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ARISTIDES ['Apuvrei817s] (c. 530—468 ...
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See also:ARISTIDES ['Apuvrei817s] (c. 530—468 B.C.) , Athenian statesman, called " the Just," was the son of See also:Lysimachus, and a member of a See also:family of moderate See also:fortune. Of his See also:early See also:life we are told merely that he became a follower of the statesman See also:Cleisthenes and sided with the aristocratic party in Athenian politics. He first comes into See also:notice as See also:strategus in command of his native tribe Antiochis at See also:Marathon, and it was no doubt in consequence of the distinction which he then achieved that he was elected See also:chief See also:archon for the ensuing See also:year (489—488). In pursuance of his conservative policy which aimed at maintaining See also:Athens as a See also:land See also:power, he was one of the chief opponents of the See also:naval policy of See also:Themistocles (q.v.). The conflict between the two leaders ended in the See also:ostracism of Aristides, at a date variously given between 485 and 482. It is said that, on this occasion, a voter, who did not know him, came up to him, and giving him his sherd, desired him to write upon it the name of Aristides. The latter asked if Aristides had wronged him. " No," was the reply, " and I do not even know him, but it irritates me to hear him everywhere called the just." Early in 48o Aristides profited by the See also:decree recalling the See also:post-Marathonian exiles to help in the See also:defence of Athens against the See also:Persian invaders, and was elected strategus for the year 480-479. In the See also:campaign of See also:Salamis he rendered loyal support to Themistocles, and crowned the victory by landing Athenian See also:infantry on the See also:island of Psyttaleia and annihilating the Persian See also:garrison stationed there (see SALAMIS). In 479 he was re-elected strategus, and invested with See also:special See also:powers as See also:commander of the Athenian contingent at See also:Plataea; he is also said to have judiciously suppressed a See also:conspiracy among some oligarchic malcontents in the See also:army, and to have played a prominent See also:part in arranging for the celebration of the victory. In 478 or 477 Aristides was in command of the Athenian See also:squadron off See also:Byzantium, and so far won the confidence of the Ionian See also:allies that, after revolting from the Spartan See also:admiral See also:Pausanias, they offered him the chief command and See also:left him with See also:absolute discretion in fixing the contributions of the newly formed confederacy (see DELIAN See also:LEAGUE). His See also:assessment was universally accepted as equitable, and continued as the basis of See also:taxation for the greater part of the league's duration; it was probably from this that he won the See also:title of " the Just." Aristides soon left the command of the See also:fleet to his friend See also:Cimon (q.v.), but continued to hold a predominant position in Athens. At first he seems to have remained on See also:good terms with Themistocles, whom he is said to have helped in outwitting the Spartans over the rebuilding of the walls of Athens. But in spite of statements in which See also:ancient authors have represented Aristides as a democratic reformer, it is certain that the See also:period following the Persian See also:wars during which he shaped Athenian policy was one of conservative reaction. (For the theory based on See also:Plutarch, Aristid. 22, that Aristides after Plataea threw open the archon-See also:ship to all the citizens, see ARCHON.) He is said by some authorities to have died at Athens, by others on a See also:journey to the Euxine See also:sea. The date of his See also:death is given by See also:Nepos as 468; at any See also:rate he lived to See also:witness the ostracism of Themistocles, towards whom he always displayed a generous conduct, but had died before the rise of See also:Pericles. His See also:estate seems to have suffered severely from the Persian invasions, for apparently he did not leave enough See also:money to defray the expenses of his See also:burial, and it is known that his descendants even in the 4th See also:century received See also:state See also:pensions. (See ATHENS; THEMISTOCLES.) See also:AuTHORIT1ES.-See also:Herodotus viii. 79-81, 95; ix. 28; "Constitution of Athens " (See also:Ath. Pol.), 22-24, 41; Plutarch, Aristides; See also:Cornelius Nepos, Vita Aristidis. See also E. See also:Meyer, Geschichte See also:des Altertums (See also:Stuttgart, 1901), iii. pp. 481, 492. In the See also:absence of See also:positive See also:information the 4th-century writers (on whom Plutarch and Nepos mainly rely) seized upon his surname of " Just," and wove See also:round it a number of anecdotes more picturesque than See also:historical. Herodotus is practically our only trustworthy authority. (M. O. B. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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