Pericles softened his proposals by vowing that whatever Athens took from the Parthenon would replace it, probably when the war was won. But when that war turned into a desperate blow long after Pericle died, « credit » turned into a gift. Faced with catastrophe and impending defeat, Athens used the temple`s treasury and never restored it – although it paid a small interest rate. But things weren`t always as rosy as they were. Much of the money used to build the Parthenon was plundered from the Delian League treasury, less than a quarter of the population had political rights, slaves were often used instead of machines because they were cheaper, and war with Sparta was imminent. The upper class ran the government, and many of the democratic reforms, such as jury pay, were attempts to appease the lower classes with social benefits and keep them in place. Only about 250,000 people live in the plains of Attica. The population of the city-state of Athens was later reduced from about 80,000 to 21,000 by the Peloponnesian Wars and the plague. During the Golden Age, Athenian military and foreign affairs were mainly entrusted to the ten generals elected each year by the ten tribes of citizens on whom to rely, rather than to judges of varying quality elected by lot under democracy. These strategists were tasked with tasks, including planning military expeditions, hosting envoys from other states, and directing diplomatic affairs. During the period of Ephialtes` rise as leader of the democratic faction, Pericles was his deputy. When Ephialtes was assassinated for overthrowing the elite council of Aeropagus, Pericles entered and was elected in 445 BC.
He held a position he held until his death in 429 BC. A.D., again by election of the Athenian assembly. « Mining such holy relics was usually a heinous crime, and `temple thieves` was about the worst thing an ancient Greek could call. But financial crises have an opportunity to redefine the sacred and the profane, as modern Europe has learned. This also applies to long wars, which often lead to financial crises – just as the Athens and Spartan war began the heyday of Pericles in 431 BC. In his domestic politics, Pericles more fully realized Ephialtes` project of making the Athenian people truly autonomous. Its most important innovation was the introduction of the payment of the public treasury for the civil service. Most notably, he paid the jury 1 tp 2 obols per day, probably in 451.
Similarly, he created a « theoreikon fund » that allowed poor citizens to participate in the dramatic performances of the Vionysia. We can also give him the salary of 3 obols that soldiers received during the Peloponnesian War in addition to the long-established provision money. The archons and members of the ball, who certainly received remuneration in 411, as well as some minor magistrates, may have been paid for the first time by Pericles. With regard to this wage system, it is worth mentioning a somewhat reactionary law passed by Pericles in 451, which made Athenian ancestry on both sides an express condition for maintaining the right to vote and thus the right to sit on paid jurors. The degree of openness of the Archonium to the third and (practically) fourth class of citizens (the Zeugitae and the Thetes) may also be due to pericles; The date is now known to be 457 BC. George Grote asserted in his History of Greece (1846-1856) that « Athenian democracy was neither the tyranny of the poor nor the rule of the mob. » He argued that only if they gave every citizen the right to vote would people ensure that the state was run in the public interest. Pericles initiated what is considered a « radical democracy ». This meant that ordinary Athenian citizens were paid by the state to participate in public affairs.
In the past, only the rich could afford to get involved in politics. Pericles approved remuneration for jury service and for soldiers, sailors, and administrators. This development changed the character of Athenian democracy and society; The lower-class Athenians (called Thetes) could now participate as fully as the citizens owning property. As a well-known orator, Pericles declared in his famous eulogy that the citizens of Athens « regard a man who is not interested in public affairs not as a harmless personage, but as a useless person. » Like Pericles` father, Xanthippus, Cimon was recalled to Athens in early 451 BC. AD to help in the fight against the Persians. Pericles accepted his rival`s return only on condition that Cimon be sent to fight Persia at sea far from Athens, where Pericles` reign would not be threatened. Cimon helped negotiate peace with Sparta in 446 BC. AD, what has been optimistically called « thirty years of peace. » Solon (594 BC), Cleisthenes (508-07 BC) and Ephialtes (462 BC). A.D.) contributed to the development of Athenian democracy. Cleisthenes broke the unlimited power of the nobility by dividing citizens into ten groups based on their place of residence rather than their wealth. [5] The most enduring democratic leader was Pericles.
After his death, Athenian democracy was briefly interrupted twice by oligarchic revolutions towards the end of the Peloponnesian War. It was slightly modified after being restored under Eucleide; The most detailed reports on the system refer to this fourth-century modification rather than the Periclean system. Democracy was suppressed by the Macedonians in 322 BC. Athenian institutions were later revived, but one wonders how close they were to true democracy. As for me, if you`re angry with me, you`re angry with someone who I think has at least as much ability as anyone else to see what should be done and explain what they see, someone who loves their city and someone who is above the influence of money. A man who has the knowledge but does not have the power to express it clearly is no better off than if he had had no idea. A man who has both qualities but no patriotism could hardly speak for his own people as he should. And even if he is patriotic but unable to resist a bribe, this mistake alone will expose everything to the risk of being bought and sold. So if at the time you took my advice and went to war, you thought that my record in terms of these qualities was even slightly better than that of others, then it is certainly completely unreasonable now that I should be accused of wrongdoing. Ancient Greece websites: Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Greece sourcebooks.fordham.edu; Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Hellenistic World sourcebooks.fordham.edu; BBC Ancient Greeks bbc.co.uk/history/; Canadian Museum of historymuseum.ca History; Perseus Project – Tufts University; perseus.tufts.edu; Gutenberg.org gutenberg.org; British Museum ancientgreece.co.uk; Greek History Illustrated, Dr.