General Themistocles. Themistocles - short biography. What is known about Themistocles

Early years. Family

Themistocles was born in Athens around 524 BC. e. His father was an Athenian from a not very noble family, Neocles. Themistocles' mother, according to Plutarch, was either the Thracian Abrotonon or a woman from Halicarnassus, Euterpe. Regardless of what city Themistocles’ mother came from, her son was illegitimate. In this regard, he was prescribed some restrictions. In particular, he had to attend the gymnasium outside the city gates on Kinosarga. Already in childhood, Themistocles showed a cunning that destroyed one of the differences between illegitimate and full-fledged citizens. Having made friends with the children of aristocrats, he managed to persuade them to do gymnastic exercises in Kinosarga.

Subsequently, Themistocles’ origin determined his civic position. Most of the Athenian noble families had family and/or friendly relations with other states. Themistocles was alien to such predilections. He was inclined to rely on internal forces, without concluding close alliances with other states. He strove for Athenian isolationism.

In his youth, during rest, unlike other children, Themistocles thought and composed speeches. He either blamed them or defended one of his peers. The teacher of the future Athenian strategist, according to Plutarch, suggested that “Boy, nothing mediocre will come out of you, but something very great, either good or evil!” .

In his youth, according to a number of ancient authors, Themistocles led a riotous lifestyle. Because of this, his father even disinherited him. Plutarch confirms the existence of such rumors, while refuting them. Plutarch himself, at the end of his work “Themistocles,” talks about 10 children of Themistocles, of whom only three (Arhentol, Polyeuctus and Cleophantus) were from his first wife Archippe.

The situation in Athens before the start of Themistocles' political activity

Themistocles grew up amid frequent changes of power in Athens. After the death of the tyrant Pisistratus in 527 BC. e. power passed to his sons Hipparchus and Hippias. After the assassination of Hipparchus in 514 BC. e. Hippias, who survived, surrounded himself with mercenaries, with the help of whom he hoped to maintain power. In 510 BC. e. The Spartan king Cleomenes launched a military campaign against Athens, as a result of which the tyrant was overthrown. A representative of the Alcmaeonid family, Cleisthenes, returned to Athens. He was entrusted with the preparation of new laws. The innovations he implemented made Athens a democracy (ancient Greek. δημοκρατία ) . They were also introduced to ostracism - expulsion from the city by voting of prominent citizens who threatened democracy. Cleisthenes' innovations did not please the representatives of the Athenian aristocracy - the eupatrides. Having managed to elect their representative Isagoras as archon, they expelled Cleisthenes and reversed his reforms. Isagoras and his supporters were supported by the Spartans. The people opposed this change and managed to expel both Isagoras and the Spartans from Athens.

After the tyrants were expelled from Athens, the power of the city began to increase. As Herodotus wrote:

“having freed themselves from tyranny, they occupied an unconditionally superior position. Therefore, obviously, under the yoke of tyrants, the Athenians did not want to fight like slaves working for their master; now, after his liberation, everyone began to strive for their own well-being.”

The new political system opened the way to power for people who were previously deprived of the opportunity to achieve it. Among them was the illegitimate Themistocles. Participation in the new political realities of Athens required the ability to persuade, speak before the people's assembly, and be constantly in sight - those traits that the young Athenian politician possessed. He also gained popularity among the people due to his memory - he called every citizen by name - and because he turned out to be an impartial judge in private matters.

So, according to Plutarch, when the famous ancient Greek poet Simonides of Keos asked Themistocles for something illegal, he was refused. The Athenian strategist replied that just as he, Simonides, would not be a good poet if he did not observe the laws of versification in his poems, so he, Themistocles, would not be a good ruler if he acted illegally to please someone.

Archonship

In 494 BC. e. Themistocles took a very high and honorable position as archon. On the wave of its popularity in the next 493 BC. e. he became an eponymous archon - the head of the executive branch of ancient Athens. During his archonship, Themistocles began to carry out a number of reforms, which in the future ensured the Greeks' victory over the Persians and the rise of Athens over other ancient Greek states. The Archon made every effort to make Athens a strong maritime state. To achieve this, he began construction of a new port in Piraeus. The old port at Falera, although located much closer to the city center, was unsuitable for maintaining a large fleet. The construction of Piraeus became the cornerstone of the future greatness of Athens.

Themistocles' innovations to strengthen the sea power of Athens had long-term significance, not only in the context of the Greco-Persian wars, but also in the political structure of the state. According to Plutarch:

“By this, he strengthened the demos against the aristocracy and gave it courage, since power passed into the hands of the oarsmen, celests and helmsmen. For this reason, the tribune on Pinx, built so that it faced the sea, was subsequently turned by the thirty tyrants to face the land: they thought that domination of the sea gives birth to democracy, and farmers are less burdened by oligarchy.”

From the Battle of Marathon to the Second Persian Invasion of Hellas

In 490 BC. e. The Persian army under the command of Datis and Artaphernes landed near Athens on a plain near the city of Marathon. During the battle, the Persians suffered a crushing defeat. The commander-in-chief of the Athenians was the general Miltiades. The victory at Marathon awakened the ambition of Themistocles, who also wanted to achieve military success. Since then, he often repeated “The laurels of Miltiades do not let me sleep.” This phrase later became a catchphrase.

A year later, Miltiades was defeated and seriously wounded during the siege of the island of Paros. Taking advantage of the commander's incapacity, representatives of the noble Alcmaeonid family brought him to trial. The Athenian aristocrats were jealous of Miltiades' fame and influence. On charges of “abusing the trust of the people,” Miltiades was sentenced to a huge fine for those times of 50 talents and imprisoned. A few weeks later the famous commander died.

After the death of Miltiades, Themistocles, using his influence on the poorest sections of the population, became one of the most influential politicians in Athens. His rival was Aristide, around whom the aristocracy united. In contrast to Themistocles, he was honest, virtuous and just. Aristide's followers gave him the nickname "The Just". Plutarch, with reference to the philosopher Ariston, writes that the enmity of Aristides and Themistocles began in their youth on the basis of the attachment of both to a certain native of the island of Keos, Stesilaus. When Aristides was entrusted with monitoring public revenues, he convicted many influential persons, including Themistocles, of enormous thefts. Themistocles managed not only to extricate himself from the current situation, but also to win the case against Aristides, having found minor inconsistencies in his reports. The Athenians were outraged, and Aristides “the Just,” who had lost the trial, was reappointed to his former position. According to Plutarch:

“This time, pretending to repent of his previous behavior, he showed much greater condescension and pleased the plunderers of the treasury, whom he now did not expose or bother with investigations, so that they, having filled their wallets with public money, were scattered in praise of Aristide , with considerable zeal convincing the people to re-elect him again. Just before the voting began, Aristides addressed the Athenians with the following reproach: “When I ruled you conscientiously and honestly, I was disgraced, and now that I allowed thieves to profit from a considerable amount of public goods, I am considered an excellent citizen. But I myself am more ashamed of the present honor than of the then condemnation, and I feel sorry for you: you would rather approve of someone who pleases scoundrels than someone who guards the state treasury.”.

Themistocles continued his policy of creating a powerful navy in Athens. The Athenians had the custom of dividing among themselves the proceeds from the silver mines in Laurion. The owner of these mines was the state. In Athens, after the fall of the tyrants, state property began to be considered the property of all citizens. If, after covering all state needs, significant amounts remained in the coffers, then this surplus was divided among all citizens. Themistocles proposed using the funds received for the construction of ships. The proposal was received very ambiguously. By accepting it, every Athenian was deprived of a small but reliable monetary benefit provided by the state. Preparing ships for the war with the Persians, Themistocles understood that the Athenians would not agree with his proposal, since they did not consider the barbarians defeated at Marathon to be a serious threat. Therefore, he convinced his fellow citizens that new ships and a powerful fleet were necessary for the war with Aegina, an island that was waging a continuous war with Athens.

One of Aristides' ostracons

These plans were opposed by the aristocracy led by Aristide. The implementation of Themistocles' plans to create 200 ships led to an increase in daily wages, as well as a rise in the cost of living. Disagreements between the two parties - aristocratic and popular - became so intense that it was decided to carry out an ostracism procedure in order to restore calm in the city. During the voting procedure, according to Plutarch, Aristides again lived up to his nickname of “the Just”:

They say that when the shards were being inscribed, some illiterate, uncouth peasant handed the shard to Aristides - the first one who came across him - and asked him to write the name of Aristides. He was surprised and asked if Aristide had offended him in any way. “No,” answered the peasant, “I don’t even know this man,” but I’m tired of hearing “Fair” and “Fair” at every step!..” Aristide did not answer anything, wrote his name and returned the shard.

After the removal of Aristides from the city (in 484 or 483 BC), Themistocles, on the eve of the invasion of Xerxes' army, became the main politician of Athens.

Persian invasion of Hellas

In 481 BC. e. A congress of 30 ancient Greek states took place, at which it was decided to jointly repel the upcoming Persian invasion. In this alliance, Athens and Sparta had the greatest military power. At the same time, the Spartans had a strong ground army, and the Athenians had a navy, created as a result of the reforms and innovations carried out earlier by Themistocles. Corinth and Aegina, other Greek states with strong navies, refused to place it under Athenian command. As a compromise, command of the naval forces was given to Sparta and its general Eurybiades.

The Congress met again in the spring of 480 BC. e. Representatives from Thessaly suggested that the Greeks make an attempt to stop the army of Xerxes in the narrow gorge of Tempe (English) Russian on the border of Thessaly and Macedonia. 10 thousand hoplites were sent to Thessaly by sea to defend the gorge. Alexander, the king of Macedonia, who had previously recognized the supreme power of the Persian king, who sympathized with the Greeks, warned the Greek army about the presence of a workaround. A few days later the Greeks sailed back. Soon after, Xerxes crossed the Hellespont with his army.

After this, another plan of action was proposed by the Athenian strategist Themistocles. The route to southern Greece (Boeotia, Attica and Peloponnese) passed through the narrow Thermopylae Gorge. In it, the Greek army could hold the enemy's superior forces. To prevent bypassing the gorge from the sea, Athenian and allied ships had to control the narrow strait between the island of Euboea and mainland Greece (subsequently, almost simultaneously with the Battle of Thermopylae, the naval battle of Artemisium took place there). This strategy was approved by the Pan-Hellenic Congress, although representatives of some Peloponnesian cities did not agree with this decision. They believed that it would be best to direct all forces to the defense of the Isthmus of Corinth, connecting the Peloponnesian Peninsula with the mainland. They proposed to evacuate the women and children from abandoned Athens to other cities.

