new wave of public uproar, and Pericles was forced to defend himself in an emotional final speech, a rendition of which is presented by Thucydides.<ref name="Thuc6064">Thucydides, [[s:History of the Peloponnesian War/Book 2#2:60|2.60–64]]</ref> This is considered to be a monumental oration, revealing Pericles's virtues but also his bitterness towards his compatriots' ingratitude.<ref name="Helios" /> Temporarily, he managed to tame the people's resentment and to ride out the storm, but his internal enemies' final bid to undermine him came off; they managed to deprive him of the generalship and to fine him at an amount estimated between 15 and 50 talents.<ref name="Pl34"/> Ancient sources mention [[Cleon]], a rising and dynamic protagonist of the Athenian political scene during the war, as the public prosecutor in Pericles's trial.<ref name="Pl34"/>
[[File:Plague in an Ancient City LACMA AC1997.10.1 (1 of 2).jpg|thumb|270px|''The Plague of Athens'' (c. 1652–1654) by [[Michiel Sweerts]]]]

Nevertheless, within just a year, in 429 BC, the Athenians not only forgave Pericles but also re-elected him as strategos.{{efn-lg|Pericles held the generalship from 444 BC until 430&nbsp;BC without interruption.<ref name="For2" />}} He was reinstated in command of the Athenian army and led all its military operations during 429 BC, having once again under his control the levers of power.<ref name="Helios" /> In that year, however, Pericles witnessed in the epidemic the death of both [[Paralus and Xanthippus]], his legitimate sons from his first wife. According to Plutarch, Pericles was overwhelmed with grief and wept copiously for his loss.<ref name="Pl36">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', XXXVI</ref> He himself died of the plague later in the year.

Just before his death, Pericles's 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".<ref name="Pl38">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#38|XXXVIII]]</ref> Pericles lived during the first two and a half years of the Peloponnesian War and, according to Thucydides, his death was a disaster for Athens, since his successors were inferior to him; they preferred to incite all the bad habits of the rabble and followed an unstable policy, endeavoring to be popular rather than useful.<ref name="Thuc65"/> With these bitter comments, Thucydides not only laments the loss of a man he admired, but he also heralds the flickering of Athens's unique glory and grandeur.

Pausanias (c. 150 AD) records (I.29) seeing the tomb of Pericles along a road near the Academy.

== Personal life ==
Pericles, following Athenian custom, was first married to one of his closest relatives, with whom he had two sons, [[Paralus and Xanthippus]], but around 445&nbsp;BC, Pericles divorced his wife. He offered her to another husband, with the agreement of her male relatives.<ref name="Pap221">K. Paparrigopoulos, Aa, 221</ref> 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 [[Callias III|Callias]] from this first marriage.<ref name="Pl24">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s: Lives/Pericles#24|XXIV]]</ref>

After Pericles divorced his wife, he had a long-term relationship with [[Aspasia]] of Miletus, with whom he had a son, [[Pericles the Younger]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Tracy|first=Stephen V.|title=Pericles: A Sourcebook and Reader|url=https://archive.org/details/periclessourcebo0000trac|url-access=registration|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|year=2009|page=[https://archive.org/details/periclessourcebo0000trac/page/19 19]}}</ref> While Aspasia was held in high regard by many of Athens's socialites, her status as a non-Athenian led many to attack their relationship. Even Pericles's son, Xanthippus, who had political ambitions, did not hesitate to slander his father.<ref name="Pl36"/> Nonetheless, such objections did not greatly undermine the popularity of the couple and Pericles readily fought back against accusations that his relationship with Aspasia was corrupting of Athenian society.<ref>Plutarch, ''Pericles'', XXXII</ref>

His sister and both his legitimate sons, Xanthippus and Paralus, died during the [[Plague of Athens]].<ref name="Pl36"/> Just before his death, the Athenians allowed a change in the law of 451 BC that made his half-Athenian son with Aspasia, Pericles the Younger, a citizen, and legitimate heir,<ref name="Pl37">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s: Lives/Pericles#37|XXXVII]]</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Kennedy|first=Rebecca Futo|title=Immigrant Women in Athens: Gender, Ethnicity, and Citizenship in the Classical City|year=2014|page=17}}</ref> a striking decision considering that Pericles himself had proposed the law confining citizenship to those of Athenian parentage on both sides.<ref name="Smith271">W. Smith, ''A History of Greece'', 271</ref>

== Assessments ==
Pericles marked a whole era and inspired conflicting judgments about his significant decisions. The fact that he was at the same time a vigorous statesman, general and orator only tends to make an objective assessment of his actions more difficult.

