In the speech he honoured the fallen and held up Athenian democracy as an example to the rest of Greece. How did Pericles contribute to Athenian greatness? Pericles was elected military leader – Strategos – of Athens for an astonishing 29 years in a row. Among the contributions made by Pericles to the Athenian democracy was the payment of magistrates. Fired up with Panhellenic pride, the Athenians spearheaded an alliance to take vengeance on the Persians. Pericles set about toppling the Areopagus (ar-ee-OP-uh-guhs), or the noble council of Athens, in favor of a more democratic system that represented the interests of the people. Useful reading: Russel Meiggs, The Athenian Empire; Victor Ehrenberg, From Solon to Socrates. The city of Athens, however, was physically still much as it had been left by the Persian sack of 480, and its gods were inadequately housed. That Pericles immediately succeeded the assassinated Ephialtes as head of the democratic party in 461 is an ancient oversimplification; there were other men of considerable weight in Athens in the next 15 years. When the United States voted against joining the League of Nations. It was the custom at the time to honor the dead each year who had died defending their city-state, the city-state of Athens. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pericles-Athenian-statesman, Ancient History Encyclopedia - Biography of Pericles, Encyclopedia Virginia - Biography of Patrick Henry, Pericles - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Pericles - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). Nonetheless, some women, known as hetaeras , did receive an education with the specific purpose of entertaining men, similar to the Japanese geisha tradition. The outbreak of war among the Greek states in 459 put a premium on military talent, and Pericles’ only recorded campaign in the next few years was a naval expedition in the Corinthian Gulf in 454, in which Athens defeated Achaea but failed to win more important objectives. © 2021 Education Expert, All rights reserved. Pericles statesmanship has been defined in many ways. His achievements included the construction of the Acropolis, begun in 447. Updates? C) The economy thrived under Pericles and he built magnificent temples. He made the Acropolis of Athens as a symbol of the greatness of the city. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. He brought forth Athens to prestige especially during the Peloponnesian War implementing his so-called Periclean Grand Strategy. During the Second Sacred War Pericles led the Athenian army against Delphi and reinstated Phocis in its sovereign rights on the oracle. The Persian War, begun as an ill-considered gesture in 499, could be considered ultimately successful. The symbolism, although ambiguous, is most likely to be unfavourable. Because of a law he supported restricting Athenian citizenship to those of Athenian parentage on both sides, marriage was impossible. 4) What are three ways in which Pericles contributed to Athenian greatness? Which of the following two statements does not describe mercantilism? Pericles Major Accomplishments … This helped his father, Xanthippus, focus on a political career. Among the contributions made by Pericles to the Athenian democracy was the payment of magistrates. The economy thrived and the government became more democratic. How did Pericles contribute to Athenian greatness? Only rumour associates him directly with the political convulsion of the next two years, which drove Cimon into exile, swung Athens away from its alignment with Sparta, and decisively strengthened the democratic elements in the Athenian constitution; but he probably did support the democratic leader Ephialtes in this period, and his introduction of pay for juries, unfortunately undatable, is a logical consequence of Ephialtes’ reforms. He was known for being unscrupulously honest. He also led Athens during the period of the Peloponnesian War. This was one reason the Athenians under Pericles decided to limit the people eligible to hold office. He introduced the practice of paying citizens to serve on juries, which allowed poor men to … Essay by xircom96, High School, 12th grade, A, July 2004 . The arrival of the Sophist philosophers in Athens occurred during his middle life, and he seems to have taken full advantage of the society of Zeno and particularly Anaxagoras, from whom he is said to have learned impassivity in the face of trouble and insult and skepticism about alleged divine phenomena. With a government that pursues liberty and gives power to the many and not the few, Athenian democracy has become a model for success for all the Greek city-states. Cimon died after 451, during his last campaign against Persia. He paved war for an imperialist Athens that would rival the neighboring cities like Sparta. Knowledge of the life of Pericles derives largely from two sources. Pericles was born into the first generation able to use the new weapon of the popular vote against the old power of family politics. Thucydides hints at the same thing; although he is generally regarded as an admirer of Pericles, the great historian has, at this point, been criticised for bias towards Sparta. Author of. This brought stable policies to Athens’ relations with other Greek and foreign states. These sources are not all ascertainable, but they certainly preserve an invaluable amount of fact and contemporary gossip, which is sometimes nearly as useful. Cleisthenes wanted power for himself, but he didn’t want another tyranny. The League was so named because its treasury was originally located on the island of the same name. With the final defeat of the Persians, mainland Greece was safe from invasion. His Alcmaeonid mother, Agariste, provided him with relationships of sharply diminishing political value and her family curse, a religious defilement that was occasionally used against him by his enemies. 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