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biography
pronunciation:
[perikleez]
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (c.495–429 BC)
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| biography:
| General and statesman, of the aristocratic Alcmaeonid family, who presided over the ‘Golden Age’ of Athens, and was virtually its uncrowned king (443–429 BC). Politically a radical, he helped push through the constitutional reforms that brought about full Athenian democracy (462–461 BC). A staunch opponent of Sparta, it was his unremitting hostility to her and her allies that brought about the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC). Renowned for his oratory, his ‘Funeral Speech’ (431/430 BC), as recorded by Thucydides, is an impassioned apologia for Athens' democratic principles and system of government. |
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