Editing Themistocles (section)

== Political and military career ==

=== Background ===
Themistocles grew up in a period of upheaval in Athens. The tyrant [[Peisistratos]] had died in 527&nbsp;BC, passing power to his sons, [[Hipparchus (son of Peisistratos)|Hipparchus]] and [[Hippias (tyrant)|Hippias]].<ref>Holland, p. 122</ref> Hipparchus was murdered in 514&nbsp;BC, and in response to this, Hippias became paranoid and started to rely increasingly on foreign mercenaries to keep a hold on power.<ref>Holland, pp. 126–128</ref> The head of the powerful but exiled<ref>{{cite book |author=Herodotus |title=Histories |pages=5.72–73 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+5.72}}</ref> [[Alcmaeonid]] family, [[Cleisthenes]], began to scheme to overthrow Hippias and return to Athens.<ref name = h128>Holland, pp. 128–131</ref> In 510&nbsp;BC, he persuaded the [[Sparta]]n king [[Cleomenes I]] to launch a full-scale attack on Athens, which succeeded in overthrowing Hippias.<ref name = h128 /> However, in the aftermath, the other noble (''eupatrid'') families of Athens rejected Cleisthenes, electing [[Isagoras]] as [[archon]], with the support of Cleomenes.<ref name = h128 /> On a personal level, Cleisthenes wanted to return to Athens; however, he also probably wanted to prevent Athens becoming a Spartan client state. Outmaneuvering the other nobles, he proposed to the Athenian people a radical program in which political power would be invested in the people—a "democracy".<ref name = h128 /> The Athenian people thus overthrew Isagoras, repelled a Spartan attack under Cleomenes, and invited Cleisthenes to return to Athens and put his plan into action.<ref>Holland, pp. 132–134</ref> The establishment of the democracy was to radically change Athens: "And so it was that the Athenians found themselves suddenly a great power... they gave vivid proof of what equality and freedom of speech might achieve"<ref>{{cite book |author=Herodotus |title=Histories |pages=5.78 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+5.78}}</ref>

=== Early years of the democracy ===
The new system of government in Athens opened up a wealth of opportunity for men like Themistocles, who previously would have had no access to power.<ref name = h164 /> Moreover, the new institutions of the democracy required skills that had previously been unimportant in government. Themistocles was to prove himself a master of the new system; "he could infight, he could network, he could spin... and crucially, he knew how to make himself visible."<ref name = h164>Holland, pp. 164–167</ref> Themistocles moved to the [[Kerameikos|Ceramicus]], a down-market part of Athens. This move marked him out as a 'man of the people', and allowed him to interact more easily with ordinary citizens. He began building up a support base among these newly empowered citizens:

<blockquote>[H]e wooed the poor; and they, not used to being courted, duly loved him back. Touring the taverns, the markets, the docks, canvassing where no politician had thought to canvas before, making sure never to forget a single voter's name, Themistocles had set his eyes on a radical new constituency...<ref name = h164 /></blockquote>

However, he took care to ensure that he did not alienate the nobility of Athens.<ref name = h164 /> He began to practice law, the first person in Athens to prepare for public life in this way.<ref name = h164 /> His ability as attorney and arbitrator, used in the service of the common people, gained him further popularity.<ref name = PT5>Plutarch, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0182;layout=;query=chapter%3D%23221;loc=Them.%204.1 Themistocles, 5]</ref>

=== Archonship ===
[[File:Beeld, Themistocles - Unknown - 20408396 - RCE.jpg|thumb|Profile view of an ancient Greek bust of Themistocles]]
Themistocles probably turned 30 in 494&nbsp;BC, which qualified him to become an archon, the highest of the magistracies in Athens.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ostwald |first=Martin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EC74HjT_aTIC |title=Language and History in Ancient Greek Culture |year=2011 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=978-0-8122-0609-8 |page=178}}</ref> On the back of his popularity, he evidently decided to run for this office and was elected [[Eponymous archon|Archon Eponymous]], the highest government office in the following year (493&nbsp;BC).<ref name = h164 /> Themistocles's archonship saw the beginnings of a major theme in his career; the advancement of Athenian sea-power. Under his guidance, the Athenians began the building of a new port at [[Piraeus]], to replace the existing facilities at [[Phalerum]].<ref name = h164 /> Although further away from Athens, Piraeus offered three natural harbours, and could be easily fortified.<ref name = PT19>Plutarch, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0182;query=chapter%3D%23235;layout=;loc=Them.%2020.1 Themistocles, 19]</ref> Since Athens was to become an essentially maritime power during the 5th century&nbsp;BC, Themistocles's policies were to have huge significance for the future of Athens, and indeed Greece. In advancing naval power, Themistocles was probably advocating a course of action he thought essential for the long-term prospects of Athens.<ref name = h164 /> However, as Plutarch implies, since naval power relied on the mass mobilisation of the common citizens (''[[thetes]]'') as rowers, such a policy put more power into the hands of average Athenians—and thus into Themistocles's own hands.<ref name = PT19 />

