PERICLES: BIOGRAPHY, POLITICS, SPEECHES, WAR, INTERESTING FACTS - ARTE - 2024

Pericles (495 BC - 429 BC) was an Athenian politician, statesman, military man and orator of the 5th century BC. C. He was nicknamed 'The Olympian' for his gifts to address the public and his deep voice, which resonated in space like that of a god.

It has been proposed that, thanks to the influence of Pericles, the Delian League be considered the closest thing to a Greek empire in its time. Furthermore, during the years of her rule, Athens lived through much of its golden age, highlighting events such as the medical wars and the Peloponnesian wars. For this reason, it is also known as "the century of Pericles."

Bust of Pericles, by Vatican Museums, via Wikimedia Commons

He was the leading Greek strategist of his time and was responsible for the reconstruction, as well as the increase in the artistic and architectural wealth of Athens after the Persian occupation. The Parthenon on the Acropolis was one of the most outstanding examples of his great work.

He sought to attract to his side the most prominent figures of his time, both in the arts and architecture, as well as in philosophy and literature. In this way he tried to reaffirm the importance of Athens within the Greek world.

In the mandate of Pericles, Athens was governed under the democratic system, represented in the Ekklesía. He began as Efialtes' assistant and replaced him as the leader of the popular faction after the latter was assassinated.

Important data

Pericles held the position of strategos from 445 a. C., but his opinion carried much more weight than that of the other nine colleagues. A representative was chosen for each of the ten tribes, although Pericles' prominence among that circle was irreproachable.

For some, Pericles' position was populist, because of his inclination to please the masses.

One of the victories for his mandate was to include the people in the government, since it allowed all citizens to run for public office regardless of their economic status.

A salary was also started to be provided to employees of a government office so that officials could go about their work without worrying about personal matters related to money.

Another of the measures that Pericles took was to grant land to poor peasants and aid to the dispossessed who were unable to exercise a trade.

His main political rival was Cimon, who represented the interests of the traditional aristocratic families who managed the monopoly of the public career and the direction of the State.

Greek leadership

Although Athens flourished under Pericles and achieved greater glory than in earlier times, the rest of the Greek city-states did not have such a pleasant fate, so it became necessary for the two great forces to confront each other for Greek leadership.

Hostilities between Athens (Delos League) and Sparta (Peloponnesian League) officially began in 431 BC. C. and they were maintained for 27 years, even after the death of Pericles.

One of the most remembered pieces of Pericles' oratory was his Funeral Speech dedicated to the fallen in the first Peloponnesian campaign. He referred specifically to two fundamental points of his struggle:

The first was tradition, since it considered that not only the fallen that day deserved a tribute, but all those who had given their lives to give that free land to their children from ancestral generations.

Then he referred to democracy, since he thought that in this way men try to seek their own honor since they have freedom, while the subjugated fight for the honor of others and that makes them weak.

Gustave Glotz claimed that Pericles was the soul of Athens in the time when Athens was the soul of Greece.

Biography

- Early years

Pericles was born in Athens, approximately in 495 a. C. He was the son of Jantipo and Agarista, descended by his maternal line from the Alcmeónidas, one of the most important traditional families in the city.

Both Pericles and his father were part of the fifth Athenian tribe, known as Acamante.

The mother dreamed during her pregnancy that she gave birth to a lion. Some considered that this omen was good, because of the relationship that existed between greatness and said animal.

However, for others it became a joke as they said that it was a reference to the large head of Pericles. It is believed that this myth arose because the strategos was always represented with the helmet on.

Jantipo devoted himself to politics during his life and was even sentenced to exile (ostracism), for being considered a problem for the political system.

Although he had been expelled for the longest time in the sentence issued in 484 BC. C., Jantipo returned to the 5 years since its services to the city were required. In fact, in 479 a. C. was elect like eponymous archon.

