Information AboutPericles |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT PERICLES | |
| 495 bc births | |
| 429 bc deaths | |
| ancient athenians | |
| ancient greek generals | |
Pericles or '''Perikles''' (ca. , orator, and general of Athens in the city's Golden Age (specifically, between the Persian and Peloponnesian wars). He was descended, through his mother, from the Alcmaeonid family. Pericles had such a profound influence on Athenian society that Thucydides , his contemporary historian, acclaimed him as "the first citizen of Athens". Pericles turned the Delian League into an Athenian empire and led his countrymen during the first two years of the Peloponnesian War. The period during which he led Athens, roughly from 461 to 429 BC , is sometimes known as the " Age Of Pericles ," though the period thus denoted can include times as early as the Persian Wars , or as late as the next century. Pericles promoted the arts and literature; this was a chief reason Athens holds the reputation of being the educational and cultural centre of the Ancient Greek world. He started an ambitious project that built most of the surviving structures on the Acropolis (including the Parthenon ). This project beautified the city, exhibited its glory, and gave work to the people.L. de Blois, ''An Introduction to the Ancient World'', 99 Furthermore, Pericles fostered Athenian Democracy to such an extent that critics call him a Populist .S. Muhlberger, Periclean Athens .S. Ruden, ''Lysistrata'', 80. EARLY YEARS Pericles was born around 495 BC, in the . One interpretation of the anecdote treats the lion as a traditional symbol of greatness, but the story may also allude to the unusual size of Pericles' skull, which became a popular target of contemporary comedians.V.L. Ehrenberg, ''From Solon to Socrates'', a239. (Although Plutarch claims that this deformity was the reason that Pericles was always depicted wearing a helmet, this is not the case; the helmet was actually the symbol of his official rank as Strategos (general)).L. Cunningham-J. Reich, ''Culture and Values'', 73. Pericles belonged to the local Tribe of Acamantis (). His early years were quiet; the introverted, young Pericles avoided public appearances, preferring to devote his time to his studies.2 His family's nobility and wealth allowed him to fully pursue his inclination toward education. He learned music from the masters of the time ( and Plato, Phaedrus, 270a POLITICAL CAREER UNTIL 431 BC Entering politics In the spring of 472 , Pericles presented the '' Persae '' of Aeschylus at the Greater Dionysia as a Liturgy , demonstrating that he was then one of the wealthier men of Athens.3 Simon Hornblower has argued that Pericles' selection of this play, which presents a nostalgic picture of Themistocles ' famous victory at Salamis , shows that the young politician was supporting Themistocles against his political opponent Cimon, whose faction succeeded in having Themistocles ostracized shortly afterwards.S. Hornblower, ''The Greek World, 479–323 BC'', 33–4 Plutarch says that Pericles stood first among the Athenians for forty years.Plutarch, ''Pericles'', . In 463 BC Pericles was the leading prosecutor of Cimon , the leader of the conservative faction, who was accused of neglecting Athens' vital interests in Macedon . Aristotle, ''Constitution of Athens'', Although Cimon was acquitted, this confrontation proved that Pericles' major political opponent was vulnerable.Plutarch, ''Cimon'', [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0181:text=Cim.:chapter=15:section=1/ XV] Ostracizing Cimon (Pericles' avenue). The name of the suburb dates to ancient Athens, but the ancient deme of Cholargos, which belonged to the tribe of Acamantis, was near modern Kamatero or Peristeri .]] Around This reform signalled the commencement of a new era of "radical democracy". The democratic party gradually became dominant in Athenian politics and Pericles seemed willing to follow a populist policy in order to cajole the public. According to Aristotle , Pericles' stance can be explained by the fact that his principal political opponent, Cimon, was rich and generous, and was able to secure public favor by lavishly bestowing his sizable personal fortune.Aristotle, ''Constitution of Athens'', 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. L.J. Samons, ''What's Wrong with Democracy?'', 80 In 461 BC, Pericles achieved the political elimination of this formidable opponent using the weapon of Ostracism . The ostensible accusation was that Cimon betrayed his city by acting as a friend of Sparta .Plutarch, ''Cimon'', XVI Even after Cimon's ostracism, Pericles continued to espouse and promote a populist social policy. 