Pericles: A Sourcebook and Reader

Thucydides’ Portrait of Pericles I: Prelude to War

Thucydides’ Portrait of Pericles I Prelude to War The historian Thucydides provides us with our only extensive portrait of Pericles by a contemporary. He portrays him as the principal leader of the Athenians at the outset of the war between the Athenians and the Spartans. The conflict eventually lasted for twenty-seven years, from 431 to 404 b.c.; but Pericles died from the plague in August or September of 429, the third year of the war. He was about sixty-five years old. Our only portrait , then, is of him in the last three years of his life. Thucydides presents him at the height of his influence as a leader. Thucydides was born at the latest by 454 b.c., for he informs us (5.26.5) that he lived through the entire Peloponnesian War and was old enough to exercise his own critical judgment when the war started in 431. In addition, he served as general in the campaign in Thrace during 424. We know that the minimum age in Athens to be eligible to serve as a general was thirty. He must, 45 therefore, have been at least thirty years of age at the time. During this campaign, he failed to prevent Amphipolis (see map 2) from being taken by Brasidas, the brilliant Spartan commander, and as a result was exiled for twenty years (5.26.5), until the end of the war, when he returned home. It is probably owing to this failure that we have his history at all. Thucydides’ status as an exile allowed him to interview participants on both sides as the war continued . He composed some of his history in exile and some in Athens after the war was over. He died, it seems, about 400 b.c. The portrait that he presents is conveyed largely by the three speeches that he gives to Pericles at crucial points in the narrative of books 1 and 2. Before Pericles’ first extended speech at the end of book 1, a speech that showcases him as the leading force behind Athenian policy, Thucydides includes scattered mentions of him by name in the pentecontaetia, his account of events that took place in the fifty years between the Persian Wars and the present war (1.89–118.2). At section 111 he mentions a force of 1,000 with Pericles as general that attacked and defeated the Sicyonians. This operation occurred about 455. At 114 he details how Pericles led troops across to the island of Euboea to put down a revolt only to learn that Megara had revolted at his back and the Peloponnesians were about to invade (see map 1).1 Pericles returned, dealt with the invading Peloponnesians, and then came back to bring Euboea under Athenian control. These events took place during 446. The account is matter of fact, understated, but one can easily sense that Pericles handled most efficiently a strategic situation fraught with peril for the Athenians. 46 / Thucydides: Prelude to War 1. The term Peloponnesians refers to the Spartans and their allies, who came primarily from the Peloponnese, the southern part of Greece. Next, in sections 115–117 Thucydides recounts the revolt of the island of Samos (see map 2) that occurred in 440 and was suppressed in 439. Samos had a powerful fleet and was in consequence one of the most important members of the Athenian empire. Pericles’ role is stressed in sections 116 and 117. He was one of the commanders in the major naval engagement. He then took a fleet of sixty ships out to intercept a Phoenician force that was reported to be approaching.2 That report proved to be false. In his absence the Samians surprised the Athenians, broke the Athenian blockade, and regained control of the sea. When Pericles returned, he reestablished the blockade, which brought the Samians to heel. Again, if we can trust Thucydides’ account, Pericles played a crucial role in the eventual success of the entire enterprise. With these brief mentions Thucydides depicts a Pericles who has been a successful military leader in three different campaigns—against the Sicyonians, allies of Corinth and Sparta; against the Euboeans, very important neighboring Athenian allies , and against the Samians, a major naval power and critically important member of Athens’ naval alliance. During the course of the second campaign, he also dealt with a Peloponnesian invasion of Attica, keeping the incursion...