Pericles Role in the Development of the Golden Age of Athens

Pericles’ role in the development of the Golden Age of Athens.

Worth 10 marks

·  Pericles was one of the most influential statesmen in the history of Athens

·  Pericles did not rule directly over the people as a dictator, he used his eloquent speaking ability and keen sense of judgment to gain support for his plans and programs in the city of Athens.

·  Pericles made use of his words to bring about change and encourage prosperity of Athens.

·  Meanwhile, Pericles was already experiencing great success, having gained the position of statesmen around 460 B.C.

·  He made a bold move by shifting his loyalties from the noble families who ruled Athens to the common citizens of Athens, urging the participation of all citizens in the government.

·  In 450 B.C., he successfully oversaw the ostracism, or elected exile, of his main political rival, General Cimon.

·  Several years later, Athens made peace with the Persians and various other rival Greek cities.

·  Having dealt with enemies both within and without, Pericles could bring about many changes to the Athenian government and improvements to the city of Athens.

·  The city had suffered great damage during the Persian Wars, much of Pericles’s work involved rebuilding of the city.

·  Pericles gave the task of rebuilding to many of the poorer citizens of Athens; while he favoured helping the poor, he sought to do so by giving them occupations rather than merely granting them charity.

·  Many of the beautiful structures of Athens were built during this time, but most of the work focused on the rebuilding and repairing of temples, including the Acropolis.

·  One of the more splendid temples built during this time was the Parthenon, a beautiful piece of architecture that served as the jewel of Athens for many years.

·  While the city of Athens flourished greatly under Pericles in a material sense, Pericles also brought about change to the flow of Athenian government.

·  One of his early reforms was a new standard for citizenship; in order to become a citizen, one had to have two parents of Athenian birth as a requirement.

·  This new policy favoured the common citizens, seeing as how the well-travelled aristocrats and merchants tended to marry foreigners more often.

·  Another measure Pericles took, this time through the popular vote of the city, was the practice of paying members of a jury for their time served. This benefited the lower classes, who could now afford to take time off from their other occupations to serve in the Athenian judicial system.

·  Overall, the Golden Age of Pericles was a period of time in which the city became more and more of a democracy.

·  Owing to the vast expenses of Pericles’s projects, Athens was compelled to rely on tribute money from its weaker Greek allies.

·  This caused a great deal of annoyance on the part of the allies, who were paying the tribute to Athens for military purposes, not for domestic affairs.

·  The allies of Athens grew ever more resentful of Athens’ prosperity at their expense.

·  While Pericles effectively used diplomatic channels to stave off massive war for thirty years, conflict still loomed on the horizon.

·  Occasionally, an ally would revolt against Athens, such as the city of Samos in 440, and although Athens’ superior navy managed to crush such efforts, tensions still were on the rise.

·  While Athens may have had a superior navy, its army could not compare to the well-disciplined Spartan soldiers.

·  As a result, many of the rural citizens of Athenian territory were forced to flee into the city, and when a plague struck the city, the crowded conditions made the disease have a disastrous effect.

·  Pericles himself received much of the blame for the war and its accompanying problems, and was eventually removed from office around 429 B.C.

·  Though he soon managed to regain his position as statesman, he would not live to make any further reforms. Soon after his re-election, he died of the plague that had struck the city.