To what extent was Pericles an successful Athenian leader?

Pericles was an outstanding successful Athenian leader accomplished through his impactful influence on Athens. According to modern and ancient sources, Pericles success comes from his political reforms which revolutionised the Athenian democracy. Through his massive building programs which beautified the city, while providing lower classes jobs, and his superior military leading style, Pericles outstandingly lead Athens in success.

One way which Pericles showed his ability as being an outstanding successful Athenian leader was through his political reform which revolutionised the democratic system in Athens. Through his democratic reforms Pericles was able to revolutionise the Athenian democratic by transferring the power away from the aristocratic class and allowing the lower-class citizens to have a voice in democracy. This was motivated by his democratic ambitions which he truly cared about. He passed political reforms in order to redistribute power. This was aimed to give ordinary citizens access to political institutions. The jury and magistrates were open to all citizenships to even out power against the aristocracy in Athens. Additionally, everyone was paid to do their jobs regardless of their class. This gave access to the lower classes to have equal amount of power in the political institutions and the lower classes were no longer silenced. An example of this is the reduction of Areopagus’s power by taking away their power of public prosecution and giving them it to the people’s court instead. All citizens were expected to participate in part democracy making citizenship more desirable. He was capable in doing this because he was a successful politician who was very well spoken and was able to eliminate his political rivals. The reduction of the oligarchy’s power is significant as Pericles was the first to degrade the rich peoples power. Through all his political reforms, Pericles transformed Athens into true democracy.

The building programs executed by Pericles which aimed to beautify the city made him an outstanding successful Athenian leader. Through the funds from the Delian league, Pericles implemented one of the largest scale building programs in the Athenian empire. It can be argued that Pericles’s building program showed thorough understanding of economic concepts. The program benefited people as it provided employment opportunities for lower class people which benefited economy as a whole. It also provided jobs for unskilled people which he used as an instrument and body of his work. This building program could be seen as one of the first implementations of a full employment policy, a policy which is still relevant in today’s society. The buildings were built very quickly due to efficiency of all the large number of people hired. Plutarch describes the project scale as what would normally take many generations to build but Pericles completes it all in his lifetime. Pericles was known to regularly visit the workshop sites enabling him to build personal terms of friendship with the workers. This resulted in him being very liked by the people and described to be a great statesman by historian Burn. Pericles’s building projects outshone all existing buildings according to Plutarch. The projects resulted in the beautification of Athens and raised Athenian nationalism and morale. All of Pericles’s building projects outshone all existing buildings. For example, a temple built in the Acropolis, the Athena of Nike was built for the goddess of victory. The temple is covered with multiple of friezes depicting the Athenian victory over the Persians. This temple is an example of the type of Athenian nationalism evident in Pericles building program. Most of Pericles’s building program was built to symbolise Athens’s glory and dignity aimed to express civic pride.

Pericles’s superior military leading style contributed to his outstanding success in being an Athenian leader. Pericles’s democratic ambitions motivated him to support imperial expansion. He believed that there was a link between prospering of the state and military power so lots of funds went into the navy. Pericles was famous for his careful planning and unwillingness to take risks according to Plutarch. He was known to always think ahead. For example, he did not allow the enemies to control Confu as it may have been a threat to Athens afterwards if they did. He would take advantages of his opportunity to expand when Sparta was weakened by a Helot uprising. He used this opportunity for Athenian dominance by replacing the Helot system in with Theban leadership. This was done to isolate Sparta and Athenian alliances. His decision in the participation of the Peloponnesian war was done as he believed that it was inevitable and must be done while he was still alive to lead it in order for Athens to have victory. He gave confidence to his army by reminding them that they were ‘superior’ which raised fighting morale. He often sustained his army through his leadership. Through Pericles’s lifetime, he had been able to prove that he was a capable commander in both land and sea warfare as he was always allowed to lead any hostile situation and any military operations.

Pericles was able to prove himself to be an outstanding successful Athenian leader through his impactful influence in Athens. He remained in power from 445 until his death, emphasising that he was an effective leader. This was executed through his political reforms creating full Athenian democracy as well as his building programs that beautified the city and providing jobs for the lower classes. His superior military style also contributed his success in being a successful Athenian leader.