Reconsider Pericles
Following the Greek victory over the Persians, Athens, much like the US following World War II, was the universally admired and acclaimed champion of freedom and free trade in a brave new world that would see a century of beauty, progress, and wealth. So well regarded was Athens that hundreds of new allies sought the protection of the burgeoning superpower resulting in the formation of a league of nations that would literally make the world safe for democracy.
The Athenian world view was molded by their first great playwright, Aeschylus, who developed theater as we know it and fashioned himself not as an artist, but as a teacher for the citizenry providing the voters with examples of the sins of hubris, the need for compassion for humanity, and the absolute requirement for discernment when electing officials or determining virtue. His Persians warned the Athenians about the obvious outcomes of overreach, raw imperialism, and unchecked malice both within and without a state.
Then along came Pericles.
Pericles entered public life by casting aspersions on the credibility of the government and its officials. He made up damaging propaganda – misinformation we modern sophisticates would call it – saying his political rivals were imperialists who mistreated their allies and took advantage of the average citizen by asking the navy to risk life and limb on foreign lands in vain. He said only he could bring order to the chaos of aristocratic whim within a deep state. Though technically not illegal, he ignored traditional term limits and continuously sought and won re-election. He dominated news cycles. But what he was best at, what enabled him to extend his influence and dominate Athenian society beyond his lifetime, was his ability to convince the meanest of voters that he had their best interest at heart. He neutered the Athenian senate, completely bypassing the institution altogether, knowing he could win over his voters through little more than arrogant, though eloquent, appeals to nationalism and exceptionalism.
The Athenian alliance, or the Delian League, started to unravel, especially after Pericles made peace with Athens’ traditional enemy, the Persians, and began to prosecute his real allies for not paying enough to secure a common defense (ironically, against those same Persians.) Proxy wars then set a course for what politicos dub a “Thucydides Trap” where war with Sparta, a one-time ally in the fight against Persia and check on Athenian aggression, was inevitable. Having convinced his voters that war was regrettably unavoidable, wouldn’t it be wise to strike first by invading neighboring territories to strengthen their position?
Pericles died in the early stages of the Great Peloponnesian War he engineered, but his sentiment rode into the sunset of a toppled world the Athenians once commanded not by force, but acclaim. At one point in the war, Athens sent a delegation to the neutral island of Melos demanding subservience. In this famous Melian Dialogue, the Athenians completely cast aside their old role as hegemon and dictated there is no right or wrong – only power. What is right depends on one’s ability to enforce it, they say. It is in human nature for the strong to dominate the weak, they preach. As a sea power, all islands who don’t readily relinquish their natural resources, people, and sovereignty so Athens can profit must be destroyed to curb defections from their empire – the final demand.
Five hundred years later, Pausanius the travel guide wrote an account of the tombs and memorials the Athenians set up for their politicians. Realizing they had been conned I suppose, Pericles was hardly mentioned while elaborate memorials were set up to a certain Thrasybulus who re-established democracy twice in the wake of Pericles’ ambition.
Whatever coincidence you may find between the Athenian abandonment of morality and common sense, and our current political situation is yours and you’re certainly entitled to an opinion. I have one simple request: reconsider Pericles.