all men turned and looked towards Aristeides, thinking that he
came nearest to this ideal virtue.
IV. He stood up vigorously for justice, not merely when
it was his interest and that of his friends, but when it was in
favour of his enemies and contrary to his own personal feelings
to do so. It is said that once when arguing a cause against one
of his enemies in a court of law, the judges refused to hear the
other party speak in his own defence, after listening to the
speech of Aristeides, but were about to condemn him unheard. At
this Aristeides came forward and vigorously supported his
antagonist's claim to be allowed his legal right of [Pg 71]reply.
Again, when acting as arbitrator between two persons, one of them
said that his adversary had done much wrong to Aristeides. "My
good man," said he, "do not tell me of this, but tell me whether
he has wronged you or not, for I am judging your cause, not my
own."
When elected to administer the revenues of the state he proved
that not only his own colleagues, but those who had previously
held office, had embezzled large sums, especially
Themistokles,
"A clever man, but with an itching palm."
For this cause Themistokles, when Aristeides' accounts were
audited, prosecuted him on a charge of malversation, and,
according to Idomeneus, obtained a verdict.
However, the better class of citizens being grieved at this,
not only remitted the fine, but at once elected him to the same
office. He now pretended to regret his former rigour, and was
much more remiss in performing his duties, which rendered him
very popular with those who were in the habit of embezzling the
public money, so that they were loud in his praise, and canvassed
the people on his behalf, trusting that he might be re-elected
archon. But when the voting was about to begin, he rose and
rebuked the Athenians. "When," he said, "I did you true and
honourable service, I was disgraced by you; now, when I have
permitted much of the public money to be stolen, I am thought to
be an excellent citizen. But I myself am more ashamed of the
honour which you now pay me, than I am of my former conviction,
and I am sorry for you, because among you it is esteemed more
honourable to abet evil-doers than to guard the national
property."
By speaking thus and exposing the peculation which was being
practised, he closed the mouths of all those who were so loudly
commending him as an honest man, but gained the applause of all
true and honourable men.
V. When Datis was sent by Darius, nominally to punish
the Athenians for the burning of Sardis, but really to enslave
the whole of Greece, he landed at Marathon, and commenced laying
waste the country. Of the ten generals appointed by the Athenians
for the conduct of the war, [Pg
72]Miltiades had the
highest reputation, while Aristeides held the second place. He
used his influence in the council of war to support the
proposition of Miltiades to fight the enemy at once, and also, as
each general had sole command for one day, when his day came
round, he gave it to Miltiades, thus teaching his colleagues that
obedience to those who know how to command is not any disgrace,
but a noble and useful act. By this means he was enabled to put
an end to the rivalries between the generals, and to strengthen
Miltiades by concentrating in him the power which had before been
passed from hand to hand. In the battle the Athenian centre was
hard pressed, as the Persians resisted longest in that part of
their line which was opposed to the tribes Leontis and Antiochis.
Here Themistokles and Aristeides each showed conspicuous valour,
fighting side by side, for the former was of the tribe Leontis,
the latter of the tribe Antiochis. After the victory was won, and
the Persians forced into their ships, they were observed not to
sail towards the Archipelago, but to be proceeding in the
direction of Athens. Fearing that they might catch the city
defenceless, the Athenians determined to hurry back with nine
tribes to protect it, and they accomplished their march in one
day. Aristeides, with his own tribe, was left to guard the
prisoners and the plunder, and well maintained his reputation.
Although gold and silver was lying about in heaps, with all kinds
of rich tapestry and other countless treasures, he would neither
touch them himself nor allow the others to do so, though some
helped themselves without his knowledge. Among these was Kallias,
the torch-bearer in the Eleusinian mysteries. One of the
prisoners, taking him for a king because of his long hair and
fillet, fell on his knees before him, and having received his
hand as a pledge for his safety pointed out to him a great store
of gold concealed in a pit. Kallias now acted most cruelly and
wickedly. He took the gold, and killed the poor man for fear that
he should tell it to the others. It is said that ever afterwards
the descendants of Kallias were jeered at by the comic poets, as
being of the family of the man who found the gold in the pit.
Immediately after those events, Aristeides was chosen as
Archon Eponymus, that is, the archon who gives his [Pg 73]name
to the year. Demetrius of Phalerum says that he filled this
office shortly before his death, and after the battle of
Platæa. But in the public records of Athens one cannot find
any archon of the name of Aristeides among the many who filled
the office after Xanthippides, in whose archonship Mardonius was
defeated at Platæa, whereas the name of Aristeides does
occur next to that of Phanippus, in whose archonship the victory
at Marathon was won.
VI. Of all the virtues of Aristeides his justice was
that which chiefly commended itself to the people, being that
which is of most value in ordinary life. Hence it was that he,
although a poor man of mean birth, yet gained for himself the
truly imperial title of the Just; a title which has never been
emulated by kings and despots, who delight in being called the
City-taker, the Thunderbolt, or the Victorious, while some are
known as the Eagle or the Hawk, because apparently they prefer
strength and lawless violence to justice and goodness. Yet for
all this, the gods, to whom they so presumptuously liken
themselves, excel mankind chiefly in three attributes, namely in
immortality, in power, and in goodness, whereof goodness is by
far the most glorious and divine quality. Mere empty space, and
all the elements possess immortality, while earthquakes,
thunderbolts, violent winds and rushing waters have great power,
but justice and equity belong to the gods alone, because of the
reason and intelligence which they possess. Now most men regard
the gods with admiration, with fear, and with reverence; with
admiration, because they are eternal and unchangeable; with fear,
because of their power and dominion, with reverence and love
because of their justice. Yet men covet immortality, which no
flesh can attain to; and also power, which depends mostly upon
fortune; while they disregard virtue, the only godlike attribute
which it is in our power to obtain; not reflecting that when a
man is in a position of great power and authority he will appear
like a god if he acts justly, and like a wild beast if he does
not.