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 limiting Athenian citizenship to those of Athenian parentage on both sides. R. Martin, An Overview of Classical Greek History Such measures impelled Pericles' critics to regard him as responsible for the gradual degeneration of the Athenian democracy. Constantine Paparrigopoulos , a major modern Greek historian, argues that Pericles sought for the expansion and stabilization of all democratic institutions.K. Paparrigopoulos, ''History of the Greek Nation'', Ab, 145 Hence, he enacted legislation granting the lower classes access to the political system and the public offices, from which they had previously been barred on account of limited means or humble birth.Aristotle, ''Constitution of Athens'', and ''Politics'', 1274a According to Samons, Pericles believed that it was necessary to raise the demos, in which he saw an untapped source of Athenian power and the crucial element of Athenian military dominance. L.J. Samons, ''What's Wrong with Democracy?'', 65 (The fleet, backbone of Athenian power since the days of Themistocles, was manned almost entirely by members of the lower classes.Fine, ''The Ancient Greeks'', 377–8) Cimon, on the other hand, apparently believed that no further free space for democratic evolution existed. He was certain that democracy had reached its peak and Pericles’ reforms were leading to the stalemate of populism. According to Paparrigopoulos, history vindicated Cimon, because Athens, after Pericles' death, sank into the abyss of political turmoil and demagogy. Paparrigopoulos maintains that an unprecedented regression descended upon the city, whose glory perished as a result of Pericles' populist policies. According to another historian, Justin Daniel King, radical democracy benefited people individually, but harmed the state.J.D. King, , 24–25 On the other hand, Donald Kagan asserts that the democratic measures Pericles put into effect provided the basis for an unassailable political strength.D. Kagan, ''The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War'', 79 After all, Cimon finally accepted the new democracy and did not oppose the citizenship law, after he returned from exile in 451 BC.D. Kagan, ''The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War'', 135–136 Leading Athens Ephialtes' murder in 461 BC paved the way for Pericles to consolidate his authority. Lacking any robust opposition after the expulsion of Cimon, the unchallengeable leader of the democratic party became the unchallengeable ruler of Athens. He remained in power almost uninterruptedly until his death in 429 BC. First Peloponnesian War See Also: First Peloponnesian War During the At this time, however, Athens was seriously challenged by a number of revolts among its allies (or, to be more accurate, its subjects). In After the Spartan threat had been removed, Pericles crossed back to Euboea to crush the revolt there. He then inflicted a stringent punishment on the landowners of Chalcis , who lost their properties. The residents of Istiaia , meanwhile, who had butchered the crew of an Athenian Trireme , were uprooted and replaced by 2,000 Athenian settlers. The crisis was brought to an official end by the Thirty Years' Peace (winter of 446– 445 BC ), in which Athens relinquished most of the possessions and interests on the Greek mainland which it had acquired since 460 BC, and both Athens and Sparta agreed not to attempt to win over the other state's allies. Final battle with the conservatives In His stance was greeted with applause, and Thucydides suffered an unexpected defeat. In 442 BC , the Athenian public ostracized Thucydides for 10 years and Pericles was once again the unchallenged Suzerain of the Athenian political arena. Athens' rule over its alliance Pericles wanted to stabilize Athens' 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' time,T. Buckley, ''Aspects of Greek History 750–323 BC'', 196. 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 measures implemented by Pericles.H. Butler, ''The Story of Athens'', 195 The final steps in the shift to empire may have been triggered by Athens' 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 .D. Kagan, ''The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War'', 98 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 BC.T. Buckley, ''Aspects of Greek History 750–323 BC'', 204. By 450–449 BC the revolts in Miletus and Erythrae were quelled and Athens restored its rule over its allies.R. Sealey, ''A History of the Greek City States, 700–338 BC'', 275. Around 447 BC Clearchus proposed the Coinage Decree, which imposed Athenian silver coinage, weights and measures on all of the allies. 