How Did Athens Change Over Time

In the 5th century, the capital city of Greece, Athens, when through a period of transformation in which it took a major shift forwards in its change in political structure, upwards economic prosperity, and cultural and artistic blooming. This period was called the Golden Age of Athens. This golden age would later be eponymously called The Age of Pericles, after the politician and general who rose to power during that time. It was during this century in Ancient Greece where Athens is the centre of attention. This new age was of even greater prosperity, in culture, in the arts, in social innovations, in its military, in developing democracy to its classical form it is known today. Pericles was born in Athens, at around 495 BC. He was the descendant
of the powerful and noted Alcmaeonid family. Having the virtue of affluence and growing up amongst those of artistic and intellectual temperaments, he chose and perhaps unconsciously be led to put his focus on education and the arts, guided by various mentors that highlight his formative experience. Pericles came to power at around 461 BC and his rule ended in 429 BC with his life taken by the plague. In the time of his reign, he had proven to be a great leader, speaker, and politician--having his legacy immortalised in writing and documented by various people. He led Athens to its peak and to be known as the epicentre of Ancient Greece. Athens in the 5th century is to be called the abovementioned Age of Pericles. In this essay, I would be writing on the major changes instituted by Pericles in Athens.
During the time before Pericles came to power, Athens was ruled dominantly by the aristocrats. This Athenian aristocracy is similar to a form of oligarchy in which a handful of people rule a place, the difference being that the members of the aristocrats are made up of people simply by being of blood relations with each other. There had been efforts to overthrow the aristocracy by Ephialtes who was the leader of the democratic movement and a mentor to Pericles. This replacing of the aristocracy with the concept of democracy is met with little to no opposition from the Assembly (Plutarch, 75). Pericles was able to occupy the position of one of the ten generals, following the death by assassination of the leader of the democratic party, Ephialtes.
He is very popular and charismatic so he was constantly re-elected without much resistance from the people of Athens. One of the first major change was a reform instituted on the concept of democracy, which at the time was at its infant stage. This new form of democracy--some called radical democracy-- allowed the people themselves had a say in regards to matters of politics, instead of having to first consent with officials of higher positions (Kagan, 1998). Athens in this fifth century was said to be at its peak due to the ruling of Pericles. Firstly, one of the most important changes on Athens was on the heliaia which was the supreme court, and on the boule which was a council made up of about 400 to 500 people (Olejnik, 2010; Howard, 2010). The boule now gained judicial functions which previously only the supreme court had control over (Howard, 2010). This change enabled the citizens of Athens to participate in political matters more easily and readily. They now have a higher level of authority than they previously had. Previously, a big problem for people occupying these positions was that there was no pay for doing any work. This would unsurprisingly lead to laziness and sloppiness in their work. As a result, Pericles incentivise these jobs by bringing forth payment for doing work. This law
makes it so that money would be taken from the state funds to pay for the salaries of the people working (Martin, 1996). For example, a day's work in the jury and supreme court would pay each person three obols(coins) (Olejnik, 2010). However, as much as this sounds like a good incentive, three obols was considered to be a small sum; if compared to the monetary value of the 21st century, it would be equivalent to less than what one would earn when paid a minimum wage. There is a rationale to this. Mainly, it would dissuade poor people--hence presumably uneducated--from occupying these positions that require a vast knowledge on various topics, critical thinking, and understanding of how people and things work. On top of this, it is also very time-consuming so poorer people thinking of holding double or even triple jobs would consider otherwise (Martin, 1996). However, wealthy people like the generals do not receive any pay for their work. The meager sum would be unnecessary anyway since it would hardly make a difference relative to what riches they currently hold. With this increased in people of various backgrounds, how Athens were to function and ruled has become more inclusive and diverse. Before it was only the wealthy elites who could have the time and money to participate, so it only includes only their perspectives, most probably insular and narrow as one living within a bubble can be. Now, however, the range of perspectives has widened. More nuanced and ignored problems can be dealt with, paving way for a more unified and harmonious Athens.
Coming from and growing up with art and philosophy and the likes, Pericles has a great appreciation for this sort of artistic, cultural and intellectual expression.
