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InsightHorizon Digest

What did Pericles do

Author

Joseph Russell

Updated on April 01, 2026

Pericles was an Athenian statesman who played a large role in developing democracy in Athens and helped make it the political and cultural center of ancient Greece. Pericles was born in 495 B.C.E. in Athens to an aristocratic family. … However, his most memorable feat was erecting the Acropolis in Athens.

What 2 Things did Pericles do?

Pericles promoted the arts and literature, and it is principally through his efforts that Athens acquired the reputation of being the educational and cultural center of the ancient Greek world. He started an ambitious project that generated most of the surviving structures on the Acropolis, including the Parthenon.

Did Pericles invent democracy?

Pericles was not the founder or inventor of democracy, but he came to its leadership only a half-century after its invention, when it was still fragile.

What were the 3 major goals of Pericles?

that this period often is called the Age of Pericles. He had three goals: (1) to strengthen Athenian democracy, (2) to hold and strengthen the empire, and (3) to glorify Athens.

How did Pericles improve Athens?

He maneuvered Athens to primacy over other league members, first by transferring the league’s treasury to Athens in 454 B.C. and then by imposing Athenian weights and measures on all league members three years later. The Delian League effectively became an Athenian empire.

Was Pericles a good leader?

The oratorical skills of Pericles made him an outstanding leader; he had the courage to articulate, the charisma to lead and the ability to convince and manipulate the population.

How did Pericles impact the world?

Pericles transformed his city’s alliances into an empire and graced its Acropolis with the famous Parthenon. His policies and strategies also set the stage for the devastating Peloponnesian War, which would embroil all Greece in the decades following his death.

What kind of leader was Pericles?

Pericles was an Athenian statesman. Under his leadership Athenian democracy and the Athenian empire flourished, making Athens the political and cultural focus of Greece between the Greco-Persian and Peloponnesian wars.

What did the Parthenon do?

The Parthenon was the center of religious life in the powerful Greek City-State of Athens, the head of the Delian League. Built in the 5 century B.C., it was a symbol of the power, wealth and elevated culture of Athens. It was the largest and most lavish temple the Greek mainland had ever seen.

How did Pericles strengthen the empire?

Pericles strengthened democracy in Athens by paying public officials. Pericles expanded the empire by building a strong naval fleet. Pericles rebuilt and beautified Athens.

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What is Pericles funeral oration about summary?

Pericles was a famous Greek general. He gave a speech in Athens, a public speech, honoring the many warriors who were killed in battle after the first year of the Peloponnesian War. He stated that the soldiers who died gave their lives to protect the city of Athens, its citizens, and its freedom. …

Was pisistratus a tyrant?

Peisistratus, also spelled Pisistratus, (born 6th century—died 527 bce), tyrant of ancient Athens whose unification of Attica and consolidation and rapid improvement of Athens’s prosperity helped to make possible the city’s later preeminence in Greece.

Did Pericles fight in the Persian wars?

Pericles grew up during the time of the Persian Wars. When Pericles was around three years old, Athens faced the first major assault from the Persians, but won a decisive victory at the Battle of Marathon. Ten years later Athens once again faced the Persians.

What was Solon known for?

560 BC) was an Athenian statesman, lawmaker and poet. He is remembered particularly for his efforts to legislate against political, economic and moral decline in archaic Athens. His reforms failed in the short term, yet he is often credited with having laid the foundations for Athenian democracy.

What reform did Pericles make?

What reform made Athens one of the most democratic governments in history? Pericles’ reform that called for an increase in the number of public officials who were paid salaries.

What type of government was Pericles describing?

The type of government that Pericles was describing was a democracy. In his funeral oration he stated that “A men may serve his country no matter how low his position on the social scale” (Document 3). In Athens, every free citizen had an equal opportunity to advance and to serve their country.

What was the impact of Pericles death?

Pericles’ death was significant. The Athenians had lost one of their greatest leaders. But even if the policies of Pericles had not been abandoned by the feeble Athenian democracy, the cost of the war would have proved too great and thus Athenian defeat was inevitable.

What is Athena the god of?

Athena, also spelled Athene, in Greek religion, the city protectress, goddess of war, handicraft, and practical reason, identified by the Romans with Minerva. She was essentially urban and civilized, the antithesis in many respects of Artemis, goddess of the outdoors.

Why was the Parthenon built for Athena?

The residents of Athens constructed the Parthenon at the time when they were at the height of their dominance. The Parthenon was mainly constructed as a temple for the Goddess Athena who was the chief deity worshipped by the residents of Athens.

Who bombed the Parthenon?

Indeed, few cultural monuments demonstrate this more perfectly than the Athenian Parthenon, which was unceremoniously bombed in 1687 by a Venetian-led army of mercenaries hired by Poland, Venice, and the Vatican—the very Europeans whose culture it is meant to embody—to push the Ottoman Turks out of Europe.

What was the most important accomplishment of Pericles?

Pericles’s most important accomplishment was making Athens a more democratic city-state by appointing people to positions based on their skill and abilities instead of their social class.

When did Pericles become king?

Pericles quickly seized the helm, organizing democratic institutions throughout the city and in 461 becoming the ruler of Athens—a title he would hold until his death. The period from 460 to 429 is in fact often referred to as the Age of Pericles in Ancient Greek history.

How did Pericles improve democracy?

To strengthen democracy, Pericles increased the number of public officials who were paid. Earlier in Athens, most positions were unpaid. This made it hard for less wealthy people to hold government jobs. Now even the poorest citizen could serve if elected.

What caused Athens to lose Peloponnesian War?

In 430 BC, an outbreak of a plague hit Athens. The plague ravaged the densely packed city, and in the long run, was a significant cause of its final defeat. The plague wiped out over 30,000 citizens, sailors and soldiers, including Pericles and his sons. Roughly one-third to two-thirds of the Athenian population died.

What is Pericles goal in delivering this speech?

Pericles’ funeral oration was a speech written by Thucydides and delivered by Pericles for his history of the Peloponnesian War. Pericles delivered the oration not only to bury the dead but to praise democracy. Pericles, a great supporter of democracy, was a Greek leader and statesman during the Peloponnesian War.

Who was Pericles and why did he give this speech?

Pericles was widely seen as the leader of Athens. He gave this speech during a funeral for Athenian soldiers who died in the first year of the brutal Peloponnesian War against Sparta, Athens’s chief rival. The Athenian historian Thucydides included the speech in his book the History of the Peloponnesian War.

How was Pericles speech recorded?

The Funeral Oration was recorded by Thucydides in book two of his famous History of the Peloponnesian War. Although Thucydides records the speech in the first person as if it were a word for word record of what Pericles said, there can be little doubt that he edited the speech at the very least.

How many helots were in Sparta?

The total population of helots at that time, including women, is estimated as 170,000–224,000. Since the helot population was not technically chattel, their population was reliant on native birth rates, as opposed to prisoners of war or purchased slaves.

What is the longest tyranny?

Peisistratos assumed and held power for three different periods of time, ousted from political office and exiled twice during his reign, before taking command of Athens for the third, final, and longest period of time from 546–528 BC.

Who are ordinary citizens in the army?

The definition of a militia is an army made up of regular citizens called to respond during an emergency.

What does Pericles mean in world history?

Pericles (l. 495–429 BCE) was a prominent Greek statesman, orator, and general during the Golden Age of Athens. … Pericles’ name means “surrounded by glory” and he would live up to his name through his efforts to make Athens the greatest of the Greek city-states.