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. S. Hornblower, ''The Greek World 479–323 BC'', 120. 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 , the Parthenon and the golden statue of Athena, sculpted by Pericles’ friend, Phidias .J. M. Hurwit, ''The Acropolis in the Age of Pericles'', 87 etc. In 449 BC Pericles proposed a decree allowing the use of 9,000 talents to finance the major rebuilding program of Athenian temples. Angelos Vlachos, a Greek Academician , points out that the utilization of the alliance's treasury, initiated and executed by Pericles, is one of the largest embezzlements in human history; this misappropriation financed, however, some of the most marvellous artistic creations of the ancient world.A. Vlachos, ''Thucydides' Bias'', 62–63. Samian War picturing Pericles]] See Also: Samian War The Samian War was the last significant military event before the Peloponnesian War. After Thucydides' 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 Pericles then quelled a revolt in Byzantium and, when he returned to Athens, he gave a funeral oration to honor the soldiers who died in the expedition.R. Sealey, ''A History of the Greek City States'', 310 Between and Plato, ''Gorgias'', 455e Personal attacks –c. 406 BC ), Pericles' companion]] Pericles and his friends were never immune from attack, as preeminence in democratic Athens was not equivalent to absolute rule.Fornara-Samons, ''Athens from Cleisthenes to Pericles'', 31 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 intended for the statue of Pericles' enemies also found a false witness against Phidias, named Menon. Aspasia, who was noted for her ability as a conversationalist and adviser, was accused of corrupting the women of Athens in order to satisfy Pericles' perversions.Suda, article Aspasia Plutarch, ''Pericles'', for his religious beliefs. Beyond these initial prosecutions, the ecclesia attacked Pericles himself by asking him to justify his ostensible profligacy with, and maladministration of, public money. According to Plutarch, Pericles was so afraid of the oncoming trial that he did not let the Athenians yield to the Lacedaemonians . Beloch also believes that Pericles deliberately brought on the war to protect his political position at home.K.J. Beloch, ''Die Attische Politik seit Perikles'', 19–22 Thus, at the start of the Peloponnesian War, Athens found itself in the awkward position of entrusting its future to a leader whose preeminence had just been seriously shaken for the first time in over a decade. PELOPONNESIAN WAR See Also: Peloponnesian War The causes of the Peloponnesian War have been much debated, but most ancient historians laid 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". Thucydides hints at the same thing; although he is generally regarded as an admirer of Pericles, Thucydides has, at this point, been criticised for bias towards Sparta . Prelude to the war Pericles was convinced that the war against Sparta, which could not conceal its envy of Athens' pre-eminence, was inevitable if not to be welcomed.A.J. Podlecki, ''Perikles and his Circle'', 158 Therefore he did not hesitate to send troops to 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".G. Cawkwell, ''Thucydides and the Peloponnesian War'', 33 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.T. Buckley, ''Aspects of Greek History 750–323 BC'', 322. 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.Thucydides, 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".A.G. Platias-C. Koliopoulos, ''Thucydides on Strategy'', 100–03. 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.A. Vlachos, ''Thucydides' Bias'', 20 The terms were rejected by the Spartans, and, with neither side willing to back down, the two sides 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". Another consideration that may well have influenced Pericles' stance was the concern that revolts in the empire might spread if Athens showed herself weak.V.L. Ehrenberg, ''From Solon to Socrates'', 264. First year of the war (431 BC) In 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.J. Ober, ''The Athenian Revolution'', 72–85 Therefore, although they agreed to leave, many rural residents were far from happy with Pericles' decision.Thucydides, 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 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.Thucydides, 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.Thucydides, Ancient sources mention Cleon , a rising and dynamic protagonist of the Athenian political scene during the war, as the public prosecutor in Pericles' trial. Nevertheless, within just a year, in 429 BC, the Athenians not only forgave Pericles but also re-elected him as strategos. 