=== Political leadership ===
[[Image:AGMA Ostrakon Périclès.jpg|thumb|right|An [[ostracon]] with Pericles's name written on it (c. 444–443 BC), Museum of the ancient [[Agora of Athens]]]]

Some contemporary scholars call Pericles a populist, a demagogue and a hawk,<ref name="Ruden">S. Ruden, ''Lysistrata'', 80</ref> 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".<ref name="Pl15">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#15|XV]]</ref> It is told that when his political opponent, Thucydides, was asked by Sparta's king, Archidamus, whether he or Pericles was the better fighter, Thucydides answered without any hesitation that Pericles was better, because even when he was defeated, he managed to convince the audience that he had won.<ref name="Helios" /> 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".<ref name="Pl6" />

Thucydides (the historian), an admirer of Pericles, maintains that Athens was "in name a democracy but, in fact, governed by its first citizen".<ref name="Thuc65" /> Through this comment, the historian illustrates what he perceives as Pericles's charisma to lead, convince and, sometimes, to manipulate. Although Thucydides mentions the fining of Pericles, he does not mention the accusations against Pericles but instead focuses on Pericles's integrity.{{efn-lg|Vlachos criticizes the historian for this omission and maintains that Thucydides's admiration for the Athenian statesman makes him ignore not only the well-grounded accusations against him but also the mere gossips, namely the allegation that Pericles had corrupted the volatile rabble, so as to assert himself.<ref name="Vl62">A. Vlachos, ''Thucydides' bias'', 62</ref>}}<ref name="Thuc65"/> On the other hand, in one of his dialogues, [[Plato]] rejects the glorification of Pericles and declares: "as I know, Pericles made the Athenians slothful, garrulous and avaricious, by starting the system of public fees".<ref name="Gorgias515">[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0178%3Atext%3DGorg.%3Asection%3D515e Plato, ''Gorgias'']</ref>
Plutarch mentions other criticism of Pericles's leadership: "many others say that the people were 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".<ref name="Plutarch IX"/>

Thucydides argues that Pericles "was not carried away by the people, but he was the one guiding the people".<ref name="Thuc65" /> His judgement is not unquestioned; some 20th-century critics, such as Malcolm F. McGregor and John 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.<ref name="McG">M.F. McGregor, ''Government in Athens'', 122–123.</ref><ref name="Morrison76-77">J.S. Morrison-[[A. W. Gomme]], ''Pericles Monarchos'', 76–77.</ref> According to King, by increasing the power of the people, the Athenians left themselves with no authoritative leader. During the Peloponnesian War, Pericles's dependence on popular support to govern was obvious.<ref name="King24" />

=== Military achievements ===
For more than 20 years Pericles led many 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".<ref name="Pl18">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#18|XVIII]]</ref> He based his military policy on [[Themistocles]]'s principle that Athens's predominance depends on its superior naval power and believed that the Peloponnesians were near-invincible on land.<ref name="Platias105">A.G. Platias-C. Koliopoulos, ''Thucydides on Strategy'', 105</ref> Pericles also tried to minimize the advantages of Sparta by rebuilding the walls of Athens, which, it has been suggested, radically altered the use of force in Greek international relations.<ref name="Ober254">J. Ober, ''National Ideology and Strategic Defence of the Population'', 254</ref>

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''.<ref name="Platias86,98">A.G. Platias-C. Koliopoulos, ''Thucydides on Strategy'', 98–99.</ref> According to Platias and Koliopoulos, Athens as the strongest party did not have to beat Sparta in military terms and "chose to foil the Spartan plan for victory".<ref name="Platias86,98" /> The two basic principles of the "Periclean Grand Strategy" were the rejection of appeasement (in accordance with which he urged the Athenians not to revoke the Megarian Decree) and the avoidance of overextension.{{efn-lg|According to Platias and Koliopoulos, the "policy mix" of Pericles was guided by five principles: a}} According to Kagan, Pericles's vehement insistence that there should be no diversionary expeditions may well have resulted from the bitter memory of the Egyptian campaign, which he had allegedly supported.<ref name="Out83">D. Kagan, ''The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War'', 83</ref> His strategy is said to have been "inherently unpopular", but Pericles managed to persuade the Athenian public to follow it.<ref name="Platias119-120">A.G. Platias-C. Koliopoulos, ''Thucydides on Strategy'', 119–120.</ref> It is for that reason that [[Hans Delbrück]] called him one of the greatest statesmen and military leaders in history.<ref name="Delbruck">H. Delbrück, ''History of the Art of War'', I, 137</ref> Although his countrymen engaged in several aggressive actions soon after his death,<ref name="Ehr278">V.L. Ehrenberg, ''From Solon to Socrates'', 278</ref> Platias and Koliopoulos argue that the Athenians remained true to the larger Periclean strategy of seeking to preserve, not expand, the empire, and did not depart from it until the Sicilian Expedition.<ref name="Platias119-120" /> For his part, Ben X. de Wet concludes his strategy would have succeeded had he lived longer.<ref name="Wet103">B. X. de Wet, ''This So-Called Defensive Policy of Pericles'', 103–119.</ref>

