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Pericles

ANC-PCL is worth about 25 marks out of 100 in recent HSC Ancient History papers. Practise 11 exam-style questions (multiple choice, short answer) with instant marking and a worked solution for every question.

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Topic notes

Pericles — 5th-century Athens and its democracy, his family and rise, his role in the reforms, the empire, the building program and the Peloponnesian War, his death in the plague and how ancient and modern writers judge him, with how to answer the Section III question.

  1. 1What you need to know
  2. 2Historical context
  3. 3Background and rise
  4. 4Domestic policies
  5. 5Empire and foreign policy
  6. 6The building program
  7. 7The Peloponnesian War, 431–429
  8. 8Associates and attacks
  9. 9Evidence and interpretations
  10. 10Building an evaluation
  11. 11Common mistakes
  12. 12Exam tips
  13. 13Links to other topics
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Example questions

Example 1 · 1 mark · multiple choice

Pericles' mother, Agariste, belonged to which Athenian family?

  1. AThe Philaids, the family of Miltiades and Cimon
  2. BThe Peisistratids, the former tyrants of Athens
  3. CThe Eumolpidae, hereditary priests of Eleusis
  4. DThe Alcmaeonids, the family of Cleisthenes

Example 2 · 1 mark · multiple choice

In 462/461 BC Ephialtes, supported (according to Plutarch) by Pericles, carried reforms through the assembly. What did they do?

  1. ARemoved most powers of the Areopagus
  2. BIntroduced ostracism to protect the democracy
  3. CCreated the board of ten elected generals
  4. DOpened the archonship to the poorest citizens

Example 3 · 5 marks · short answer

Source A — Plutarch, Life of Pericles 9, written about AD 100 (adapted from the Greek)

‘Thucydides describes Pericles' government as a kind of aristocracy — a democracy in name, but in fact the rule of the first man. But many others say that it was Pericles who first led the people on to allotments of land, payments for festivals and fees for public service, so that they fell into bad habits and became extravagant and undisciplined instead of thrifty and self-reliant. … Since he could not match Cimon's wealth, with which Cimon won over the poor, he turned to sharing out the people's own property.’

With reference to Source A and your own knowledge, explain how ancient writers judged Pericles' leadership of the Athenian people, and why their judgements differed.

(5 marks)

Answers and worked solutions appear when you practise these questions.

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