Editing Pericles (section)

== Political career until 431 BC ==
=== Entering politics ===
[[File:Pericles.jpg|thumb|upright|Bust of Pericles, Roman copy of a Greek original, [[British Museum]]]]
In the spring of 472 BC, Pericles presented ''[[The Persians]]'' of [[Aeschylus]] at the [[Greater Dionysia]] as a [[Liturgy (ancient Greece)|liturgy]], demonstrating that he was one of the wealthier men of Athens.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Pericles|encyclopedia=Oxford Classical Dictionary|year=1996}}</ref> Simon Hornblower has argued that Pericles' selection of this play, which presents a nostalgic picture of [[Themistocles]]' famous victory at [[Battle of Salamis|Salamis]], shows that the young politician was supporting Themistocles against his political opponent [[Cimon]], whose faction succeeded in having Themistocles ostracized shortly afterward.<ref>S. Hornblower, ''The Greek World, 479–323 BC'', 33–34</ref>

Plutarch says that Pericles stood first among the Athenians for forty years.<ref name="Pl6">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#16|XVI]]</ref> If this was so, Pericles must have taken up a position of leadership by the early 460s BC, which would be in his early or mid-thirties. Throughout these years he endeavored to protect his privacy and to present himself as a model for his fellow citizens. For example, he would often avoid banquets, trying to be frugal.<ref name="Pl7-9">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#7|VII]]</ref><ref name = "Plutarch IX">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#9|IX]]</ref>

In 463 BC, Pericles was the leading prosecutor of Cimon, the leader of the conservative faction who was accused of neglecting Athens' vital interests in [[Macedon]].<ref name="Ar27">Aristotle, ''Constitution of Athens'', {{Athpol|27}}</ref> Although Cimon was acquitted, this confrontation proved that Pericles' major political opponent was vulnerable.<ref name="Cimon">Plutarch, ''Cimon'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0181:text=Cim.:chapter=15:section=1/  XV]</ref>

=== Ostracizing Cimon ===
Around 461 BC, the leadership of the democratic party decided it was time to take aim at the [[Areopagus]], a traditional council controlled by the Athenian aristocracy, which had once been the most powerful body in the state.<ref name="For">Fornara-Samons, ''Athens from Cleisthenes to Pericles'', [http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft2p30058m&chunk.id=d0e2016&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e2016&brand=eschol/ 24–25]</ref> The leader of the party and mentor of Pericles, [[Ephialtes of Athens|Ephialtes]], proposed a reduction of the Areopagus' powers. The [[Ecclesia (ancient Athens)|Ecclesia]] (the Athenian Assembly) adopted Ephialtes' proposal without opposition.<ref name="Plutarch IX"/> This reform signaled the beginning of a new era of "radical democracy".<ref name="For" />

The democratic party gradually became dominant in Athenian politics, and Pericles seemed willing to follow a populist policy to cajole the public. According to [[Aristotle]], Pericles' stance can be explained by the fact that his principal political opponent, Cimon, was both rich and generous, and was able to gain public favor by lavishly handing out portions of his sizable personal fortune.<ref name="Ar27"/> The historian Loren J. Samons II argues, however, that Pericles had enough resources to make a political mark by private means, had he so chosen.<ref name="Samons80">L.J. Samons, ''What's Wrong with Democracy?'', 80</ref>

In 461 BC, Pericles achieved the political elimination of this opponent using [[ostracism]]. The accusation was that Cimon betrayed his city by aiding [[Sparta]].<ref name="Cim16">Plutarch, ''Cimon'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plut%2e+Cim%2e+16%2e2/ XVI]</ref>

After Cimon's ostracism, Pericles continued to promote a populist social policy.<ref name="Plutarch IX"/> He first proposed a decree that permitted the poor to watch theatrical plays without paying, with the state covering the cost of their admission. With other decrees he lowered the property requirement for the [[archon]]ship in 458–457 BC and bestowed generous wages on all citizens who served as jurymen in the [[Heliaia]] (the supreme court of Athens) some time just after 454&nbsp;BC.<ref name="Fornara2">Fornara-Samons, ''Athens from Cleisthenes to Pericles'', [http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft2p30058m&chunk.id=d0e2642&toc.id=&brand=eschol/ 67–73]</ref> His most controversial measure, however, was a law of 451 BC limiting Athenian citizenship to those of Athenian parentage on both sides.<ref name="Martin">R. Martin, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0009%3Ahead%3D%23142/ An Overview of Classical Greek History]</ref>

