Pericles

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aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa By Kirstin Ellison and Brian Harlow
= = = = = The Beginning of Pericles =

In the year 495 B.C., a man named Pericles was born into the Athenian civilization.(Knight 144) Pericles was the son of a highly noble family, one of the best families in Athens.(Knight 144) As a child, Pericles was educated. The majority of his education was in politics. He was taught politics so he could partake in the government, and hopefully, be able to run it. Pericles was the son of Xanthippus, who was his father and a statesman and general of an upper class family.("Pericles Biography") Pericles' mother was Agariste who was the neice of the famous Athenian statesman Cleisthenes.("Pericles Biography") Pericles had the best education studying music under Damon and mathematics under Zeno of Elea.("Pericles Biography") As a young man, Pericles' greatest influence was a scholar by the name of Anaxagoras.("Pericles Biography") Anaxagoras taught Pericles how to make speeches and was a model of the calm style that Pericles would use in politics.("Pericles Biography") As a young man, Pericles decided to speak out for a more advanced democracy.(Pericles Biography")

The Rise of Pericles
The rise of Pericles began with a man named Cimon.(Knight 145) Sparta, Athens' age-old rival was in need of help of supressing a Helot revolt.(Knight 145) Cimon favorved continuing relations with Sparta so he sent troops to help that Spartans supress the Helots.(Knight 145) This angered many Athenians, including Pericles.(Knight 145) In 463 B.C., when Pericles was 32 years old, he teamed up with Ephialtes in the Athenian Leadership.(Knight 145) Together, Ephialtes and Pericles were able to ostracize Cimon. A while after Cimon had been banished, around 460 B.C., Ephialtes had died. Not soon after, Pericles became leader of the popular party and the most powerful man in the state. (World Book 287) As head of state, he made several changes.One of which being that he introduced the idea of salaries. (World Book 287) This led to more of a variety having the ability to participate in office. Before paid salaries in office, the less wealthy did not have enough time to quit work and run for office.They instead needed to get all the money they could to support their families.As Pericles became more well known, and started to fight in battle more often, it turned out that he was not always sucessful. (World Book 287)

Pericles Hard Downfall
After years of being powerful, came a time of grief. When the Peloponnesian War came along, Pericles refused to let his army out of the city walls. ("Downfall") He refused to let his army out of the city walls because he feared they would lose. His fellow friends, family, and citizens suddenly started accusing him of purposely starting the war to distract from previous mistakes he had made. ("Downfall") After three hard, long years of fighting, Athens finally fell to ruins. Pericles had died before the war had ended. Unfortunately, he did not get to fight with his men until the end.

The Death of Pericles
Pericles died suddenly along with thousands of others in Athens. Around the year 431, a fatal plague broke out in Athens. (World Book 287)This plague killed thousands of citizens, one of which being Pericles. He was blamed for many of their problems and taken out of office. (World Book 287) Not long after that, he was put back in office. It had not taken long after he was put back in office to die from the plague. (World Book 287) Other members of his family were also killed from this spreading plague. Plagues were not common in times like these, but this particular plague spread on to kill hundreds.

Accomplishments of Pericles
Although Pericles had some rough spots in his life, he also had many accomplishments. Earlier before this, he married at age 20, had two children, and divorced. ("Who Was Pericles?") After that, he vowed never to remarry. He did however, have a close relationship with Aspasia. She inspired him and led him to most of his accomplishments. ("Who was Pericles?") One of his greatest accomplishments, which makes him remembered today, was becoming a fantastic statesman. As a powerful leader and introducing many laws and orders, he accomplished hundreds of things. His main goal was to build the Parthenon. He accomplished this rather easily. It was a simple structure but was made to honor Athena, the god of wisdom, and more importantly, the protector of Athens.

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Works Cited

Kagan, Donald, Michael Poulton, and David Skeele. "Pericles Biography." //Early life and family, Champion of Democracy, aaaaaa Legislator of domestic affairs,Problems Arise//. Advameg, Inc., 2012. Web. 26 Mar 2012. aaaaaaa [].

"Pericles Rise to Power." 2010. Web. 26 Mar 2012. [].

Knight, Judson. //Ancient Civilizations//. San Fransico: The Gale Group, 2000. Print.

"Pericles." World Book. 287. 2010. Prin

Etaxx. //Pericles.m4v//. N.d. Infographic. YouTube. []