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. In that year, however, Pericles witnessed the death of both his legitimate sons from his first wife, Xanthippus and his beloved Paralus , in the epidemic. His morale undermined, he burst into tears and not even Aspasia's companionship could console him. He himself died of the disease in the autumn of 429 BC . Just before his death, Pericles' friends were concentrated around his bed, enumerating his virtues during peace and underscoring his nine war trophies. Pericles, though moribund, heard them and interrupted them, pointing out that they forgot to mention his fairest and greatest title to their admiration; "for", said he, "no living Athenian ever put on mourning because of me".Plutarch, ''Pericles'', With these bitter comments, Thucydides not only laments the loss of a man he admired, but he also heralds the flickering of Athens' unique glory and grandeur. PERSONAL LIFE Pericles, following Athenian custom, was first married to one of his closest relatives, with whom he had two sons, Xanthippus and Paralus. This marriage, however, was not a happy one, and at some point near 445 BC, Pericles divorced his wife and offered her to another husband, with the agreement of her male relatives.K. Paparrigopoulos, Aa, 221 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 from this first marriage.Plutarch, ''Pericles'', The woman he really adored was Nonetheless, these persecutions did not undermine Pericles' morale, although he had to burst into tears in order to protect his beloved Aspasia when she was accused of corrupting Athenian society. His greatest personal tragedy was the death of his sister and of both his legitimate sons, Xanthippus and Paralus, all affected by the epidemic, a calamity he never managed to overcome. 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,Plutarch, ''Pericles'', a decision all the more striking in consideration that Pericles himself had proposed the law confining citizenship to those of Athenian parentage on both sides.W. Smith, ''A History of Greece'', 271 ASSESSMENTS Pericles marked a whole era and inspired conflicting judgments about his significant decisions, which is something normal for a political personality of his magnitude. The fact that he was at the same time a vigorous statesman, general and orator makes more complex the objective assessment of his actions. Political leadership with Pericles' name written on it (c. 444 – 443 BC ), Museum of the ancient Agora Of Athens .]] Some contemporary scholars, for example Sarah Ruden, call Pericles a populist, a demagogue and a hawk,S. Ruden, ''Lysistrata'' , 80 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".Plutarch, ''Pericles'', 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. 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". Thucydides, an admirer of Pericles, maintains that Athens was "in name a democracy but, in fact, governed by its first citizen". Through this comment, the historian illustrates what he perceives as Pericles' 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' integrity. On the other hand, in one of his dialogues, Plato rejects the glorification of Pericles and quotes Socrates as saying: "As far as I know, Pericles made the Athenians slothful, garrulous and avaricious, by starting the system of public fees".Plato, ''Gorgias'', 515e Plutarch mentions other criticism of Pericles' 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". Thucydides argues that Pericles "was not carried away by the people, but he was the one guiding the people". 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.M.F. McGregor, ''Government in Athens'', 122–23.J.S. Morrison-A. W. Gomme, ''Pericles Monarchos'', 76–77. According to King, by increasing the power of the people, the Athenians left themselves with no authoritative leader. During the Peloponnesian War, Pericles' dependence on popular support to govern was obvious. Military achievements For more than 20 years Pericles led numerous expeditions, mainly naval ones. Being always cautious, he never undertook of his own accord a battle involving much uncertainty and peril and he did not accede to the "vain impulses of the citizens".Plutarch, ''Pericles'', He based his military policy on Themistocles ' principle that Athens' predominance depends on its superior naval power and believed that the Peloponnesians were near-invincible on land.A.G. Platias-C. Koliopoulos, ''Thucydides on Strategy'', 105 Pericles tried also to minimize the advantages of Sparta by rebuilding the walls of Athens. According to Josiah Ober, professor of classics in Princeton University , the strategy of rebuilding the walls radically altered the use of force in Greek international relations.J. Ober, ''National Ideology and Strategic Defence of the Population'', 254 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''.A.G. Platias-C. Koliopoulos, ''Thucydides on Strategy'', 98–99. 