Pericles

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Pericles (c.490–c.429 bc) Athenian statesman. He dominated Athens from c.460 bc to his death, overseeing its golden age. He is associated with achievements in art and literature, including the building of the Parthenon, while strengthening the Athenian Empire and government. Believing war with Sparta to be inevitable, he initiated the Peloponnesian War (431–404 bc) but died of plague at the outset.

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