Battle of Artemisia

According to Herodotus, 271 Greek ships gathered in the strait between the island of Euboea and the mainland, near Cape Artemisium. During this battle, weather conditions turned out to be extremely favorable for the Greeks. On the way to Artemisium, the Persian fleet encountered a strong storm, during which many ships were wrecked. When the Hellenes saw the huge enemy fleet, they were afraid and decided to flee. Themistocles spoke out sharply against this proposal. He managed to convince the Hellenes to wait in the following way. Residents of the island of Euboea asked to wait before sailing, as they needed to transport women and children to a safe place. The departure of the Greek fleet meant the imminent plunder of the island by the Persians. Themistocles took from them 30 talents, of which he gave 5 to Eurybiades, and 3 to the Corinthian commander Adeimantus. Plutarch also mentions 1 talent given to the trierarch of one of the Athenian ships, which required immediate departure. Themistocles kept the rest of the money for himself.

Seeing a small Greek fleet in front of them, the barbarians considered their victory undeniable. In order to prevent the Greeks from escaping, they decided to send 200 ships around Euboea. The Persian plans became known to the Greeks from a defector. Without waiting for encirclement, the allied fleet of the Hellenes, unexpectedly for the Persians, attacked their main forces and inflicted significant damage on them. With the onset of darkness, a storm began, as a result of which 200 Persian ships on the open sea, sailing to encircle the Greeks, crashed on the coastal rocks.

The Greeks continued to successfully attack the Persian fleet for 2 days until they received word of the death of King Leonidas and 300 Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae. After this sad news for the Hellenes, they began to retreat.

After the start of the retreat, Themistocles undertook the following trick, aimed at either separating the Ionians related to the Athenians from the Persian army, or sowing distrust in them on the part of the Persians. During his retreat on a fast ship, he entered all the bays where there was fresh water, and left inscriptions on the stones:

Ionians! You are acting unfairly by going to war against your ancestors and helping to enslave Hellas. Come over to our side quickly! If this is impossible, then at least don’t fight against us yourself and ask the Carians to do the same. And if you can do neither, if you are bound by too heavy a chain of compulsion and cannot throw it off, then fight like cowards when it comes to battle. Never forget that you came from us and that it was because of you that our enmity with the Persian king initially began.

Battle of Salamis

After the defeat of the Greeks at Thermopylae, the path to Athens and the Peloponnese was open for the Persians. Warriors from the Peloponnesian cities began to hastily gather on the Isthmus of Corinth and strengthen it. From Artemisia, the allied ships sailed to the island of Salamis. Themistocles came up with a plan of action that would ultimately ensure victory for the Greeks over the Persians. To bring it to life, he had to show all his cunning and oratorical gift.

Shortly before the Persians entered Attica, the Athenians sent envoys to Delphi to ask the oracle about further events. The prophecy turned out to be the darkest and foreshadowed imminent death. This answer from the oracle deeply saddened the ambassadors. They decided to return to the oracle as “begging God for protection.” The Pythia's next prophecy was not much better. However, the oracle contained phrases that Themistocles then successfully used to persuade the Athenians to move to the island of Salamis, located near Athens:

Only wooden walls give Zeus Tryptogenea Stand indestructibly for the salvation of you and your descendants

Themistocles managed to convince the Athenians at a public meeting that the “wooden walls” are Athenian ships, and the “death of the sons” refers to the Persians, since otherwise the oracle would have said “unfortunate Salamis” and not “divine.” In 1960, a tablet with the decrees of Themistocles was found and published. Its content largely coincides with the records of ancient classics. It talks about the mobilization of the entire male population, the evacuation of women, the elderly and children to the island of Salamis and Troezen, and the return of citizens expelled from Athens for a common struggle.

During the general confusion, both the sacred snake and the precious aegis of Athena disappeared from the temple. Themistocles was able to use these events to implement his plans. He explained the disappearance of the snake by saying that the goddess had left the city and was showing the Athenians the way to the sea. To search for the treasure, Themistocles ordered to search the luggage of citizens and confiscate an excessive amount of money that residents fleeing the city took with them. These funds were transferred to public use, and they were used to pay salaries to ship crews.

Plutarch describes in great detail the hesitation of the Greeks in the days before the battle. The main commander of the fleet was the Spartan Eurybiades. He wanted to weigh anchor and sail to the Isthmus of Corinth, where the Peloponnesian land army was located. Themistocles understood that the narrow straits would neutralize the numerical superiority of Xerxes' fleet. Accordingly he objected to Eurybiades. During their dispute, phrases were said that later became catchphrases:

Eurybiades told him: “Themistocles, in competitions they beat the one who runs ahead of time.” “Yes,” answered Themistocles, “however, the one who remains behind is not awarded a wreath.” Eurybiades raised his stick to hit him, and Themistocles said: « Hit me, but listen » […] Themistocles began to repeat his previous proposal, but then someone said that a person who does not have his own city should not persuade those who have one to leave and abandon their fatherland to the mercy of fate. Then Themistocles turned to him and said: “Scoundrel! Yes, we left houses and walls, not wanting to be slaves because of soulless things, and we have a city, larger than all the cities in Hellas - two hundred triremes, which now stand here to help you if you want to seek your salvation; and if you leave a second time and betray us, then immediately some of the Hellenes will know that the Athenians acquired both a free city and land no worse than the one they lost.”

View of the island of Salamis

With his arguments, Themistocles was able to delay the departure of the allied fleet for several days. However, when the enemy fleet approached the Phalerian harbor, and a huge Persian army appeared on the shore, the Greeks decided to flee. Themistocles, dissatisfied that the Hellenes would miss the opportunity to take advantage of the location and narrow straits, decided on a cunning unprecedented in world history. He sent one of his trusted slaves, Sikinnus, a Persian by nationality, to Xerxes with a message:

The Athenian commander Themistocles goes over to the king’s side, the first informs him that the Hellenes want to flee, and advises him not to let them escape, but to attack them while they are in alarm due to the lack of a ground army, and to destroy their naval forces.

Xerxes ordered to convene a military council and discuss plans for the further conquest of Greece. Most military leaders advised giving the Greeks a battle in the narrow straits near Salamis. Only Queen Artemisia, who accompanied the Persian army, advised abandoning the battle. According to Herodotus, the arguments she gave were very similar to the words of Themistocles. She asked to tell Xerxes that, in her opinion, the Greek fleet would not be able to resist for long and the Hellenes would soon flee to their cities. Advancement towards the Peloponnese and the Isthmus of Corinth will bring the Persian army an unconditional victory. Xerxes decided to follow the opinion of the majority of military leaders and force battle on the Hellenes. While the Hellenic commanders continued their heated argument, the barbarians began to encircle them. During these disputes, Aristides arrived from Aegina, barely escaping pursuit by Persian patrol ships. When the Greeks realized that they were surrounded, they had no choice but to prepare for battle.

Battle of Salamis

According to Plutarch, citing the historian Fanius, before the battle, one of the priests demanded that Themistocles make human sacrifices. Three captive Persian youths were sacrificed to Dionysus Omestes. As a result of the battle, the Greeks, using the narrowness of the straits, were able to defeat the superior forces of the Persians.

The Battle of Salamis was a turning point in the Greco-Persian Wars. Many historians call the Battle of Salamis one of the most important battles in history. The Greeks, who had previously been inferior to the Persians in both land and sea forces, gained an advantage at sea. According to Herodotus, Xerxes was afraid that Greek ships would sail to the Hellespont and block his way back. According to Plutarch, after the battle a council was held between the Greek commanders. Themistocles proposed destroying the bridges in the Hellespont in order to "capture Asia from Europe." Aristide opposed him:

Now we were at war with a barbarian devoted to bliss; and if we lock him up in Hellas and bring a man who has such forces under his power to the last extreme with fear, then he will no longer sit under the golden canopy and calmly watch the battle, but will go to any lengths, himself, in the face of danger, will participate in all actions, correct omissions and take the best measures to save everything as a whole. Therefore, Themistocles,” he added, “we should not destroy the existing bridge, but if possible, build a second one and quickly throw this fellow out of Europe.

Themistocles agreed with Aristides and, in order to quickly expel Xerxes from Greece, undertook another trick. He sent a spy to the king with a message that the Greeks wanted to destroy the bridges. The frightened Xerxes began to hastily retreat.

From the Battle of Salamis to exile

One of the main military leaders of Xerxes, Mardonius, turned to the king with a request to leave him part of the ground army for further war. After some deliberation, Xerxes agreed. Mardonius and his army stopped for winter quarters in Thessaly and Boeotia, and the Athenians were able to return to the sacked city. In the winter, the Greek allies gathered again in Corinth to celebrate the victory and discuss further military actions.

At the meeting, it was decided to determine the most valiant military leader by secret ballot. Most of the military leaders gave the first stone for themselves, and the second for Themistocles. As a result, he received a second award. The Spartans appreciated Themistocles’ contribution to the victory over the Persians at Salamis and showed him great honors. According to Plutarch, they brought him to Sparta, where they presented him with an olive wreath as a reward for his intelligence, presented him with the best chariot, and sent an escort of 300 Spartans to escort him to the border.

Upon his arrival from Lacedaemon to Athens, one of Themistocles’ enemies began to criticize him, saying that he owed the gifts of the Spartans only to Athens, but not to himself. To this the strategist, according to Herodotus, replied:

Despite such impressive services to the Athenians, Themistocles was removed from supreme command of the troops. Thus, Aristides became the head of the ground forces, and Xanthippus became the head of the naval forces. There is no evidence in ancient sources about the activities of Themistocles, up to the Battle of Plataea. The Battle of Plataea ended in a crushing defeat for the Persians.

