Empire, War, and Plague

Pericles helped consolidate Athenian control over the Delian League, provoking resistance and rivalry with Sparta. When the Peloponnesian War began, his strategy brought rural Athenians behind the walls while relying on naval power.

Crowding and epidemic disease devastated the city, and Pericles died during the plague. His career became a lasting case study in the tension between democratic government at home and domination abroad.