Critics of Pericles's strategy, however, have been just as numerous as its supporters. A common criticism is that Pericles was always a better politician and orator than strategist.<ref name="Pap">K. Paparrigopoulos, Aa, 241–242.</ref> [[Donald Kagan]] called the Periclean strategy "a form of wishful thinking that failed", Barry S. Strauss and Josiah Ober have stated that "as strategist he was a failure and deserves a share of the blame for Athens' great defeat", and [[Victor Davis Hanson]] believes that Pericles had not worked out a clear strategy for an effective offensive action that could possibly force Thebes or Sparta to stop the war.<ref>V.D. Hanson, ''Peloponnesian War'', 58</ref><ref name="Athenian54">D. Kagan, ''Athenian Strategy in the Peloponnesian War'', 54</ref><ref name="Strauss-Ober47">S. Strauss-J. Ober, ''The Anatomy of Error'', 47</ref> Kagan criticizes the Periclean strategy on four counts: first that by rejecting minor concessions it brought about war; second, that it was unforeseen by the enemy and hence lacked credibility; third, that it was too feeble to exploit any opportunities; and fourth, that it depended on Pericles for its execution and thus was bound to be abandoned after his death.<ref name="Archidamian">D. Kagan, ''The Archidamian War'', 28, 41.</ref> Kagan estimates Pericles's expenditure on his military strategy in the Peloponnesian War to be about 2,000 [[Talent (weight)|talents]] annually, and based on this figure concludes that he would have only enough money to keep the war going for three years. He asserts that since Pericles must have known about these limitations he probably planned for a much shorter war.<ref name="H74-75">V.D. Hanson, ''Peloponnesian War'', 74–75</ref><ref name="KPel61-62">D. Kagan, ''The Peloponnesian War'', 61–62.</ref> Others, such as Donald W. Knight, conclude that the strategy was too defensive and would not succeed.<ref name="Knight150-160">D. Knight, ''Thucydides and the War Strategy of Pericles'', 150–160.</ref>

In contrast, Platias and Koliopoulos reject these criticisms and state that "the Athenians lost the war only when they dramatically reversed the Periclean grand strategy that explicitly disdained further conquests".<ref name="Platias138">A.G. Platias-C. Koliopoulos, ''Thucydides on Strategy'', 138</ref> Hanson stresses that the Periclean strategy was not innovative, but could lead to a stagnancy in favor of Athens.<ref name="H74-75" /> It is a popular conclusion that those succeeding him lacked his abilities and character.<ref name="Samons131-132">L.J. Samons, ''What's Wrong with Democracy?'', 131–132.</ref>

