What Impact Did Pericles Have On Athens Essay

What qualities of Athenian life does Pericles mention? How do these contrast with those that Archidamus points out for Sparta? The qualities of the Athenian life that Pericles mentions are that they are far from practicing a jealous surveillance over each other because they do not feel like they should be angry with there neighbors for doing what they like, but all there private relations does not make them lawless as citizens. He also say’s that they provide plenty of means for there mind to refresh itself from the business, that they celebrate games and sacrifices all the year round. On the other hand Sparta is war-like, because they have self control and they honor bravery. They are also educated with the laws and with a self-control to

“The Restoration of the Athenian Empire” Our walls are crumbling and our fleet is minute. We here in Athens are unable to collect tribute from other city-states and are often in threat of being attacked. Our fleet is defenseless and weak. The Democratic fraction, propose that we spend our time and hard earned money on the rebuilding of our walls and fleet. That way Athens can dangerously collect tributes from other Greek city-states. The Democrats also would like to commence in hazardous military voyages with our insubstantial navy. Hoping the result brings forth great rewards.

The ruler of Athens, Pericles (495-429 BCE) convinced the Athenians to rebuild the Acropolis instead of leaving it in ruin as a reminder of the price of war. (Sayre 58) From the rebuilding of Acropolis came the Golden Age. Pericles thought that by rebuilding the Acropolis, it could stand as a memorial to the Persian War and to Athena, the patron of the Athenian people. Phidias was a sculptor whom Pericles placed in charge of the sculptural program for the new buildings of Acropolis. Pericles very much wanted Athens to be the leading example for Greece. He was very proud of the men who had fallen in their battles of the Peloponnesian War, even writing a speech for them.

The Athenians used the Delian League to enhance their prestige. They bettered themselves by strengthening their army and weakened other by taking resources for them. The Delian League gave Athens

After the acropolis site was completely destroyed, Athenian society became unstable as a result of the numerous wars Athens had suffered from. However, at this time Athens was beginning to become a dominant city and Pericles wanted to make sure he represented Athens in this way. Pericles knew his only choice was to rebuild the acropolis. This was a way for Pericles to show the local Athenians that the Acropolis is about honouring the gods and also allows for athenians to embrace their religion. He believed that by doing this it would also help strengthen the Athenian democracy. After its rebuilding the Acropolis became extremely religious. Pericles wanted to help restore faith and religion back into society and turn Athens back to how it orignally

First off, Pericles’s methods of handling foreign policy were unusual, but effective. If Pericles had the choice between war, or peace, he would generally pick war. This is shown to be true because at a certain point during his rule their was two wars at once. This shows that he would rather conquer cities than be at peace with them. He was a very smart and strategic man which allowed him to save many lives on the battlefield.

In 477 BC the Delian League was formed as an alliance between Greeks to pay for war expenses (Pericles). The treasury was based in Athens and all members pledged an “eternal alliance under Athenian leadership (Pericles). An audit was agreed upon of each cities financial situation ensuring that each paid their fair share (Pericles). It was further decided that Athens would provide the commander of the Delian League and that person would

Pericles wanted Athens to be primus inter pares status among the Greek City-Sates and have its continued dominance over the Delian League to be stabilized its alliance. The foundation upon which the Delian League was transformed into the Athenian Hegemony is generally considered to have been laid well before Pericles' time; he is just the one to finalize the process. The act that was the final nail in the Delian League’s coffin occurred in 454 BCE when the treasury of the alliance was from transferred the island Delos to Athens. There are two motives that are the most likely ones behind this change of location. The first was Athens' defeat in Egypt, which challenged Ahtenian control of the Aegean and encouraged a number of allies, such as

1. Think about what you know about the Spartans and the Athenians. How is Pericles comparing the Spartans to the Athenians, to defend the argument that Athens is better?

I believe Athens being so addicted to power, now wanted to use their position in the league to ensure it never again slipped from their grasp. They intimidated the other member states and ensured military repercussions for any that dared to withdraw. The Delian league ceased to be a coalition as Athens alienated the other states as subjects instead of members. The Athenians made drastic adjustments to the leagues original mode of operation by moving all the funds closer to their land. They appeared almost inseparable from a dictator paranoid about losing

Each of the city-states was well protected from external aggressions until Athens who was the leader of the league employed a tyrannical reign on members of the league. In describing the scenario, Brand (n.d.) emphasized that “As the years went by, however, Athens began treating other city states in the League less as allies and more as subjects” (p. 28). In other words, Athens had a hidden agenda from the inception of the league but that did not make the Delian League less successful as its formative mission was accomplished- rebuff the Persian Empire and reclaim all Persian seized Greek states “The League's main goals were to liberate the Ionian Greeks from Persian rule and to safeguard the islands in the Aegean from further Persian aggression” (The Flow of History, n.d., para 3). All reclaimed states eventually joined the league and increased the strength of the Delian league as a formidable fighting force and prosperous

Athens was a major civilization located in ancient Greece. Athens was located on the ocean, which

He talks of the Athenian perspective of the military training as compared to that of the Spartans. Stating Athenians are more free, educated and happy and that they choose to serve in the military which is different from the Spartans. As we learned from reading our textbook, the Athenian education allowed their men to choose a job in the arts or sciences rather than just serve in the army or navy. Pericles states that even with the different perspective on military training, the Athenian army was still as effective as their enemies. Which is accurate as the Athenians were far better in their ability to fight at sea than any other city-state. Additionally, Pericles addresses the Athenian culture stating “We cultivate refinement without extravagance and knowledge without effeminacy; wealth we employ more for use than for show, and place the real disgrace of poverty not in owning to the fact but in declining the struggle against it” (Halsall). In this statement, Pericles is telling the Athenian people that regardless of wealth, everyone is included and the poor are not discriminated against but given assistance to change their outcome. Which is true as Athenians could participate in the judicial process regardless of their

This was supposed to be about the fallen soldiers, not their society and achievements. There were a lot of casualties during this war, so Pericles was supposed to be honoring those of the fallen. He seemed so prideful of the city and their accomplishments he forgot what he was actually there for. There is nothing written about the fallen soldiers until the last and final paragraph. The rest of it talks about military power, bravery of the Athenians, and why they should be proud to be

Being born into one of the most leading families in Athens, Pericles was brought up in a very well off family. His father Xanthippus (meaning yellow horse) was known for his heroism in the Persian War also as a wealthy politician, which would have helped stem Pericles interested in politics from a young age having his father so heavily involved in politics. His mother, Agariste was from a culturally powerful Alcmaeondiae family which was also very wealthy. Due to his family’s wealth they could afford to educate Pericles and feed his growing interest in education, in fields such as Politics and Philosophy and music. Because of his high education he is known as one of the