After his victory over Xerxes, Themistocles laid the foundation for the future rise of Athens. After the battles of Marathon and Salamis, the glory of the Athenians among other Greek states increased significantly. Athens also had the most powerful fleet. Anticipating possible disagreements and enmity in the future with Athens, the Spartans forbade residents to build walls around their city. According to Plutarch, with reference to the historian Theopompus, and Cornelia Nepos, Themistocles took charge of resolving the issue. The politician ordered the citizens to build the wall as quickly as possible, sparing neither private nor public property, and he himself went to Sparta. In Lacedaemon, he was in no hurry to visit the officials - the ephors. Having learned that the fortifications were almost completed, Themistocles came to the Lacedaemonian ephors, who had supreme power, and began to assure them that the information they had received was false and therefore it was necessary to send ambassadors to Athens who would confirm that he was right. The Spartans sent ambassadors from among the highest officials. They, by prior order of Themistocles, were detained by the Athenians. After this, the ephors were warned that the hostages would only be released when Themistocles arrived back in Athens.

Themistocles initiated the formation of the Delian Maritime League, which included the coastal and island Greek policies; Athens played a decisive role in this alliance. This alliance during the time of Pericles and the Peloponnesian War largely ensured the power of Athens.

Ostracon with the inscription "Themistocles son of Neocles"

When the Hellenic fleet, after the retreat of Xerxes, entered the harbor near Athens and stopped for the winter, Themistocles, in one of his speeches before the national assembly, said that he had a plan that was useful and saving for the Athenians, but that it was impossible to talk about it in front of everyone. The Athenians suggested that he communicate this plan to Aristides alone and, if he approves of it, carry it out. Themistocles informed Aristides that he was planning to set fire to the Hellenic fleet in his camp. Aristides declared in the national assembly that there was nothing more useful, but at the same time more dishonest, than what Themistocles had planned. After this, the Athenians refused Themistocles' proposal.

Themistocles' activities caused criticism among the cities from which he collected tribute. So, according to Herodotus, demanding money from the inhabitants of Andros, he received the following words in response. He said that he brought with him two gods, Persuasion and Compulsion; and they answered that they had two great goddesses, Poverty and Need, who prevented them from giving him money. He was also reproached for resolving many issues using bribes. Out of envy, the Athenians believed the slander against the savior of their city and all of Hellas from the Persians. Also, according to Plutarch, he eventually bored his fellow citizens with frequent reminders of his merits. As a result, he was ostracized and banished from the city for 10 years.

Exile

After being ostracized, Themistocles lived for some time in Argos. At this time, the winner of the Battle of Plataea, the Spartan regent Pausanias, had serious disagreements with the ephors. He began secret negotiations with the Persians. Seeing Themistocles' disgrace, the military leader invited him to participate in treason. Themistocles refused to cooperate, but did not reveal the plans of the Spartan regent, with whom he had a good relationship. When Pausanias' plot was discovered, letters were found among his documents in which Themistocles was mentioned. The former military leader, who played a significant role in the victory over the Persians, was convicted in absentia in Athens. Messengers were sent for him to Argos.

Themistocles did not wait for his execution and fled to Corfu, whose inhabitants he had once rendered a service to in their dispute with Corinth. From there, pursued by the Spartans and Athenians, he moved to Epirus, ruled by King Admetus, and then to Syracuse. After the tyrant of Syracuse, Hiero, refused Themistocles, he went to Asia. The Persian king Artaxerxes had previously promised a very large sum of 200 talents for the head of a man who played a significant role in the defeat of the army of his father Xerxes. However, Themistocles was safer in the Achaemenid Empire than in his homeland. With the help of his friends, he was taken to the king and fell on his face before him. The surprised king, seeing the once most iconic enemy of the Persians bowing before him, not only saved his life, but also granted him control of several cities - Magnesia-on-Meander, Lampsacus, Miunts, and, according to the testimony of Fanius, also Percota (English) Russian with Paleskepsis.

For some time, Themistocles lived quietly in one of the cities granted to him. However, according to Plutarch, the king ordered him to fulfill his previously made promises and lead the war against the Greeks. According to Plutarch, Themistocles, having received these orders, took poison. However, most likely he died of old age.

Political and military legacy

Themistocles' greatest achievement is the complete victory of the Greeks over the army of Xerxes. Despite the overwhelming numerical superiority of the army of the Achaemenid Empire, Greece survived. The doctrine of the sea power of Athens and its transformation into one of the strongest ancient powers had a number of important historical consequences. In 478 BC. e., soon after the victory over the Persians, the Hellenic union was created again, but without the Peloponnesian city-states. Athens played a leading role in the new Delian League. Under the leadership of Pericles, the Delian League turned into the Athenian Empire. The islands included in the union were obliged to pay tribute to the Athenians and did not have the opportunity to conduct an independent foreign policy. The rise of Athens, as a result of the activities of Themistocles, initially led to a deterioration in relations with other Greek city-states, in particular with Sparta, which resulted in the long Peloponnesian War.

The image of Themistocles, as a man who played a key role in the victory over the enemy, and then was forced to ask him for shelter, was used by Napoleon. The French emperor, in his letter to the British about surrender, compares himself to Themistocles, surrendering to the mercy of his former enemy.

The image of Themistocles in art

The opera of the same name by Johann Christian Bach is dedicated to the ancient Greek strategist. Events take place in 470 BC. e. Themistocles fled Greece and ended up in Susa, at the court of the Persian king. The opera was composed in 1772 in Mannheim.

Several historical novels are dedicated to the ancient Greek strategist, in particular “The Hero of Salamis” by L. Voronkova and “Themistocles” by V. Porotnikov.

Notes

1. Surikov I. E. Themistocles: Homo novus in the circle of the old nobility // Ancient Greece: politicians in the context of the era. - M.:: Science, 2008. - P. 140. - 383 p. - ISBN 978-5-02-036984-9
2. , With. 14
3. , p. 159
4. , With. 17
5. , With. 13
6. Themistocles (English). website www.livius.org. Archived from the original on January 24, 2012. Retrieved October 30, 2011.
7. Hornblower Simon, Spawforth Anthony Themistocles // The Oxford Classical Dictionary. - Oxford University Press. - 1996. - ISBN 9780198661726
8. Plutarch Themistocles and Camillus (Themistocles I) // Selected biographies. - M.:: "Pravda", 1987. - T. 1. - P. 215-216. - 592 s. - 500,000 copies.
9. Cornelius Nepos. Themistocles. 1
10. , p. 153
11. Plutarch. Themistocles II
12. Libanius. Speeches IX-X
13. Plutarch. Themistocles III
14. Plutarch. Themistocles XXXII
15. Holland, Tom Persian Fire. - Abacus, 2005. - P. 122. - ISBN 978-0-349-11717-1
16. , p. 126-128
17. , p. 128-131
18. //
19. // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional ones). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
20. Herodotus. Story. V.78
21. , p. 164-167
22. Plutarch. Themistocles V
23. Stavnyuk V.V. Socio-political activities of Themistocles. - M.:: Abstract for the academic degree of Candidate of Historical Sciences, 1988. - P. 9-10.
24. , p. 240
25. , p. 166
26. Plutarch. Themistocles XIX
27. Serov Vadim The laurels of Miltiades do not let me sleep. Encyclopedic Dictionary of winged words and expressions. Archived
28. , p. 214-217
29. , p. 217-219
30. Plutarch Aristides and Marcus Cato. Aristide IV. website lib.ru. Archived from the original on January 24, 2012. Retrieved August 29, 2011.
31. , With. 19
32. Kurtsius E. History of Ancient Greece. - Mn.:: Harvest, 2002. - T. 2. - P. 237-238. - 416 s. - 3000 copies. - ISBN 985-13-1119-7
33. , p. 219-222
34. Plutarch. Themistocles IV
35. , p. 238
36. , p. 165
37. , p. 240-242
38. Plutarch. Aristide VII
39. , p. 244
40. Herodotus. History VII. 145
41. Herodotus. History VII. 161
42. , p. 226
43. , p. 258
44. Holland, Tom. Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West. - New York: Doubleday, 2006. - P. 47-55. - ISBN 0385513119
45. Herodotus. VII. 173
46. , p. 279
47. , p. 255-257
48. Connolly P. The Greco-Persian Wars: The Beginning. website www.roman-glory.com (November 27, 2006). Archived from the original on January 24, 2012. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
49. Herodotus. VIII. 40
50. Herodotus. History VIII. 1
51. Herodotus. History VIII. 4
52. , p. 283-284
53. Herodotus. History VIII. 5
54. Plutarch. Themistocles VII
55. Herodotus. History VIII. 7
56. Herodotus. History VIII. 8
57. Herodotus. History VIII. eleven
58. Herodotus. History VIII. 13
59. Plutarch. Themistocles IX
60. Herodotus. History VIII. 22
61. Herodotus. History VIII. 50
62. Herodotus. History VIII. 71
63. Herodotus. History VII. 140
64. , p. 167-168
65. Lecture 8: Greco-Persian Wars. // History of the Ancient World / Edited by I.M. Dyakonova, V.D. Neronova, I.S. Sventsitskaya. - 2nd. - M.:: Publishing House "Science", 1983. - T. 2. The Rise of Ancient Societies.

But the people liked Themistocles, both because he remembered every citizen by name, and because he turned out to be an impartial judge in private matters. So, when he was a strategist, and Simonides of Keos asked him for something illegal, he answered him that, just as he, Simonides, would not be a good poet if he did not observe the laws of versification in his poems, so he, Themistocles , would not be a good ruler if he acted illegally to please someone. Another time he mocked Simonides, calling him a mad man for scolding the Corinthians, the inhabitants of a large city, and for ordering images of himself, although he had such an ugly face. When his influence increased and he became popular, he finally gained the upper hand in the struggle in the state field and, through ostracism, forced Aristides to retire from Athens.

When, during the Median invasion of Hellas, the Athenians consulted about the choice of a general, they say that everyone voluntarily refused this position for fear of danger. Only Epikides, the son of Euthemis, an eloquent leader, but at heart cowardly and greedy for money, wanted to get this position, and it could be expected that he would prevail in the vote. Then Themistocles, fearing the complete destruction of the state if the supreme leadership went to Epikides, bought with money from him a renunciation of his ambitious plans.

They also praise the act of Themistocles with a man who spoke two languages, who was one of the envoys of the Persian king who demanded land and water, and a translator. According to the popular decree, Themistocles ordered to seize and execute him because he dared to use the Hellenic language to convey the orders of the barbarian.

Themistocles’ act with Artmia from Zeleia is also praised: at his suggestion, Artmia and his descendants were included in the list of outlaws because he brought Median gold to Hellas.