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". 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. According to Kagan, Pericles' 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.D. Kagan, ''The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War'', 83 His strategy is said to have been "inherently unpopular", but Pericles managed to persuade the Athenian public to follow it.A.G. Platias-C. Koliopoulos, ''Thucydides on Strategy'', 119–120. It is for that reason that Hans Delbrück called him one of the greatest statesmen and military leaders in history.H. Delbrück, ''History of the Art of War'', I, 137 Although his countrymen engaged in several aggressive actions soon after his death,V.L. Ehrenberg, ''From Solon to Socrates, 278 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. For his part, Ben X. de Wet concludes his strategy would have succeeded had he lived longer.B. X. de Wet, ''This So-Called Defensive Policy of Pericles'', 103–19. Critics of Pericles' 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.K. Paparrigopoulos, Aa, 241–42. annually, and based on this figure concludes that he would only have 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.D. Kagan, ''The Peloponnesian War'', 61–62. Others, such as Donald W. Knight, conclude that the strategy was too defensive and would not succeed.D. Knight, ''Thucydides and the War Strategy of Pericles'', 150–60. On the other hand, 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".A.G. Platias-C. Koliopoulos, ''Thucydides on Strategy'', 138 It is a popular conclusion that those succeeding him lacked his abilities and character.L.J. Samons, ''What's Wrong with Democracy?'', 131–32. Oratorical skill Thucydides' modern commentators are still trying to unravel the puzzle of Pericles' orations and to figure out if the wording belongs to the Athenian statesman or the historian. Since Pericles never wrote down or distributed his orations, no historians are able 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. 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' own cold and analytical writing style. 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. Kagan states that Pericles adopted "an elevated mode of speech, free from the vulgar and knavish tricks of mob-orators" and, according to , however, Socrates casts aspersions on Pericles' 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 .Plato, ''Menexenus'', 236a He also attributes authorship of the Funeral Oration to Aspasia and attacks his contemporaries' veneration of Pericles.S. Monoson, ''Plato's Democratic Entanglements'', 182–186 Ancient Greek writers call Pericles "Olympian" and vaunt his talents; referring to him "thundering and lightening and exciting Greece" and carrying the weapons of Zeus when orating.Aristophanes, ''Acharnians'', 528–531 and Diodorus, XII, 40 According to 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".Sir Richard C. Jebb, The Attic Orators Legacy Pericles' most visible legacy can be found in the literary and artistic works of his Golden Age, most of which survive to this day. The 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". In politics, Victor L. Ehrenberg argues that a basic element of Pericles' legacy is Athenian imperialism, which denies true democracy and freedom to the people of all but the ruling state.V. L. Ehrenberg, ''From Solon to Socrates'', 332 The promotion of such an arrogant imperialism is said to have ruined Athens.C.G. Starr, ''A History of the Ancient World'', 306 Nonetheless, other analysts maintain an Athenian humanism illustrated in the Golden Age.E.J. Power, ''A Legacy of Learning'', 52 The freedom of expression is regarded as the lasting legacy deriving from this period.R.A. Katula, ''A Synoptic History of Classical Rhetoric'', 18 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.K. Mattson, ''Creating a Democratic Public'', 32 SEE ALSO Timeline of Pericles' life (c.495–429 BC) NOTES
Plutarch cites an Idomeneus as saying that Pericles killed Ephialtes, but does not believe him — he finds it to be out of character for Pericles.}} CITATIONS REFERENCES Primary sources (Greek and Roman)
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