{{rquote|right|Rather, the admiration of the present and succeeding ages will be ours, since we have not left our power without witness, but have shown it by mighty proofs; and far from needing a Homer for our panegyrist, or other of his craft whose verses might charm for the moment only for the impression which they gave to melt at the touch of fact, we have forced every sea and land to be the highway of our daring, and everywhere, whether for evil or for good, have left imperishable monuments behind us.|[[Thucydides]], ''[[Pericles' Funeral Oration]]''<ref>[http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0200&layout=&loc=2.41 II, 41]</ref>{{efn-lg|name="Thucydides speeches"}}}}

Such measures impelled Pericles' critics to hold him responsible for the gradual degeneration of the Athenian democracy. The 19th century Greek historian [[Constantine Paparrigopoulos]], argued that Pericles sought for the expansion and stabilization of all democratic institutions.<ref name="Papar">K. Paparrigopoulos, ''History of the Greek Nation'', Ab, 145</ref> Accordingly, he enacted legislation granting the lower classes access to the political system and the public offices, from which they had previously been barred.<ref name="ConP">Aristotle, ''Constitution of Athens'', {{Athpol|24}} and ''Politics'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0058:book=2:section=1274a 1274a]</ref>

According to Samons, Pericles believed that it was necessary to raise the ''[[Deme|demos]]'', in which he saw an untapped source of Athenian power and the crucial element of Athenian military dominance.<ref name="Samons65">L.J. Samons, ''What's Wrong with Democracy?'', 65</ref> (The fleet, backbone of Athenian power since the days of Themistocles, was manned almost entirely by members of the lower classes).<ref name="Fine377-378">Fine, ''The Ancient Greeks'', 377–378</ref>

Cimon, in contrast, apparently believed that no further free space for democratic evolution existed. He was certain that democracy had reached its peak and Pericles' reforms were leading to the stalemate of populism. According to Paparrigopoulos, history vindicated Cimon, because Athens, after Pericles' death, sank into the abyss of political turmoil and [[demagogy]]. Paparrigopoulos maintained that an unprecedented regression descended upon the city, whose glory perished as a result of Pericles' populist policies.<ref name="Papar" />

According to another historian, Justin Daniel King, radical democracy benefited people individually, but harmed the state.<ref name="King24">J.D. King, {{cite web|url=http://www.vu.union.edu/~kingj/classics.pdf |title=Athenian Democracy and Empire |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060921155603/http://www.vu.union.edu/~kingj/classics.pdf |archive-date=21 September 2006 }}&nbsp;{{small|(135&nbsp;KB)}}, 24–25</ref> In contrast, [[Donald Kagan]] asserted that the democratic measures Pericles put into effect provided the basis for an unassailable political strength.<ref name="Out79">D. Kagan, ''The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War'', 79</ref> After all, Cimon finally accepted the new democracy and did not oppose the citizenship law, after he returned from exile in 451&nbsp;BC.<ref name="Kagan135-136">D. Kagan, ''The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War'', 135–136</ref>

=== Leading Athens ===
Ephialtes' murder in 461 BC paved the way for Pericles to consolidate his authority.{{efn-lg|According to Aristotle, Aristodicus of Tanagra killed Ephialtes.<ref name="ArCon25">Aristotle, ''Constitution of Athens'', {{Athpol|25}}</ref> Plutarch cites an Idomeneus as saying that Pericles killed Ephialtes, but does not believe him&nbsp;– he finds it to be out of character for Pericles.<ref name="P10" />}} Without opposition after the expulsion of Cimon, the unchallengeable leader of the democratic party became the unchallengeable ruler of Athens. He remained in power until his death in 429&nbsp;BC.