VII. The character of Aristeides for justice at first
made him beloved by the people, but afterwards it gained him
their ill-will, chiefly because Themistokles circulated reports
that Aristeides had practically closed the public courts of
[Pg 74]justice by the fact of all cases being referred to
him as arbitrator, and that he was virtually king of Athens,
although he had not yet surrounded himself with a body-guard. By
this time too the common people, elated with their victory at
Marathon, and thinking themselves capable of the greatest
exploits, were ill pleased at any private citizen being exalted
above the rest by his character and virtues. They flocked into
the city from all parts of the country and ostracised Aristeides,
veiling their envy of his glory under the pretence that they
feared he would make himself king. This custom of ostracism was
not intended as a punishment for crime, but was called, in order
to give it a plausible title, a check to excessive power. In
reality, it was nothing more than a safety-valve, providing a
vent for the dislike felt by the people for those whose greatness
offended them. It did no irreparable injury to those who fell
under its operation, but only banished them for a space of ten
years. In later times mean and contemptible persons were
subjected to ostracism, until at last, after the ostracism of
Hyperbolus the practice was discontinued. The ostracism of
Hyperbolus is said to have been brought about in the following
manner. Alkibiades and Nikias, the two most powerful citizens in
the state, were at the head of two rival parties. The people
determined to apply the ostracism to them, and would certainly
have banished one or the other of them. They, however, came to
terms with one another, combined their several factions, and
agreed to have Hyperbolus banished. The people, enraged at this,
and thinking that they had been treated with contempt, abolished
the practice of ostracism. The way in which it was conducted was
as follows. Each man took an oyster-shell, wrote upon it the name
of the citizen whom he wished to be banished, and then carried it
to a place in the market-place which was fenced off with palings.
The archons now first of all counted the whole number of shells;
for if the whole number of voters were less than six thousand,
the ostracism was null and void. After this, they counted the
number of times each name occurred, and that man against whom
most votes were recorded they sent into exile for ten years,
allowing him the use of his property during that time. Now while
the shells were being written upon, on the [Pg 75]occasion of which we have been speaking, a very
ignorant country fellow is said to have brought his shell to
Aristeides, who was one of the bystanders, and to have asked him
to write upon it the name of Aristeides. Aristeides was
surprised, and asked him whether Aristeides had ever done him any
harm. "No," answered the man, "nor do I know him by sight, but I
am tired of always hearing him called 'The Just.'" When
Aristeides heard this he made no answer, but wrote his name on
the man's shell and gave it back to him. When he was leaving the
city he raised his hands to heaven, and prayed exactly the
opposite prayer to that of Achilles, that no crisis might befall
the Athenians which would compel them to remember Aristeides.
VIII. However, three years afterwards, when Xerxes was
advancing upon Attica through Thessaly and Bœotia, the
Athenians annulled their decree, and permitted all exiles to
return, being especially afraid of Aristeides, lest he should
join the enemy and lead many of the citizens to desert with him.
In this they took a very false view of his character, for even
before this decree he had never ceased to encourage the Greeks to
defend their liberty, and after his return, when Themistokles was
in sole command of the forces of Athens, he assisted him in every
way by word and deed, cheerfully raising his bitterest enemy to
the highest position in the state, because the state was
benefited thereby.
When Eurybiades and his party were meditating a retreat from
Salamis, the Persian ships put to sea at night and hemmed them
in, surrounding both the strait and the islands. No one knew that
escape was impossible, but Aristeides sailed from Ægina,
passed safely through the enemy's fleet by a miracle, and while
it was still night proceeded straight to the tent of
Themistokles. Here he called him out, and when they were alone
together, he said: "We two, Themistokles, if we are wise, must
cease our vain and silly rivalry with one another, and begin a
more generous contest to preserve our country, you acting as
general and chief, while I help and advise you. Already I
perceive that you alone take a right view of the crisis, end
desire to fight a battle in the narrow waters as quickly as
possible. Now, while your allies have been [Pg 76]opposing you, the enemy have been playing your
game, for the sea, both in our front and rear, is full of their
ships, so that the Greeks even against their will must play the
man and fight; for no way of escape is left for them." To this
Themistokles answered, "I would not willingly, Aristeides, be
overcome by you in generosity on this occasion; and I shall
endeavour, in emulation of this good beginning which you have
made, to surpass it by the glory of my exploits." At the same
time he explained the trick[20] which he had played on the barbarian, and
begged Aristeides to argue with Eurybiades, and point out how
impossible it was for the Greeks to be saved without fighting;
for he thought that the opinion of Aristeides would have more
weight than his own. Consequently, when in the assembly of the
generals Kleokritus the Corinthian attacked Themistokles, and
said that even Aristeides did not approve of his plans, because
he was present and said nothing, Aristeides answered that he
would not have been silent if Themistokles had not spoken to the
purpose, but that as it was he held his peace, not for any love
he bore him, but because his counsel was the best.
IX. While the Greek admirals were engaged in these
discussions, Aristeides, perceiving that Psyttaleia, a small
island in the straits near Salamis, was full of the enemy, placed
some of the boldest Athenians on board of small boats, attacked
the Persians, and slew them to a man, except a few of the chiefs,
who wore taken alive. Among these were the three children of
Sandauke the sister of the Persian king, whom he at once sent to
Themistokles, and it is said that in accordance with some oracle
they were sacrificed to Dionysus Omestes,[21] at the instance of the prophet Euphrantides.
Aristeides now lined the shores of the islet with soldiers, ready
to receive any vessel which might be cast upon it, in order that
neither any of his friends might be lost, nor any of the enemy
take refuge upon it. Indeed, the severest encounter between the
two fleets and the main shock of the battle seems [Pg 77]to
have taken place at that spot; wherefore the trophy that marks
the victory stands on the isle of Psyttaleia.
After the battle was won, Themistokles, wishing to feel
Aristeides's opinion, said to him that they had done a good work,
but that a greater one remained, which was to shut up Asia in
Europe by sailing as quickly as possible to the Hellespont, and
destroying the bridge of boats there. Aristeides answered that he
must never propose such a plan, but must take measures to drive
the Persians out of Greece as quickly as possible, for fear that
so great a multitude, shut up there without the means of retreat,
should turn to bay and attack them with the courage of despair.
Upon this, Themistokles again sent the eunuch Arnakes, a
prisoner, on a secret errand to tell the Persian king that when
all the Greeks wished to sail to the Hellespont and destroy the
bridge of boats, he had dissuaded them from doing so, wishing to
save the king's life.
X. At this Xerxes became terrified, and at once hurried
back to the Hellespont. Mardonius, with about three hundred
thousand of the best troops remained behind, and was a formidable
enemy, trusting in his land force, and sending defiant
proclamations to the Greeks. "You," he said, "with your ships
have beaten landsmen that knew not how to handle an oar; but the
land of Thessaly is wide, and the plain of Bœotia is a fair
place for good horsemen and heavy armed soldiers to fight
upon."
