Pericles

an A then i an of a noble family, son of Xanthippus and Agariste, He, by attending the lectures of Damon, Zeno, and Anaxagoras, became a commander, statesman, and an orator. He rendered himself popular by opposing Cimon, the favourite of the nobility, and to remove every obstacle which stood in the way of his ambition, he le ened the dignity of the court of the Areopagus, He also attacked Cimon, and caused him to be banished by the ostracism. "Thucydides also, who had succeeded Cimon, shared the same fate, and Pericles remained for 15 years the absolute sovereign of the republic. Pericles did not enrich himself, but the prosperity of Athens was the object of his administration. He made war against the Lacedzmonians, and restored the temple of Delphi to the care of the Phocians. He obtained a victory over the Sicyonians near Nemza, and waged a succe ful war against the inhabitants of Samos at the request of his favourite mistre Aspasia. (See As past a.) The Peloponnesian war was fomented by his ambitious views (see PELOPONNESIACUM BELLUM), and when he had warmly represented the flourishing state of his country, the A then i ans undertook a war against the most powerful republics of Greece, which was concluded by ‘the destruction of their empire, and the demolition of their walls. ‘The A then i ans were at first succe ful, but an unfortunate expedition raised clamours against Pericles, and he was condemned to pay fifty talents, but he was again restored to all his honours, and if po ible invested-with more authority than before. The dreadful pestilence, however, which had diminished the number of his family, proved fatal to him, and about 420 years before Christ, in his 70th year, he fell a sacrifice to that terrie ble malady, which robbed Athens of so. many citizens. Pericles was for 40 years at the head of the administration, 25 years with others, and 15alone. As he was expiring, and seemingly sensele , his friends that stood around his bed expatiated with warmth on the most glorious actions of his life, and the victories which he had won, when he suddenly interrupted their. tears and conversation, by saying that in men-. tioning the exploits that he had achieved, and which were common to him with all generals, they had forgot to mention a circumstance which reflected far greater glory upon him 4s a minister, a general, and above all as a man. The A then i ans were so pleased with his eloquence that they compared it to thunder and lightning, and as to another father of the gods, they gave him the sirname of Olympian. However great and venerable his character may be, his vicious partiality for the celebrated courtezan Aspasia justly subjected him to the ridicule and the censure of his fellow citizens. 208