This article is brought to you by the years 500 - 300 B.C.E.! 


It takes a considerable amount of time to develop an exceptional society.  When it comes to history, it can take centuries, if not thousands of years.  For a collection of humans to feel their city is truly great and invest in it, heart and soul, many events must occur.  Structures must rise!  Trade must thrive!  New philosophies must sprout from the city's philosophers!  The citizens have to create their own art that is just theirs!  They need to usher in an era of peace!  All of these and more occurred in the Golden Age of Greece. 

 
Before you can have excellence, you must have a vision.  Sometimes that vision is created by many people, and sometimes it's created by a single person.  Pericles ruled the Greeks from 460 to 429 B.C.E., and was known for constructing the Parthenon and the Acropolis, as well as allowing his citizens to make the most vital decisions for Greece.  Not only was Pericles a gigantic supporter of the arts, which meant the city became filled with beautiful artwork, he also led his people in battle, retaking the city of Delphi from the Spartans.  He made excellent decisions that allowed his country to thrive . . . and yet, he didn't think he was the ideal person to make the decisions.  


Pericles liked a good debate.  He thought the most advanced ideas came from citizens arguing back and forth about the best route for the country to take.  He also believed that the majority would make better decisions for the community than the individual who ruled them.  A democracy is when the citizens vote for representatives who will create the laws for society.  Who knows better which laws are best than the people who must follow them?  Under the leadership of Pericles, this kind of government helped to bring citizens together to discuss important decisions that were to be made.  Many people had a say in laws and choices Athens had to make.  That was the gamble Pericles took.  It worked. 

 
Pericles was raised by thinkers, and so during his rule, he knew arguments about what was right and what was wrong were important for a city's growth.  Philosophy is the study of morals, wisdom, knowledge, and why we are here.  Athens produced some of the world's most famous philosophers, many of whom we continue to read today.  These philosophers tried to focus the Greek citizens' attention on the role of human beings in the world rather than explaining natural events as the actions of the gods.  They left the ideas of gods in stories and thought about why humans do what we do . . . and how we could improve our lives and others.  Philosophers encouraged the Greeks not to do things because "that's the way things have always been done."  Instead, they encouraged them to question everything. 


All of these things come together to create an excellent society, where the citizens are surrounded by art, where they can select the senators who create the laws, and where anyone can become a philosopher.  Athens was one of the most powerful city-states in Ancient Greek civilization and is now the capital of Greece.  It's home to many of Greece's most famous buildings.  It grew during Greece's Golden Age, which was begun by Pericles, one of Greece's most loved leaders.  He gave the people democracy, which meant they could choose the people who create the laws.  He also encouraged philosophy, which made people think about the meaning of life and their purpose on Earth.  You would think that all this focus on art and philosophy would keep people inside and the city at a normal size.  But the opposite happened.  During the Golden Age, Greece expanded its empire to its greatest extent. 


Pericles was born in 495 B.C.E. in Athens.  He came from the wealthy and influential Alcmaeonid family, which meant he inherited a lot of money when he was a teen.  He decided to invest it all in art.  Later, he became a statesman, delivering inspiring speeches to the Greek people about how best to expand their wealth.  He then became a general and turned a small collection of city-states into an empire.  This is why some called Pericles as the first citizen of Athens.  But because the focus was never on himself and always on his citizens, the period is called the Golden Age of Greece. 


Pericles became the ruler of Athens in 461 B.C.E..  The Grecian citizens adored him so much, he stayed ruler until he passed away.  Not only did Pericles have the Acropolis and Parthenon built in order to support the arts, he also recaptured Delphi, led a siege on Samos, and invaded Megara.  Unfortunately, an empire can't be built by only enjoying plays and museums.  Pericles died of the plague in 429 B.C.E. at the age of sixty-six.  Nearly two thousand years later, he's still thought of as one of the most important Greek rulers.  


Great rulers tend not to rule alone and Pericles was no exception.  Three of his friends helped him seek out the most effective ways to build an empire and create a society that was good to most of its citizens.  They happened to all be philosophers, and their thinking shaped a civilization. 

 
Protagoras believed that "man was the measure of all things."  This may sound like he's saying that people are the most important thing in the world, but actually Protagoras believed that each individual must discover his or her own truth.  The universe is only as we perceive it.  His contribution is obvious when considering the democratic government Pericles made. 


Zeno of Elea was the inventor of the dialectic.  He wrote both sides of an argument so that readers could see both sides.  His writings would be important for a civilization where there would be plenty of arguing. 


Anaxagoras was thought of as the "lord of the assembly."  He's the first person to bring the idea of philosophy to Athens.  This sort of higher thinking was important for developing a society.  Unfortunately it was his friendship with Pericles that drove him into exile, and he isn't as well remembered as the others.  


Greek's Golden Age couldn't last forever.  As of the writing of this article in September of 2015, Greece is in a terrible financial crisis.  Maybe it's their history.  Maybe it's their desire to be one of the most forward thinking countries on the planet.  But their government has given a lot of money so that the Greek people could continue to live in comfort.  Over the last few decades, they have racked up a huge amount of debt, a debt so large in fact, they couldn't possibly pay it back in a timely fashion.  It seems Greece is going to have to tighten its belt and the citizens are going to have to work harder to pay higher taxes and pull themselves out of debt.  Unfortunately, things aren't that simple. 


A few years back, many countries in Europe decided to start using the same currency: the Euro.  That way travelers could travel from country to country without having to exchange their pesetas from Spain for lira from Italy.  The hope was that one kind of money would open the countries' economies and everyone would prosper.  Unfortunately, the exact opposite happened.  Even though most leaders were aware that Greece was in financial trouble, they allowed the country adopt the Euro with them.  But now that Greece's economy is failing, it's pulling down other countries' economies as well.  Germany has lent Greece money, but that won't fix the problem.  In August of 2015, Alexis Tsipras, the Greek Prime Minister, stepped down in the hopes that the people will re-elect him and trust him to pull them out of this mess.  Does that seem confusing?  Don't worry, it is to adults, as well. 


References:

Bio.  "Pericles"  biography.com, 2015.  <http://www.biography.com/people/pericles-9437722#political-career>

History.  "Pericles"  A&E, 2011.  <http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/pericles>