=== Oratorical skill ===
[[Image:Illus0362.jpg|thumb|250px|A painting by Hector Leroux (1682–1740), which portrays Pericles and Aspasia, admiring the gigantic statue of Athena in Phidias's studio]]
Modern commentators of [[Thucydides]], with other modern historians and writers, take varying stances on the issue of how much of the speeches of Pericles, as given by this historian, do actually represent Pericles's own words and how much of them is free literary creation or paraphrase by Thucydides.{{efn-lg|According to Vlachos, Thucydides must have been about 30 years old when Pericles delivered his Funeral Oration and he was probably among the audience.<ref name="Vlachos">A. Vlachos, ''Remarks on Thucydides'', 170</ref>}} Since Pericles never wrote down or distributed his orations,{{efn-lg|Vlachos points out that he does not know who wrote the oration, but "these were the words which should have been spoken at the end of 431 BC".<ref name="Vlachos" /> According to Sir Richard C. Jebb, the Thucydidean speeches of Pericles give the general ideas of Pericles with essential fidelity; it is possible, further, that they may contain recorded sayings of his "but it is certain that they cannot be taken as giving the form of the statesman's oratory".<ref name="Jebb"/> John F. Dobson believes that "though the language is that of the historian, some of the thoughts may be those of the statesman".<ref name="Dobson">J.F. Dobson, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0075&query=head%3D%235/ The Greek Orators]</ref> C.M.J. Sicking argues that "we are hearing the voice of real Pericles", while Ioannis T. Kakridis claims that the Funeral Oration is an almost exclusive creation of Thucydides, since "the real audience does not consist of the Athenians of the beginning of the war, but of the generation of 400 BC, which suffers under the repercussions of the defeat".<ref name="Sicking133">C.M.J. Sicking, ''Distant Companions'', 133</ref><ref name="Kakridis6">I. Kakridis, ''Interpretative comments on the Funeral Oration'', 6</ref> Gomme disagrees with Kakridis, insisting on his belief to the reliability of Thucydides.<ref name="Go2" />}} no historians are able to answer this with certainty; Thucydides recreated three of them from memory and, thereby, it cannot be ascertained that he did not add his own notions and thoughts.{{efn-lg|That is what Plutarch predicates.<ref name="Pl8">Plutarch, Pericles, [[s:Lives/Pericles#6|VIII]]</ref> Nonetheless, according to the 10th century encyclopedia [[Suda]], Pericles constituted the first orator who systematically wrote down his orations.<ref name="SudaPer">Suda, article [http://www.stoa.org/sol-bin/search.pl?search_method=QUERY&login=guest&enlogin=guest&page_num=1&user_list=LIST&searchstr=Pericles&field=hw_eng&num_per_page=25&db=REAL Pericles] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013160026/http://www.stoa.org/sol-bin/search.pl?search_method=QUERY&login=guest&enlogin=guest&page_num=1&user_list=LIST&searchstr=Pericles&field=hw_eng&num_per_page=25&db=REAL |date=13 October 2017 }}</ref> [[Cicero]] speaks about Pericles's writings, but his remarks are not regarded as credible.<ref name="Cic93">Cicero, ''De Oratote'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0120;query=section%3D%23358;layout=;loc=2.94 II, 93]</ref> Most probably, other writers used his name.<ref name="Inst1">Quintilian, ''Institutiones'', III, [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/quintilian/quintilian.institutio3.shtml 1]</ref>}}

Although Pericles was a main source of his inspiration, some historians have noted that the passionate and idealistic literary style of the speeches Thucydides attributes to Pericles is completely at odds with Thucydides's own cold and analytical writing style.{{efn-lg|Ioannis Kalitsounakis argues that "no reader can overlook the sumptuous rythme of the Funeral Oration as a whole and the singular correlation between the impetuous emotion and the marvellous style, attributes of speech that Thucydides ascribes to no other orator but Pericles".<ref name="Helios" /> According to Harvey Ynis, Thucydides created the Pericles's indistinct rhetorical legacy that has dominated ever since.<ref name="Yunis63">H. Yunis, ''Taming Democracy'', 63</ref>}} This might, however, 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.

Ioannis Kakridis and Arnold Gomme were two scholars who debated the originality of Pericles's oratory and last speech. Kakridis believes that Thucydides altered Pericles words. Some of his strongest arguments included in the Introduction of the speech, (Thuc.11.35).<ref name="jstor.org">{{cite journal|last1=Sicking|first1=C. M. J.|title=The General Purport of Pericles' Funeral Oration and Funeral Speech|journal=Hermes|year=1995|volume=123|issue=4|pages=404–425|jstor=4477104}}</ref> Kakridis proposes that it is impossible to imagine Pericles deviating away from the expected funeral orator addressing the mourning audience of 430 after the Peloponnesian war.<ref name="jstor.org"/> The two groups addressed were the ones who were prepared to believe him when he praised the dead, and the ones who did not.<ref name="jstor.org"/> Gomme rejects Kakridis's position, defending the fact that "Nobody of men has ever been so conscious of envy and its workings as the Greeks, and that the Greeks and Thucydides in particular had a passion for covering all ground in their generalizations, not always relevantly."<ref name="jstor.org"/>

