Editing Themistocles (section)

== Assessments ==

=== Character ===
[[File:Beeld, Themistocles - Unknown - 20408398 - RCE.jpg|thumb|Bust of Themistocles]]
It is possible to draw some conclusions about Themistocles's character. Perhaps his most evident trait was his massive ambition; "In his ambition he surpassed all men";<ref name = PT5 /> "he hankered after public office rather as a man in delirium might crave a cure".<ref name = h164 /> He was proud and vain,<ref name = h226 /> and anxious for recognition of his deeds.<ref name = PT18>Plutarch, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0182;layout=;query=chapter%3D%23234;loc=Them.%2019.1 Themistocles 18]</ref> His relationship with power was of a particularly personal nature; while he undoubtedly desired the best for Athens, many of his actions also seem to have been made in self-interest.<ref name = h164 /> He also appears to have been corrupt (at least by modern standards), and was known for his fondness of bribes.<ref name = h217 />

Yet, set against these negative traits, was an apparently natural brilliance and talent for leadership:<ref name = h164 />

:Themistocles was a man who exhibited the most indubitable signs of genius; indeed, in this particular he has a claim on our admiration quite extraordinary and unparalleled. By his own native capacity, alike unformed and unsupplemented by study, he was at once the best judge in those sudden crises which admit of little or of no deliberation, and the best prophet of the future, even to its most distant possibilities. An able theoretical expositor of all that came within the sphere of his practice, he was not without the power of passing an adequate judgment in matters in which he had no experience. He could also excellently divine the good and evil which lay hid in the unseen future. In fine, whether we consider the extent of his natural powers, or the slightness of his application, this extraordinary man must be allowed to have surpassed all others in the faculty of intuitively meeting an emergency.<ref name = TI138 />

Both Herodotus and Plato record variations of an anecdote in which Themistocles responded with subtle sarcasm to an undistinguished man who complained that the great politician owed his fame merely to the fact that he came from Athens. As Herodotus tells it:

:Timodemus of Aphidnae, who was one of Themistocles's enemies but not a man of note, was crazed with envy and spoke bitterly to Themistocles of his visit to Lacedaemon, saying that the honors he had from the Lacedaemonians were paid him for Athens' sake and not for his own. This he kept saying until Themistocles replied, 'This is the truth of the matter: if I had been a man of [[Belbina (island)|Belbina]] I would not have been honored in this way by the Spartans, nor would you, sir, for all you are a man of Athens.' Such was the end of that business.<ref>Herodotus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126%3Abook%3D8%3Achapter%3D125%3Asection%3D1 VIII, 125].</ref>

As Plato tells it, the heckler hails from the small island of Seriphus; Themistocles retorts that it is true that he would not have been famous if he had come from that small island, but that the heckler would not have been famous either if he had been born in Athens.<ref>Plato, ''Republic'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0168%3Abook%3D1%3Asection%3D330a I, 330a].</ref>

Themistocles was undoubtedly intelligent, but also possessed natural cunning; "the workings of his mind [were] infinitely mobile and serpentine".<ref name = h164 /> Themistocles was evidently sociable and appears to have enjoyed strong personal loyalty from his friends.<ref name = h164 /><ref name = PT24 /> At any rate, it seems to have been Themistocles's particular mix of virtues and vices that made him such an effective politician.<ref name = h164 />

