Latest / The History of Greece: Philosophy, Empire, and Endless Reinvention — Fexingo History / Cimon's Ghosts: How an Athenian War Hawk Forged an Empire
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about the Delian League — how it started as a voluntary alliance against Persia and slowly turned into an Athenian empire. But there's one figure who really built that empire, long before Pericles made it famous. I'm talking about Cimon. Luna: Cimon — son of Miltiades, right? The hero of Marathon? Lucas: Exactly. Miltiades was the general who won at Marathon in 490, but he died in disgrace a year later after a failed attack on Paros. So Cimon grew up with that shadow hanging over his family. But he rebuilt everything. By the 470s and 460s, he was the most powerful man in Athens — a brilliant general, a conservative politician, and a huge admirer of Sparta. Luna: Wait — an admirer of Sparta? That seems unusual for an Athenian leader. Lucas: It was deeply unusual. Most Athenians were suspicious of Sparta, especially after the Persian Wars. But Cimon genuinely believed Athens and Sparta should be allies, even friends. He named one of his sons Lacedaemonius — literally 'Spartan'. And he constantly pushed for a policy of 'mixing' with Sparta, cooperation between the two great powers. Luna: How did that go over with the Athenian assembly? Lucas: For a long time, it worked. Cimon's military successes made him almost untouchable. In 469 or 466 — the exact date is debated — he won his greatest victory at the Eurymedon River, on the southern coast of Asia Minor. He destroyed a large Persian fleet and army on the same day. That victory effectively ended major Persian naval operations in the Aegean for decades. Luna: Wow. That's huge. Lucas: It was. And Cimon used the plunder — including captured Persian equipment — to beautify Athens. He built the south wall of the Acropolis, planted trees in the Agora, and turned an old marketplace into a public garden. He also commissioned the Stoa Poikile, the Painted Stoa, which displayed murals of Athenian victories including Marathon — where his father had fought. Luna: So he was using Persian gold to build up Athens — literally. Lucas: Exactly. But his pro-Spartan stance was creating enemies at home. The democratic reformers — led by Ephialtes and a young Pericles — wanted to weaken the conservative Areopagus council and push a more radical democracy. Cimon stood in their way. And then, in 464, an earthquake hit Sparta. Luna: An earthquake? How did that affect Athens? Lucas: It was catastrophic. The earthquake leveled much of Sparta and killed thousands. The helots — the enslaved population — immediately revolted, besieging the Spartans on Mount Ithome. Sparta sent an urgent plea for help to its allies, including Athens. And Cimon argued passionately that Athens should send troops to help. Luna: Did the assembly agree? Lucas: Reluctantly, yes. Cimon led an Athenian force to Messenia to help suppress the helot revolt. But when the Athenians arrived, the Spartans grew suspicious — they worried that these democratic Athenians might sympathize with the helots. So after a few weeks, the Spartans sent the Athenians home, saying they didn't need their help after all. It was a massive public humiliation for Cimon. Luna: Ouch. That must have been devastating for him politically. Lucas: It was. The democratic faction seized on it. In 461, they held an ostracism — a vote to exile one citizen for ten years. And Cimon was the target. He was sent into exile. Luna: Ostracism — the same mechanism that had been used against Themistocles. So the man who saved Athens from Persia was also ostracized. Lucas: History has a pattern there. But Cimon's story doesn't end in exile. While he was gone, Ephialtes was assassinated, and Pericles rose to power. The democracy became more radical. And Athens started to alienate its allies in the Delian League, turning it into an empire. Then, in 457, Sparta and Athens went to war at Tanagra. Luna: So the pro-Spartan policy had completely collapsed. Lucas: And right before that battle, Cimon actually showed up at the Athenian camp, asking to fight — he wanted to prove his loyalty. But the Athenian generals, suspicious, refused. He asked his friends to dedicate his armor and prove his courage. They did. But soon after, the Athenians realized they needed him back. They recalled him from exile early, around 451, hoping he could negotiate a peace with Sparta. Luna: Did he? Lucas: He brokered a five-year truce. Then he turned his attention back to Persia. He led a major expedition to Cyprus in 450, trying to liberate the island from Persian control. He besieged the city of Kition, but during the siege, he fell sick and died. Some sources say he died of illness, others say from a wound. Either way, it was an anticlimactic end for such a towering figure. Luna: So he died on campaign, trying to fight Persia one last time. Lucas: That's right. And his death marks a real turning point. After Cimon, the conservative, pro-Spartan faction in Athens never recovered. Pericles and the democrats took full control. The Delian League's treasury was moved from Delos to Athens in 454, and the allies became subjects. The empire was now undeniable. And the road to the Peloponnesian War was wide open. Luna: It's almost like Cimon was the last person who could have kept Athens and Sparta on friendly terms. Lucas: That's how many historians see him. Plutarch, who wrote a biography of Cimon, admired him greatly. He presents Cimon as a generous, open-handed aristocrat — the kind of leader who threw open his gardens and gave free meals to the poor. But his vision of a Greek world led by Athens and Sparta together was doomed, partly by his own success. The empire he built made Athens too powerful for Sparta to tolerate. Luna: There's something tragic about that — building something that ultimately undermines everything you stood for. Lucas: Absolutely. And it makes you think about how fragile political consensus is, even in a democracy like Athens. Cimon was beloved one year, ostracized the next, then recalled, then died in obscurity on a distant shore. His story is a reminder that in Athenian democracy, no one was indispensable — and that public opinion could shift like the wind. Luna: Yeah, it's a good reminder for any era, really. Lucas: Speaking of keeping things going — if you've been stepping into history with us episode by episode, I want to mention something. This show is ad-free and listener-supported, and it's people like you who make it possible for us to keep digging into these stories. If you'd like to help, you can find us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: It's a small way to keep the conversation going, and we really appreciate it. Lucas: Anyway — back to Cimon. One thing I find fascinating is how Cimon's legacy was literally built into the city. The 'Cimonian walls' — the south wall of the Acropolis — still stand today, though most tourists don't know who paid for them. And the Stoa Poikile, where Zeno later taught Stoicism, was built with Persian spoils from his campaigns. Luna: So his victories funded the physical spaces where Athenian democracy and philosophy flourished. Lucas: Exactly. And that's the strange paradox: Cimon was a conservative who believed in aristocratic leadership and Spartan-style discipline, yet his military successes created the wealth and confidence that powered the radical democracy he opposed. He helped build the very world that pushed him aside. Luna: It's like he was the unwitting architect of his own obsolescence. Lucas: Well put. And I think that's why Cimon is such a compelling figure — not just as a general, but as a symbol of the tensions within Athenian democracy. The tension between individualism and the state, between old money and new ideas, between peace with Sparta and imperial ambition. All of that was alive in his lifetime, and it all came to a head in the decades after his death. Luna: So what happened to his sons? He named one Lacedaemonius — did they carry on his legacy? Lucas: Lacedaemonius did become a general, but he wasn't as prominent. The family name faded from politics. Cimon's branch of the Philaid clan never regained the influence they had in his day. By the time of the Peloponnesian War, the political landscape had changed completely. The old aristocratic networks gave way to a new class of demagogues like Cleon — whom we talked about in episode 153. Luna: So Cimon really was the last of his kind — the last great aristocratic leader before democracy took a more radical turn. Lucas: I think that's exactly right. And that's why his story matters. It's not just a biography — it's a window into how Athens transformed from a polis of hoplites and aristocrats into a naval empire driven by the will of the demos. And that transformation set the stage for everything that followed: the Peloponnesian War, the fall of Athens, and the endless reinvention of Greece.