But the main merit of Themistocles is that he put an end to the internecine wars in Hellas and reconciled the individual states among themselves, convincing them to put aside hostility in view of the war with Persia; in this matter, they say, Hiley from Arcadia provided him with great assistance.

Having assumed the post of strategist, Themistocles immediately began to persuade the citizens to board the triremes, leave the city and meet the barbarians at sea, as far as possible from Hellas. But in view of resistance from many citizens, he led a large army into the Tempean Valley with the Spartans to defend Thessaly there, which was then not thought to be on the side of the Persians. But they returned from there without achieving their goal: Thessaly joined the king, and all the regions up to Boeotia were on the side of the Persians. Then the Athenians began to pay more attention to Themistocles’ advice regarding the sea and sent him with a fleet to Artemisium to guard the strait. Here the Hellenes gave the main command to Eurybiades and the Spartans; but the Athenians, who had perhaps more ships than all the other Hellenes put together, considered it a humiliation for themselves to submit to others. Themistocles, realizing the danger of this, himself ceded command to Eurybiades and reassured the Athenians with the promise that if they showed their courage in the war, he would ensure that the Hellenes would voluntarily submit to them in the future. Therefore, Themistocles is considered the main culprit for the salvation of Hellas; admittedly, it was thanks to him that the Athenians became famous - because they surpassed their enemies with courage and their allies with nobility. When the barbarian fleet approached Aphetas, Eurybiades was frightened by the many ships that stood against him, and, having learned that another two hundred were sailing on the other side of Skiathos, going around it, he wanted to return to the interior of Hellas as soon as possible, land in the Peloponnese and bring it to the defense the fleet is also a ground force; he considered the king's naval power completely irresistible. The Euboeans, fearing that the Hellenes would abandon them to their fate, entered into secret negotiations with Themistocles and sent Pelagaunt to him with a large sum of money. Themistocles accepted the money and gave it to Eurybiades, as Herodotus relates. The one who opposed him most of all the Athenian citizens was the Architel, the trierarch of the sacred ship; for lack of money to pay the sailors, he was in a hurry to sail home. Themistocles armed the sailors even more against him, so that they came running and took his dinner. The architect lost heart from this and was irritated. Themistocles sent him bread and meat for dinner in a box, and put a talent of silver underneath and ordered him to have dinner now, and the next day to take care of the sailors; otherwise, he will accuse him before the citizens of having received a bribe from the enemy. This is what Fanius of Lesbos says.

The then battles with the barbarian fleet in the strait did not have much influence on the general course of the war, but served as a very useful experience for the Hellenes, who in practice, amid dangers, were convinced that neither the multitude of ships, nor the splendor and brilliance of their decorations, nor the boastful cries and barbarians war songs do not contain anything terrible for people who know how to get close to enemies and dare to fight with them; that one should not pay attention to this, but rush at the enemies and, grappling with them, fight. Apparently, this was clearly understood by Pindar, who said the following about the battle of Artemisium:

And it’s true: the beginning of victory is courage. Artemisium is the coast of Euboea beyond Hestiaea, facing north, and opposite it lies Olison in the country that was once under the rule of Philoctetes. At Artemisia there is a small temple of Artemis called Oriental. Trees grow around it and columns of white stone are placed around it; If you rub this stone with your hand, it takes on the color and smell of saffron. On one of the columns there was the following inscription in elegiac verses:

They show a place on the coast where, among a large amount of sand, black dust, similar to ash, as if burnt, is extracted from the depths; It is believed that shipwrecks and corpses were burned at this site.

When they learned from the messengers who brought the news of the events at Thermopylae to Artemisium that Leonidas had fallen and Xerxes had captured the land passes, the fleet began to retreat to the interior of Hellas, and the Athenians were placed behind everyone else for their bravery, and they were proud of their exploits.

Sailing along the coast, Themistocles, wherever the enemy had to land, to escape the storm, made inscriptions in visible letters on stones that he accidentally found or himself placed near ship anchorages and sources. In these inscriptions he addressed the Ionians with an appeal, if possible, to go to the Athenians, their fathers, fighting for their freedom; and if it is impossible, then at least harm the barbarian army during the battle and bring it into disorder. He hoped with these inscriptions either to persuade the Ionians to treason or to confuse the barbarians, forcing them to be more suspicious of the Ionians.

Meanwhile, Xerxes invaded Phocis through Doris and burned the Phocian cities. The Hellenes did not come to their aid, despite the requests of the Athenians to go to Boeotia to meet the enemy to protect Attica, just as they themselves went to their aid by sea, to Artemisium. Nobody listened to them: everyone thought only about the Peloponnese, they wanted to concentrate all their forces beyond the Isthmus and built a wall across the Isthmus from sea to sea. The Athenians were indignant at such a betrayal and, left alone, fell into despair and sadness. They did not even think of fighting such a countless army; under the circumstances at that time, one thing was necessary - to leave the city and hold fast to the ships; but the people did not want to hear about it: they said that they did not need victory and that for them salvation was not salvation if they had to abandon the temples of the gods and the graves of their fathers.

10. Themistocles, not knowing how to win over the people to his side with human reasoning, resorted to the help of divine signs and oracles, as if in a tragedy, “raising a car.” Thus, he interpreted as a sign the incident of the dragon, which in those days apparently disappeared from the temple; finding the sacred food that was brought to him daily untouched, the priests told the people about it. Themistocles explained this in the sense that the goddess had left the city and was showing them the way to the sea.

Another time he used the oracle for a demagogic purpose: he said that the “wooden wall” meant nothing more than ships; That’s why God calls Salamis divine, and not terrible or ill-fated, since it will give the name to a great, happy event for the Hellenes. When his opinion was accepted, he proposed to pass a resolution that the city should be entrusted to the patronage of Athena, the “Lady of Athens,” so that everyone capable of bearing arms would board triremes, so that everyone would save children, women and slaves as best they could. When this decree was adopted and came into force, the vast majority of the Athenians sent their children and wives to Troezen; its inhabitants received them with complete cordiality: they decided to support them at the public expense, giving each two obols, and allowing the children to take fruits everywhere; in addition, pay teachers' salaries for them. Nikagoras proposed to make such a decision.

Since the Athenians had no money in the state treasury, then, according to Aristotle, the Areopagus gave each citizen who went on a campaign eight drachmas; Thus, the Areopagus owes the main credit for the fact that the triremes were equipped with a crew. But Clydemus attributes this too to the cunning of Themistocles. It was when the Athenians descended to Piraeus, he says, that the head of the Gorgon disappeared from the statue of the goddess; examining everything under the pretext of searching, Themistocles found a huge amount of money hidden in luggage. This money was turned into general use, and those who boarded the ships received everything they needed for the journey in abundance.

When the entire city left on ships, this sight inspired pity in some, and surprise in others at such courage: the Athenians escorted their families to another place, and they themselves, not yielding to the screams, tears and hugs of their parents, were transported to the island. However, many residents who were left in the city due to old age aroused deep compassion. Some kind of touching impression was made by the domestic animals that had become accustomed to humans, running with pitiful howls around their breadwinners as they boarded the ships. By the way, the dog of Xanthippus, the father of Pericles, as they say, unable to bear being separated from him, jumped into the sea and, swimming next to his trireme, came ashore at Salamis and immediately died of exhaustion. Where the monument called “Kinossema” is shown to this day, they say her grave is located.

11. Great are these deeds of Themistocles; His next task is just as great. He noticed that the citizens regretted Aristides and were afraid that he, in irritation, would pester the king and destroy Hellas (he was expelled through ostracism even before the war, defeated in the fight with Themistocles); therefore, he proposed to make a decree allowing all exiles, with the exception of those expelled for murder, to return to their homeland and, together with all citizens, contribute in deed and word to the good of Hellas.

Out of respect for Sparta, the main commander of the fleet was Eurybiades, a weak-willed man who was afraid of danger. He wanted to weigh anchor and sail to Isthmus, where the Peloponnesian land army was gathered. Themistocles began to object to him; at the same time, they say, the famous phrase was uttered. Eurybiades told him: “Themistocles, in competitions they beat the one who runs ahead of time.” “Yes,” answered Themistocles, “however, the one who remains behind is not awarded a wreath.” Eurybiades raised a stick to hit him, and Themistocles said: “Hit, but listen.” Eurybiades was surprised at his meekness and ordered him to speak. Themistocles began to repeat his previous proposal; but then someone said that a person who does not have his own city should not persuade those who have one to leave and abandon their fatherland to the mercy of fate. Then Themistocles turned to him and said: “You scoundrel!” Yes, we left houses and walls, not wanting to be slaves because of soulless things, and we have a city, larger than all the cities in Hellas, - two hundred triremes, which now stand here to help you if you want to seek salvation; and if you leave a second time and betray us, then now some of the Hellenes will know that the Athenians acquired both a free city and land no worse than the one they lost.” After these words of Themistocles, Eurybiades was overcome by thought and fear, lest the Athenians leave, abandoning them. The Eretrian military leader tried to object to Themistocles, but Themistocles said to him: “And you, too, talk about war, when you, like a cuttlefish, have a sword, but no heart?”

12. While Themistocles was talking about this, standing on the deck, on the top of the ship they saw, according to the stories of some, an owl flying from the right and landing on the mast. This was the main reason why they agreed with Themistocles’ opinion and began to prepare for a naval battle. But when the enemy fleet approached Attica at the Phalerian pier and blocked the surrounding shores, when the king himself, who had gone to the sea with a land army, appeared in all his might, when all his forces gathered in one place, the speeches of Themistocles flew out of the heads of the Hellenes, and the Peloponnesians They began to turn their attention again to Isthmus and were dissatisfied when anyone suggested anything else. Therefore, it was decided to retreat the next night, and the helmsmen were already given the order to be ready to sail. Then Themistocles, dissatisfied that the Hellenes would miss the opportunity to take advantage of the benefits that the location and narrowness of the strait gave them and disperse to the cities, began to think about a plan of action and came up with a well-known trick with the participation of Sicinnus.

Sicinnus was a Persian by birth, a prisoner, but devoted to Themistocles; he was the uncle of his children. It was he who was sent by Themistocles secretly to Xerxes with the following message: “The Athenian military leader Themistocles goes over to the king’s side, the first informs him that the Hellenes want to flee, and advises him not to let them escape, but to attack them while they are in alarm at the absence of ground forces, and destroy their naval forces."

