Pericles of Athens: Democracy and Empire

Abstract

For three decades at the end of the fifth century BC, Greece was plunged into war. Athens and its growing empire found itself facing the full might of Sparta. The challenge facing Pericles and the Athenian democrats around him was unique. They found themselves in a new position, not now the defenders of Greek liberty against Persian imperial oppression, but the masters of their own economic empire. The Delian league was theirs, and their political and military system relied now upon it, with no chance of mercy or forgiveness to those unwilling to pay or to provide. The choices they faced were stark, either to ignore and allow challenges to their rule or react with military force and turn Sparta and her allies against them. The way in which Pericles pursues his defensive policy ultimately undermined Athenian hegemony, but in reality it is difficult to see how else he could have reacted. His response to Sparta’s militaristic threat and how he guided (and controlled) the Athenian people are instructive in how ancient leadership worked and how similar problems still face the leaders of today.