To the Athenians he sent privately proposals from the Great
King, who offered to rebuild their city, present them with a
large sum of money, and make them lords over all Greece, if they
would desist from the war. The Lacedæmonians, hearing this,
were much alarmed, and sent ambassadors to beg the Athenians to
send their wives and children to Sparta, and offering to support
their old people, as the Athenians were in great distress for
food, having lost their city and their country. However, after
listening to the Lacedæmonian ambassadors, at the instance
of Aristeides they returned a spirited answer, saying that they
could forgive their enemies, who knew no better, for supposing
that everything could be bought with money, but that they were
angry with the Lacedæmonians for only regarding the present
poverty and distress of the [Pg
78]Athenians, and that
forgetting how bravely they had fought, they should now offer
them food to bribe them to fight for Greece. Having passed this
motion Aristeides called the ambassadors back into the assembly,
and bade them tell the Lacedæmonians that there was not as
much gold in the world, either above or under-ground, as the
Athenians would require to tempt them to betray Greece.
In answer to the herald sent from Mardonius he pointed to the
sun, and said: "As long as yonder sun shall continue its course
the Athenians will be enemies to the Persians, because of their
ravaged lands and desecrated temples." Further, he made the
priests imprecate curses on any one who had dealings with the
Persians or deserted the Greek cause.
When Mardonius invaded Attica a second time, the Athenians
again took refuge in Salamis. Aristeides was sent to
Lacedæmon and upbraided the Spartans with their slowness
and indifference, for allowing the enemy to take Athens a second
time, and begged them to help what remained of Greece. The
Ephors, on hearing this, pretended to pass the rest of the day in
feasting and idleness, for it was the festival of the Hyacinthia;
but at nightfall they chose five thousand Spartans, each attended
by seven Helots, and sent them off without the knowledge of the
Athenian embassy. So when Aristeides next day resumed his
reproachful strain, they answered with mocking laughter, that he
was talking nonsense and was asleep, for that the army was by
this time at the tomb of Orestes in its march against the
strangers[22] (by strangers they meant the Persians). To
this Aristeides answered that it was a sorry jest to have
deceived their friends instead of their enemies. These
particulars are related by Idomeneus, but in the decree of
Aristeides for sending ambassadors it is not his name, but those
of Kimon, Xanthippus, and Myronides that are mentioned.
XI. He was elected general with unlimited powers, and
proceeded to Platæa with eight thousand Athenians. Here he
was met by Pausanias, the commander-in-chief of the Greek forces,
with the Spartan contingent, and the [Pg
79]rest of the Greek
troops joined them there. The Persian army was encamped along the
course of the river Asopus. On account of its enormous size it
was not contained in a fortified camp, but a quadrangular wall
was constructed round the baggage and most valuable material.
Each side of this square was ten furlongs in length.
Tisamenus of Elis, the prophet, now told Pausanias and all the
Greeks that they would win the victory if they stood on the
defensive and did not attack. Aristeides sent to Delphi, and
received a response from the oracle, that the Athenians would
conquer if they prayed to Zeus, to Hera of Kithæron, and to
Pan and the nymphs Sphragitides, and if they sacrificed to the
heroes Androkrates, Leukon, Peisander, Damokrates, Hypsion,
Aktaion, and Polyïdus, and if they would fight in their own
territory, in the plain of Demeter of Eleusis and her
daughter.
This oracle greatly disturbed Aristeides. The heroes to whom
he was bidden to sacrifice are the original founders of the city
of Platæa, and the cave of the nymphs called Sphragitides,
is on one of the peaks of Kithæron, looking towards the
point where the sun sets in summer. It is said that there was
formerly an oracle there, and that many of the people became
possessed, and were called "nympholeptæ." But as to the
plain of the Eleusinian Demeter, and the promise of victory to
the Athenians if they fought in their own country, this meant no
less than to recall them to Attica and forbid their taking any
further part in the war. Whilst Aristeides was thus perplexed,
Arimnestus, the general of the Platæans, saw a vision in
his sleep. In his dreams he thought that Zeus the Preserver
appeared and enquired of him what the Greeks had decided to do,
and that he answered, "Lord, to-morrow we shall lead away the
army to Eleusis, and fight the Persians there, according to the
oracle." Upon this the god answered, that they had missed the
meaning of the oracle, for the places mentioned were near
Platæa, where they themselves were encamped, and if they
sought they would find them. Arimnestus, after this distinct
vision, awoke. He at once sent for the oldest and most learned of
the citizens of Platæa, and after debating the matter with
them, discovered that near [Pg
80]Hysiæ, under
Mount Kithæron, stood a very ancient temple, dedicated to
the Eleusinian Demeter and her daughter. He immediately took
Aristeides with him and proceeded to the spot, which was
excellently placed for the array of an infantry force in the
presence of an overwhelming cavalry, because the spurs of Mount
Kithæron, where they run down into the plain by the temple,
render the ground impassable for cavalry. Close by is the chapel
of the hero Androkrates, in the midst of a thick matted grove of
trees. In order, however, that the oracle might in no way be
defective in its promise of victory, Arimnestus proposed, and the
Platæans decreed, that the boundary marks of their
territory on the side towards Attica should be removed, and the
country given to the Athenians, so that they might fight in their
own land for Greece, according to the oracle. This noble act of
the Platæans became so famous in later times, that, many
years afterwards, Alexander the Great himself, when he had
conquered all Asia, caused the walls of Platæa to be
rebuilt, and made proclamation at the Olympian games by a herald,
"that the king bestowed this honour upon the Platæans in
memory of their magnanimous conduct in giving up their territory,
and venturing their lives on behalf of the Greeks in the Persian
war."
XII. A controversy arose between the Athenians and the
men of Tegea about their respective places in the line of battle.
The Tegeans argued that if the Lacedæmonians had the right
wing, they ought to be posted on the left; and they spoke at
great length about the achievements of their ancestors, as
entitling them to that honour. The Athenians were vexed at their
pretensions, but Aristeides said: "The present time is not
suitable for disputing with the Tegeans about bravery; but to
you, men of Sparta, and to the rest of the Greeks, we say that a
particular post neither confers courage nor takes it away, but,
that in whatever part of the line you may think fit to place us,
we will endeavour so to array our ranks and fight the enemy as
not to impair the honour which we have gained in former battles.
We did not come hither to quarrel with our allies, but to fight
the enemy; not to boast about our ancestors, but to fight bravely
for Greece. [Pg 81]The coming struggle will clearly show to all the
Greeks the real worth and value of each city, each general, and
each single citizen." When the council of generals heard this
speech, they allowed the claim of the Athenians, and gave up the
left wing to them.
