https://www.veritaswiki.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=PericlesPericles - Revision history2026-10-19T19:17:12ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.3https://www.veritaswiki.org/index.php?title=Pericles&diff=811&oldid=prevHuhu: New encyclopedia entry (batch upload)2026-10-06T07:00:44Z<p>New encyclopedia entry (batch upload)</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>'''Pericles''' was the Greek statesman and general who led Athens during its golden age. He promoted the democracy and the culture and the building of the Parthenon.<br />
<br />
== Early Life and Education ==<br />
Pericles was born in about 495 BC into an aristocratic Athenian family. His father was the general Xanthippus and his mother was of the Alcmaeonid family.<br />
<br />
He received the education from the philosophers and the musicians. He was influenced by the philosopher Anaxagoras and the statesman Ephialtes.<br />
<br />
He entered the political life and became the leader of the democratic faction. He was elected the general and the treasurer of the city.<br />
<br />
== The Rule of Athens ==<br />
Pericles led the movement for the reform of the Areopagus and the extension of the democracy. He introduced the payment for the jury service and the public office.<br />
<br />
He was elected the general for more than thirty years. He directed the policy and the strategy of the city.<br />
<br />
He made Athens the leader of the Delian League and the head of the empire. He moved the treasury of the league to Athens and used the funds for the city.<br />
<br />
He promoted the sense of the civic pride and the participation of the citizens. He argued that Athens was the school of Hellas.<br />
<br />
== The Building Programme ==<br />
Pericles initiated the building programme on the Acropolis. He rebuilt the Parthenon and constructed the Propylaea and the Erechtheion.<br />
<br />
The Parthenon was built between 447 and 432 BC. The temple is the masterpiece of the classical architecture and the sculpture.<br />
<br />
He also built the Odeon and the temples of the other gods. The buildings transformed the city and employed the citizens.<br />
<br />
The programme was funded by the treasury of the Delian League. The use of the allied funds was the subject of the criticism.<br />
<br />
== The Peloponnesian War and the Legacy ==<br />
Pericles led Athens in the early years of the Peloponnesian War against Sparta. The strategy was to avoid the pitched battle and to rely on the fleet and the walls.<br />
<br />
The overcrowding of the city behind the walls caused the plague. The plague killed many of the citizens, including the family of Pericles.<br />
<br />
Pericles died in 429 BC from the plague. His death was a great loss to the city.<br />
<br />
He is celebrated in the funeral oration of Thucydides as the ideal of the democratic statesman. He is regarded as one of the greatest of the ancient leaders.<br />
<br />
== The Rule of the Democracy ==<br />
Pericles extended the participation of the citizens in the government. He supported the payment for the office and the jury.<br />
<br />
He was elected the general for more than thirty years. He directed the policy of the city with the skill and the eloquence.<br />
<br />
He was opposed by the conservative faction and the oligarchs. He defended the democracy against the critics.<br />
<br />
== The Peloponnesian War ==<br />
Pericles led Athens in the war against Sparta. He advised the strategy of the defence and the reliance on the fleet.<br />
<br />
He delivered the funeral oration for the fallen of the first year of the war. The speech is a celebration of the Athenian democracy.<br />
<br />
He was deposed and fined in 430 BC after the plague. He was re-elected in 429 but died shortly afterwards.<br />
<br />
== The Democracy and the Reforms ==<br />
Pericles extended the participation of the citizens in the government. He introduced the payment for the jury and the public office.<br />
<br />
He supported the cultural and the religious festivals. He promoted the sense of the civic pride and the participation.<br />
<br />
He was the leader of the democratic faction. He was opposed by the conservative and the oligarchic factions.<br />
<br />
== The Allies and the Empire ==<br />
Pericles made Athens the head of the Delian League. He moved the treasury to Athens and used the funds for the city.<br />
<br />
He suppressed the revolts of the allies and the rivals. The empire became the source of the wealth and the power of Athens.<br />
<br />
He argued that Athens was the school of Hellas. The city became the centre of the Greek culture and the learning.<br />
<br />
== The Death and the Memory ==<br />
Pericles died in 429 BC from the plague. The plague had killed many of the citizens and the members of his family.<br />
<br />
He is celebrated in the funeral oration of Thucydides. The speech is a statement of the ideals of the Athenian democracy.<br />
<br />
He is regarded as one of the greatest of the ancient leaders. The ideal of the democratic statesman has been admired for the centuries.<br />
<br />
== The Cultural Patronage ==<br />
Pericles promoted the arts and the literature of Athens. He was the friend of the playwright Sophocles and the philosopher Anaxagoras.<br />
<br />
He supported the construction of the Parthenon and the other buildings. The works made Athens the centre of the Greek culture.<br />
<br />
He was the patron of the sculptors and the architects. The period of his rule is known as the golden age of Athens.<br />
<br />
== See also ==<br />
* Athenian democracy<br />
* Parthenon<br />
* Peloponnesian War<br />
* Ancient Greece<br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
<br />
<ref name="r1">Plutarch. Life of Pericles. London: Penguin, 1960.</ref><br />
<ref name="r2">Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War. London: Penguin, 1972.</ref><br />
<ref name="r3">Kagan, Donald. Pericles of Athens and the Birth of Democracy. New York: Free Press, 1991.</ref><br />
<ref name="r4">Podlecki, Anthony J. Perikles and His Circle. London: Routledge, 1998.</ref><br />
<br />
<references /><br />
<br />
[[Category:History]]<br />
[[Category:Ancient Greece]]<br />
[[Category:Politics]]</div>Huhu