[[File:Bust Pericles Chiaramonti.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Marble bust of [[Pericles with the Corinthian helmet]], Roman copy of a Greek original, [[Museo Chiaramonti]], [[Vatican Museums]]]]
Kagan states that Pericles adopted "an elevated mode of speech, free from the vulgar and knavish tricks of mob-orators" and, according to [[Diodorus Siculus]], he "excelled all his fellow citizens in skill of oratory".<ref name="War">{{Cite book | first=Donald | last=Kagan | title = The Peloponnesian War | publisher = Viking | year= 2003 | isbn = 978-0-641-65469-5 }}</ref><ref>Diodorus, XII, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0084;query=chapter%3D%23207;layout=;loc=12.40.1 39]</ref> According to [[Plutarch]], he avoided using gimmicks in his speeches, unlike the passionate [[Demosthenes]], and always spoke in a calm and tranquil manner.<ref name="Plutarch5">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#5|V]]</ref> The biographer points out, however, that the poet [[Ion of Chios|Ion]] reported that Pericles's speaking style was "a presumptuous and somewhat arrogant manner of address, and that into his haughtiness there entered a good deal of disdain and contempt for others".<ref name="Plutarch5" />

[[Gorgias]], in Plato's homonymous dialogue, uses Pericles as an example of powerful oratory.<ref name="Gorgias455d">Plato, ''Gorgias'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0178;query=section%3D%23490;layout=;loc=Gorg.%20455e 455d]</ref> In [[Menexenus (dialogue)|Menexenus]], however, [[Socrates]] (through [[Plato]]) casts aspersions on Pericles's rhetorical fame, claiming ironically that, since Pericles was educated by Aspasia, a trainer of many orators, he would be superior in rhetoric to someone educated by [[Antiphon (person)|Antiphon]].<ref name="Menexenus">Plato, ''Menexenus'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0180;layout=;query=section%3D%23255;loc=Menex.%20235e 236a]</ref> He also attributes authorship of the Funeral Oration to Aspasia and attacks his contemporaries' veneration of Pericles.<ref name="Monoson">[[S. Sara Monoson]], ''Plato's Democratic Entanglements'', 182–186</ref>

[[Richard Claverhouse Jebb|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".<ref name="Jebb">Sir Richard C. Jebb, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0077%3Ahead%3D%2336/ The Attic Orators]</ref>

Ancient Greek writers call Pericles "Olympian" and extol his talents; referring to him "thundering and lightning and exciting Greece" and carrying the weapons of Zeus when orating.<ref name="ArDi">Aristophanes, ''Acharnians'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0240;query=card%3D%2326;layout=;loc=541/ 528–531] and Diodorus, XII, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0083;query=chapter%3D%23208;layout=;loc=12.41.1/ 40]</ref> 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.<ref name="Qui">Quintilian, ''Institutiones'', [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/quintilian/quintilian.institutio12.shtml XII, 9]</ref>

=== Pericles and the city gods ===
Nothing was more alien to the Greeks than the notion of a [[Separation between church and state]]. In Athens, the community provided a tight framework for religious manifestations while, symmetrically, religion was deeply embedded in civic life. Within this context, participation in the rituals was an action highly political in the broadest sense of the term.<ref>Sourvinou-Inwood, C. 1990. ''What is polis religion?'' in ''The Greek City from Homer to Alexander'', ed. O. Murray and S. Price. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 295–322.</ref>

To analyze Pericles's relations with gods, one has to position oneself at the intersection of the general and the particular, where what was personal and what was shared by the whole community came together. On the one hand, the career of the ''strategos'' will illuminate the Athenians' collective relationship to all that was divine. As a reelected ''strategos'' and a persuasive orator, Pericles was the spokesman of a civic religion that was undergoing a mutation. He was implicated in a policy of making constant offerings and of launching huge architectural religious works not only on the Acropolis but also throughout Attica; and, furthermore, he was engaged in such activities at a time when city was introducing profound changes into its religious account of its origins—that is, [[Autochthon (ancient Greece)|autochthony]]—within a context of strained diplomatic relations.<ref>Vincent Azoulay, 2014. ''Pericles of Athens'', trans. Janet Lloyd. Princeton and Oxford, 107–108</ref>

On the other hand, the ancient sources made it possible to glimpse the personal relations that Pericles had developed with gods. These were relations of proximity in the first place: he was sometimes depicted as a protégé of [[Athena|goddess Athena]], but in Attic comedies he was also assimilated to [[Zeus god of war|god Zeus]], in an analogy that was in no way flattering. But then, there were also relations that emphasized distance: some philosophical accounts presented him as a man close to the [[sophists]] or even as a [[freethinker]]. Finally, there were relations involving irreverence: some later and less trustworthy sources made much of several trials for impiety in which those close to him were involved, and this raises the question of religious tolerance in fifth-century Athens and, in particular, how far individuals enjoyed freedom of thought when faced with the civic community.<ref>Vincent Azoulay, 2014. ''Pericles of Athens'', trans. Janet Lloyd. Princeton and Oxford, 108.</ref>