XIII. While the cause of Greece was thus trembling in
the balance, and Athens was especially in danger, certain
Athenians of noble birth, who had lost their former wealth during
the war, and with it their influence in the city, being unable to
bear to see others exalted at their expense, met in secret in a
house in Platæa and entered into a plot to overturn the
free constitution of Athens. If they could not succeed in this,
they pledged themselves to ruin, the city and betray it to the
Persians. While these men were plotting in the camp, and bringing
many over to their side, Aristeides discovered the whole
conspiracy. Afraid at such a crisis to take any decisive step, he
determined, while carefully watching the conspirators, yet not at
once to seize them all, not knowing how far he might have to
proceed if he acted according to strict justice. From all the
conspirators he arrested eight. Two of these, who would have been
the first to be put on their trial, Æschines of Lampra, and
Agesias of Acharna, made their escape out of the camp, and
Aristeides pardoned the others, as he wished to give an
opportunity to those who believed themselves unsuspected, to take
courage and repent. He also hinted to them that the war afforded
them a means of clearing themselves from any suspicion of
disloyalty by fighting for their country like good men and
true.
XIV. After this, Mardonius made trial of Grecian
courage, by sending the whole of his cavalry, in which he was
much the stronger, to attack them where they were, all except the
Megarians, encamped at the foot of Mount Kithæron, in an
easily-defended rocky country. These men, three thousand in
number, were encamped nearer the plain, and suffered much from
the attacks of the horsemen, who surrounded them on all sides.
They sent a messenger in great haste to Pausanias, begging him to
send assistance, as they could not by themselves resist the great
numbers of the barbarians. Pausanias, hearing this, [Pg 82]and
seeing the camp of the Megarians overwhelmed with darts and
arrows, while the defenders were huddled together in a narrow
compass, knew not what to do. He did not venture to attack
cavalry with the heavy-armed Lacedæmonian infantry, but
offered it as an opportunity for winning praise and honour, to
the generals who were with him, that they should volunteer to go
to help the Megarians in their extremity. All hesitated, but
Aristeides claimed the honour for the Athenians, and sent the
bravest of his captains, Olympiodorus, with three hundred picked
men, besides some archers. As they quickly got into array and
charged at a run, Masistius, the leader of the enemy, a man of
great bodily strength and beauty, seeing them, wheeled round his
horse, and rode to attack them. They sustained his attack and
closed with his horsemen, and a sharp struggle took place, both
parties fighting as though the issue of the war depended on their
exertions. The horse of Masistius was at length wounded by an
arrow and threw his rider. Encumbered by his armour, Masistius
was too heavy for his own men to carry him away, but also was
protected by it from the stabs of the Athenians who fell upon
him, for not only his head and breast, but his limbs also were
protected by brass and iron. Some one, however, drove the spike
at the lower end of his spear through the eye-hole of the helmet,
and then the rest of the Persians abandoned the body and fled.
The Greeks discovered the importance of their exploit, not from
the number of the dead, for but few had fallen, but from the
lamentations of the enemy. They cut off their own hair, and the
manes of their horses and mules, in sign of mourning for
Masistius, and filled the whole plain with weeping and wailing,
having lost a man who for courage and high position, was second
only to Mardonius himself.
XV. After this cavalry action, both the parties
remained quiet for a long time, for the soothsayers foretold
victory both to the Greeks and to the Persians if they fought in
self-defence, but foretold defeat if they attacked. At length
Mardonius, as he only had provisions for a few days longer, and
as the Greek army kept growing stronger by the continual
reinforcements which it received, deter[Pg
83]mined, sorely
against his will, to delay no longer, but to cross the Asopus at
daybreak and fall upon the Greeks unexpectedly. In the evening he
gave orders to his captains to this effect. About midnight a
solitary horseman rode up straight to the Greek camp. He bade the
guard send for Aristeides the Athenian, who was at once brought,
when the stranger spoke as follows:
"I am Alexander of Macedon, and I have come hither at the
greatest risk to myself to do you a service, for fear you should
be taken by surprise. Mardonius will attack to-morrow, not
because he has any new hope of success, but because he is
destitute of provisions, although the soothsayers all forbid him
to fight because the sacrifices and oracles are unfavourable, and
the army is disheartened. Thus he is forced to put all on a
venture, or else to starve if he remains quiet." When he had said
this, Alexander begged Aristeides to keep the secret to himself,
and communicate it to no one else. Aristeides, however, answered
that it would not be right for him to conceal it from Pausanias,
who was commander-in-chief. Before the battle he said that he
would keep it secret from every one else, but that if Greece was
victorious, all men then should know the good service so bravely
rendered by Alexander. After these words the king of Macedon rode
away, and Aristeides, proceeding to the tent of Pausanias, told
him the whole matter; they then sent for the other generals, and
ordered them to keep the troops under arms, as a battle was
expected.
XVI. At this time, Herodotus tells us, Pausanias asked
Aristeides to remove the Athenians from the left to the right
wing, so as to be opposite to the native Persian troops, on the
ground that they would be better able to contend with them,
because they understood their mode of fighting, and were
confident because they had beaten them once before, while he with
the Spartans would take the left wing of the army, where he would
be opposed to those Greeks who had taken the Persian side. Most
of the Athenian generals thought this a silly and insolent
proceeding of Pausanias, that he should leave all the other
Greeks in their place, and march them backwards and forward like
helots, only to place them opposite the [Pg
84]bravest troops of
the enemy. Aristeides, however, said that they were entirely
mistaken, for a few days before they had been wrangling with the
Tegeans for the honour of being posted on the left wing, and had
been delighted when they obtained it; but now, when the
Lacedæmonians of their own free will yielded the right wing
to them, and in some sort offered them the post of honour in the
whole army, they were not delighted at it, and did not consider
what an advantage it was to have to fight against foreign
barbarians, and not against men of their own race and nation.
After these words, the Athenians cheerfully exchanged places with
the Lacedæmonians, and much talk went on among them as each
man reminded his comrades that the Persians who would come to
attack them were no braver, nor better armed than those whom they
had defeated at Marathon, but that they had the same bows and
arrows, the same embroidered robes and gold ornaments on their
effeminate bodies, while we, they said, have arms and bodies such
as we had then, and greater confidence because of our victories.