==== First Peloponnesian War ====
{{Main|First Peloponnesian War}}
[[Image:1868 Lawrence Alma-Tadema - Phidias Showing the Frieze of the Parthenon to his Friends.jpg|thumb|300px|''Phidias Showing the Frieze of the Parthenon to Pericles, Aspasia, Alcibiades and Friends'', by Sir [[Lawrence Alma-Tadema]], 1868, [[Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery]]]]

Pericles made his first military excursions during the First Peloponnesian War, which was caused in part by Athens' alliance with [[Megara]] and [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]] and the subsequent reaction of Sparta. In 454 BC he attacked [[Sicyon]] and [[Acarnania]].<ref name="Th111">Thucydides, [[s:History of the Peloponnesian War/Book 1#1:111|1.111]]</ref> He then unsuccessfully tried to conquer Oeniadea on the [[Corinthian gulf]], before returning to Athens.<ref name="Rhodes44">P.J. Rhodes, ''A History of the Classical Greek World'', 44</ref> In 451 BC, Cimon returned from exile and negotiated a five years' truce with Sparta after a proposal of Pericles, an event which indicates a shift in Pericles' political strategy.<ref name="Cimon17">Plutarch, ''Cimon'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0182&layout=&loc=Cim.+17.1 XVII]</ref> Pericles may have realized the importance of Cimon's contribution during the ongoing conflicts against the Peloponnesians and the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persians]]. Anthony J. Podlecki argues, however, that Pericles' alleged change of position was invented by ancient writers to support "a tendentious view of Pericles' shiftiness".<ref name="Podlecki44">A.J. Podlecki, ''Perikles and his Circle'', 44</ref>

Plutarch states that Cimon struck a power-sharing deal with his opponents, according to which Pericles would carry through the interior affairs and Cimon would be the leader of the Athenian army, campaigning abroad.<ref name="P10">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#10|X]]</ref> If it were actually made, this bargain would constitute a concession on Pericles' part that he was not a great strategist. Kagan's view is that Cimon adapted himself to the new conditions and promoted a political marriage between Periclean liberals and Cimonian conservatives.<ref name=Kagan135-136 />

In the mid-450s the Athenians launched an unsuccessful attempt to aid an Egyptian revolt against Persia, which led to a prolonged siege of a Persian fortress in the [[Nile]] Delta. The campaign culminated in disaster; the besieging force was defeated and destroyed.<ref name="Libourel615">J. M. Libourel, ''The Athenian Disaster in Egypt'', 605–615</ref> In 451–450 BC the Athenians sent troops to [[Cyprus]]. Cimon defeated the Persians in the [[Battle of Salamis (in Cyprus)|Battle of Salamis-in-Cyprus]], but died of disease in 449&nbsp;BC. Pericles is said to have initiated both expeditions in Egypt and Cyprus,<ref name="Aird52">H. Aird, ''Pericles: The Rise and Fall of Athenian Democracy'', 52</ref> although some researchers, such as [[Karl Julius Beloch]], argue that the dispatch of such a great fleet conforms with the spirit of Cimon's policy.<ref name="Beloch205">K.J. Beloch, ''Griechische Geschichte'', II, 205</ref>

Complicating the account of this period is the issue of the [[Peace of Callias]], which allegedly ended hostilities between the Greeks and the Persians. The very existence of the treaty is hotly disputed, and its particulars and negotiation are ambiguous.<ref name="Fine359-361">J. Fine, ''The Ancient Greeks'', 359–361.</ref> Ernst Badian believes that a peace between Athens and Persia was first ratified in 463 BC (making the Athenian interventions in Egypt and Cyprus violations of the peace), and renegotiated at the conclusion of the campaign in Cyprus, taking force again by 449–448&nbsp;BC.<ref name="Badian">E. Badian, ''The Peace of Callias'', 1–39.</ref>

John Fine, in contrast, suggests that the first peace between Athens and Persia was concluded in 450–449&nbsp;BC, due to Pericles' calculation that ongoing conflict with Persia was undermining Athens' ability to spread its influence in Greece and the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]].<ref name="Fine359-361" /> Kagan believes that Pericles used [[Callias]], a brother-in-law of Cimon, as a symbol of unity and employed him several times to negotiate important agreements.<ref name="Out108">D. Kagan, ''The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War'', 108.</ref>

In the spring of 449 BC, Pericles proposed the Congress Decree, which led to a meeting ("Congress") of all Greek states to consider the question of rebuilding the temples destroyed by the Persians. The Congress failed because of Sparta's stance, but Pericles' intentions remain unclear.<ref name="Pl17">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#17|XVII]]</ref> Some historians think that he wanted to prompt a confederation with the participation of all the Greek cities; others think he wanted to assert Athenian pre-eminence.<ref name="Wade212">Wade-Grey, ''The Question of Tribute in 449/8 B.C.'', 212–229.</ref> According to the historian Terry Buckley the objective of the Congress Decree was a new mandate for the [[Delian League]] and for the collection of "phoros" (taxes).<ref name="Buckley">T. Buckley, ''Aspects of Greek History 750–323 BC'', 206.</ref>