=== Historical reputation ===
[[File:Kerameikos7 Athens.JPG|thumb|Ruins of the [[Themistoclean Wall]] in the [[Kerameikos]] of Athens, Greece, named after Themistocles]]
Themistocles died with his reputation in tatters, a traitor to the Athenian people; the "saviour of Greece" had turned into the enemy of liberty.<ref>Holland, p. 364</ref> However, his reputation in Athens was rehabilitated by [[Pericles]] in the 450s&nbsp;BC, and by the time Herodotus wrote his history, Themistocles was once again seen as a hero.<ref name = L169>Lazenby, p. 169</ref> Thucydides evidently held Themistocles in some esteem, and is uncharacteristically flattering in his praise for him (see above).<ref name = TI138 /> Diodorus also extensively praises Themistocles, going as far as to offer a rationale for the length at which he discusses him: "Now on the subject of the high merits of Themistocles, even if we have dwelt over-long on the subject in this digression, we believed it not seemly that we should leave his great ability unrecorded."<ref name = DSXI59>Diodorus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0084;query=chapter%3D%23135;layout=;loc=11.58.1 XI, 58]</ref> Indeed, Diodorus, whose history includes [[Alexander the Great]] and [[Hannibal]], goes so far as to say that
<blockquote>But if any man, putting envy aside, will estimate closely not only the man's natural gifts but also his achievements, he will find that on both counts Themistocles holds first place among all of whom we have record. Therefore, one may well be amazed that the Athenians were willing to rid themselves of a man of such genius.<ref name = DSXI58 /> </blockquote> Plutarch offers a more nuanced view of Themistocles, with more of a critique of Themistocles's character. He does not detract from Themistocles's achievements, but also highlights his failings.<ref name = PT3 />
[[Napoleon]] compared himself to Themistocles after the Battle of Waterloo, in his surrender letter;
<blockquote>Royal Highness, – Exposed to the factions which divide my country, and to the enmity of the great Powers of Europe, I have terminated my political career; and I come, like Themistocles, to throw myself upon the hospitality ({{lang|fr|m'asseoir sur le foyer}}) of the British people. I claim from your Royal Highness the protections of the laws, and throw myself upon the most powerful, the most constant, and the most generous of my enemies.|Napoleon. (letter of surrender to the [[George IV of the United Kingdom|Prince Regent]]; translation).{{sfn|Booth|1815|p=57}}</blockquote>

=== Political and military legacy ===
[[File:Map athenian empire 431 BC-en.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|Map of the Athenian Empire in 431&nbsp;BC]]

Undoubtedly the greatest achievement of Themistocles's career was his role in the defeat of Xerxes' invasion of Greece. Against overwhelming odds, Greece survived, and classical Greek culture, so influential in Western civilization, was able to develop unabated.<ref>Holland, pp. xvi–xvii</ref> Moreover, Themistocles's doctrine of Athenian naval power, and the establishment of Athens as a major power in the Greek world, were of enormous consequence during the 5th century BC. In 478&nbsp;BC, the Hellenic alliance was reconstituted without the Peloponnesian states into the [[Delian League]], in which Athens was the dominant power.<ref name = h362>Holland, pp. 362–365</ref> This was essentially a maritime alliance of Athens and her colonies, the Aegean islands, and the Ionian cities. The Delian league took the war to Persia, eventually invading Persian territory and dominating the Aegean.<ref name = h362 /> Under [[Pericles]]' guidance, the Delian league evolved into the [[Athenian Empire]], the zenith of Athenian power and influence.<ref>Butler, p. 195</ref>{{sps|date=November 2024}} Themistocles seems to have deliberately set Athens up as a rival to Sparta in the aftermath of Xerxes' invasion, basing this strategy on Athenian naval power (contrasted with the power of the Spartan army).<ref name = PT19 /> Tension grew throughout the century between Athens and Sparta, as they competed to be the leading state in Greece.<ref name = h371 /> Finally, in 431&nbsp;BC, this tension erupted into the [[Peloponnesian War]], the first of a series of conflicts that tore Greece apart for the next century.<ref name = h371>Holland, p. 371</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Platias |first1=Athanasios |last2=Trigkas |first2=Vasilis |year=2022 |title=Themistocles must be destroyed: Sparta Confronts a Rising Athens |journal=The Historical Review of Sparta |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=129–156}}</ref>

Diodorus provides a rhetorical summary that reflects on Themistocles's achievements:
<blockquote>What other man, while Sparta still had the superior strength and the Spartan Eurybiades held the supreme command of the fleet, could by his single-handed efforts have deprived Sparta of that glory? Of what other man have we learned from history that by a single act he caused himself to surpass all the commanders, his city all the other Greek states, and the Greeks the barbarians? In whose term as general have the resources been more inferior and the dangers they faced greater? Who, facing the united might of all Asia, has found himself at the side of his city when its inhabitants had been driven from their homes, and still won the victory?<ref name = DSXI59 /></blockquote>Modern scholars have endorsed this view, seeing Themistocles as a quintessential leader and strategist able to transform his city in pursuit of his naval doctrine.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Platias |first1=Αthanasios |chapter=Themistocles: Leadership and Grand Strategy |year=2022 |title=Democracy and Salamis |pages=99–129 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-030-98430-4 |last2=Trigkas |first2=Vasillis |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-98431-1_5}}</ref>

The South American plant genus ''[[Themistoclesia]]'' (named by [[Johann Friedrich Klotzsch]], 1851) is named in honour of Themistocles.<ref>{{cite web |title=''Themistoclesia'' Klotzsch |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30024056-2 |website=Plants of the World Online |access-date=17 March 2021}}</ref>