Abstract
Pericles is said to have been affected by Anaxagoras and therefore having improved his speaking skills. A generic influence of philosophical studies is usually supposed but there may be a more specific reason: it was possible to interpret the works of meteorologoi in a limited way, strictly rhetorical, renouncing cosmological speculation but acquiring an effective instrument of persuasion. Some anecdotes in Pericles’ life help to understand how this philosophy was translated into political action. Anaxagoras not only improved Pericles’ speaking skills but also provided a model of behaviour for any contingency.