{{rquote|right|Remember, too, that if your country has the greatest name in all the world, it is because she never bent before disaster; because she has expended more life and effort in war than any other city, and has won for herself a power greater than any hitherto known, the memory of which will descend to the latest posterity.|[[Thucydides]], ''Pericles' Third Oration''<ref>[http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0200&layout=&loc=2.64 II, 64]</ref>{{efn-lg|name="Thucydides speeches"}}}}

During the [[Second Sacred War]] Pericles led the Athenian army against [[Delphi]] and reinstated [[Phocis (ancient region)|Phocis]] in its sovereign rights on the [[oracle]].<ref name="ThPl112">Thucydides, [[s:History of the Peloponnesian War/Book 1#1:112|1.112]] and Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#21|XXI]]</ref> In 447 BC Pericles engaged in his most admired excursion, the expulsion of barbarians from the Thracian peninsula of [[Gallipoli]], to establish Athenian colonists in the region.<ref name="Br" /><ref name="Pl19">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#19|XIX]]</ref> At this time, however, Athens was seriously challenged by a number of revolts among its subjects. In 447 BC the oligarchs of [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]] conspired against the democratic faction. The Athenians demanded their immediate surrender, but after the [[Battle of Coronea (447 BC)|Battle of Coronea]], Pericles was forced to concede the loss of Boeotia to recover the prisoners taken in that battle.<ref name="Helios" /> With Boeotia in hostile hands, Phocis and Locris became untenable and quickly fell under the control of hostile oligarchs.<ref name="Fine368-369">Fine, ''The Ancient Greeks'', 368–369.</ref>

In 446 BC, a more dangerous uprising erupted. [[Euboea]] and [[Megara]] revolted. Pericles crossed over to Euboea with his troops, but was forced to return when the Spartan army invaded [[Attica]]. Through bribery and negotiations, Pericles defused the imminent threat, and the Spartans returned home.<ref name="ThAr">Thucydides, [[s:History of the Peloponnesian War/Book 2#2:21|2.21]] and Aristophanes, ''The Acharnians'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0023;query=card%3D%2340;layout=;loc=836 832]</ref> When Pericles was later audited for the handling of public money, an expenditure of 10 [[Greek talent|talents]] was not sufficiently justified, since the official documents just referred that the money was spent for a "very serious purpose". Nonetheless, the "serious purpose" (namely the bribery) was so obvious to the auditors that they approved the expenditure without official meddling and without even investigating the mystery.<ref name="P23">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#23|XXIII]]</ref>

After the Spartan threat had been removed, Pericles crossed back to Euboea to crush the revolt there. He then punished the landowners of [[Chalcis]], who lost their properties. The residents of [[Oreus|Histiaea]], meanwhile, who had butchered the crew of an Athenian [[trireme]], were uprooted and replaced by 2,000 Athenian settlers.<ref name="P23" /> The crisis was brought to an official end by the [[Thirty Years' Peace]] (winter of 446–445&nbsp;BC), in which Athens relinquished most of the possessions and interests on the Greek mainland which it had acquired since 460&nbsp;BC, and both Athens and Sparta agreed not to attempt to win over the other state's allies.<ref name="Fine368-369" />

==== Final battle with the conservatives ====
In 444 BC, the conservative and the democratic factions confronted each other in a fierce struggle. The ambitious new leader of the conservatives, [[Thucydides (politician)|Thucydides]] (not to be confused with the historian of the same name), accused Pericles of profligacy, criticizing the way he spent the money for the ongoing building plan. Thucydides initially managed to incite the passions of the ecclesia regarding these charges in his favor. However, when Pericles took the floor, his resolute arguments put Thucydides and the conservatives firmly on the defensive. Finally, Pericles proposed to reimburse the city for all questionable expenses from his private property, with the proviso that he would make the inscriptions of dedication in his own name.<ref name="Pl4">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#14|XIV]]</ref> His stance was greeted with applause, and Thucydides was soundly, if unexpectedly, defeated. In 442&nbsp;BC, the Athenian public voted to [[Ostracism|ostracize]] Thucydides from the city for 10 years and Pericles was once again the unchallenged ruler of the Athenian political arena.<ref name="Pl4" />