Xerxes received this message with joy, thinking that it was made out of affection for him, and immediately began to give orders to the commanders of the ships so that they, without haste, put people on the ships, and with two hundred ships to immediately go out to sea and surround them with the entire strait on all sides, and a barrier would be built between the islands so that none of the enemies could escape.

While the order was being carried out, Aristides, the son of Lysimachus, the first to notice this, came to Themistocles’ tent (although he was not his friend and, as is said, was ostracized because of him); when Themistocles came out to him, he informed him of his surroundings. Themistocles, knowing his constant nobility and rejoicing at his arrival, told him about the matter with Sikinnos and asked him, since he enjoys great confidence, to help him hold back the Hellenes and make every effort on his part to ensure that they give battle in the strait. Aristides approved of Themistocles' plan, went to other generals and trierarchs and encouraged them to fight. They still did not believe his message, when suddenly a Tenos trireme, fleeing to them from the enemies, whose chief was Panaetius, came and brought news of the encirclement. As a result, along with necessity, anger also forced the Hellenes to decide to fight.

13. At dawn, Xerxes sat down on an elevated place, surveying the fleet and its formation, according to Phanodemus, above the temple of Hercules, where the island is separated by a narrow strait from Attica, and according to Akestodorus, on the border with Megaris, above the so-called Horns. He ordered a golden throne to be erected for himself; There were many scribes around him, whose duty was to write down what happened during the battle.

When Themistocles was making a sacrifice at the trireme of the chief commander, three captives were brought to him, very handsome, luxuriously dressed and decorated with gold. As they said, these were the children of the royal sister Sandaki and Artaikta. When the soothsayer Euphrantidas saw them, the victims burst into a large, bright flame and at the same time someone sneezed to the right, which was also a good omen. Then Euphrantides gave his hand to Themistocles and ordered him to condemn the young men to sacrifice and, after praying, to slay them all to Dionysus Omestes: in this case there would be salvation and victory for the Hellenes. Themistocles was horrified by this terrible, monstrous prophecy. But, as usually happens in great danger, in difficult circumstances, the crowd expects salvation more from something contrary to reason than from something in agreement with it: everyone began to cry out to God with one voice and, leading the captives to the altar, forced them to do as the soothsayer ordered , make a sacrifice. This is how the philosopher, who is well acquainted with history, says, Fanius of Lesbos.

14. About the number of barbarian ships, the poet Aeschylus in the tragedy “The Persians” speaks positively, as someone who knows, the following:

The Attic ships numbered one hundred and eighty; each of them had eighteen men fighting from the deck; of these, four were archers, and the rest were hoplites. As can be seen, Themistocles noticed and chose the time as well as the place: he only then put his triremes with their bows against the barbarians when the hour came at which the wind from the open sea always grows stronger and drives the wave through the strait. The waves did not harm the Hellenic ships because they were flat and low; but the barbarian ships, with a raised stern and a high deck and therefore heavy, were knocked off course by the shock of the wave during their attack and turned sideways to the Hellenes, who attacked them fiercely. Their attention was drawn to Themistocles, who, they thought, saw better than anyone, which was useful, because the chief commander of the Xerxes fleet, Ariamenes, was opposite him in a large ship and from there, as if from a wall, he was throwing arrows and spears. He was a good man and the bravest and fairest of the king’s brothers. So Aminius from Decelea and Socles from Pediaea, sailing together, when their ship and the ship of Ariamen, having run into each other with their noses and colliding, grappled with their rams, and Ariamen wanted to jump on their trireme, they stood against him and pushed him into the sea with blows of their spears; His body, floating among the wreckage of the ship, was recognized by Artemisia and ordered to be taken to Xerxes.

15. During this period of battle, they say, a great light shone from Eleusis; noise and voices filled the Thriasian plain to the sea, as if many people were immediately seeing off the mysterious Iacchus. From this crowd of screaming people, a cloud gradually rose from the ground, which then, as it seemed, began to descend and lay on the triremes. Others thought they saw ghosts in the form of armed men stretching out their arms from Aegina in front of the Hellenic triremes: they assumed that these were the Aeacids, called to help by prayers before the battle.

The first to take the ship was the Athenian trierarch Lycomedes; he cut down the decorations from it and dedicated them to Apollo Laurus-bearer in Phlia. And the rest of the Hellenes, the number of whose ships in the narrow strait were equal to the number of ships of the barbarians, put them to flight, since they attacked separately and clashed with each other, although they resisted until the evening. So the Hellenes, in the words of Simonides, “raised that glorious, famous victory,” more brilliant than which neither the Hellenes nor the barbarians accomplished a single naval deed. This victory was won, however, thanks to the common courage and zeal of all those who fought, but the plan and art belonged to Themistocles.

16. After the naval battle, Xerxes still could not come to terms with the thought of failure and tried to transfer the land army along the embankments to Salamis in order to attack the Hellenes, and for this he made a barrier in the strait. Themistocles, wanting to test Aristides, for the sake of appearance proposed to sail on ships to the Hellespont and destroy the bridge - in order, he added, “so that we could capture Asia in Europe.” Aristides did not approve of this and said: “Now we fought with a barbarian devoted to bliss; and if we lock him up in Hellas and bring a man who has such forces under his power to the last extreme with fear, then he will no longer sit under the golden canopy and calmly watch the battle, but will do anything, himself, in the face of danger, will participate in all actions, correct omissions and take the best measures to save everything as a whole. Therefore, Themistocles,” he added, “we should not destroy the existing bridge, but if possible, build a second one and quickly throw this fellow out of Europe.” “In that case,” answered Themistocles, “if we find this useful, now is the time for us all to think and use all means so that he leaves Europe as soon as possible.” Having made this decision, Themistocles found among the captives one royal eunuch named Arnak and sent him to the king with the order to convey to him that the Hellenes, having won the battle at sea, decided to sail to the Hellespont and destroy the bridge built on it, and Themistocles, taking care of the king , advises him to hurry to his lines and cross, while he himself arranges various delays for the allies and slows down their pursuit. Hearing this, the barbarian, terribly frightened, began to hastily retreat. How prudent Themistocles and Aristides were was shown by the battle with Mardonius: although the Hellenes fought at Plataea with only an insignificant part of Xerxes’ army, they risked losing everything.

17. According to Herodotus, Aegina distinguished itself most of all cities; as for individuals, everyone gave first place to Themistocles - although reluctantly, envious of him. It was when the strategists returned to Isthmus and took pebbles from the altar that each declared himself first in courage, and Themistocles second. And the Spartans brought him to Sparta and gave him Eurybias as a reward for his bravery, and as a reward for his intelligence they gave him an olive wreath, gave him the best chariot in the city and sent three hundred young men to accompany him to the borders. During the next Olympic Games, when Themistocles came to the lists, all those present, they say, without paying attention to the participants in the competition, looked at him all day and showed him to foreigners with delight and applause; and he himself joyfully admitted to his friends that he was reaping the due fruits of his labors for the good of Hellas.

18. And indeed, Themistocles was extremely ambitious by nature, judging by his witty sayings. When one day the citizens elected him as the chief commander of the fleet, he did not deal with either public or private affairs in parts, but put off all current affairs until the day of sailing, so that, by doing many things at once and talking with many people, he would gain the reputation of a great and extremely strong man.

Looking at the bodies washed up on the seashore, he saw gold bracelets and necklaces on them; He himself passed by, and pointed them out to his friend, who was walking with him, saying: “Take it for yourself, because you are not Themistocles.”

One handsome man, Antiphatus, at first treated Themistocles with disdain, and then, because of his fame, began to court him. “Young man,” Themistocles told him, “although it’s late, you and I both grew wiser at the same time.”

He said that the Athenians felt neither respect nor admiration for him, but treated him like a plane tree: during a storm they ran under it, and in good weather they picked it off and broke it.

A native of Serif told Themistocles that he owed his fame not to himself, but to his city. “Your truth,” answered Themistocles, “just as I would not have become famous if I were a native of Serif, so you would not be if you were an Athenian.”

One strategist, who, in the opinion of the citizens, rendered a valuable service to the fatherland, was impudent with Themistocles and compared his merits with his merits. Themistocles told him: “Once the day after the holiday entered into an argument with the holiday and said that the holiday is full of troubles and fatigue, and on the day after the holiday everyone enjoys at their leisure what they have prepared; and the holiday said to this: “Your truth; however, if I were not there, you would not be.” “So,” he continued, “if I hadn’t been there then, where would you be now?”

The son of Themistocles, with his whims, forced his mother to fulfill all his desires, and through her, his father. Themistocles, laughing at this, said that his son was the strongest man in Hellas, because the Athenians give their orders to the Hellenes, to the Athenians - he himself, to himself - the mother of his son, and to the mother - his son.

Wanting to be something special among everyone, Themistocles, when selling the estate, ordered the herald to announce that he also had a good neighbor.

Among his daughter's suitors, he gave preference to a good man over a rich one, because, he said, he is looking for a man who needs money, and not money who needs a person.

This is what Themistocles was like, judging by his sayings.

19. Having finished with the above-mentioned affairs, Themistocles immediately began to rebuild the city again and surround it with walls. According to Theopompus, Themistocles bribed the ephors so that they would not oppose him, and according to most historians, he deceived them. He came to Sparta under the guise of an ambassador. When the Spartans complained that the Athenians were building walls around the city, and Polyarchus, sent from Aegina especially for this purpose, accused Themistocles, he began to deny this and proposed to send people to Athens for inspection: with such delay he gained time to build the walls and at the same time time wanted the Athenians to have these messengers in their hands instead of him. And so it happened: the Spartans, having learned the truth, did not touch him, but released him, hiding their discontent.

After this, Themistocles began to arrange Piraeus, noticing the convenient position of its piers. He tried to adapt the entire city to the sea; he adhered to a policy that was in some way opposed to the policy of the ancient Athenian kings. The latter, as they say, tried to distract the inhabitants from the sea and accustom them to the life of farmers, not seafarers. Therefore, they spread a fable that Athena, arguing with Poseidon over this country, showed the judges an olive tree and won. Themistocles did not “glue Piraeus” to the city, as the comedian Aristophanes puts it, but tied the city to Piraeus and the land to the sea. By this he strengthened the demos against the aristocracy and gave it courage, since power passed into the hands of the oarsmen, the celests and the helmsmen. For this reason, the tribune on the Pnyx, designed so that it faced the sea, was subsequently turned by the thirty tyrants to face the land: they thought that domination of the sea gives rise to democracy, and farmers are less burdened by oligarchy.

