[War & Business] The Death of Pericles

Disinfecting the statue of Pericles located at Kochia Square in Athens, Greece, last April. [Image source= Pericles Foundation Facebook/facebook.com/PericlesFoundation]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] As the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) rages, the life story of Pericles, the ancient Athenian statesman, has recently been widely discussed in Europe. Pericles is featured in all Western history textbooks worldwide as a great figure who led the golden age of Athenian democracy. However, recently he has been portrayed as a historical figure who, along with his family and close aides, died from an epidemic, highlighting the importance of quarantine measures.

In April, when COVID-19 was sweeping through Europe, a photo of the Pericles statue in Kocha Square in the heart of Athens being disinfected went viral on social networking services (SNS). Greek media used this as a criticism of the authorities' delayed quarantine measures, saying, "It took 2,500 years to disinfect Pericles, who died from an epidemic." The reason he fell from a great figure who planted the roots of democracy to a subject of criticism for quarantine measures is that the epidemic that spread in Athens at the time was interpreted as a man-made disaster caused by his lax quarantine policies.

In 429 BC, when Pericles died, Athens was in the midst of the Peloponnesian War with Sparta. Following Pericles' strategy, all residents in the outskirts outside the city of Athens were relocated inside the city walls, and the villages and farmlands were burned in a scorched earth operation. Pericles argued that Athens should avoid direct combat with the Spartan invading forces, which boasted the strongest military power in Greece at the time, and instead conduct a defensive battle within the city until the enemy retreated due to lack of supplies.

While militarily a rational strategy, the problem was that he overlooked the sanitation issues that could arise from a sudden population surge within the city. As the population outside the city flooded in at once, Athens' population approached 300,000, more than three times the usual number, and with inadequate water and sewage facilities relative to the population, the water began to become severely contaminated. This led to the outbreak of waterborne diseases such as typhoid fever and typhus, resulting in the deaths of over 100,000 residents.

Amid the chaos engulfing the entire city, Pericles was criticized for extremely selfish behavior and failing to establish quarantine measures even after losing both his sons to the epidemic. The last policy he enacted before his death was to revise the Athenian citizenship bloodline clause, which he had established during his rule. The revision granted citizenship to residents whose parents were not both Athenians. This was a measure to allow his youngest son, born out of wedlock and not a pure Athenian, to inherit his property and status. This final act before his death remains the greatest flaw in his reputation. Furthermore, with the sudden deaths of him, his family, and close aides, the entire leadership of Athens disappeared at once, causing irreparable damage. The downfall of Athens that began in this way became a significant lesson for future leaders.