Lion

by Conn Iggulden Book 1 in the The Golden Age series.

First published 2022

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4.3(4,754)

Pericles comes of age in an Athens transformed by victory over Persia but divided over how its new power should be used. Living in the shadow of his father Xanthippus, he competes with Cimon for military distinction and political influence as the Delian League carries the war into the Aegean. Campaigning, personal rivalry and democratic debate shape the emergence of the leader who will come to define Athens’s golden age.

Pericles’s rise takes place while Athens is learning how to convert wartime leadership into lasting influence over its allies. Competition with Cimon reflects different visions of Athenian power, and military service provides the reputation needed for political authority at home. The novel follows the formation of a statesman whose later dominance will depend on both democratic support and an increasingly assertive Athenian empire.