20. Themistocles conceived an even more far-reaching plan concerning the power of the Athenians at sea. When the Hellenic fleet, after the retreat of Xerxes, entered the Pagasian harbor and spent the winter there, Themistocles, in one of his speeches before the national assembly, said that he had a plan that was useful and saving for the Athenians, but that it was impossible to talk about it in front of everyone. The Athenians suggested that he communicate this plan to Aristides alone and, if he approves of it, carry it out. Themistocles informed Aristides that he was planning to set fire to the Hellenic fleet in his camp. Aristides declared in the national assembly that there was nothing more useful, but at the same time more dishonest, than what Themistocles had planned. Then the Athenians ordered Themistocles to abandon this intention.

At the meeting of the Amphictyons, the Spartans made a proposal that cities that did not participate in the alliance against the Persians should be excluded from the Amphictyony. Themistocles, fearing that they, having removed the Thessalians and Argives, as well as the Thebans from the assembly, would become complete masters of the vote and everything would be done according to their decision, spoke in favor of these cities and persuaded the Pylagoras to change their minds: he pointed out that only thirty-one cities accepted participation in the war, and most of them are small towns. Thus the outrageous fact will occur that all Hellas will be excluded from the union, and the assembly will find itself in the power of two or three of the largest cities. Mainly by this, Themistocles incurred the enmity of the Spartans; Therefore, they began to show greater honor to Cimon and put forward him as a political rival of Themistocles.

21. Themistocles was also disliked by his allies because he traveled around the islands and collected money from them. So, according to Herodotus, demanding money from the inhabitants of Andros, he received the following words in response. He said that he brought with him two gods, Persuasion and Compulsion; and they answered that they had two great goddesses, Poverty and Need, who prevented them from giving him money. Timocreon, the Rhodian lyric poet, in one poem rather viciously attacks Themistocles for the fact that he extorted others to return from exile to their homeland for bribes, and abandoned him, tied to him by ties of hospitality and friendship, to the mercy of fate because of money. Here are his words:

Even more daring and thoughtless abuse is poured out by Timocreon on Themistocles after his expulsion and condemnation in one poem, which begins like this:

They say that Themistocles also took part in condemning Timocreon to exile for going over to the side of the Medes. So, when Themistocles was accused of being loyal to the Medes, Timocreon composed the following verses against him:

22. Since his fellow citizens, out of envy, willingly believed various slander against Themistocles, he had to involuntarily bother them in the People's Assembly with frequent reminders of his merits. “Why do you get tired,” he said to the dissatisfied, “receiving good things from the same people several times?”

He also incurred the displeasure of the people by building the temple of Artemis, whom he called “The Best Advisor,” thereby hinting that he gave the city and all the Hellenes the best advice, and besides, he built this temple near his home in Melita, where Now the executioners throw the bodies of those executed and where they take out the dresses and nooses of those hanged and killed. In our time, in the temple of the Best Counselor there was also a small statue of Themistocles; it is clear that he had not only the soul, but also the appearance of a hero.

In view of all this, Themistocles was ostracized in order to destroy his authority and prominence; This is what the Athenians usually did with everyone whose power they considered burdensome to themselves and incompatible with democratic equality. Ostracism was not a punishment, but a means to appease and reduce envy, which rejoices in the humiliation of outstanding people and, so to speak, breathing hostility towards them, exposes them to this dishonor.

23. Expelled from his fatherland, Themistocles lived in Argos. The incident with Pausanias gave rise to his enemies to move against him. His accuser of treason was Leoboth, son of Alcmaeon of Agravla; The Spartans also took part in the accusation. Pausanias, who was busy carrying out his plan for a famous treason, at first hid this from Themistocles, although he was his friend; but, seeing that he was expelled from his fatherland and was indignant at this, Pausanias became bolder and began to invite him to participate in this matter: he showed him letters from the king, armed him against the Hellenes as ungrateful scoundrels. But Themistocles reacted negatively to Pausanias’ request and flatly refused to participate, but he did not tell anyone about his proposal and did not report this matter to anyone: perhaps he expected that Pausanias himself would refuse it or that it would be revealed in another way, since Pausanias started a reckless and risky business.

Thus, after the execution of Pausanias, some letters and documents related to this case were found, which cast suspicion on Themistocles. The Spartans raised a cry against him, and his fellow citizens, who envied him, began to accuse him. He was not in Athens; he defended himself in writing - mainly against previous accusations. In response to the slander of his enemies, he wrote to his fellow citizens that he, who had always strived for power and had neither the ability nor the desire to obey, would never have sold himself, along with Hellas, to the barbarians and enemies. Nevertheless, the people believed the accusers and sent people who were ordered to arrest him and bring him to the assembly of the Hellenes for trial.

24. But Themistocles foresaw this and crossed over to Kerkyra; He once rendered a service to this city. They had a dispute with the Corinthians. They chose Themistocles as judge, and he reconciled the warring parties, deciding the matter so that the Corinthians would pay twenty talents, and that both parties should own Leucas together, as their common colony. From there Themistocles fled to Epirus; pursued by the Athenians and Spartans, he trusted himself to dangerous and unrealistic hopes: he sought refuge with Admetus, the king of Molossos. This Admetus once made some request to the Athenians, but received a contemptuous refusal from Themistocles, who was then at the height of power in the state. Since then, Admetus was embittered against him, and it was clear that he would take revenge on him if Themistocles fell into his hands. But given the difficult situation at that time, Themistocles feared the newly flared hatred of his fellow tribesmen more than the ancient royal anger. To the will of his anger, he did not hesitate and surrendered, appearing to him with a prayer, but in a peculiar, unusual way. Holding his little son, he fell to the hearth, because the Molossians consider such prayer to be the most effective prayer - almost the only one that cannot be rejected. Some say that the king’s wife, Phthia, advised Themistocles to resort to this method of prayer and sat her son with him at the hearth; and others say that Admetus himself composed and acted out this solemn scene of prayer with him in order to justify to his persecutors on religious grounds the impossibility of extraditing him. Epicrates the Acharnian sent him there his wife and children, whom he had stolen from Athens; for this, Cimon subsequently brought him to trial, and he was executed, as Stesimbrotus testifies. However, then Stesimbrotus somehow forgot about this himself, or portrayed Themistocles as having forgotten, but only he claims that Themistocles went to Sicily and asked the tyrant Hieron for his daughter in marriage, promising to subjugate the Hellenes to him; but Hiero refused him, and then Themistocles left for Asia.

25. However, it is incredible that this would happen. Theophrastus, in his essay On the Kingdom, says that when Hiero sent horses to Olympia for a competition and set up a luxuriously decorated tent, Themistocles made a speech in a meeting of Hellenes that the tyrant’s tent should be plundered and the horses should not be allowed to participate in the competition. And Thucydides says that Themistocles, having come to another sea, sailed from Pydna, and none of the companions knew who he was until a storm brought the ship to Naxos, which was then besieged by the Athenians. Then Themistocles, out of fear, revealed himself to the owner of the ship and the helmsman; partly with requests, partly with threats that he would accuse them before the Athenians, lie to them, as if they, not out of ignorance, but for a bribe from the very beginning, accepted him onto the ship, he forced them to pass by the island and land on the coast of Asia.

A lot of his money was secretly taken out through his friends and came to him in Asia; and the amount of the money that was discovered and confiscated turned out, according to Theopompus, to be equal to one hundred talents, and, according to Theophrastus, eighty, whereas before he entered the political field he did not have property even worth three talents.

26. Upon arrival in Kima, Themistocles noticed that many coastal residents were lying in wait to capture him, and especially Ergotel and Pythodorus (this hunt was beneficial for those who sought to profit by any means, since the king put two hundred talents on Themistocles’ head). Therefore, he fled to the Aeolian town of Aegi, where no one knew him except Nikogenes, the owner of the largest fortune in Aeolia, who was connected with him by ties of hospitality, and who was familiar with the royal nobles. He hid with him for several days. Then, after making some kind of sacrifice, after dinner, the uncle of the Nicogen children, Olbius, falling into ecstasy and inspired by the deity, proclaimed these words in the form of a verse:

After this, Themistocles went to bed and saw in a dream that a dragon was wriggling along his stomach and creeping up to his neck; touching his face, he turned into an eagle, hugged him with his wings, lifted him and carried him far; suddenly a golden caduceus appeared; An eagle fell on him and placed him in safety, and Themistocles was freed from terrible fear and anxiety.

So, Nikogen sent him, having come up with this trick. Most of the barbarians, and especially the Persians, are characterized by innate wild and cruel jealousy: they terribly protect not only their wives, but even slaves and concubines, so that no outsider sees them; At home they live locked up, and on the road they are carried in carts with curtains, closed on all sides. Such a cart was arranged for Themistocles; he hid in it; That's how they carried him. To the questions of those he met, those accompanying him answered that they were taking a Greek woman from Ionia to one of the royal courtiers.

27. Thucydides and Charon from Lampsacus say that Xerxes was no longer alive and that Themistocles had a meeting with his son; but Ephorus, Dinon, Clitarchus, Heraclides and several other authors say that he came to Xerxes himself. The story of Thucydides is thought to be more consistent with the chronological data; however, there is a lot of confusion in this data.

So, at the most decisive moment, Themistocles turned to the captain Artabanus and told him that, although he was a Hellenic, he wanted to talk with the king about important matters in which the king was especially interested. Artabanus says to him: “Foreigner!” People have different laws: one thing is considered beautiful by some, another by others; but everyone considers it wonderful to honor and preserve native customs. You, they say, place freedom and equality above all else; And although we have many beautiful laws, the most beautiful of all is to honor the king and prostrate ourselves before him, as before the likeness of God, the guardian of everything. So, if you, in accordance with our customs, fall on your face before him, then you can see the king and talk with him; if you think differently, then you will communicate with him through others: it is inconsistent with fatherly customs for the king to listen to a person who has not fallen before him.” Having heard this, Themistocles says to him: “No, Artabanus, I came here in order to increase the glory and power of the king; I myself will obey your laws, since it pleases God, who exalted the Persians, and thanks to me, even more people than now will fall before him. So, let this in no way prevent me from telling him what I want to say.” “But who are you, and how can we report you?” - asked Artaban. “In your mind you are not like an ordinary person.” “No one can know this, Artabanus, before the king,” answered Themistocles.

