The argument between Pericles and Thucydides ends the latter's ostracism in 443; he goes into exile for ten years, leaving Pericles unchallenged.

Pindar lives to about eighty years of age, and dies around 443 BCE while attending a festival at Argos.

His ashes are taken back home to Thebes by his musically gifted daughters, Eumetis and Protomache.

He is survived by his Epinicea, triumphal odes written to celebrate athletic victories, in which he often praised the sponsors rather than the contestant.

A religious conservative, Pindar associated each occasion with myth and the gods, and used every event as a basis for religious and moralistic aphorisms and proverbs.

Athens makes alliances with Rhegium in Italy and …

…Leontini in Sicily at about the same time.

Miletus, weakened and impoverished by internal divisions in 442, is defeated in war by neighboring Samos.

Pericles tightens Athenian control of the empire, which now includes the islands of the Aegean, much of the Aegean coastline, the Hellespont, and cities around the Black Sea.

At its height in the 440s BCE, the Athenian Empire is composed of one hundred and seventy-two tribute-paying states.

The enormous wealth entering Athens from subject states finances the flourishing of democratic institutions, literature, art, and architecture that comes to be known as the golden age of Athens.

Pericles builds great architectural monuments, including the Parthenon, to employ workers and symbolize the majesty of Athens.

Callicrates is reputedly the builder of the Middle Wall of the Long Walls, begun in 443, that unite Athens with its harbor, Piraeus.

Micon paints an Amazonomachy (the Battle of Theseus and the Amazons) on the Stoa Poikile at the Agora; Phidias portrays an Amazonomachy on the shield of the Athena Parthenos, the monumental cult statue of the Parthenon.

The four greatest Greek playwrights —Aeschylus, Aristophanes, Euripides, and Sophocles—write during the golden age.

Antheia, the name of the Black Sea town founded in the seventh century BCE by Greek colonists from Miletus, is changed in the fifth century BCE to Apollonia, on account of a temple dedicated to Apollo in the town, containing a famous colossal statue of the god Apollo by Calamis, thirty cubits high.

It will later be transported to Rome by Lucullus and placed in the Capitol.

The Middle East: 441–430 BCE

Regional Stability and Persian Internal Affairs

During this era, Artaxerxes I continues to strengthen internal stability following the apparent diplomatic easing signaled by the Peace of Callias. Persian administration, though expansive and resourceful, remains preoccupied with maintaining control over distant and culturally diverse provinces. Persistent local tensions simmer beneath the surface in regions such as Egypt, which remains restive under Persian authority.

Despite these internal challenges, the Achaemenid Empire, still the predominant power from the Indus to the Mediterranean, maintains a relatively peaceful front along its western borders, avoiding further direct conflicts with the Greek city-states. The Persian court at Susa continues its patronage of cultural and architectural projects, reinforcing Persian prestige across its dominions.

Artaxerxes, balancing regional autonomy with centralized oversight, solidifies his rule through effective administration, careful diplomacy, and cultural integration, marking this period as one of cautious but prosperous consolidation within the vast Persian empire.

Near East (441–430 BCE): Revival of Miletus and Hippodamian Urbanism

Between 441 and 430 BCE, the Near East experiences noteworthy developments, especially highlighted by the revitalization of Miletus in southwestern Anatolia. Previously devastated by Persia as punishment for its role in the Ionian Revolt—an event mourned throughout Greece—Miletus rapidly recovers during this era.

The Milesians, determined to restore their city's former glory, adopt an innovative approach to urban planning. Utilizing principles devised by the Greek architect and urban planner Hippodamus of Miletus, the city is rebuilt according to a systematic, grid-based layout. This "Hippodamian" plan, characterized by straight streets intersecting at right angles and carefully organized public and private spaces, becomes influential, setting a new standard for urban design across the Greek and wider Mediterranean world.

The swift and meticulous reconstruction not only symbolizes the resilience and ambition of the Milesian people but also repositions Miletus as a vibrant cultural and economic hub. Its renewed prosperity and strategic importance reflect the broader revival of Greek influence along the coast of Anatolia, as the region increasingly integrates into the sphere of Hellenic political and cultural life.

Thus, this period in the Near East is marked by the remarkable transformation of Miletus, which emerges from devastation to exemplify innovative urban planning and renewed regional significance.

The fortunes of Miletus, punished by Persia for its part in the Ionian Revolt in such a fashion that the whole of Greece mourned it, had soon revived, and the Milesians set about rebuilding their city on a new grid plan of the type invented in this period by Hippodamus of Miletus.