=== Rivalry with Aristides ===
After Marathon, probably in 489, [[Miltiades the Younger|Miltiades]], the hero of the battle, was seriously wounded in an abortive attempt to capture Paros. Taking advantage of his incapacitation, the powerful Alcmaeonid family arranged for him to be prosecuted.<ref name = h214>Holland, pp. 214–217</ref> The Athenian aristocracy, and indeed Greek aristocrats in general, were loath to see one person pre-eminent, and such maneuvers were commonplace.<ref name = h214 /> Miltiades was given a massive fine for the crime of 'deceiving the Athenian people', but died weeks later as a result of his wound.<ref name = h214 /> In the wake of this prosecution, the Athenian people chose to use a new institution of the democracy, which had been part of Cleisthenes' reforms, but remained so far unused.<ref name = h214 /> This was '[[ostracism]]'—each Athenian citizen was required to write on a shard of pottery (''ostrakon'') the name of a politician that they wished to see exiled for a period of ten years.<ref name = h214 /> This may have been triggered by Miltiades' prosecution, and used by the Athenians to try to stop such power-games among the noble families.<ref name = h214 /> Certainly, in the years (487&nbsp;BC) following, the heads of the prominent families, including the Alcmaeonids, were exiled.<ref name = h214 /> The career of a politician in Athens thus became fraught with more difficulty, since displeasing the population was likely to result in exile.<ref name = h214 />

Themistocles, with his power-base firmly established among the poor, moved naturally to fill the vacuum left by Miltiades' death, and in that decade became the most influential politician in Athens.<ref name = h214 /> However, the support of the nobility began to coalesce around the man who would become Themistocles's great rival—[[Aristides]].<ref name = h217 /> Aristides cast himself as Themistocles's opposite—virtuous, honest and incorruptible—and his followers called him "the just".<ref name = h217 /> Plutarch suggests that the rivalry between the two had begun when they competed over the [[Pederasty in ancient Greece|love]] of a boy: "... they were rivals for the affection of the beautiful Stesilaus of Ceos, and were passionate beyond all moderation."<ref name = PT3>Plutarch, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0066%3Achapter%3D3 Themistocles, 3]</ref><ref name = PA2>Plutarch, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0009%3Achapter%3D2 Aristides, 2]</ref>

[[File:Lavrion499.JPG|thumb|left|A sluicing tank for silver ore, excavated at [[Laurium]], Attica]]

During the decade, Themistocles continued to advocate the expansion of Athenian naval power.<ref name = h214 /> The Athenians were certainly aware throughout this period that the Persian interest in Greece had not ended; Darius' son and successor, [[Xerxes I]], had continued the preparations for the invasion of Greece.<ref>Holland, pp. 208–211</ref> Themistocles seems to have realised that for the Greeks to survive the coming onslaught required a Greek navy that could hope to face up to the Persian navy, and he therefore attempted to persuade the Athenians to build such a fleet.<ref name = h164 /><ref name = h214 /> Aristides, as champion of the ''zeugites'' (the upper, 'hoplite-class') vigorously opposed such a policy.<ref name = h217>Holland, pp. 217–219</ref>

In 483&nbsp;BC, a massive new seam of silver was found in the Athenian [[mines of Laurion]].<ref name = PT4>Plutarch, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0182;query=chapter%3D%23220;layout=;loc=Them.%203.1 Themistocles 4]</ref> Themistocles proposed that the silver should be used to build a new fleet of 200 [[trireme]]s, while Aristides suggested it should instead be distributed among the Athenian citizens.<ref name = h219>Holland, pp. 219–222</ref> Themistocles avoided mentioning Persia, deeming that it was too distant a threat for the Athenians to act on, and instead focused their attention on [[Aegina]].<ref name = PT4 /> At the time, Athens was embroiled in a long-running war with the Aeginetans, and building a fleet would allow the Athenians to finally defeat them at sea.<ref name = PT4 /> As a result, Themistocles's motion was carried easily, although only 100 triremes were to be built.<ref name = PT4 /> Aristides refused to countenance this; conversely Themistocles was not pleased that only 100 ships would be built.<ref name = h219 /> Tension between the two camps built over the winter, so that the ostracism of 482&nbsp;BC became a direct contest between Themistocles and Aristides.<ref name = h219 /> In what has been characterized as the first [[referendum]], Aristides was ostracised, and Themistocles's policies were endorsed.<ref name = h219 /> Indeed, becoming aware of the Persian preparations for the coming invasion, the Athenians voted for the construction of more ships than Themistocles had initially asked for.<ref name = h219 /> In the run-up to the Persian invasion, Themistocles had thus become the foremost politician in Athens.<ref name = PT5 />

