Historical Figures Codexery

Pericles

First citizen of Athens during its Golden Age

Thucydides, a contemporary historian, acclaimed him as "the first citizen of Athens".[1] The Greek statesman and general Pericles lived from 495 to 429 BC and was active during Athens's Golden Age.[1][2]

Quick Facts

Born
c. 495 BC
Birthplace
Athens, Greece
Died
429 BC (aged 65/66)
Allegiance
Athens
Rank
Strategos
Battles
  • First Peloponnesian War
  • Battles of Sicyon and Acarnania
  • Second Sacred War
  • Samian War
  • Peloponnesian War
Children
Paralus and Xanthippus, Pericles the Younger
Relations
Xanthippus (father); Agariste (mother)

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

In 472 BC, Pericles presented Aeschylus's play The Persians as a liturgy, demonstrating his wealth.[3] He died of the plague in 429 BC, after witnessing the death of his two legitimate sons from the same epidemic.[4][5] Pericles's father was the politician Xanthippus, and his mother Agariste belonged to the Alcmaeonidae family.[2][6] During his youth, Pericles was introverted, stayed out of the public eye, and focused on his studies.[4]

In 461 BC, Pericles used ostracism to remove his political rival Cimon.[7] Pericles backed artistic and literary endeavors and initiated a major building program that created most surviving Acropolis structures, such as the Parthenon.[8]

What the cited sources add

Karl Julius Beloch argues that the dispatch of a great fleet to Egypt and Cyprus conforms with the spirit of Cimon's policy.[9][10] Angelos Vlachos points out Pericles's use of the alliance's treasury as one of the largest embezzlements in human history.[11] According to Anthony Podlecki, ancient writers fabricated the story of Pericles changing his position to promote a biased view of his inconsistency.[12][13]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Pericles" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Thucydides, 2.65 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Pericles" (CC BY-SA 4.0) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Pericles" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Pericles", 1996; Hornblower, S., The Greek World, 479–323 BC, 33–34. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Pericles" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Pericles", 1952 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Pericles" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Plutarch, Pericles, XXXVI (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Pericles" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Pericles", 2002 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Pericles" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Plutarch, Cimon, XVI. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Pericles" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: L. de Blois, An Introduction to the Ancient World p. 99.; Muhlberger, S., Periclean Athens .; Ruden, S., Lysistrata, p. 80. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Pericles" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Aird, "Pericles: The Rise and Fall of Athenian Democracy", Rosen Publishing Group, 2003, p. 52; Beloch, K. J., Griechische Geschichte, II, p. 205. (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Open Library record, ISBN 082393828X ("Pericles"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Pericles" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: J. M. Hurwit, The Acropolis in the Age of Pericles, p. 87 etc.; Buckley, T., Aspects of Greek History 750–323 BC, p. 206.; Vlachos, A., Thucydides' Bias, pp. 62–63. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Wikipedia, "Pericles" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Podlecki, "Perikles and His Circle", Taylor & Francis, 1997, p. 44 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  13. Open Library record, ISBN 9780203814536 ("Perikles and His Circle"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Pericles (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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