- Education

From a very young Pericles showed inclinations for the intelligentsia. It is said that he was a very introverted young man, but there are not many certainties regarding the events of the first half of his life. He always tried to keep a low profile and a measured demeanor.

His origins as a member of one of the most important families in Athens allowed him to dedicate himself to any area that seemed interesting to him and in his case it was politics, for which his birth also provided him with important contacts.

Of his first teachers it has only been confirmed that it was Damon who instructed him in music theory, although other sources claim that his influence on Pericles could extend beyond that art.

Philosophy

Later, Pericles sympathized with the thought of the sophists such as Zeno and Anaxagoras, with whom he became very close.

The future Athenian leader became very interested in philosophy. He attached importance to training in this area and understood that applying it in the administration and management of the State brought benefits.

The secrecy and sobriety that he displayed during the first half of his life caused that when he entered political life his enemies created rumors that it was actually his partner, a foreigner, who wrote his speeches and guided his actions from the shadows.

Political beginnings

About 470 a. C., was that Pericles took an interest in public affairs. By then he was approximately 25 years old, which at the time was considered a mature age, but already late to embark on a political career.

In 472 a. C. presented the play Los Persas de Esquilo. It is considered one of the first recorded works in history and, with it, Pericles wanted to point out that at that time he was one of the wealthiest men in the city.

This type of financing was called liturgy, which came to be a work paid for with private money but for public enjoyment. After the play her name disappeared again from other events of public interest.

It is considered that he tried to create around him an image of an incorruptible and reserved citizen so that this could not be used against him, but rather consider him a model.

Conservative and popular

Pericles entered fully into political activity for a time around 463 BC. C., when he led the accusation of negligence in the Macedonian case, against whom he became his political rival since then: Cimon of Athens.

Cimon's sympathy for the Macedonians, or perhaps some bribe he received, was seen as what prevented him from acting accordingly when the opportunity to invade their territories presented itself.

Pericles could not bring his accusations to fruition and Cimon was acquitted of the charges of negligence. Although the law declared him innocent, the leader of the conservatives or aristocrats, Cimón, began to lose his leadership that passed into the hands of the popular caucus.

Most of the victories Athens had been winning were considered to have come from its fleet, rather than from its land army.

The Athenian navy was largely made up of poor citizens, who were inclined to the cause of the Radical Democrats.

Spartan conflict

At that time Pericles was not the leader of his party, but that position was exercised by Efialtes. This group professed an immense discontent against Sparta, which was the internal enemy with which Athens was disputed for leadership among the Greek cities.

Then Sparta had to face the rebellion of the Helots, a secondary class that served the Spartans and was subjugated by them. Efialtes considered that Athens should not participate, but the vision of Cimon was imposed, who did want to collaborate.

The Athenian representative went along with 4,000 hoplites to support the Spartan cause, but when they arrived they were quickly dispatched, which was interpreted by all Athens as an offense.

When he returned to his hometown in 461 BC. C., the political career of Cimón was virtually finished for having offered his support to Esparta. In fact, citizens voted to ostracize the Conservative leader and he received the sentence of 10 years in exile.

Although Pericles did not actively participate in this process against Cimon, it is believed that he collaborated with the Ephialtes party to consolidate democratic policies in Athens and distance himself from Spartan rivals.

Solid democracy

Taking advantage of the fact that the moderates had lost prominence on the Athenian scene, Efialtes developed a series of reforms in the political mechanism of Athens. Until that moment most of the power was concentrated in the Aeropagus.

The members of that institution were selected from among the archons, public officials who usually came from wealthy families.

It is believed that around 462 a. C., Efialtes was in charge to remove to the Aerópagus almost all the competitions, except those of religious subjects and murders.

The new power was now deposited in the Ekklesía, which was the popular assembly, as well as in the Boulé, also known as the "Council of the Five Hundred" where 50 representatives of each of the ten tribes were selected by lottery.

The superior command was in charge of the strategos, of whom the assembly chose one per tribe and possessed both political and military command within Athens.