This is what Phanius says, and Eratosthenes in his essay “On Wealth” also adds that Themistocles received the opportunity to talk and get to know the captain through an Eretrian woman with whom he lived.

28. So, Themistocles was brought before the king. He prostrated himself in front of him, then stood up and was silent. The king ordered the translator to ask him who he was. When the translator asked, Themistocles said: “The Athenian Themistocles, an exile persecuted by the Hellenes, has come to you, king. The Persians saw a lot of evil from me, but even more good, since I prevented the Hellenes from pursuing the Persians, when, thanks to the salvation of Hellas, the security of the homeland made it possible to provide a service to you. As for me, given my current plight, I cannot claim anything and I came ready both to accept gratitude if you graciously reconcile with me, and to ask you to lay down your anger if you remember evil. But look at my enemies as witnesses of my services to the Persians and now use my misfortunes better to show your generosity than to satisfy your anger: by saving my life, you will save a person who comes running to you with a prayer, and “By destroying me, you will destroy the one who became the enemy of the Hellenes.” After this, Themistocles, in support of his words, cited an indication of the divine will and told a dream that he saw in the house of Nikogen, and the oracle of Dodon Zeus, who ordered him to go to the one who bears the same name as the name of God (he guessed that God was sending him to the king, because both of them are great kings and bear this name). Having heard this, the Persian did not give him any answer, although he admired the greatness of his spirit and courage; but in front of his entourage, he congratulated himself on this as with the greatest happiness and, having prayed that Arimanius would always instill in his enemies the idea of ​​​​expelling the best people from his country, he made, they say, a sacrifice to the gods and immediately began drinking, and at night in his sleep with joy he shouted three times: “The Athenian Themistocles is in my hands!” .

29. The next day, in the morning, the king called his entourage and ordered Themistocles to be brought in, who did not expect anything good, seeing that the courtiers, as soon as they learned his name when he entered, were hostile and scolded him. Moreover, when Themistocles, approaching the king, walked past the thousand-leader Roxanas, the latter sighed quietly and said, although the king was already sitting and everyone else was silent: “A Hellenic snake, changing its colors!” The good genius of the king brought you here." However, when he appeared before the king and again fell on his face before him, the king greeted him and kindly said that he already owed him two hundred talents, because he, having brought himself, has the right to receive the reward assigned to the one who brings him. The king promised him much more, encouraged him and allowed him to speak openly about Hellenic affairs whatever he wanted. Themistocles replied that human speech is like a patterned carpet: both the carpet and speech, if unrolled, show their patterns, and if folded, they hide and distort them. That's why he needs time.

The king liked the comparison and suggested that he set a deadline. Themistocles asked for a year, learned sufficiently the Persian language and began to speak directly with the king. He gave people far from the court a reason to think that he was talking about Hellenic affairs; but, since the king at that time made many innovations at court and among his associates, Themistocles incurred the envy of the nobles, who thought that he had the audacity to speak openly with the king against them. And in fact, the honors shown to him were unlike the honors of other foreigners: he took part with the king both in hunting and in his household chores, so that he even gained access to the king’s mother, became her man and By order of the king, he studied the science of magicians.

When the king ordered the Spartan Demaratus to ask for a gift, he asked permission to travel through Sardis in a straight tiara like kings. Then the king’s cousin, Mitropavst, touching the tiara of Demaratus, said: “This tiara does not have a brain to cover, and you will not be Zeus if you take lightning.” When the king, in anger for such a request, drove Demaratus away from him and seemed to be irreconcilably disposed towards him, Themistocles interceded for him and persuaded the king to reconcile with him.

They say that subsequent kings, under whom Persia entered into closer relations with Hellas, when they needed one of the Hellenes, promised him in their letters that under the king he would be higher than Themistocles. And Themistocles himself, when he was a great man and many sought his favor, they say, once at a luxurious table he said to the children: “Children, we would have died if we had not died.”

According to the testimony of most writers, Themistocles was given three cities for bread, wine and fish - Magnesia, Lampsacus and Miunts; Neanthes from Cyzicus and Fania add two more cities - Perkota and Paleskepsis - for bed and clothing.

30. When Themistocles went to the sea on business concerning Hellas, a Persian named Epixius, satrap of Upper Phrygia, conceived an attempt on his life. Long before this, he persuaded some Pisidians to kill him when he stopped to spend the night in the city of Leontocephalus. At noon, they say, the Mother of the Gods appeared to him in a dream and said: “Themistocles, avoid the heads of lions, so as not to be caught by a lion. And for this I demand from you Mnesiptolema as a servant.” Alarmed by this vision, Themistocles prayed to the goddess, turned off the main road, took a roundabout route and, having passed that place, stopped to spend the night. Since one of the pack animals carrying his tent fell into the river, Themistocles' servants stretched out the wet curtains to dry. Meanwhile, the Pisidians came running with swords and, not having a good look in the moonlight, thought that this was Themistocles’ tent, and that they would find him sleeping in it. When they approached and began to lift the curtain, the guards pounced on them and grabbed them. Having thus avoided danger and being amazed at the appearance of the goddess, Themistocles built a temple of Dindymene in Magnesia and made his daughter Mnesiptolema a priestess in it.

31. Upon arrival in Sardis, Themistocles spent his free time examining the architecture of the temples and the many gifts dedicated to the gods. By the way, he saw in the temple of the Mother of the Gods a bronze statue of a girl, the so-called “water bearer,” two braccia high. When he was superintendent of the waters in Athens, he brought to justice the thieves who were diverting the water; With the money taken from them in the form of a fine, he ordered this statue to be made and dedicated to the gods. Perhaps he felt pity at the sight of his gift to the gods being captured, or he wanted to show the Athenians how much honor and influence he enjoyed with the king, but only he turned to the Lydian satrap with a request to send the statue of the girl to Athens. The barbarian indignantly threatened to write a letter to the king about this. Themistocles, in fear, resorted to the intercession of the harem and, having given money to his concubines, calmed his anger, but after that he began to behave more carefully, fearing the envy of the barbarians. He stopped traveling around Asia, as Theopompus assures, but lived in Magnesia, received large gifts and enjoyed honor on a par with the most noble Persians. He lived in peace for a long time, because the king, busy with affairs in Upper Asia, did not pay much attention to Hellenic affairs. But the uprising in Egypt with the support of the Athenians, the advance of Hellenic warships to Cyprus and Cilicia and Cimon's dominance at sea - all this attracted the attention of the king and forced him, in turn, to do something against the Hellenes and prevent their strengthening. Troops were recruited, military leaders were sent in different directions, couriers came to Themistocles with orders from the king to take care of Hellenic affairs and fulfill their promises. But Themistocles did not burn with anger against his compatriots; such great honor and influence also did not attract him to war. Perhaps he even considered this enterprise impracticable, because Hellas then had great commanders, among whom Cimon was especially distinguished for his extraordinary successes in military affairs. But mainly out of respect for the glory of his own exploits and previous trophies, he made the most noble decision - to put an end to his life as it deserved. He made a sacrifice to the gods, gathered his friends, and gave them his hand. According to the most common legend, he drank bull's blood

Listen first, and then strike.

One of the most gifted political figures Ancient Greece. Themistocles was the leader of the democratic party and one of the best generals on a pan-Greek scale. Thanks to his talents, making the right decisions and ability to correctly assess the situation, Themistocles managed to win a number of significant victories over the Persians, and also make a significant contribution to the transformation of Athens
into the most powerful maritime and trading state Greece.
Life and activities
Themistocles was born in Athens and died in Asia Minor in the city of Magnesia. He was the son of Neocles from the Attic phylum Leontis and Abrotonon from Caria or Thrace.
Most of the information about Themistocles’ childhood and youth is reported by Plutarch. Thus, we learn that Themistocles was impetuous and active, courageous and ambitious, contradictory and irrepressible, often carried away by his innate impetuosity. At the same time, Themistocles himself said: “restive foals become the best horses, if only they are properly trained.”
Unlike Plutarch, Thucydides gives Themistocles the highest characteristics: praising his natural intelligence, quick intelligence, ability to most accurately assess the current situation and determine prospects for the future, correct judgment, insight and talent. A special inclination towards political activity prompted Themistocles to become a supporter of the party, which set as its goal the fight against the sworn enemy of Greece - the Persian kingdom. The victory of Miltiades further inflamed Themistocles’ ambition, and he often repeated: “The thought of the victorious monument to Miltiades does not let me sleep.”
After the death of Miltiades, the political field was free for Themistocles, who began to implement his plans to transform Athens into the first city of Greece in glory and power. He persuaded the Athenians to move the main port from Phalerum to Piraeus, which offered a better natural harbor, and to use the funds obtained from the development of silver mines to build warships. The perspicacious and prudent Themistocles was the first to understand that Athens could resist the Persians in the upcoming war only by having a strong fleet. Soon Athens already had 200 triremes. Mainly thanks to the initiatives of Themistocles in the summer of 480 BC. On Isthmus, a congress of representatives of the Greek states took place, which decided to create a military alliance with the aim of opposing with common forces the demands for submission put forward by the Persian king Xerxes in 481 BC.
This was followed by the battle of Thermopylae, the naval battle of Artemisium, the Persian campaign against Athens, the evacuation of the Athenians from the city and the transfer of the theater of operations to the sea. And so on September 20, 480 BC. In the strait near the island of Salamina, a battle took place in accordance with the plans of Themistocles, who then showed his military genius. Themistocles was declared the savior of Greece and given the second award for the victory, while the first was received by the Spartan Eurybiades, to whom Themistocles himself ceded the supreme command. In 478 BC. The restoration of Athens began, again at the insistence and initiative of Themistocles. Then the Athenians surrounded their city with new walls and fortified Piraeus. Thus, the foundations of the Athenian state were laid as the first maritime and trading state of Greece. However, in 470 BC. Due to the actions of Themistocles' opponents - the aristocratic party of Aristides and Cimon, Themistocles was ostracized. Themistocles retired first to Argos, from Argos to Kerkyra, and from there to Epirus, to the king of the Molossians Admetus. However, Themistocles' opponents continued to pursue him. Admet sent him to Macedonia, to the city of Pydna, and from there, through Ephesus, Themistocles arrived to the Persian king Artaxerxes, who received him with great honors and made him the ruler of three cities in Asia Minor, the income from which provided him with the means to live.
Of course, Artaxerxes did all this; e selflessly: in 461 BC. he wished Themistocles to lead the Persian fleet in a war with the Greek fleet. Finding himself in such a difficult situation, Themistocles chose to commit suicide.
The remains of Themistocles were subsequently secretly transferred by his relatives to Attica and buried at the entrance to the port of Piraeus. The descendants of Themistocles were given honors until the time of Plutarch.

