Circa 495-429 B.C.E.
Athenian Statesman

Family Influence. Combining the legislative ability of Solon, the economic understanding of Peisistratus, the political instincts of Cleisthenes, and the military genius of Themistocles, Pericles was the consummate politician of Athens's democracy. He was an Alcmaeonid, a member of one of Athens's most prestigious, and controversial, families. (Some claimed the Alcmaeonids were cursed from their ancestors' involvement in the massacre of the followers of the conspirator Cylon in 632 B.C.E.) His father, Xanthippus, played an important role in Greece's defense against the Persians but was overshadowed by Themistocles, who had once engineered his ostracism.

Man of the People. Pericles began his political career by joining in the prosecution of the statesman and general Cimon, but after Ephialtes' assassination in 462 B.C.E., he assumed the leadership role of the democratic faction in Athens. He championed the rights of the...