Ovi History

Pericles’ Athens pioneered democracy, making political power the business of ordinary citizens rather than kings or elites. Under Pericles, Athens reached a cultural and political golden age, with citizens debating war, peace, and empire. He argued that involvement in public life was a civic duty, not merely a privilege. Yet this democracy was deeply contradictory. It was direct and participatory, filling offices by lot and paying poorer citizens to serve. But citizenship was narrowly restricte