Pericles was a man before his time. He was a democrat who yearned for a united Greece. He was very moderated and even-tempered never giving in to emotional outbursts and ignored insults which were directed at him.
Pericles was born c. 500 B.C. By 443 B.C. he found himself elected as a general and was a strategoi in Athens. He was responsible for maintaining order, conducting festivals, and controlled the treasury.
It was during this Periclean Age in which the Parthenon dedicated to Athena Parthenos was constructed atop the Acropolis. A statue of Athena, nearly 40' in height, was constructed and placed inside the temple. He also oversaw the building of the gymnasium, lyceum, and academy.
Pericles' first marriage was unsuccessful and he soon took to being with a foreign woman named Aspasia. Unfortunately, Athenian law forbade the marriage of an Athenian to a non-Athenian. He would live his life with Aspasia forever behind a shroud of jokes and rumors.
The Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta, which began in 431 B.C., would consume the last years of Pericles' life. He did not wish to war with Sparta, but did so to avoid bringing shame to Athens. He fought a defensive war, confident the powerful Athenian navy could not be defeated. Then a deadly plague broke out in the city which ultimately killed one third of Athens' inhabitants. The people of Athens turned against Pericles, Aspasia, and his friends. He was removed from office in 430 B.C., but was reinstated one year later in 429 B.C. Pericles' strength was gone, however, and he died that same year from the plague which took his two sons before him.