Greece - Pelion village Zagora

Greek table etiquette

Greek table etiquette is a little different from what we are used to. The Greeks, with their expressive nature, transfer their emotions to food, making it colorful and original. If you are invited to visit, then do not start eating until the owner or hostess of the house invites you to try their dishes. Among the Greeks, it is customary to hold a knife in the right hand and a fork in the left. When you finish your meal, turn your knife and fork over onto your plate.

Problems of Greek energy

And he is on his way to shining Athens (part 3)

In the morning, along Eola Street, looking at the Erechtheion, I go to the Ancient Agora. I didn’t have time to visit the Roman Agora, but you can see all of it from the outside. From the north, Agora is limited by a metro line, which just here goes completely underground. Near the branch itself, perpendicular to it, stands the Portico (Standing) of Attalus, restored 50 years ago. As usual, there is a small museum in it: statues, ceramics, bronze... Among the ceramics there is a children's high chair (!!) and something like a samovar (a pot with a blower and handles, on which is placed a second one with handles, a lid and a spout) - and everything's done under the sun ((c) “Dogs” “Animals” by Pink Floyd).

Comboskini. What is a combo skini? Buy comboskini

The word Komboskini is translated from Greek as a rope made of knots, kombos - a knot and skini - a rope. It stores virtual prayers that protect a person, therefore, wearing them once in his life, the Greek wears it all the time.

Themistocles was born around 525 BC. He was not one of the Athenian nobility. Moreover, Themistocles was considered illegitimate due to the fact that his mother was not an Athenian. However, from a young age, the ambitious young man sought fame. At the gymnasium, he studied primarily the sciences that were supposed to help him advance, and achieved popularity among those around him. This helped when Themistocles became involved in public activities and became the leader of the Athenian democracy. His political reforms 487-486 BC contributed to the further democratization of the Athenian political system. He introduced the election of archons by lot, provided the opportunity for equestrians to occupy this position, freed the college of strategists from the control of the Areopagus, and since 493 he has repeatedly held the highest positions of archon and strategist.

Themistocles achieved the decision of the national assembly not to divide the income from the silver mines among the Athenians, but to direct it to the construction of hundreds of triremes, which became the basis of the fleet. He gradually accustomed his fellow citizens to the fact that sea power could give Athens power over Hellas, and he succeeded in this. Faced with the danger of a Persian invasion, Themistocles called for reconciliation between the warring Greek states and uniting their efforts in the fight against Persia. He achieved the expulsion of Aristide, a supporter of the land struggle. As the leader of the maritime party, which expressed the interests of the trade and craft strata, Themistocles sought to strengthen the naval power of Athens. In 483-482, he turned the harbor of Piraeus into one of the best in the Mediterranean, strengthened it with walls and set about creating a powerful fleet. About 200 triremes were built, and crews were trained for them. Having convinced the Athenians that only the wooden walls of ships would save them from the Persian attack, Themistocles ensured the protection of the nearby islands and straits.

Before Themistocles, Attica was divided into 48 navkrarii, each of which had to maintain one warship at all times in combat readiness. Themistocles ensured that the fleet was created centrally under the supervision of the Council of Five Hundred - the highest government body of Athens. The council monitored the built triremes and the construction of new ones, and monitored the slipways for storing and repairing ships. The decision on the construction of ships, their type and the appointment of shipbuilders was made by vote of the people. He also elected the naval commander, who was to lead the fleet into battle or voyage. The position of trierarch, who was engaged in the construction of triremes, was honorable, although it required great effort and expense. Thanks to this system, each Council since the time of Themistocles left two dozen new triremes. The construction of warships was kept secret, the shipyards were covered with sheds and guarded by detachments of guards who did not allow outsiders.

In 480 BC. The Persian king Xerxes assembled a huge army and fleet. Having transported the army across the Hellespont (Dardanelles) via a bridge and led the fleet past a dangerous place at Cape Athos along a dug canal, he headed into the interior of Greece. But in 481, when Xerxes was preparing for the invasion, an alliance of Athens and Sparta, joined by other Greek city-states, arose to counter him. Therefore, when the Persians began their offensive, they were opposed by the united forces of the Greeks. Since Thessaly had gone over to Xerxes' side, Greek troops took up a position at Thermopylae, where they could hold off a huge army in a narrow pass.

As a result of the measures taken by Themistocles, by the beginning of the invasion of the Persians, who, according to Herodotus, had 1207 triremes and up to 3000 auxiliary ships, the Athenians and their allies had 271 triremes and 9 penteconteres. But the training of the Greek sailors turned out to be higher, which led to the defeat of the Persians.

Having received the position of strategist, Themistocles convinced his fellow citizens to meet the barbarians on ships as far as possible from Hellas, but to no avail. Only the approach of Persian troops prompted the Athenians to send Themistocles to Cape Artemisium to guard the strait. Themistocles, despite the fact that Athens had more triremes, lost command to the Spartan Eurybiades; he consoled the other Athenians that if they proved their bravery in war, he would force all Hellenes to obey them. The strategist managed to convince Eurybiades not to leave for the shores of the Peloponnese.

At the beginning of the 5th century. BC e. at the suggestion of Themistocles, who stood at the head of the democratic movement, direct elections of the college of archons were replaced by lot. Horsemen received the right to be elected archons. Zeugites were admitted to this position in 457 BC. e. This reform was associated with the rise of the college of strategists during the wars. The importance of the college of archons was diminished, it lost its aristocratic character.

The Areopagus remained the only privileged body, and the oligarchic party tried to use it to strengthen its positions. To weaken this body, Ephialtes opened a case of corruption of some members of the Areopagus. The facts were confirmed, and the National Assembly in 462 BC. e. passed a law depriving the Areopagus of political power. The right of veto over decisions of the People's Assembly was transferred to the heliea, the right to control officials and oversee the implementation of laws passed to the Council of Five Hundred and the People's Assembly, but mainly to the heliea.

After the assassination of Ephialtes, Pericles led the Athenian democracy.

Under Pericles, there is a clearer division of powers: the People's Assembly is the legislative body, governance functions are carried out by the Council of Five Hundred and magistrates, judicial powers belong to the heliae and other judicial bodies. The principle of drawing lots extended to most previously elected positions. At the suggestion of Pericles, payment began to be made for the performance of public duties. First of all, pay was established for judges, and then for other officials. This innovation opened the way for a significant number of ordinary Athenian citizens to participate in government.

Pericles carried out civil reform. It was established that only one whose mother and father were Athenians was a full citizen of Athens. This reform was caused by the excessive increase in the civil community and the need to create an optimal number of civil collectives capable of administering the state.

Pericles also did a lot to transform Athens into a maritime power. The strengthening of the maritime power of Athens and the expansion of trade relations brought to the fore the layers of the population associated with the sea; the positions of the coastal ones were strengthened. The social base of Athenian democracy now consisted mainly of the port population. And at the head of the democratic party were often aristocrats who realized that the oligarchic party was a party of conservatives that was out of step with its times.

Social system of Athens in the 5th century. BC e. The democratization of the state system did not eliminate the social contradictions inherent in Athenian society. The development of private property led to significant property differentiation. Among the free Athenian citizens, a small group of large property owners stood out; the bulk of the population was the poor. The number of free people was significantly less than slaves. There was a distinction between private slaves and state slaves. Slave labor was widely used in domestic work, agriculture, construction, etc.

Full-fledged Athenian citizens (whose mother and father were both citizens of Athens) upon reaching 18 years of age were enrolled in the lists of members of the deme. Civil rights included a set of certain rights and obligations.

The most essential rights of a citizen were

• the right to freedom and personal independence from any other person,
• the right to a land plot on the policy territory and economic assistance from the state in case of financial difficulties,
• the right to bear arms and serve in the militia, the right to participate in state affairs (participation in the People's Assembly, elected bodies),
• the right to honor and protect the gods of the fathers, to participate in public celebrations,
• the right to protection and patronage of Athenian laws.

The duties of Athenian citizens were that

• everyone had to take care of their property and work on the land,
• come to the aid of the policy with all your means in emergency circumstances,
• defend your native city from enemies with weapons in your hands, obey the laws and elected authorities,
• take an active part in public life,
• to honor the gods of our fathers.

The totality of civil rights constituted the honor of a citizen. For a crime, citizens could have their rights limited by the court, that is, subjected to dishonor. From 18 to 60 years of age, citizens were considered liable for military service. Rich citizens were entrusted with the liturgy - a duty in favor of the state. This was a kind of restriction of private property in the interests of the entire slave-owning class.

Metics (foreigners living in Athens) did not have the right of citizenship. They could not purchase real estate, and marriages between metics and Athenian citizens were considered illegal. Each metek had to choose a prostate - an intermediary between the meteks and government agencies. A special tax was levied on metics, they also carried out other duties, and were involved in military service.

Freedmen were equal in status to metics.

The state apparatus of the Athenian democracy consisted of the following authorities: the People's Assembly, the Heliaea, the Council of Five Hundred, the College of Strategists and the College of Archons.

The people's assembly (ekklesia) was the main body. All full-fledged Athenian citizens (men) who had reached the age of twenty had the right to participate in the People's Assembly, regardless of their property status and occupation.

The powers of the People's Assembly were very broad and covered all aspects of the life of Athens. The People's Assembly adopted laws, decided on issues of war and peace, elected officials, heard reports from magistrates at the end of their terms of office, decided on the food supply of the city, discussed and approved the state budget, and exercised control over the education of young men. The competence of the People's Assembly included such an event as ostracism. Of specific importance were the rights of the People's Assembly to protect