Pericles, the Athenian leader whose name has become synonymous with the cultural and political achievements of fifth-century BCE Athens, will be the subject of a forthcoming lecture by the distinguished historian Paul Cartledge. Entitled Pericles: Statesman, Demagogue, Eccentric, the event will take place on 15 September from 6 to 7 p.m. BST at London’s Senate House, with the option of hybrid attendance.

The lecture is organised by the British School at Athens as part of the BSA Friends’ Lecture series. Paul Cartledge, AG Leventis Senior Research Fellow at Clare College, Cambridge, will revisit Pericles’ political career, public image and historical legacy.

Pericles remains one of the best-known figures of the ancient Greek world. His name has developed into an adjective, associated with “Periclean Athens” and, more broadly, with the cultural flourishing of classical Greece. Yet Cartledge’s lecture challenges the familiar portrait of Pericles as an exceptional and almost unassailable statesman.

The discussion will examine Pericles through three central categories: statesman, demagogue and eccentric. The first question is whether Thucydides’ influential portrayal of Pericles provides an accurate assessment of his political leadership. The second concerns Pericles’ relationship with the Athenian demos and whether he was fundamentally different from other aspiring leaders of the people. The third turns to the unusual features of both his public career and his private life.

Cartledge will draw on a wide range of evidence, including the literary accounts of Thucydides and Plutarch, epigraphical sources and the material remains of Athens’ ambitious building programme. His approach brings together political history, biography, archaeology and the study of historical memory.

The lecture coincides with the publication of Cartledge’s new book, Pericles: Statesman, Demagogue, Eccentric, published in 2026 by Reaktion Books as part of the Great Lives of the Ancient World series, which he edits. Cartledge has written or co-written more than thirty books and has maintained a long-standing association with the British School at Athens, first joining it as a student in 1970.

The event will be held in Room 264 at Senate House, London. Registration links are expected to become available shortly. The British School at Athens also invites donations to support the Friends’ Lectures, suggesting £10 for BSA supporters and £15 for other attendees.