Efialtes was also in charge of granting part of the power to the popular courts. All these measures were seen as demagogic, and the leader of the radicals made many enemies while they took effect.

The same year that Cimon was expelled from the city, Ephialtes was assassinated. Some sources claim that the person responsible for the death was Aristóclico de Tangrana, although others claim that the identity of the murderer was never revealed.

Rise of Pericles

For some it is an exaggeration to say that absolute power was concentrated in the hands of Pericles after the death of Ephialtes. What is certain is that it was he who became the visible face of the dominant radical party in Athens.

However, before being recognized as the undisputed leader, he continued to carry out reforms that allowed him to gain even more support for his cause, since they benefited the bulk of the population.

Some of these new measures were the attendance of poor citizens to the theater. He believed that all citizens should raise their intellectual level. Since then, the Athenian state took over the cost of their tickets.

It was also established that all citizens of Athens could access public offices, not just those from traditional aristocratic families.

Other reforms

At the same time, he implemented a salary for state officials, since this way they could dedicate themselves to their work without diverting their attention to the economic interests of their families.

Another of the reforms that Pericles promoted was the one concerning citizenship. From the year 451 a. C., it could only be transmitted if both parents were Athenians.

This mainly affected the upper social classes, since the poor used to marry people from their community.

Power of the people

The Greek word "demos" means people, while "kratos" refers to the government. Democrats sought to take power out of the hands of tyrants and aristocrats and give it to the masses of citizens.

Pericles was in charge of consolidating all the relatively new reforms that had been made to ensure that the State did not concentrate its decisions on a few men. Then, citizens without wealth got a more important role in politics.

One of the important alliances that Pericles had to make was with the farmers, because they made up a large portion of the force in the Athenian fleet, which was the strongest division in his armed forces.

Freedom as an impulse

Pericles' ideal was that free men would fight to demonstrate both their courage and honor to others, unlike those who fight to serve a lord, since the glory would not be for them to achieve victory.

In fact, during this time the Athenian government began to provide land for those peasants who did not have property, so that everyone could participate and contribute to the state economy.

First Peloponnesian War

Not 20 years had passed since Athenians and Spartans joined forces to fight the Persian invaders. However, both cities continued to dispute supremacy within the Greek scene.

Perhaps Athens was too powerful at the time that Cimon came to the aid of Sparta and was interpreted by them as a possible threat to their safety.

Undoubtedly, that event ended up dictating the luck that put them against each other later.

In the League of Delos, led by Athens, were Thessaly, Argos and Megara, which was at war with Corinth, allies of the Spartans.

The helots began to find support in the Athenians, who had managed to seize Naupactus in the Gulf of Corinth.

Already in 460 a. C., the confrontations with the members of the League of the Peloponnese were a fact. However, at the same time Inaro, a Libyan king, managed to attack Egypt in order to snatch it from Artaxerxes I and the Athenians sent part of their fleet to help him.

Development

The forces of Athens were scattered when hostilities began directly against Sparta. Between 460 a. C. and 459 a. C., the Corinthians and Epidaurs prevailed on land against the Athenian troops on the ground during the clash at Halias.

The same did not happen in the case of the naval fight of Cecrifalia, where Aegina and Sparta lost after which Athens besieged them. Later, the members of the League of Delos again took control of Megara and that strengthened them.

In 454 a. C., the Persians defeated the Athenian troops who had come to help Inaro in Egypt.

During that same year the treasure of the League of Delos was transferred to Athens, so that the leading city had greater economic control, but they generated disgust and distrust among its own allied ranks.

Truce

In 451 a. C., the sentence of exile of Cimón, the old rival of Pericles, had been completed. When he returned he managed to negotiate a 5-year truce with the Spartans, for whom he had always shown a penchant.

According to Plutarch, during Cimon's time in Athens there was a tacit agreement in which he controlled military affairs and Pericles internal politics. In fact, in 451 a. C., Cimón left along with the athenian troops to Cyprus, where he died two years later.

