According to historian Thucydides, the so-called golden age of Athenian history
flourished under the rule of Pericles (495-429 B.C. ), a genius general, orator, patron
of the arts, and politician—"the first citizen" of democratic Athens (History.com
Editors, 2019).
Athens' golden age was a period of unprecedented prosperity. It was here that
Athens rose to the top of the Greek city-states, attracting the best modelers,
logicians, researchers, and so on. One important event that precipitated the end of
the Athenian Golden Age is Athens' disdain for the revealed army and animosity
against its former allies (alliance of other Greek states).
To fend off the Persian superpower, the Greek city-states were usually united
unanimously. Regardless, Athens formed an adversary of Persian boundary alliance
of Greek city-states and gathered pledges from these autonomous states, forming a
kingdom. As the Persian superpower was no longer a threat, Athens began to
forcefully collect commitments from the free states and use these commitments to
construct Athens. As a result, an alliance was formed. Sparta's coalition came
crashing down on Athens as a result of their abusive policy. This sparked a multi-
year conflict with the Spartan-led Greek-city-state coalition. During this time,
Athens lost its domain and the money it had amassed from the realm, and the
Golden Age came to an end.
Another cause for Athens' demise is the Peloponnesian War, which was fought
primarily against Sparta and its allies. However, it may be argued that it was their
arrogance that led to Athens' demise. Whatever guarantees we make, it still doesn't
address the question of what caused the Athenian Golden Age to come to an end.
Overcrowding, which resulted in sickness, was the main cause of the end of the
Athenian Golden Age. This resulted in the death of Pericles, Athens' strongest
emperor, and resulted in a swift change of leadership and the collapse of the realm.
Throughout the Peloponnesian War, political dangers in Athens caused the city's
citizens to make poor decisions that cost the city its place as Greece's strongest. The
Athenian assembly's decision to kill Alcibiades, then hold him in, and then evict him
is an example of how their caprice led to their own demise. About the fact that
Athens suffered terrible tragedy during its long war with Sparta, the city would
eventually recover from total extinction.
Reference:
History.com Editors. (2019, August 22). Pericles. Retrieved April 23, 2021, from
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