We also fight, not merely as other Greeks do, in defence of our
city and territory, but for the trophies of Marathon and Salamis,
lest the battle of Marathon should be thought to have been won
more by Miltiades and Fortune, than by the valour of the
Athenians. With such encouraging talk as this the Athenians took
up their new position; but the Thebans discovered what had been
done from deserters and told Mardonius. He at once, either from
fear of the Athenians, or from a chivalrous wish to fight the
Spartans himself, led the native Persian troops to his right
wing, and ordered the renegade Greeks to take ground opposite the
Athenians. When these changes were being observed, Pausanias
returned to his original position on the right. Mardonius then
returned to the left as before, and the day passed without an
engagement. The Greeks now determined in a council of war, to
remove their camp to a place farther away and better supplied
with water, because they were prevented from using the springs
near where they were by the enemy's great superiority in
cavalry.
XVII. When night fell the generals began to lead the
army to the place selected for a new camp. The soldiers
[Pg 85]were very unwilling to follow them thither and keep
together in a body, but as soon as they quitted their first
entrenchments, most of them made for the city of Platæa;
and there was much confusion as they wandered about and pitched
their tents here and there. The Lacedæmonians, much against
their will, chanced to be left behind, and quite separated from
the rest. One Amompharetus, a spirited and daring man, who had
long been eager to fight, and chafed much at the long delays and
countermarches which had taken place, now cried aloud that this
change of position was no better than a cowardly flight. He
refused to leave his post, and said that he and his company would
stand where they were, and withstand Mardonius alone. When
Pausanias came and assured him that the Greeks in council had
decided upon this measure, Amompharetus heaved up a huge stone
with both his hands and flinging it down at the feet of
Pausanias, said, "With this pebble I give my vote for battle, and
for disregarding the cowardly counsels of other Greeks."
Pausanias, not knowing what to do, sent to the Athenians, who
were already on the march, begging them to wait and support them,
while he set off with the rest of the Spartans in the direction
of Platæa, hoping thus to make Amompharetus move.
While these movements were being executed day broke, and
Mardonius, who had perceived that the Greeks were leaving their
camp, at once marched in order of battle to attack the
Lacedæmonians, the Persians shouting and clattering their
arms as though they were not going to fight, but to destroy the
Greeks as they retreated, which indeed they very nearly succeeded
in doing; for Pausanias, when he saw what was taking place,
halted his own men, and placed them in battle array, but either
because of his anger at Amompharetus, or his excitement at the
suddenness of the attack, forgot to send any orders to the main
body of the Greeks.
For this reason they came up not in a regular body, but
straggling, and after the Lacedæmonians wore already
engaged. Pausanias was busy sacrificing to the gods, and as the
sacrifices were unfavourable, he ordered the Lacedæmonians
to hold their shields quietly rested on the [Pg 86]ground
at their feet and await his orders, without attempting any
resistance, while he sacrificed again. The enemy's cavalry was
now close at hand, their arrows reached the Lacedæmonians
and killed several of them. It was at this moment that
Kallikrates, the tallest and handsomest man in the whole Greek
army, is said to have been mortally wounded by an arrow. When
dying, he said that he did not lament his death, for he left his
home meaning to lay down his life for Greece, but that he was
grieved that he had never exchanged blows with the enemy before
he died. At this time the Lacedæmonians were offering no
resistance to the assaults of the enemy, but were standing still
in their ranks, shot at by the arrows of the enemy, awaiting the
time when it should be the will of the gods and their general
that they should fight. Some writers tell us that while Pausanias
was offering sacrifice and prayer a little beyond the ranks, some
Lydians suddenly fell upon him, and began to plunder the
sacrificial vessels, but that Pausanias, and those with him,
having no arms, drove them away with sticks and whips; in memory
of which they beat young men on the altar at Sparta at the
present day, and afterwards lead what is called the Lydian
procession.
XVIII. Pausanias was deeply grieved at what was taking
place, seeing the priests offering sacrifice after sacrifice, not
one of which pleased the gods; at last he turned his eyes towards
the temple of Hera and wept. Holding up his hands he besought
Hera of Mount Kithæron and all the other gods of the land
of Platæa that if it were not the will of the gods that the
Greeks should conquer, they might at any rate do some valorous
deed before they died, and let their conquerors know that they
had fought with brave and experienced warriors. When Pausanias
prayed thus, the sacrifices at once became favourable and the
soothsayers prophesied victory. The word was given to sot
themselves in order of battle, and then at once the
Lacedæmonian force resembled some fierce beast turning to
bay and setting up his bristles, while the barbarians saw that
they had to deal with men who were prepared to fight to the
death. Wherefore they set up their great [Pg 87]wicker
shields in front of them, and from this shelter shot their arrows
at the Lacedæmonians. But the latter advanced without
breaking their ranks, overturned the line of wicker shields, and
with, terrible thrusts of their spears at the faces and breasts
of the Persians, laid many of them low by their fierce and
well-disciplined charge. The Persians too fought bravely, and
resisted for a long while, laying hold of the spears with their
bare hands and breaking most of them in that manner, fighting
hand to hand, with their scimitars and axes, and tearing the
Lacedæmonians' shields out of their hands by force.
Meanwhile the Athenians had for a long time stood quietly
awaiting the Lacedæmonians. When, however, they heard the
shouting and noise of the battle, and a messenger, it is said,
reached them from Pausanias, they marched with all speed to help
him. As they were hurrying over the plain to where the shouts
were heard, the Greeks who had taken the Persian side attacked
them. At first when Aristeides saw them, he ran out far before
the rest and besought them in a loud voice in the name of the
gods of Greece not to hinder the Athenians when they were going
to assist those who were venturing their lives on behalf of
Greece. But when he saw that they took no notice of his appeal,
he no longer attempted to help the Lacedæmonians, but
attacked these troops, who numbered about fifty thousand. Of
these the greater part gave way at once and retreated, because
they saw their barbarian allies retreating, but a fierce battle
is said to have raged where the Thebans were, because the best
and noblest men of that state had eagerly taken the Persian side
from the beginning, while the common people followed them, not of
their free will, but being accustomed to obey the nobles.
