Pericles
c. 495-429 B.C.
A statesman and general who came from the great Alcmaeonid family, Pericles, whose name means “surrounded by glory,” presided over Athens’ Golden Age. A radical politically, he helped bring about the constitutional reforms that expanded Athenian democracy.
One of his reforms limited the power of the Aereopagus, the powerful, governing council controlled by the aristocracy. Other reforms opened up every political office to most citizens and provided salary for political office paid by the state. Pericles also limited citizenship to those who had Athenian parentage on both sides.
A staunch opponent of Sparta, it was in part Pericles’ unremitting hostility to her and her allies that led to the Peloponnesian War. The Peloponnesian War ultimately brought about the destruction of the Athenian empire.
Famous for his oratory, Pericles’ “Funeral Speech,” given by him over the dead after the first year of the Peloponnesian War and recorded by Thucydides, is a strong apology for Athens' democratic principles and form of government. Pericles died two years into the war from a plague that also took the lives of two of his sons.
Photo – Public Domain: Anaxagoras and Pericles
