In the 5th century BC, when Perikles came to power, Athenian democracy was finally established and reached its peak, which was called the "golden age" of Athenian democracy.
The main manifestations of democratic politics in Pericles era;
All adult male citizens can hold almost all official positions. Except for the ten generals, all official posts at all levels are open to all citizens and are selected by lot. They can also attend civic meetings and reach an agreement on major issues of the city-state.
(2) The citizens' assembly is the legislature and the highest authority.
(3) The 500-member parliament (each tribe takes turns to govern) is a permanent body of the citizens' assembly, which handles daily affairs during the intersessional period and its functions are further expanded.
④ The jury court becomes the highest judicial and supervisory organ.
(5) In order to encourage citizens to actively participate in politics, pay salaries to citizens who hold public office and participate in political activities. In order to attract the public to the theatre. A "theater allowance" was also specially distributed to the public.
6. Deprive the Committee of its political power. Deprive the political power of the God of War Hill Council and make it belong to the citizens' assembly, the 500-member assembly and the jury court respectively. Since then, the God of War Mountain Committee has only tried cases and affairs of a religious nature. The citizens' assembly, the jury court and the 500-member meeting got rid of the shackles of the parliament of the God of War Mountain and completely became the highest authority and executive body in Athens.
⑦ Function limits the scope of obtaining Athenian citizenship. In 45 1 year BC, it was stipulated that only those whose parents were citizens of Athens could obtain Athenian citizenship.
The theory and practice of Athenian democracy laid the initial foundation for the modern western political system.
The space created by the democratic atmosphere has enabled Athens to make brilliant achievements in the field of spiritual culture. However, the democracy in Athens was limited to male citizens who accounted for a small part of the population of the city-state. For women, foreigners and slaves, democracy is out of reach. Athenian democracy is just a political system of "adult male citizens are the masters of the country".
After the Persian War ended and the rule of the "Empire" was strengthened, Pericles launched a diplomatic offensive in 448 BC, sending envoys to invite Greek states to attend the Pan-Greek Conference held in Athens to discuss the reconstruction of temples burned by Persia, the fulfillment of fresh sacrificial vows, the maintenance of maritime freedom and the establishment of peace in the Greek world, in an attempt to make Athens a leader in the Greek world. However, the Peloponnesus withdrew from the alliance and rejected this proposal. In 447 BC, the war resumed.
Pericles
Despite Pericles's repeated discouragement, Thor Midas marched into Boriotia and was defeated. All the city-states of Yopia and Megara rebelled, and the Spartan army advanced on Attica. Pericles led the army into Subia twice, and soon put down the resistance. In 445 BC, Athens and the Peloponnesian League concluded a 30-year peace treaty, and the Greek Peninsula basically recovered to the situation of 46 BC1year.
During the 30-year-long peace treaty, Pericles took all means such as expelling residents, confiscating land, taking hostages and pledging allegiance to Athens, and strictly ruled the neighboring states of Subia. After the peace talks, he continued to maintain a standing fleet of 60 navy three-row oar ships for deployment at any time. Pericles maintained friendly relations with Egypt and Thrace, absorbed Lejikun and Leontinoi, located in Sicily and southern Italy, to join the European Union, actively developed the northern shore of the Aegean Sea, organized military immigrants in brea and the mouth of Strommen successively, and established the Amfi Bohris colony. In 443 BC, initiated by Pericles, Athens organized Greek states to jointly colonize the former site of Paris at the southern tip of the Italian Peninsula, and built Yicheng in turio. In 440 BC, Samos, a powerful member of Tyrol League with independent fleet, refused to arbitrate the conflict between Athens and Miletus in order to maintain his autonomy, so Pericles led the navy to attack Samos. Although the war continued, Samos got the support of Persia, and Byzantium rose up against Athens, but Pericles commanded powerfully and fought calmly. After nine months of siege, Samos finally surrendered in 439 BC, destroyed the city wall, offered hostages, handed over the fleet and paid a huge sum of money. In 437 BC, Pericles led a huge fleet into the Black Sea, supported the interests of the local Greek colonial city-states, occupied the port of Nimdia Angliang, sent warships to help Sinopec people drive away the tyrant, and encouraged the Athenians to emigrate to Sinopec and occupy the land. Athens not only completely controlled the Aegean Sea, but also expanded its power in the Black Sea.
Although the peace treaty has been signed for 30 years, the contradiction between Athens and the Peloponnesian alliance is still developing. When fighting Samos in Athens, Sparta held a meeting with the Alliance to discuss whether to send troops to help Samos. Pericles was convinced that war was inevitable. Because in addition to the fundamental opposition between Athenian democracy and aristocratic oligarchy supported by Sparta, his policy of establishing Athenian hegemony, especially when Athens extended its sphere of influence to Corinth, was bound to intensify the struggle between Athens and Corinth, causing anxiety and intervention of Sparta. Since 4 BC
Pericles
In 34 years, Pericles began to make preparations in all aspects, and firmly welcomed the arrival of this decisive battle. He warned the Athenians that the Peloponnesian war was coming. In 433 BC, under the impetus of Pericles, Athens entered into a military defense alliance with khosla and intervened in the war between Corinth and khosla. In 432 BC, initiated by Pericles, Athens prohibited Megara, a member of the Peloponnesian League, from communicating with any market and port within Athens' sphere of influence; And sent troops to attack Zhengtedayia, an important colonial city in Corinth on the northern shore of the Aegean Sea. Sparta held a civic meeting and an alliance meeting to discuss and decide to go to war. First of all, it sent representatives to Athens to demand the abolition of the Megara ban and respect for the independence of Greek States. At the Athens citizens' meeting to discuss countermeasures, Pericles made a generous speech, opposed to making any concessions to Sparta, and was determined to accept the challenge.
In 43 1 BC, the war broke out and the Spartan army entered Athens. Pericles comprehensively considered the strength comparison and advantages and disadvantages of both sides, and decided to retreat to Athens to avoid recklessly fighting with the brave Spartan heavy infantry on land. Give full play to the advantages of the navy, ensure maritime traffic, and attack the coastal areas of the Peloponnesian Peninsula. The first year of the war was basically carried out according to the operational plan formulated by Pericles. At the state funeral ceremony of the fallen soldiers, Pericles delivered an important speech with historical significance. He warmly praised the great achievements of Athens from the fundamental system and lifestyle, clearly and thoroughly expressed his political ideals, and also summed up his achievements in the past 40 years to some extent. Pericles clearly declared: "Our system is called democracy because political power is in the hands of all citizens, not a few."