XIX. Thus was the battle divided into two parts. The
Lacedæmonians were the first to rout the Persians. A
Spartan, named Arimnestus, killed Mardonius by a blow on the head
with a stone, as the oracle in the temple of Amphiaraus had
foretold to him. For Mardonius sent a Lydian thither, and another
man, a Karian, to the oracle in the cave of Trophonius. This
latter was spoken to in the Karian language by the prophet, but
the other slept in the [Pg
88]sacred enclosure
round the temple of Amphiaraus, and in his dreams saw a servant
of the god standing beside him and bidding him begone. When he
refused to go, the figure cast a great stone at his head, so that
he dreamed that he died of the stroke. This is the story which is
told of Mardonius. The Persian fugitives were now driven to take
shelter within their wooden fortification. Shortly after these
events took place, the Athenians defeated the Thebans, who lost
three hundred of their noblest citizens in that battle. After
this there came a messenger to them, telling them that the
Persians were being besieged in their fortified camp. Hearing
this, the Athenians allowed the renegade Greeks to escape, and
marched at once to the assault of the camp. Here they found the
Lacedæmonians, who were not pressing the enemy, because
they had no experience in sieges and attacks on fortified places.
The Athenians forced their way in and took the camp with an
immense slaughter of the enemy. It is said that out of three
hundred thousand only forty thousand under Artabazus escaped. On
the side of the Greeks fell only thirteen hundred and sixty men.
Of these there were fifty-two Athenians of the Aiantid
tribe,[23] which, we are told by
Kleidemus, distinguished itself beyond all others on that day.
For this reason, the Aiantid tribe offered the sacrifice to the
nymphs Sphragitides, ordered by the oracle for the victory, at
the public expense. Of the Lacedæmonians, there fell
ninety-one, and of the Tegeans sixteen. It is hard, therefore, to
understand Herodotus when he says that these alone came to blows
with the enemy, and that no other Greeks were engaged at all; for
both the number of the slain and the tombs of the fallen prove
that the victory was won by all the Greeks together. If only
three cities had fought, and the rest had done nothing, they
never would have inscribed on the altar:
"The Greeks in battle drove the Persian
forth
By force of arms, and bravely Greece set
free,
To Zeus Protector they this altar
reared,
Where all might thank him for their
victory."
This battle was fought on the day of the month
Boed[Pg 89]romion, according to the Athenian calendar; and on
the twenty-sixth of the month Panemus according to that of the
Bœotians, on which day the Hellenic meeting still takes
place at Platæa, and sacrifice is offered to Zeus, the
Protector of Liberty, in memory of this victory. The discrepancy
of the dates is no marvel, seeing that even at the present day,
when astronomy is more accurately understood, different cities
still begin and end their months on different days.
XX. After the battle, as the Athenians would not assign
the prize of valour[24] to the Lacedæmonians, nor suffer them
to set up a trophy, the common cause of Greece was within a
little of being ruined by the quarrels of the two armies, had not
Aristeides by argument and entreaty prevailed upon his
colleagues, especially Leokrates and Myronides, to submit the
dispute to the decision of all the Greeks. Upon this a council
was held, at which Theogeiton of Megara said that the prize for
valour ought to be given to another city, and not either to
Athens or Sparta, if they did not wish to bring about a civil
war. To this Kleokritus of Corinth made answer. All men expected
that he would demand the honour for Corinth, which city had
acquitted itself best, next to Athens and Sparta; but he made a
very excellent and conciliatory speech, demanding that the prize
should be bestowed on the Platæans, by which means neither
of the claimants would be aggrieved. This proposal was agreed to
by Aristeides on behalf of the Athenians, and by Pausanias on
behalf of the Lacedæmonians. Having thus settled their
differences, they set apart from the plunder eighty talents for
the Platæans, with which they built the temple of Athena,
and the shrine, and also decorated the temple with paintings,
which even to this present day retain their lustre. The
Lacedæmonians set up a trophy for themselves, and the
Athenians another one apart. When they enquired at Delphi what
sacrifice was to be offered, the oracle bade them set up an altar
to Zeus the Protector of the Free, and not to sacrifice upon it
until they had first put out all fires throughout the country,
because it [Pg 90]had been defiled by the presence of the
barbarian, and had then fetched a new fire pure from pollution,
from the hearth at Delphi, which is common to all Greece. The
chiefs of the Greeks at once proceeded throughout the
Platæan territory, forcing every one to extinguish his
fire, even in the case of funeral piles, while Euchidas of
Platæa, who promised that he would fetch fire as quickly as
possible, proceeded to Delphi. There he purified his body, and
having been besprinkled with holy water and crowned with laurel,
took fire from the altar, set off running back to Platæa,
and arrived there about sunset, having run a distance of a
hundred and twenty-five miles in one day. He embraced his fellow
citizens, handed the fire to them, fell down, and in a few
moments died. The Platæans, to show their admiration of
him, buried him in the temple of Artemis Eukleia, with this
inscription on his tomb:
"Euchidas ran to Delphi and back again in one day."
As for Eukleia, most persons believe her to be Artemis, and
worship her as that goddess; but some say that she was a daughter
of Herakles and Myrto, the daughter of Menœtius, who was
the sister of Patroklus, and who, dying a virgin, is worshipped
by the Bœotians and Lokrians. An altar and image of her
stands in every market-place in these countries, and those who
are about to marry, sacrifice to her.
XXI. After this Aristeides proposed at a general
assembly of all the Greeks, that all the cities of Greece should
every year send deputies and religious representatives to the
city of Platæa, and that every fifth year Eleutheria, or a
festival in honour of Freedom, should be celebrated there. Also
he proposed that there should be a general levy throughout
Greece, for the war against the Persians, of ten thousand heavy
armed troops, a thousand horse, and a hundred ships of war; and
that the Platæans should be held inviolable, and
consecrated to the service of the gods, to whom they offered
sacrifice on behalf of all Greece. These things were ratified,
and the people of Platæa undertook to make yearly
sacrifices in honour of those who had fallen fighting for Greece,
and whose [Pg 91]bodies were buried there. This they perform even
at the present day in the following fashion. On the sixteenth day
of the month Maimakterion, which in the Bœotian calendar is
called Alalkomenius, they make a procession headed by a trumpeter
sounding the charge. After him follow waggons full of myrtle and
garlands of flowers, a black bull, libations of wine and milk in
jars, and earthenware vessels full of oil and perfume. These are
carried by young men of noble birth, for no slave is allowed to
take any part in the proceedings, because the men in whose honour
the sacrifice is made, died fighting for liberty. Last of all
comes the chief magistrate of Platæa, who, during the rest
of his term of office, is not allowed to touch iron, or to wear
clothes of any colour but white. On this day, however, he wears a
scarlet tunic, takes an urn[25] from the public record office in one hand,
and a sword in the other, and proceeds through the middle of the
city to the sepulchres. There he with his own hands draws water
from the well, washes the head-stones of the graves, and anoints
them with oil. After this he cuts the throat of the bull, places
his bones on a funeral pile, and with prayer to Zeus, and Hermes
who conducts men's souls into the nether world, he calls on the
brave men who died for Greece, to come to the feast and drink the
libations of blood. Next he mixes a large bowl of wine and water,
pours out a cup for himself, and says, "I drink to those who died
in defence of the freedom of Greece." This custom is observed
even to this day by the Platæans.