==== Athens' rule over its alliance ====
[[Image:Perikles altes Museum.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Bust of Pericles after Kresilas, [[Altes Museum]], Berlin]]
Pericles wanted to stabilize Athens' dominance over its alliance and to enforce its pre-eminence in Greece. The process by which the Delian League transformed into an Athenian empire is generally considered to have begun well before Pericles' time,<ref name="Buckley196">T. Buckley, ''Aspects of Greek History 750–323 BC'', 196.</ref> as various allies in the league chose to pay tribute to Athens instead of manning ships for the league's fleet, but the transformation was speeded and brought to its conclusion by Pericles.<ref name="Butler195">H. Butler, ''The Story of Athens'', 195</ref>

The final steps in the shift to empire may have been triggered by Athens' defeat in Egypt, which challenged the city's dominance in the Aegean and led to the revolt of several allies, such as [[Miletus]] and [[Erythrae]].<ref name="Out98">D. Kagan, ''The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War'', 98</ref> Either because of a genuine fear for its safety after the defeat in Egypt and the revolts of the allies, or as a pretext to gain control of the League's finances, Athens transferred the treasury of the alliance from [[Delos]] to Athens in 454–453&nbsp;BC.<ref name="Buckley204">T. Buckley, ''Aspects of Greek History 750–323 BC'', 204.</ref>

By 450–449 BC the revolts in Miletus and Erythrae were quelled and Athens restored its rule over its allies.<ref name="Sealey275">R. Sealey, ''A History of the Greek City States, 700–338 BC'', 275.</ref> Around 447 BC Clearchus<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9V2hAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA229|title=From Solon to Socrates: Greek History and Civilization During the 6th and 5th Centuries BC|first=V.|last=Ehrenberg|date= 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1136783944 |via=Google Books}}</ref> proposed the Coinage Decree, which imposed Athenian silver coinage, weights and measures on all of the allies.<ref name="Buckley" /> According to one of the decree's most stringent provisions, surplus from a minting operation was to go into a special fund, and anyone proposing to use it otherwise was subject to the death penalty.<ref name="Hornblower">S. Hornblower, ''The Greek World 479–323 BC'', 120.</ref>

It was from the alliance's treasury that Pericles drew the funds necessary to enable his ambitious building plan, centered on the "Periclean Acropolis", which included the [[Propylaea (Acropolis of Athens)|Propylaea]], the Parthenon and the golden statue of Athena, sculpted by Pericles' friend, [[Phidias]].<ref name="Hurwit87">J. M. Hurwit, ''The Acropolis in the Age of Pericles'', 87 etc.</ref> In 449 BC Pericles proposed a decree allowing the use of 9,000 talents to finance the major rebuilding program of Athenian temples.<ref name="Buckley" /> Angelos Vlachos, a Greek [[Academician]], points out the use of the alliance's treasury, initiated and executed by Pericles, as one of the largest embezzlements in human history; this misappropriation financed, however, some of the most marvellous artistic creations of the ancient world.<ref name=";;;Vl62-63">A. Vlachos, ''Thucydides' Bias'', 62–63.</ref>

==== Samian War ====
{{Main|Samian War}}

The Samian War was one of the last significant military events before the Peloponnesian War. After Thucydides' ostracism, Pericles was re-elected yearly to the generalship, the only office he ever officially occupied, although his influence was so great as to make him the ''de facto'' ruler of the state. In 440 BC [[Samos]] went to war against [[Miletus]] over control of [[Priene]], an ancient city of [[Ionia]] on the foot-hills of [[Mycale]]. Worsted in the war, the Milesians came to Athens to plead their case against the Samians.<ref name="Th115">Thucydides, [[s:History of the Peloponnesian War/Book 1#1:115|1.115]]</ref>

When the Athenians ordered the two sides to stop fighting and submit the case to arbitration in Athens, the Samians refused.<ref name="Pl25">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#25|XXV]]</ref> In response, Pericles passed a decree dispatching an expedition to Samos, "alleging against its people that, although they were ordered to break off their war against the Milesians, they were not complying".{{efn-lg|According to Plutarch, it was thought that Pericles proceeded against the Samians to gratify Aspasia of Miletus.<ref name="Pl24" />}}