=== Legacy ===
[[File:Akropolis by Leo von Klenze.jpg|thumb|300px|''The Acropolis at Athens'' (1846) by [[Leo von Klenze]]]]

Pericles's most visible legacy can be found in the literary and artistic works of the Golden Age, much of which survive to this day. The [[Acropolis of Athens|Acropolis]], though in ruins, still stands and is a symbol of modern Athens. Paparrigopoulos wrote that these masterpieces are "sufficient to render the name of Greece immortal in our world".<ref name="Pap" />

In politics, Victor L. Ehrenberg argues that a basic element of Pericles's legacy is Athenian imperialism, which denies true democracy and freedom to the people of all but the ruling state.<ref name="Ehren332">V. L. Ehrenberg, ''From Solon to Socrates'', 332</ref> The promotion of such an arrogant imperialism is said to have ruined Athens.<ref name="Starr">C.G. Starr, ''A History of the Ancient World'', 306</ref> Pericles and his "expansionary" policies have been at the center of arguments promoting democracy in oppressed countries.<ref>V.D. Hanson, ''Peloponnesian War'', 584</ref><ref>L. Miller, [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F00E0D6123EF932A15750C0A9629C8B63 My Favorite War]</ref>

Other analysts maintain an Athenian humanism illustrated in the Golden Age.<ref name="Power">E.J. Power, ''A Legacy of Learning'', 52</ref><ref name="Popper">Karl Popper, ''The Open Society and Its Enemies''</ref> The freedom of expression is regarded as the lasting legacy deriving from this period.<ref name="Katula18">R.A. Katula, ''A Synoptic History of Classical Rhetoric'', 18</ref> Pericles is lauded as "the [[ideal type]] of the perfect statesman in ancient Greece" and his Funeral Oration is nowadays synonymous with the struggle for participatory democracy and civic pride.<ref name="Pap" /><ref name="Mattson32">K. Mattson, ''Creating a Democratic Public'', 32</ref>

In 1932, botanist [[Albert Charles Smith]] published ''[[Periclesia]]'', a [[monotypic]] genus of [[flowering plant]]s from [[Ecuador]] belonging to the family [[Ericaceae]] and named after Pericles.<ref>{{cite web |title=Periclesia A.C.Sm. {{!}} Plants of the World Online {{!}} Kew Science |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:295201-2 |website=Plants of the World Online |access-date=16 March 2021 |language=en}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Ancient Greece}}
* [[Art in ancient Greece]]
* [[Culture of Greece]]
* [[Greek statue|Sculpture of ancient Greece]]
* [[Timeline of ancient Greece]]
* [[Pericles, Prince of Tyre]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist-lg|refs=