XXII. After the return of the Athenians to their own
city, Aristeides observed that they desired to adopt a democratic
form of government. As he considered that the people had by their
bravery deserved a share in the management of affairs, and
likewise thought that it would be hard to turn them from their
purpose as they had arms in their hands, and were confident in
their strength because of the [Pg
92]victories which they
had won, he carried a decree that every citizen should have a
share in the government, and that the archons should be chosen
out of the whole body of Athenians.
When Themistokles told the Athenian assembly that he had in
his mind a proposition most valuable to the state, which
nevertheless could not be openly discussed, the people bade
Aristeides alone listen to what it was and give his opinion upon
it. Then Themistokles told Aristeides, that he meditated burning
the entire fleet of the Greeks, as they lay drawn up on the
beach, as by this means Athens would become the greatest state in
Greece, and mistress of all the others. Aristeides, on hearing
this, came forward to the assembly and said that the proposal of
Themistokles, although most advantageous, was yet most wicked and
unjust. When the people heard this, they forbade Themistokles to
prosecute his design. So highly did the Athenians prize justice,
and so well and faithfully did Aristeides serve them.
XXIII. Being sent as general, with Kimon as his
colleague, to the war with Persia, he perceived that Pausanias
and the other Spartan generals were harsh and insolent to their
allies; and he himself, by treating them with kindness and
consideration, aided by the gentle and kindly temper shown by
Kimon in the campaign, gradually obtained supreme authority over
them, not having won it by arms or fleets, but by courtesy and
wise policy. The Athenians, already beloved by the Greeks, on
account of the justice of Aristeides and the kindliness of Kimon,
were much more endeared to them by the insolent brutality of
Pausanias, who always spoke roughly and angrily to the chiefs of
the various contingents of allies, and used to punish the common
men by stripes, or by forcing them to stand all day with a heavy
iron anchor on their shoulders. No one was permitted to obtain
straw or forage for their horses, or to draw water from a well
before the Spartans had helped themselves, and servants were
placed with whips to drive away any who attempted to do so.
Aristeides once endeavoured to complain of this to Pausanias, but
he knitting his brows, rudely told him that he was not at
leisure, and took no notice of his words. [Pg 93]At
this the generals and admirals of the Greek states, especially
those from Chios, Samos, and Lesbos, besought Aristeides to make
himself commander-in-chief, and rally round him all the allied
cities, who had long desired to get rid of the Spartan supremacy
and to take the side of Athens. He answered that he admitted the
justice and even the necessity of their proposals, but that they
must prove themselves to be in earnest by some act which would
make it impossible for the great body of them to draw back. Upon
this, Ouliades of Samos, and Antagoras of Chios conspired
together, and off Byzantium, they ran on board of the ship of
Pausanias, which was sailing before the rest. He on seeing this,
rose up in a rage and threatened that in a short time he would
let them know that they had not endangered his ship, but their
own native cities. They in answer bade him go his way and be
thankful for the victory at Platæa won under his command,
for that it was which alone restrained the Greeks from dealing
with him as he deserved. Finally they left him, and sailed away
to join the Athenian ships. On this occasion the magnanimous
conduct of the Lacedæmonians deserves high praise. When
they perceived that the heads of their generals were being turned
by the greatness of their power, they of their own accord
withdrew from the supreme power, and no longer sent any generals
to the wars, choosing rather to have moderate citizens who would
abide by their laws at home, than to bear rule over the whole of
Greece.
Even while the Lacedæmonians remained in command, the
Greeks paid a certain contribution to pay the expenses of the
war; and as they wished each city to be assessed to pay a
reasonable sum, they asked the Athenians to appoint Aristeides to
visit each city, learn the extent of its territory and revenues,
and fix upon the amount which each was capable of contributing
according to its means. Although he was in possession of such a
power as this—the whole of Greece having as it were given
itself up to be dealt with at his discretion—yet he laid
down his office a poorer man than when he accepted it, but having
completed his assessment to the satisfaction of all. As the
ancients used to tell of the blessedness of the golden age,
[Pg 94]even so did the states of Greece honour the
assessment made by Aristeides, calling the time when it was made,
fortunate and blessed for Greece, especially when no long time
afterwards it was doubled, and subsequently trebled. The money
which Aristeides proposed to raise amounted to four hundred and
sixty talents; to which Perikles added nearly a third part, for
Thucydides tells us that at the commencement of the Peloponnesian
war, the Athenians received six hundred talents a year from their
allies. After the death of Perikles, the popular orators
gradually raised the sum total to thirteen hundred talents. It
was not so much that the money was required for the expenses of a
long and costly war, as that these men had accustomed the people
to largesses of money, dramatic representations, and the erection
of statues and temples. Themistokles was the only man who had
sneered at the great reputation which Aristeides had won by his
assessment of the Greek states, saying that the praise which was
lavished on him was not suitable to a man, but to a chest which
kept money safe. This he said as a retort to a saying of
Aristeides, who once, when Themistokles said that he thought it
the most valuable quality for a general to be able to divine
beforehand what the enemy would do, answered, "That,
Themistokles, is very true, but it is also the part of an
honourable general to keep his hands clean."
XXV. Aristeides, moreover, bound all the Greeks by an
oath to keep the league against the Persians, and himself swore
on behalf of Athens, throwing wedges of red hot iron into the sea
after the oath was taken, and praying that the gods might so deal
with those that broke their faith. But afterwards, when
circumstances forced the Athenians to govern with a stronger
hand, he bade the Athenians act as they pleased, for he would
take upon himself any guilt of perjury which they might incur.
