When assessing the individuals during the pentacontaetia, it seems logical to start with Miltiades. During this time, Miltiades was the Athenian general, and he made his greatest contribution to the formation of the Athenian Empire by his efforts in the battle of Marathon. This battle was a key part in the formation of the empire as it proved the Ionian States that Athens could defeat the Persians without the aid of Sparta (however the advancing army did play an indirect role in the battle). Miltiades commanded his 10,000 Athenians and Plateans (Herodotus) and successfully stopped the first Persian invasion. It is said by Plutarch that Miltiades enjoyed the highest prestige from the battle, and this would have increased Athenian reputation among the Greek states (it is important to note that one factor of the formation of e empire was that the Ionian States chose Athens), and would thus have made them more inclined to choose Athens as the hegemon, and allowing them to create their empire.
The troops were citizens known as the Spartiates, the superior social class of Sparta; the others were the Helots, who were slaves and the Perioeci who were the upper-slave-class. Spanning over the late archaic period and classical Greece, the Spartan army fought in phalanx formation with very little support until 404 BC, when they were formed into a cavalry corps. The first reference there is of the Spartans at war is the Illiad. Archeology has shown many important areas of it to be true. It shows the Spartans as chariot warriors, and infantry who fought for glory.
At the time of democratic Athens a very influential figure took the chance of becoming a king in a democratic society, Pericles in some ways he achieved what he set out to do, Pericles had a great influence on the Athenian democracy, a great example of his influence is his funeral oration or his famed building programme. Athens may have let a power hungry noble slip through its wise fingers but Athens would never let an inferior get close to partaking in political ‘meetings.’ Athenian
Madison was also one of the top contributors at the Constitutional Convention and he drafted the Constitution. James Madison wrote exactly twenty-nine out of the eighty-five Federalist papers. The Federalist Papers were some of the most influential papers of American history. He wrote the most famous of the Federalist Papers, Federalist Paper 10. This specific paper is about factions and how he was opposed to them because he thought they would tear apart the unity that held the states together.
The best example of this would probably be during the Peloponnesian war when Athens used its navy to engage in hit and run tactics against its greatest rival, Sparta (Athens: Ancient Supercity) The other ideal that the lion represents is leadership, which is best personified by Pericles, who dominated Athens during its golden age. Pericles masterminded the construction of the Parthenon and brought the arts and sciences to whole new levels during his reign. Due to these amazing feats, Pericles is known as the greatest Athenian of all time. (Athens: Ancient
Throughout the Periclean Age (461 - 429 B.C.) Athens was ruled by their most influential statesman, Pericles. Thucydides went as far as to describe him as “the first citizen of Athens”. Pericles introduced important changes to Athenian democracy and formulated a new definition of citizenship. There were different social classes, they consisted of six groups: - male citizens - female citizens - the slaves - the metics - the thetes - the aristocrats also known as the nobles.
The impact of the Peloponnesian War, which took place from 431 to 404 BC, prompted the Funeral Oration publicly given by Pericles at the conclusion of the first year preceding the war. With the help of the Greek historian Thucydides, we as a society today are fortunate enough to have the direct recording of the Funeral Oration speech by Pericles in the first person point of view. Pericles was born around 495 BC and died in 429 BC. An influential Greek statesman, Pericles served as a General for the Athenian army during the Golden Age – known as the time period between the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars. Pericles began his Funeral Oration with praise to the ancestors of Athens by briefly touching on the acquisition of the empire.
Athens, one of the strongest city-states, was known as the first democracy, and was ruled by the people(Lecture 10: the beginnings of democracy). Sparta, another leading city-state, was an oligarchy ruled by two kings, who were supported by twenty-eight members of what was known as the Gerousia(Greece: Spartan Society to the Battle of Leuctra 371BC). Persia, however, was a monarchy, or a nation governed by one man. (Persian Culture(700-332 BC). Another stark difference between the two great nations of the sixth century was the way in which they conducted their military excursions.
“Aristotle says that he was the first ruler to incline towards democracy and give up the royal power.” (Plutarch 31). Although Theseus took part in many other accomplishments, his life would end in disgrace after being exiled by his people for bringing them war with the
it was the first city of the civilized world in size, elegance, riches, and luxuries. "[1] As it was founded by one of the greatest rulers to ever exist, it was only appropriate that Alexandria would be destined to become one of the greatest cities in history. Alexandria was an important city of the ancient world and the universal date of its foundation is believed to be April 7, 331BC. For more than two thousand years it was the largest city in Egypt, and it was the capital of the country for almost half of this time. The fact that it was chosen to become the new capital was a strong influence on the development of Alexandria.