Within just a year it, in 429 BC, the Athenians not only forgave Pericles but also re-elected him as strategos. He was reinstated in command of the Athenian army and led all its military operations during 429 BC, having once again under his control the levers of power. In that year, however, Pericles suffered severe blows to his morale. Both his legitimate sons by first marriage, Paralus and Xanthippus, perished in the epidemic. His morale undermined, he burst into tears and not even the company of his lover Aspasia 's could comfort him. He himself died of the plague in the autumn of 429 BC. Just before his death, Pericles ' friends were concentrated around his bed, enumerating his virtues during peace and underscoring his nine war