And throughout his life Theophrastus observes that Aristeides,
though scrupulously just in his dealings with his
fellow-citizens, yet sometimes in dealing with other states was
guided rather by advantage than by equity. For instance, when the
Athenians were debating a proposal of the Samians, that the
treasure of the league should be removed from Delos to Athens, a
thing distinctly con[Pg 95]trary to the articles of the alliance,
Aristeides said that it was not just, but that it was expedient
to do so. He himself, at the end of his life, after raising his
city to be the ruler of so many people, remained in his original
poverty, and took no less pride in his poverty than in the
victories which he had won. This is proved by the following
anecdote. Kallias, the torch-bearer in the Eleusinian mysteries,
a relation of his, was being prosecuted on a capital charge by
his private enemies. After speaking with great moderation upon
the subject of the indictment, they used the following argument
to the jury: "Gentlemen, you all know Aristeides the son of
Lysimachus, whose name is renowned throughout Greece. How think
you that man fares at home, when you see him appearing in public
with such a worn-out cloak? May we not suppose when we see him
shivering out of doors, that he has but little to eat at home,
and is in want of common necessaries? Yet Kallias, the richest
man in Athens, allows this man, who is his own cousin, to be in
want, he and his wife and children, though he has often benefited
by him and profited by his influence with you." Kallias,
perceiving that the jury were especially wrought upon by this
appeal and that it was likely to tell against him, called
Aristeides into the court, and begged of him to bear witness to
the jury that although he had often offered him money and begged
him to accept it he had always refused, answering that he prided
himself more upon his poverty than Kallias did upon his wealth;
for one may see many persons making both a good and a bad use of
riches, but it is hard to meet with a man who bears poverty with
honour. Those only should be ashamed of poverty who are poor
against their wills. When Aristeides bore witness to the truth of
this, on behalf of Kallias, there was no one who heard him but
left the court wishing rather to be poor like Aristeides than
rich like Kallias. This story is preserved by Æschines, the
companion of Sokrates.
Plato considers that this man alone, of all the great men of
Athens, is worthy of mention by him. Themistokles, and Kimon, and
Perikles, did indeed fill the city with public buildings, and
money, and folly, but Aris[Pg
96]teides in his
political acts cared for nothing but virtue. One great proof of
this is his kindly treatment of Themistokles. Though this man was
his enemy throughout, and was the cause of his banishment by
ostracism, yet when Themistokles gave him an opportunity of
revenging himself in a similar manner he never remembered the
injuries which he had received at his hands, but while Kimon, and
Alkmæon, and many others, were endeavouring to drive him
into exile and bringing all kinds of accusations against him,
Aristeides alone never did or said anything against him, and did
not rejoice over the spectacle of his enemy's ruin, just as he
never envied his previous prosperity.
XXVI. Some writers say that Aristeides died in Pontus,
to which country he had been sent on matters of state: while
others say that he died of old age at Athens, respected and
honoured by all his countrymen there. Kraterus of Macedonia tells
us the following particulars about his end. After Themistokles
went into exile the common people grew insolent and produced a
numerous brood of informers, who constantly assailed the noblest
and most powerful citizens through envy of their prosperity and
influence. One of these men, Diophantus of Amphitrope by name,
obtained a verdict against Aristeides on a charge of receiving
bribes. It was stated that when he was regulating the assessment
of the Ionians he received money from them to tax them more
lightly. As he was unable to pay the fine of fifty minæ,
which the court laid upon him, he left Athens and died somewhere
in Ionia. But Kraterus offers no documentary evidence of this,
neither of the sentence of his condemnation nor the decree of the
people, although in general it is his habit to quote his
authority for statements of this kind. And almost all others who
have spoken of the harsh treatment of generals by the people
mention the banishment of Themistokles, the imprisonment of
Miltiades, the fine imposed on Perikles, and the suicide of
Paches in court when sentence was pronounced against him, but
although they speak of the banishment of Aristeides, they never
allude to this trial and sentence upon him.
XXVII. Moreover, there is his tomb at Phalerum,
[Pg 97]which is said to have been constructed at the
public expense, because he did not leave enough money to defray
his funeral expenses. It is also related that his daughters were
publicly married at the charges of the state, which provided them
each with a dowry of three thousand drachmas. At the instance of
Alkibiades, his son Lysimachus was also presented with a hundred
silver mines, and as many acres of planted land, and in addition
to this, an allowance of four drachmas a day. Kallisthenes also
tells us that this Lysimachus leaving a daughter named Polykrite,
she was assigned by the Athenians the same daily allowance of
food as is bestowed upon the victors in the Olympian games. But
Demetrius of Phalerum, Hieronymus of Rhodes, Aristoxenus the
musician, and Aristotle, (if we are to believe the 'Treatise on
Nobility' to be a genuine work of his) say, that Myrto, the
granddaughter of Aristeides, lived in the house of Sokrates the
philosopher, who was indeed married to another woman, but who
took her into his house because she was a widow and destitute of
the necessaries of life. These authors are sufficiently confuted
by Panætius in his writings on Sokrates. Demetrius of
Phalerum says, in his book about Sokrates, that he knew one
Lysimachus, a very poor man, who dwelt near the Temple of Iacchus
and made his living by the interpretation of dreams. Demetrius
further states that he carried a bill before the Assembly by
which this man's mother and sister were provided with a pension
of three obols daily at the public expense. Demetrius, however,
when himself a legislator, appointed that each of these women
should receive a drachma instead of three obols a day. And we
need not wonder at the people taking such care of the resident
citizens, when we read that, hearing that the granddaughter of
Aristogeiton was living in poverty at Lemnos, so poor that no one
would marry her, they brought her back to Athens, gave her in
marriage to a man of high birth, and bestowed upon her a farm at
Potamus for a marriage portion. The city of Athens has shown many
instances of this kindness and goodness of heart even down to our
times, and is justly praised and admired for it.
[17] The Attic medimnus contained 12
imperial gallons, or 1½ bushels.
[18] A circular or cyclic chorus was
strictly one which danced and sang round an altar, but especially
refers to the dithyrambic choruses appropriated to Bacchus.
[19] The barathrum at Athens was a
deep pit, with hooks on the sides, into which criminals were
cast.
[20] Alluding to the letter which he had
sent to Xerxes. See 'Life of Themistokles.'
[21] See 'Life of Themistokles.'
[22] So in Latin "hostis" originally meant
both a stranger and an enemy.
[23] These men traced their descent to the
Homeric Ajax.
[24] This was always given before the equal
division of the plunder took place. Cf. Virg. Æn.
IX. 268, sqq.
[25] Whether a cinerary urn for the ashes
of the dead, or a water-pot for drawing water is meant, I am
unable to determine. Clough takes the latter meaning, which is
borne out by the context. On the other hand the Greek word is
used by Plutarch ('Life of Philopœmen,' ch. xxi) in the
sense of an urn to contain the ashes of the dead.
Index