what Sparta and its allies saw as Athenian
aggression. Finally, war broke out in 431 B.C.
It would drag on until 404 B.C. and shatter
any possibility of future cooperation among
the Greeks. Historians call this conflict the
Peloponnesian War because Sparta was
located in the Peloponnesus.
Pericles’ Funeral Oration In the first win-
ter of the war, the Athenians held a public
funeral. Its purpose was to honor those who
had died in battle. The relatives of the dead
wept for their loved ones. The rest of the cit-
izens joined in a procession.
As was the custom, a leading Athenian
addressed the crowd. On this day, Pericles
spoke. He talked about the greatness of
Athens and reminded the people that they
made their government strong.
In this famous speech, called the Funeral
Oration, Pericles pointed out that Athenians
were part of a community. As citizens, they
agreed to obey the rules in their constitu-
tion—their framework of government.
They accepted certain duties, such as pay-
ing taxes and defending the city. They also
gained certain rights, such as the ability to
vote and run for office.
Pericles’ speech reminded Athenians of
the power of democracy and gave them the
courage to keep fighting. Its ideas are still
important for people living in democratic
nations today.
Why Was Athens Defeated? At the begin-
ning of the Peloponnesian War, both Sparta
and Athens thought they knew how to win.
The Spartans and their allies surrounded
Athens. They hoped that the Athenians
would send out an army to fight. However,
Pericles knew that Spartan forces could beat
the Athenians in open battles. Believing his
people would be safe behind the city walls,
he urged farmers and others on the
outskirts to move inside the city. There
CHAPTER 4 The Ancient Greeks 145
Athenians stayed put and had the navy
deliver supplies from their colonies and
allies. Because Sparta did not have a navy, it
could not attack the Athenian ships.
Athens escaped serious harm for some
time. Then, in the second year of the war, a
deadly disease spread through the over-
crowded city. It killed more than a third
of the people, including Pericles himself in
429 B.C. Despite these terrible losses, the
Pericles’
Funeral Oration
Pericles was a dominant figure in Athenian
politics between 461
B.C. and 429 B.C., a
period historians call the Age of Pericles.
In his Funeral Oration, given during the
Peloponnesian War, Pericles described
democracy, the importance of the individual,
and citizenship.
“Our constitution is called
a democracy because
power is in the hands not
of a minority but of the
whole people.When it is
a question of settling
private disputes, everyone
is equal before the law;
when it is a question of
putting one person before
another in positions of
public responsibility, what
counts is not membership
of a particular class, but
the actual ability which
the man possesses. No one . . . is kept [out of
government] because of poverty. And, just as our
political life is free and open, so is our day-to-
day life in our relations with each other.”
—Pericles, as recorded by Thucydides,
History of the Peloponnesian War
When Pericles said “everyone is equal
before the law,” what did he mean?
Pericles
Scala/Art Resource, NY
138-146 CH4 S4-824133 7/14/04 10:22 PM Page 145
