As the most famous and important political leader in Athenian history, Pericles has featured prominently in descriptions and analysis of Athenian democracy from antiquity to the present day. Although contemporary historians have tended to treat him as representative of values like liberty and equality, Loren J. Samons, II demonstrates that the quest to make Athens the preeminent power in Greece served as the central theme of Pericles' career. More nationalist than humanist and less rationalist than populist, Pericles' vision for Athens rested on the establishment of an Athenian reputation for military success and the citizens' willingness to sacrifice in the service of this goal. Despite his own aristocratic (if checkered) ancestry, Pericles offered the common and collective Athenian people the kind of fame previously available only to heroes and nobleman, a goal made all the more attractive because of the Athenians' defensiveness about Athens' lackluster early history.

Under the leadership of Pericles in the fifth century BC, the Athenians sought to become the preeminent power in Greece. How did Pericles become both the greatest and the most dangerous leader Athens ever produced? Loren J. Samons, II uses the events of Athenian history of the period to analyze the career and legacy of this pivotal historical figure.

1. To be an Athenian; 2. Curses, tyrants, and Persians (c.500-479); 3. The dominance of Kimon (c.479-462/1); 4. The democratic revolution (c.462/1-444/3); 5. A Greek empire (c.460-445); 6. Pericles and Sparta: the outbreak of the Great War (444/3-431); 7. Pericles and Athenian nationalism: the conquest of history; 8. Athenian culture and the intellectual revolution: Pericles and the people; Epilogue: the Periclean tradition.