In a naval battle the Athenians led by Pericles and nine other generals defeated the forces of Samos and imposed on the island an Athenian administration.<ref name="Pl25" /> When the Samians revolted against Athenian rule, Pericles compelled the rebels to capitulate after a tough siege of eight months, which resulted in substantial discontent among the Athenian sailors.<ref name="Pl28">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#28|XXVIII]]</ref> Pericles then quelled a revolt in [[Byzantium]] and, when he returned to Athens, gave a funeral oration to honor the soldiers who died in the expedition.<ref name="Sealey310">R. Sealey, ''A History of the Greek City States'', 310</ref>

Between 438 and 436 BC Pericles led Athens' fleet in [[Pontus (region)|Pontus]] and established friendly relations with the Greek cities of the region.<ref name="Pontus">C.J. Tuplin, ''Pontus and the Outside World'', 28</ref> Pericles focused also on internal projects, such as the fortification of Athens (the building of the "middle wall" about 440&nbsp;BC), and on the creation of new [[Cleruchy|cleruchies]], such as [[Andros]], [[Naxos Island|Naxos]] and [[Thurii]] (444&nbsp;BC) as well as [[Amphipolis]] (437–436&nbsp;BC).<ref name="PlPl11">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#11|XI]] and Plato, ''Gorgias'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0178;query=section%3D%23491;layout=;loc=Gorg.%20456a 455e]</ref>

==== Personal attacks ====
[[Image:Aspasie Pio-Clementino Inv272.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Aspasia]] of Miletus ({{Circa|469 BC|406&nbsp;BC}}), Pericles' companion]]
Pericles and his friends were never immune from attack, as preeminence in democratic Athens was not equivalent to absolute rule.<ref name="For2">Fornara-Samons, ''Athens from Cleisthenes to Pericles'', [http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft2p30058m&chunk.id=d0e2016&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e2016&brand=eschol/ 31]</ref> Just before the eruption of the Peloponnesian War, Pericles and two of his closest associates, Phidias and his companion, [[Aspasia]], faced a series of personal and judicial attacks.

[[Phidias]], who had been in charge of all building projects, was first accused of embezzling gold meant for the statue of [[Athena]] and then of impiety, because, when he wrought the battle of the [[Amazons]] on the shield of Athena, he carved out a figure that suggested himself as a bald old man, and also inserted a very fine likeness of Pericles fighting with an Amazon.<ref name="P31">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#31|XXXI]]</ref>

[[Aspasia]], who was noted for her ability as a conversationalist and adviser, was accused of corrupting the women of Athens to satisfy Pericles' perversions.<ref name="SudaAsp">Suda, article [http://www.stoa.org/sol-bin/search.pl?login=guest&enlogin=guest&db=REAL&field=adlerhw_gr&searchstr=alpha,4202 Aspasia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924122324/http://www.stoa.org/sol-bin/search.pl?login=guest&enlogin=guest&db=REAL&field=adlerhw_gr&searchstr=alpha,4202 |date=24 September 2015 }}</ref><ref name="P32">Plutarch, ''Pericles'', [[s:Lives/Pericles#32|XXXII]]</ref><ref name="Loraux">N. Loraux, ''Aspasie, l'étrangère, l'intellectuelle'', 133–164</ref><ref name="H138-139">M. Henry, ''Prisoner of History'', 138–139</ref> The accusations against her were probably nothing more than unproven slanders, but the whole experience was very bitter for Pericles. Although Aspasia was acquitted thanks to a rare emotional outburst of Pericles, his friend Phidias died in prison according to Plutarch; however, he is also credited with the later [[statue of Zeus at Olympia]], therefore this is debated, and another friend of his, Anaxagoras, was attacked by the [[Ecclesia (ancient Athens)|ecclesia]] for his religious beliefs.<ref name="P31" />

Beyond these initial prosecutions, the ecclesia attacked Pericles himself by asking him to justify his ostensible profligacy with, and maladministration of, public money.<ref name="P32" /> According to Plutarch, Pericles was so afraid of the oncoming trial that he did not let the Athenians yield to the [[Lacedaemonians]].<ref name="P32" /> Beloch also believes that Pericles deliberately brought on the war to protect his political position at home.<ref name="Beloch19-22">K.J. Beloch, ''Die Attische Politik seit Perikles'', 19–22</ref> Thus, at the start of the Peloponnesian War, Athens found itself in the awkward position of entrusting its future to a leader whose pre-eminence had just been seriously shaken for the first time in over a decade.<ref name="Helios" />