He has encouraged people to be involved in creative works. He even oversaw a production of a play, Persians, by Aeschylus (Kagan, 1998). Pericles' enthusiasm, promotion and support for people of the arts attracted creative people from all over Greece to Athens where it became a place rich in culture and artistry (Kagan, 1998; Morris, 2005). Pericles introduced plans to aesthetically transform Athens in 447 BC and this was the Periclean building program (Martin, 1996). Against some opposition due to funding using allied state funds, Pericles had allocated a substantial amount of money to adorn the buildings of Athens with architectural innovation and beauty (Olejnik, 2010; Kagan, 1998). The two noted examples of these buildings are the Acropolis and the Parthenon within it. Although there is an acropolis in almost every Greek state, the one in Athens is the most notable. It has been the focus of Ancient Greece for times to come. The Acropolis is a citadel that sits on top of an elevated land (Mark, 2009). Within this citadel are various buildings such as the Parthenon, the Erechtheion, the Propylaia, and the Temple of Athena Nike. It is where discourse and debates on philosophy, matters on politics, and so on were conducted. More importantly to the Athenians, it was a place where the gods were worshipped. The
Parthenon is built as a tribute to the goddess Athena. The building is made of marble and has its walls decorated with detailed sculptures. Inside it housed a statue of the goddess, made of gold and ivory, and stands at over 30 feet high (Martin, 1996). Inside the Acropolis is also the Odeon, a building made under the supervision of Pericles. It is used for staging performances, particularly music; for singing and playing of musical instruments. Pericles served as a manager in holding a music contest during the Panathenaic festival (Plutarch, 1916). He also started a funding campaign to do away with the need for poor people to pay for attending these festive performances (Ancient History Sourcebook, n.d.). The art of music and performance can flourish in Athens due to the importance it is put on by Pericles.
In 451 BC, which was during the time where the Athenian empire was at its peak, Pericles introduced a new citizenship law (Waring, 2007; Martin, 1996). This law grants only people who were born from both Athenian parents citizenship. There are still dissent among historians as to the exact reasoning behind the issuing of this law. Waring (2007) refutes Aristotle's argument that has to do with reducing the ever-growing population of Athenians. He continued saying that if that were the case, existing citizens who were not born a pure Athenian would have their status of citizenship revoked. Bearing the title of an Athenian citizen comes with many privileges. They could give their inputs on matters to do with how the city is run. So a plausible reasoning behind the law could be to keep the citizens loyal and pure, not having blood ties outside of Athens by marriage (Warring, 2007). As mentioned above, citizens occupying positions on the supreme court is now being paid to do work, so naturally, there is some need for restrictions on the number of people being able to work in order for Athens to save money. So, limiting who can become a citizen helps alleviate this problem. This law is a progressive step forward for women's rights as any females who were born of both Athenian parents are now acknowledged as citizens and have more a little more say in the decision-making in politics, instead of being mere participants in the vicinity of religious matters (Kapparis, 2003). Gender equality also saw a small step forward as women are now being treated equally in certain regards; women, instead of their husbands, are punished when they commit adultery; they could now be the instigator of seducing another person; they now have a role in whether the child is granted citizenship (Kapparis, 2003). However, this doesn't mean women had the same authority as men in politics. Neither did children, slaves, permanent residents had the sort of participation men did. They were still practically excluded from politics (Kagan, 1998).
Another major change made by Pericles was on foreign policy. Part of his foreign policy plans was dedicated to the relations within Athens and also their conflicts with other states in Greece (Martin, 1996). Alliances were formed and broken between Athens and Argos & Thessaly, and between Athens and Lacedaemon, respectively. Athens' alliance with the allies of Sparta's enemy started what would eventually lead to the Peloponnesian war (History Discussion, n.d.). His change in policy effectively plunged Athens into war with Sparta. Pericles was responsible for fortifying Athens with enforced walls which encircled the whole city state (Martin, 1996). Of the various type of walls, the most notable one was the rebuilding of the Long Walls which stretched from Athens to Piraeus with its length at about seven kilometres (Martin, 1996). The purpose of this wall was strategic. The wall rendered the Spartan's land army useless. So the Spartans had to change their war strategy by turning towards the sea. Athens' land army is comparably weaker than its naval forces. Now without having to concern themselves with an attack by the Spartans on land, Athens could just hide behind the walls whenever there is an attack or they could switch their focus to a defensive position by the seas as this was the only way Sparta could now attack them. However, this has some drawbacks as problems with overcrowding, morale, and so on started to arise. This overcrowding problem is one of the reasons why the plague to come was so devastating in claiming the lives of the people of Athens; about as many as 25,000 or more people died (Lewis, n.d.; Littman, 2009).
This essay highlighted some major changes Pericles instituted in Athens. Among the ten generals, it was Pericles who was the most influential figure and played a key role in developing Athens to its peak. Democracy under Pericles was developed to its fullest. Common people can now have a say in politics, without the need to consult the representatives of upper management first. People are paid for their work in the courts. He helped foster the making of great arts such as music, by building the Odeon for hosting musical performances, and architecture by employing people to work on the decorum of buildings in the Acropolis. The citadel atop a hill, the Acropolis, is refurbished and contains the core of Athenian life and activity. Pericles also introduced his citizen law, which grants people of both Athenian parents citizenship. It also gave women a bigger, although insubstantial, role regarding their rights as a human being. The Long Walls was built as a strategic defensive plan to protect themselves against the Spartans on land. His change of foreign policy and war strategy at first, gave rise to Athens, but finally led to his downfall and had his life ended by the plague.