}}

== Citations ==
{{reflist|25em}}

== References ==
=== Primary sources (Greek and Roman) ===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* [[Aristophanes]], ''[[The Acharnians]]''. See original text in [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999.01.0023 Perseus Project] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0240 (translation)]
* {{cite wikisource |title=Athenian Constitution |author=Aristotle |translator=[[Frederic George Kenyon]]}} See original text in [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999.01.0057 Perseus Project].
* Aristotle, ''[[Politics (Aristotle)|Politika (Politics)]]''. See original text in [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999.01.0057 Perseus Project] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999.01.0058 (translation)]
* Cicero, ''[[De Oratore]]''. See original text in [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0120 Perseus Project].
* Diodorus Siculus, ''Library'', 12th Book. See original text in [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0083%3Abook%3D12%3Achapter%3D40%3Asection%3D1 Perseus Project] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0084%3Abook%3D12%3Achapter%3D40%3Asection%3D1 (translation)]
* Herodotus, ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|The Histories]]'', VI. See original text in [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0125%3Abook%3D6%3Achapter%3D131%3Asection%3D2 Perseus Project] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126%3Abook%3D6%3Achapter%3D131%3Asection%3D2 (translation)]
* Plato, ''[[First Alcibiades|Alcibiades I]]''. See original text in [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0175%3Atext%3DAlc.+1%3Asection%3D118c Perseus Project] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0176%3Atext%3DAlc.+1%3Asection%3D118c (translation)] from {{cite book
  | last = Plato
  | others = W.R.M. Lamb (trans.)
  | title = Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vol. 8
  | publisher = [[Harvard University Press]]
  | year = 1955
  | location = Cambridge, MA
  | url = https://archive.org/details/lysissymposiumgo00plat
  | isbn = 978-0-674-99184-2
  }}
* Plato, ''[[Gorgias (dialogue)|Gorgias]]''. See original text in [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0177%3Atext%3DGorg.%3Asection%3D447a Perseus Project], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0177%3Atext%3DGorg.%3Asection%3D455d 455d], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0177%3Atext%3DGorg.%3Asection%3D455e 455e], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0177%3Atext%3DGorg.%3Asection%3D515e 515e] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0178%3Atext%3DGorg.%3Asection%3D447a (translation)] from {{cite book
  | last = Plato
  | others = John Burnet (ed.)
  | title = Platonis Opera
  | publisher = Oxford University Press
  | year = 1903
  }}
* Plato, ''Menexenus''. See original text in [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0179%3Atext%3DMenex.%3Asection%3D236a Perseus Project] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0180%3Atext%3DMenex.%3Asection%3D236a (translation)] from {{cite book
  | last = Plato
  | others = W.R.M. Lamb (trans.)
  | title = Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vol. 9
  | publisher = Harvard University Press
  | year = 1925
  | location = Cambridge, MA
  | isbn = 978-0-674-99185-9}}
* Plato, ''[[Phaedrus (dialogue)|Phaedrus]]'', See original text in [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0173%3Atext%3DPhaedrus%3Asection%3D270a Perseus Project] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0174%3Atext%3DPhaedrus%3Asection%3D270a (translation)] from {{cite book
  | last = Plato
  | others = John Burnet (ed.)
  | title = Platonis Opera
  | publisher = Oxford University Press
  | year = 1903
  }}
* Plutarch, ''Cimon''. See original text in [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0069%3Achapter%3D17%3Asection%3D6 Perseus Project] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0017%3Achapter%3D17%3Asection%3D6 (translation)]
* {{cite wikisource |author=[[Plutarch]] |wslink=Lives (Dryden translation) |plaintitle=Lives |chapter=Pericles |translator=[[John Dryden]]}} See original text in [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a2008.01.0072 Perseus Project]
* Quintilian, ''Institutiones''. See original text in [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/quintilian.html The Latin Library].
* {{cite wikisource |title=History of the Peloponnesian War |author=[[Thucydides]] |translator=[[Richard Crawley]]}}, I–III. See original text in [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0199%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D1%3Asection%3D1 Perseus Project]
* [[Xenophon]] (?), ''[[Constitution of the Athenians (Pseudo-Xenophon)|Constitution of Athens]]''. See original text in [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0157%3Achapter%3D2%3Asection%3D16 Perseus Project] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0158%3Achapter%3D2%3Asection%3D16 (translation)]
{{refend}}