The same year that the leader of the Conservatives returned was that Pericles passed the law in which Athenian citizenship could only pass to the children of both natural parents from Athens.

Some consider that this was a direct attack on Cimon, whose mother was a foreigner.

It was also taken as a populist measure, since marriages between Athenians and foreigners were mostly among the upper classes.

Meanwhile, the poorest used to join people from the city, because they could not afford the expenses of a trip to find a partner.

Reconstruction of Greece

Thanks to the peace that had been agreed with Sparta, the city of Athens began to regain its brightness. The idea of ​​Pericles was to consolidate its territory as the capital of the Greek world both culturally and politically and economically.

Pericles called the rest of the Greek city-states and proposed to rebuild what had been destroyed two decades ago by the Persians. Sparta said bluntly that it would not collaborate, but others did support the Athenian idea.

Pericles century

Work to improve the Acropolis immediately began. In 447 a. C., began the construction of the Parthenon, one of the buildings that is considered the flag of Athens. The creation of the statue of Athena in marble and gold also began.

The most important men of the time flocked to Athenian lands, since it was the most suitable place to develop during this period.

Aeschylus, Euripides, Sophocles and Aristophanes contributed their feathers, Hippocrates contributed with natural sciences, especially medicine. History also saw moments of great importance with Herodotus and Thucydices.

Sculpture and architecture had a boom with Fídias, while in philosophy the names of Protagoras, Zeno, Anaxagoras, Socrates and Plato stood out, who gave the foundations of Western thought to this day.

Personal life

Pericles first married an Athenian woman. The identity of the wife of the Athenian leader is unknown, but it is known that together they procreated two males, one named Jantipo and the other Paralo.

It is known that they were divorced around 445 BC. C., but Pericles made sure to procure a new marriage for his ex-partner, which was in keeping with his position in society and which was approved by the men in her family.

It is known that she had already had a husband before Pericles named Hippónico, with whom she had a son named Callias.

Aspasia

However, the most controversial union of Pericles was the one he had with Aspasia de Mileto, daughter of Axioco. It is said that after he arrived in Athens he became a lover of the strategist.

Some have proposed that his date of arrival in Athenian lands was around 450 BC. C., it is also believed that she was a hetera, similar to the courtesans of the Middle Ages: educated, beautiful and financially independent.

In any case, the relationship between Pericles and Aspasia was a fact in 445 BC. C., and five years later the son of both called Pericles the Younger was born.

The couple received harsh attacks in order to discredit the Athenian politician. Some even said that it was she who wrote Pericles' speeches or influenced him in his public decisions.

Pericles in command

After the death of Cimón, who was the leader of the Conservatives, Tucídices took over as head of the bench. This group said that Pericles' projects were extravagant and that it was immoral to use the money of the League of Delos to carry them out.

Pericles replied that the money used was Athenian, but that if the Conservatives would be calmer, he could pay them out of his pocket on the condition that he would dedicate all of them to himself.

This problem resulted in the expulsion of Thucydices from the city of Athens. Having been its only weighty contender to be ostracized, Pericles became the undisputed leader of the city-state.

However, it was clear that other members of the Delian League were unhappy because they had to continue paying tribute to the Athenians.

Meanwhile, to ensure its power, Athens made settlements with which they would gain greater control of the Greek territory. Likewise, they expelled the barbarian tribes that were occupying the Gallipoli peninsula.

The end of peace

Boeotia was one of the first cities to rise, around 447 BC. His example was followed by Euboea and Megara, which resulted in the sighting of a Spartan army in Attica.

The peace that had been forged between Athens and Sparta was intended to last 30 years, but ended in approximately thirteen years.

Pericles still had some opposition after the exile of Thucydices, but he was still reelected as strategos. Although nominally they all had the same power, the voice that all the leaders obeyed was that of Pericles.

