Latest / The History of Greece: Philosophy, Empire, and Endless Reinvention — Fexingo History / The Ostracism of Themistocles: How Athens Banished Its Own Hero
Transcript
- Lucas: So Luna, we've talked a lot about Athens' rise to power — Marathon, Salamis, the Delian League. But there's a really dramatic flip side to that story. The very man who saved Athens at Salamis, Themistocles, was later ostracized and ended up as a governor in the Persian Empire. Luna: Wait — the guy who beat the Persians ended up working for them? Lucas: Exactly. And it's one of the most fascinating ironies in Greek history. But before we get into his exile, let's talk about how ostracism worked. It wasn't a punishment for crimes — it was a political tool. Every year, the Athenian assembly could decide to hold an ostracism vote. If they did, citizens would scratch a name onto a piece of broken pottery — an ostrakon — and if someone got enough votes, they were banished for ten years. No trial, no appeal. Lucas: It was designed to prevent anyone from becoming too powerful. But it could also be used to settle scores. Themistocles was a master of political maneuvering, but he made enemies — especially Aristides and Cimon. Lucas: Before we go deeper — if you're enjoying these deep dives into ancient Greece, a couple of dollars a month is genuinely what keeps these going — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, if you've gotten something out of them. And now, back to Themistocles. Luna: Yeah, I can see how that kind of thing matters. So what was it that turned Athens against him? Lucas: Well, after Salamis, Themistocles was at the height of his influence. He pushed for Athens to build a massive navy and fortify the Piraeus, which made Athens a naval superpower. But his arrogance and his constant self-promotion rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. Plutarch tells us he built a temple to Artemis 'Aristoboule' — 'of Good Counsel' — as a direct reference to his own advice. Lucas: Then there was the rivalry with Aristides, known as 'the Just'. Aristides was opposed to the naval buildup and the aggressive imperialism it represented. In 483 or 482 BCE, Themistocles himself was actually the target of an ostracism vote, but it was Aristides who got ostracized instead. That cleared the way for Themistocles to dominate. Luna: So he got his rival exiled first. How long did his dominance last? Lucas: Not long. After the Persian Wars, Themistocles's influence waned as Cimon, the son of Miltiades, rose to prominence. Cimon favored a pro-Spartan policy, while Themistocles was more anti-Spartan. By 472 or 471 BCE, the political winds had shifted. Themistocles was ostracized and went to live in Argos. Lucas: But that wasn't the end of his troubles. The Spartans, who hated him, accused him of conspiring with the Persian king to betray Greece. Thucydides says that Themistocles, fearing for his life, fled from Argos and eventually ended up in Persia, where King Artaxerxes I gave him a position as governor of Magnesia. Luna: So he became a Persian satrap? That's incredible. Lucas: Yes. And he was a loyal one. He learned Persian, adopted Persian customs, and even helped the Persians with advice on fighting the Greeks. But there's a poignant detail: according to Thucydides, he never stopped being Greek at heart. When he died, his bones were secretly smuggled back to Attica and buried there. Luna: That's like something out of a tragedy. A hero who ends up serving his former enemy. Lucas: Exactly. And it raises a big question: was Themistocles a traitor, or a pragmatist? He saved Greece at Salamis, but later he helped Persia. Some historians argue he was just a survivor, doing what he had to do. Others say he was a brilliant strategist who knew that Athens and Persia would eventually have to coexist. Lucas: What's really interesting is that the Athenians themselves seemed conflicted. After his death, they eventually rehabilitated his memory. There's a story that his descendants were given honors in Athens. Luna: So they forgave him? Or at least remembered what he did for them. Lucas: They never forgot Salamis. And the ostracism itself — as harsh as it seems — was actually a way to prevent civil war. It let the city expel someone without killing them or confiscating their property. It was a kind of political safety valve. Lucas: But it could also be abused. The last known ostracism was in 417 BCE, when the demagogue Hyperbolos was ostracized after a failed attempt by Nicias and Alcibiades to get each other exiled. After that, the Athenians seemed to lose faith in the process. Luna: It sounds like a system that worked until it didn't. Lucas: Exactly. And Themistocles is the poster child for both its power and its flaws. He was a visionary who saw that Athens' future was on the sea, but his personal ambition made him a target. In the end, he spent his final years in Persian luxury, but he never really came home. Luna: Thanks for that story, Lucas. It really makes you think about the cost of ambition.