=== Secondary sources ===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book | last=Aird | first=Hamish | title=Pericles: The Rise and Fall of Athenian Democracy | publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group | year=2004 | isbn=978-0-8239-3828-5 | url=https://archive.org/details/periclesrisef00aird }}
* {{cite journal|last=Badian|first=E.|title=The Peace of Callias|journal=Journal of Hellenic Studies|volume=107|pages=1–39|year=1987|doi=10.2307/630067|jstor=630067|s2cid=161815508 }}
* Beloch, K.J. (1884). ''Die Attische Politik seit Perikles ''. Leipzig (in German).
* Beloch, K.J. (1893). ''Griechische Geschichte''. Volume II (in German).
* {{cite book | last=Blois de | first=Lukas | title=An Introduction to the Ancient World | publisher=Routledge (UK) | year=1997 | isbn=978-0-415-12774-5}}
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* {{cite book|last=Kagan|first=Donald|title=The Archidamian War|year=1974|publisher=Ithaca: [[Cornell University Press]]|isbn=978-0-8014-0889-2}}
* {{cite book|last=Kagan|first=Donald|title=The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War|year=1989|publisher=Ithaca: Cornell University Press|isbn=978-0-8014-9556-4|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780801405013}}
* {{cite book|last=Kagan|first=Donald|title=The Peloponnesian War|year=2003|publisher=Viking Penguin (Penguin Group)|isbn=978-0-670-03211-2|chapter=War aims and resources (432–431)|url=https://archive.org/details/peloponnesianwar00dona}}
* Kakridis, Ioannis Th. (1993). ''Interpretative Comments on the Pericles' Funeral Oration''. Estia (in Greek).
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* King, J.D. (2005). {{cite web|url=http://www.vu.union.edu/~kingj/classics.pdf |title=Athenian Democracy and Empire |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060921155603/http://www.vu.union.edu/~kingj/classics.pdf |archive-date=21 September 2006 }}&nbsp;{{small|(135&nbsp;KB)}}.
* {{cite journal|first=D.W.|last=Knight|year=1970|title=Thucydides and the War Strategy of Pericles|journal=[[Mnemosyne (journal)|Mnemosyne]]|volume=23|pages=150–160|doi=10.1163/156852570X00713|issue=2}}
* {{cite journal|doi=10.2307/292666|last=Libourel|first=Jan M.|title=The Athenian Disaster in Egypt |journal=American Journal of Philology|volume=92|issue=4|pages=605–615|date=October 1971|jstor=292666}}
* {{cite book | first=Nicole | last=Loraux | title=La Grèce au Féminin (in French) | publisher= Belles Lettres | year=2003 | isbn=978-2-251-38048-3|chapter=Aspasie, l'étrangère, l'intellectuelle}}
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* {{cite news |first=Laura |last=Miller |author-link=Laura Miller (writer)|title=My Favorite War |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F00E0D6123EF932A15750C0A9629C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2|work=The Last Word |date=21 March 2004 |access-date=7 June 2008 }}
* {{cite book|last=Monoson|first=Sara|title=Plato's Democratic Entanglements|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2000|isbn=978-0-691-04366-1}}
* {{cite journal|first=J.S. | last=Morrison|author2=A. W. Gomme|year=1950|title=Pericles Monarchos|journal=Journal of Hellenic Studies|volume=70|pages=76–77|doi=10.2307/629294|jstor=629294| s2cid=250247600}}
* {{cite book|title=Hegemonic Rivalry: From Thucydides to the Nuclear Age|last=Ober|first=Josiah|publisher=Westview Pr |year=1991|isbn=978-0-8133-7744-5|chapter=National Ideology and Strategic Defence of the Population, from Athens to Star Wars}}
* {{cite book|last=Ober|first=Josiah|title=The Athenian Revolution|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=Princeton, New Jersey|year=1996|isbn=978-0-691-01095-3}}
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* {{cite encyclopedia|title=Pericles|encyclopedia=Oxford Classical Dictionary edited by Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth|year=1996}}
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* {{cite journal|first=B.X.|last=Wet de|title=This So-Called Defensive Policy of Pericles|journal=Acta Classica|year=1969|volume=12|pages=103–119}}
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{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book | first1=Vincent | last1=Azoulay | first2= Janet | last2=tr Lloyd| title=Pericles of Athens | publisher=Princeton | year=2014}}
* {{cite book | first=Hodkinson Stephen| last=Brock Roger| title=Alternatives to Athens: Varieties of Political Organization and Community in Ancient Greece | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=2003 | isbn=978-0-19-925810-9}}
* {{cite book | first=John | last=Hesk| title=Deception and Democracy in Classical Athens | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=2000 | isbn=978-0-521-64322-1}}
* {{cite book | first=Donald | last=Kagan| title=Pericles of Athens and the Birth of Democracy | publisher=The Free Press | year=1991 | isbn=978-0-684-86395-5}}
* {{cite book | first=Douglas C. | last=Lummis | title=Radical Democracy | publisher=Cornell University Press | year=1997 | isbn=978-0-8014-8451-3}}
* {{cite book | first=Josiah | last=Ober | title=Political Dissent in Democratic Athens: Intellectual Critics of Popular Rule | publisher=Princeton University Press | year=2001 | isbn=978-0-691-08981-2}}
* {{cite book | first=P.J. | last=Rhodes | title=A History of the Classical Greek World: 478–323 BC | publisher=Blackwell Publishing | year=2005 | isbn=978-0-631-22565-2}}
* [[Gore Vidal]], [[Creation (novel)]] for a fictional account of Pericles and a Persian view of the wars.
{{refend}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Library resources box |by=no |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |about=yes |label=Pericles
  |viaf= |lcheading= |wikititle= }}

{{Plutarch}}
{{Ancient Athenian statesmen}}
{{Ancient Greece topics}}
{{Acropolis of Athens}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:490s BC births]]
[[Category:429 BC deaths]]
[[Category:5th-century BC Athenians]]
[[Category:Alcmaeonidae]]
[[Category:Ancient Athenian generals]]
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[[Category:Athenians of the Greco-Persian Wars]]
[[Category:Athenians of the Peloponnesian War]]
[[Category:Culture of Greece]]
[[Category:Athenian democracy]]