Themistocles
Themistocles
Circa 524-460 b.c.e.
Athenian statesman and naval commander
Hero or Villain? The most controversial figure in the Greeks’ struggle against the Persians was Themistocles. One historian, Herodotus, accused him of corruption; another, Thucydides, admired him for his far-sightedness and thought him one of the greatest men of his generation. Whatever the historical verdict, Themistocles is one of several Athenian leaders whose great accomplishments only seem to have foreshadowed their downfall at the hands of the people.
Early Life. Historians believe that the family origins of Themistocles made him have strong democratic sympathies. While his father, Neocles, belonged to the aristocratic Lycomid family, his mother was a concubine and possibly not even Greek. As a result, Themistocles did not receive citizenship until 508, when Cleisthenes made it possible for all free men in Athens to become citizens.
Naval Program. In 493 he was elected archon and soon thereafter initiated a series of naval reforms. He ordered the development of the harbor at Piraeus and in 482 requisitioned a large surplus of silver for the enlargement of the fleet to two hundred triremes. In 480 he interpreted a saying of the oracles of Apollo that predicted Greek victory over the Persians so long as the Greeks put faith in Athens’ “wooden wall,” its fleet of ships. He commanded the combined Greek navy at the Battle of Artemisium, and although it had to retreat, the fleet inflicted heavy losses upon the Persians. Later that same year at Salamis, Themistocles won a stunning victory when he lured the Persians into narrow straits where their superior numbers only caused confusion. He gained tremendous honors around the Greek world for these accomplishments.
Ostracism. Despite this glory, within ten years Themistocles lost favor with the people. His plans to move the capital to Piraeus and to reduce the powers of the Areopagus met with resistance, and he was ostracized from Athens. He lived in Argos for some time, but when evidence appeared that he might be conspiring with the Persians, he was condemned to death by the Spartans. He fled first to the west and then to the east. In a strange twist of events, he finally found refuge with the king of Persia, his former enemy, who made him a provincial governor of several Greek cities in Asia Minor.
Sources
A. R. Burn, Persia and the Greeks: The Defence of the West, c. 546-478 b.c.e. (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1962).
Peter Green, The Year of Salamis, 480-479 B.C.E. (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1970).
Herodotus, The Histories, translated by W. Blanco and J. Roberts (New York: Norton, 1992).
Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, translated by Rex Warner (Harmonds-worth, U.K.: Penguin, 1954; revised, 1972).