Delphi

Greek and Roman History

From the Death of Pericles to the Peace of Nicias, Peloponnesian War, Thucydides and Plutarch

Bruce Strom 0

After the death of Pericles, no popular leader arose that was able to dominate the Assembly like Pericles, which meant that it was impossible to follow a consistently stable wartime policy. Instead, Thucydides described a series of orators call demagogues. Pericles was the last Assembly orator who was also a general, he was elected to be a general for a dozen yearlong terms, in this war generals had to fight long campaigns and we unable to constantly address the Assembly, which led to the rise of the demagogue orators, who were often more interested in promoting polices that were popular with the people, and themselves, rather than promoting policies that would benefit the state. […]

Greek and Roman History

Herodotus, Histories of Persia: Egypt and Scythia Before the Greco-Persian Wars

Bruce Strom 3

Why did Herodotus write his Histories? Herodotus tells us in his first paragraph, “so that human achievements may not be forgotten in time, and great and marvelous deeds, some displayed by Greeks, some by barbarians, may not be without their glory; and especially to show why the two peoples fought with each other.” Just as in the Iliad, the Greek soldiers and sailors in the Histories of Herodotus fight for cleos, or glory, and warriors in these warrior societies are immortalized by their great and marvelous deeds on the battlefield. Herodotus is interested in recording any mighty deeds of both the Greeks and the Persians, although the glory was earned mostly by the Greeks. […]