Themistocles
Themistocles (c.524–459 BC),Athenian politician, was a member of the ancient Lycomid family but by a non-Athenian mother. Herodotus' informants accused him of corruption and said that in 480 he had ‘recently come to the fore’, though he was archon in 493/2; but Thucydides admired him for his far-sightedness and considered him one of the greatest men of his generation.
As archon, Themistocles began the development of the Piraeus as Athens' harbour; it may be that Phrynichus' Capture of Miletus and subsequent trial, and Miltiades' return to Athens from the Chersonesus (Gallipoli peninsula) and his subsequent trial, belong to 493/2 and that Themistocles was involved in these episodes. In the ostracisms of the 480s he regularly attracted votes but was not himself ostracized (altogether, 2,264 ostraca against him are known, including a set of 190...
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