Some say that at this time the Athenian politician abandoned extremes in order to ensure the stability of Athens and his own position in the situation.

Samos War

After Athens requested that Samos stop his attacks on Miletus and his request was ignored by them, the Athenians began to act accordingly to defend their ally.

Between 440 a. C. and 439 a. C., the Athenian army expelled the oligarchs of Samos and located a military garrison in the city. Later, the old rulers who were overthrown joined with the Persians to try to regain their power.

Sparta remained on the sidelines at that time. On the other hand, on the Athenian side, it was Pericles himself who led part of the fleet to the south. This division of forces was what caused the Samians to regain control of the sea for two weeks.

When the ships commanded by Pericles returned, they regained maritime control of the area and a blockade was applied that lasted for nine continuous months, until the Samians surrendered.

After that the leaders of Samos had to tear down their walls, hand over hostages and commit to pay compensation to Athens for 26 years.

From 438 a. C., the main objective of Pericles was to fortify the city of Athens, as well as to expand the influence of this city-state with friendly ties and settlements that allowed its power to grow.

Second Peloponnesian War

In 433 a. The die was cast for the confrontation of the two great Greek powers of antiquity: Sparta and Athens. At that time a confrontation was developing between Corcira and Corinth.

The Athenians backed Corcyra and sent their fleet in support of the fight they had with the Corinthians, who were members of the Peloponnesian League.

On the same plane of provocations was the decree of Megara. It has been claimed that this resolution was the first economic blockade for which there are records.

The excuse for dictating it was that the Megarenses had occupied Demeter lands and also provided refuge for runaway Athenian slaves.

On these foundations, the city of Athens ruled that those from Megara could not enter either ports or Athenian markets, which had harsh economic impacts on the Megara.

Anteroom of combat

The Spartan response was to send a delegate to Athens who requested two things from the city to keep the peace with Sparta:

The first thing was that it be repealed, that is, that the Megara decree be canceled. The second request was the expulsion of the entire Alcmeonid family, including Pericles, who was the main Athenian leader and strategist.

To this the Athenians replied that they would be willing to lift the decree of Megara if the Spartans in turn repealed xenelasia, which was the way of calling for the expulsion of foreigners who could disturb order.

Furthermore, Athens demanded that Sparta recognize the independence of the cities allied to the Peloponnesian League. Both were sure that their conditions would not be accepted, so the next scenario was armed conflict.

Pericles had convinced the Athenians that there was no point in giving in, since if they did, Spartan demands would never cease.

No one knows if Pericles really expected to be victorious in a confrontation with Sparta. However, it is believed that the biggest planning mistake made by the Athenians was not calculating the economic costs that the war brought.

Pericles hoped to leave the people sheltered within the walls and leave the fields. He thought that he could be able to supply the population from the sea with his great fleet.

First year of the war

Sparta tried to resume the talks and sent a delegation in order to request Athens to comply with its demands to avoid an internal conflict between Greeks. These envoys had to stay outside and return without delivering their message.

A decree prompted by Pericles dictated that if the Spartans started armed hostilities they could not enter Athens. Upon learning that the army of Sparta was assembled in Corinth, this was said to constitute military action and the delegation was consequently rejected.

The king of Sparta responded by invading Attica, but he did not count on the fields being empty since the citizens took shelter within the walls, causing only material losses.

However, the Athenians were desperate to see their farms razed, so they called for immediate action, but Pericles denied it. The strategist considered that they could not face the Lacedaemonians on land.

Athens sent 100 ships in response to plunder the coast of the Peloponnese. Despite trusting in his plan, Pericles thought it wise to create a reserve of 1,000 talents and 100 ships in case they came under a sea attack.

In the winter of 431 BC C., directed its fleet to Megara, city that they recaptured.

Funeral speech

In 430 a. C., the Spartans returned to Ática and returned to loot the farms near the fortress. Pericles responded with the same strategy, naval attacks, but without being in hand-to-hand combat in the open field.

