AR Tetradrachm

Struck: 440 – 420 B.C.
Mint: Athens
Size: 25.8mm
Weight: 17.12g
Die Axis: 45°
Grade: VF
Ref: SNG Cop 32

Obv: Helmeted head of Athena right, wearing earring. Countermark on cheek.
Rev: AΘE. Owl standing right, head facing, olive sprig and crescent behind.
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Pericles was born around 495 B.C. and was the most prominent and influential Greek statesman, orator and general of Athens during the Golden Age; specifically, the time between the Persian and Peloponnesian wars. He was descended, through his mother, from the powerful and historically influential Alcmaeonid family.

Pericles had such a profound influence on Athenian society that Thucydides, a contemporary historian, acclaimed him as "the first citizen of Athens". Pericles turned the Delian League into an Athenian empire and led Athens from roughly 461 to 429 BC. A period sometimes referred to as the "Age of Pericles". Pericles promoted the arts and literature; it is principally through his efforts that Athens holds the reputation of being the educational and cultural center of the ancient Greek world. He started an ambitious project that generated most of the surviving structures on the Acropolis (including the Parthenon). This project beautified the city, exhibited its glory, and gave work to the people. Pericles also fostered Athenian democracy to such an extent that critics call him a populist.

During the first two years of the Peloponnesian wars, Pericles maintained a successful defensive strategy based upon preserving and not expanding the empire with the aim of exhausting the Spartan forces. In the autumn of 429, Pericles died of plague. His death was a disaster for Athens, as his successors were vastly inferior leaders who preferred to follow unstable policy in an effort to be popular rather than effective. Athens eventually surrendered to the Spartan forces in 404 B.C.