356–323 BCPella, Macedonia
King of Macedon at twenty, Alexander conquered the Persian Empire and marched as far as India without losing a battle, opening the Hellenistic age.
Read the profile“Our constitution is called a democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people.”
Life
Pericles came from one of the most distinguished families in Athens and was taught by philosophers, including Anaxagoras. From the 460s BC he rose to prominence as a champion of popular democracy, and he was elected general, one of the ten strategoi, almost every year from 443 BC until his death. His calm, dignified manner and powerful speeches earned him the nickname the Olympian.
The Golden Age
Under his leadership Athens used the wealth of the Delian League to rebuild the temples destroyed by the Persians, including the Parthenon, the Propylaea and the great statue of Athena by his friend Phidias. He introduced pay for jurors, which allowed poorer citizens to take part in public life, and made Athens the cultural centre of Greece.
War and plague
Pericles believed war with Sparta was inevitable. His strategy was to bring the people of Attica inside the city walls and rely on the navy, avoiding battle with Sparta’s army on land. But in 430 BC a terrible plague broke out in the crowded city, killing perhaps a quarter of the population. Pericles himself died of it in 429 BC, leaving Athens without its steadiest leader.
Keep exploring
More in Politics & War
- c. 540–480 BCSparta
The Spartan king who led a small Greek force against the vast Persian army of Xerxes at Thermopylae and died fighting to the last.
Read the profile - c. 524–459 BCAthens
The far-sighted Athenian who built the fleet that saved Greece and masterminded the victory over Persia at Salamis.
Read the profile