The lives that Athenians lost in the campaigns of the Peloponnesian war had their funerals in which Pericles gave his Funeral Address, one of his most momentous public interventions. Thucydices collected his words:

"Because it is fair and convenient to honor the memory of those who first inhabited this region and successively from hand to hand by virtue and effort they left it to us and gave it free until today."

Thus he highlighted the importance of tradition in Athenian society, but he not only recognized the work of the first Greeks, but also of the previous generation and themselves, to inspire the population:

“And, if those ancestors are worthy of praise, much more so will our parents who came after them, because, in addition to what their elders left them, through their work they acquired and increased the command and dominion that we currently have.

And yet also, after those, we who at present live and are of mature age, we have enlarged and increased it, and provided and supplied our city with all the necessary things, both for peace and for war. "

About democracy

Pericles during his speech touched on several relevant points in the context that was developing in Athens. He praised their form of government, to ensure that the Athenians understood that they were fighting for an ideal of goodness:

“Well, we have a republic that does not follow the laws of the other neighboring cities and regions, but gives laws and an example to others, and our government is called Democracy, because the administration of the republic does not belong or is in few, but in Many.

Therefore each one of us, of whatever state or condition, if he has any knowledge of virtue, is as obligated to seek the good and honor of the city as the others, and will not be appointed to any position, nor honored, nor abided by his lineage or solar, but only by virtue and goodness ”.

Pericles also took the opportunity to highlight the Athenian superiority over the Spartans:

"And although many others in their youth exercise to gain strength until they become men, for that reason we are not less daring or determined than they to face dangers when necessity demands it."

Last years

Athens suffered a severe blow that demoralized the society of the time during 430 BC. C. An epidemic reached its territory that killed many lives in the city.

That year the Athenians punished their leader not only with a fine of 10 or 15 talents, but they also did not choose him as strategos.

However a year later Pericles returned to the position he had held for more than two decades as a military and political leader.

But it was not all joy, among the lives that were lost by the epidemic were those of a sister of Pericles, in addition to the legitimate children of the Athenian general: Xanthippus and Paralus.

That event was very hard for Pericles, since he himself had promoted a law by which his youngest son had not been able to access Athenian citizenship as he was the son of a foreigner. He requested the Ekklesía in 429 BC. They legitimized Pericles the younger and he succeeded.

Death

Pericles died in 429 BC. C., was another of the victims of the hard disease that diminished the forces of the Athenians.

It is not known exactly what could have caused so many deaths, although it was classically thought that it could have been the bubonic plague. Modern theories propose that it could be typhus or typhoid fever.

It is unknown if this epidemic was the real cause of Athens' defeat to the Spartans, although many think it may have contributed, as well as the future rise of the Macedonians to regional power years later.

The war without Pericles

After the death of Pericles, the Athenian leaders gave in to the pressure that existed for an attacking tactic to be used instead of the defensive one that Athens had been applying up to that point.

In addition to the attacks on the coasts of the Peloponnese, they decided to go against other important cities for the Spartans. Cleon won the leadership in the Ekklesía and put Demosthenes in command of the troops.

They had some victories, and even took a group of soldiers from Sparta prisoner.

However, they failed to prevail since the Spartans attacked Amphipolis on the orders of their king, Archidamus II, and that was the main supplier of silver to sustain the Athenian actions. After that, they only had to negotiate the peace that lasted about six years.

References

1. En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Pericles. Available at: en.wikipedia.org.
2. Kagan, D. (1991). Pericles of Athens and the birth of democracy. New York: Free Press.
3. Lewis, D. (2019). Pericles - Athenian statesman. Encyclopedia Britannica. Available at: britannica.com.
4. Palao Herrero, J. (2007). The classical Attic legal system. Madrid: Dykinson.
5. Mark, J. (2019). Pericles. Ancient History Encyclopedia. Available at: ancient.eu.