4.4 The Age of Pericles

1. 4.4 The Age of Pericles

2. Athens joined forces with other city-states to form the Delian League. • The Delian League promised to defend its members against the Persians. • Athens eventually gained control of the Delian League.

3. The Athenian Empire • Athens had a direct democracy. • In a direct democracy, people vote firsthand on laws and policies. • What made this work in Athens was that ancient Athens was so small in numbers. • Usually fewer than 6,000 people attended the meetings, which were held every ten days. • Ten officials known as generals carried out the assembly’s laws and policies.

4. In a representative democracy, people select smaller groups to vote on behalf of the people.

7. The Achievements of Pericles • A general named Pericles led Athens for more than 30 years. • He promoted democracy by including more people in the government. • The age of Pericles was a time of creativity and learning. • Pericles built temples and statues in the city after the destruction of the Persian Wars.

8. He also supported artists, writers, architects, and philosophers. • Philosophers are people who ponder questions about life.

9. Daily Life in Athens

10. Athenian farmers grew grain, vegetables, fruit, olives, and grapes. • Because there was little farmland, Athens had to import grain from other places. • Herders raised sheep and goats for wool, milk, and cheese. • Athens became the trading center of the Greek world.

11. Merchants traded pottery, jewelry, leather goods, and other products. • Athenian men worked in the morning and exercised or attended assembly meetings in the evening. • Athenian women were responsible for caring for their children and their households. • Poor women might work in the fields or sell goods.

12. Athenian women had no political rights and could not own property. • Aspasia was a well-educated woman who influenced Plato and Pericles.. • Although she could not vote or hold office, she was influential in politics.

13. The Peloponnesian War • Other city-states along with Sparta became suspicious of Athens. • These city-states joined together against Athens. • The war that broke out is known as the Peloponnesian War. • Pericles’s funeral oration reminded Athenians about democracy and gave them courage to continue fighting.

14. Athenians outside the city walls moved inside the city to protect themselves. • In the second year of the war, a disease killed more than one-third of the people inside Athens’ walls, including Pericles. • Sparta made a deal with the Persians and built a navy and attacked Athens. They destroyed the Athenian fleet. • Athens surrendered and Sparta tore down the city walls.