=== Second Persian invasion of Greece ===
{{Main|Second Persian invasion of Greece|Battle of Artemisium|Battle of Salamis}}
[[File:Busto di temistocle, da originale greco del V secolo ac, dal decumano presso il casamento del temistocle.JPG|thumb|A Roman-era bust of Themistocles in "[[Severe style]]",<ref name="HC19" /> based on a Greek original, in the [[Museo Archeologico Ostiense]], [[Ostia (Rome)|Ostia, Rome]], Italy. The lost original of this bust, dated to {{circa|470&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}, has been described as "the first true portrait of an individual European".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tanner |first1=Jeremy |title=The Invention of Art History in Ancient Greece: Religion, Society and Artistic Rationalisation |year=2006 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-84614-1 |page=97 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qmbctV2X-sEC&pg=PA97}}</ref>]]
In 481&nbsp;BC a congress of Greek city-states was held, during which 30 or so{{Citation needed|date=November 2011}} states agreed to ally themselves against the forthcoming invasion.<ref name="vii-145">Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126&layout=&loc=7.145.1 VII, 145]</ref> The Spartans and Athenians were foremost in this alliance, being sworn enemies of the Persians.<ref name="vii-160">Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126&layout=&loc=7.161.1 VII, 161]</ref>
The Spartans claimed the command of land forces, and since the Greek (hereafter referred to as "Allied") fleet would be dominated by Athens, Themistocles tried to claim command of the naval forces.<ref name = h226 /> However, the other naval powers, including [[Ancient Corinth|Corinth]] and Aegina, refused to give command to the Athenians, and Themistocles pragmatically backed down.<ref name = h226>Holland, p. 226</ref> Instead, as a compromise, the Spartans (an insignificant naval power), in the person of [[Eurybiades]], were to command the naval forces.<ref>Holland, p. 258</ref> [[Histories (Herodotus)|Herodotus]] is clear, however, that Themistocles commanded the fleet in all but name.<ref name = VIII4 />

The congress met again in the spring of 480&nbsp;BC. A [[Thessaly|Thessalian]] delegation suggested that the allies could muster in the narrow [[Vale of Tempe]], on the borders of Thessaly, and thereby block Xerxes' advance.<ref name = h248>Holland, pp. 248–249</ref> A force of 10,000 [[hoplite]]s was dispatched under the command of the Spartan polemarch Euenetus and Themistocles to the Vale of Tempe, which they believed the Persian army would have to pass through. However, once there, [[Alexander I of Macedon]] warned them that the vale could be bypassed in several ways and that the army of Xerxes was overwhelmingly large, and the Greeks retreated.<ref name=VII173>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126&layout=&loc=7.173.1 VII,173]</ref> Shortly afterwards, they received the news that Xerxes had crossed the Hellespont.<ref name = h248 />

[[File:EPMA-13330-Themistocle decree-2.JPG|thumb|left|upright=0.8|[[Decree of Themistocles]], [[National Archaeological Museum of Athens]], 13330]]
Themistocles now developed a second strategy. The route to southern Greece (Boeotia, Attica and the Peloponnesus) would require the army of Xerxes to travel through the very narrow pass of [[Thermopylae]].<ref name = h255 /> This could easily be blocked by the Greek [[hoplite]]s, despite the overwhelming numbers of Persians; furthermore, to prevent the Persians bypassing Thermopylae by sea, the Athenian and allied navies could block the straits of [[Artemisium]].<ref name = h255>Holland, pp. 255–257</ref> However, after the Tempe debacle, it was uncertain whether the Spartans would be willing to march out from the Peloponnesus again.<ref name = h251>Holland, pp. 251–255</ref> To persuade the Spartans to defend [[Attica]], Themistocles had to show them that the Athenians were willing to do everything necessary for the success of the alliance. In short, the entire Athenian fleet must be dispatched to Artemisium.

To do this, every able-bodied Athenian male would be required to man the ships. This in turn meant that the Athenians must prepare to abandon Athens.<ref name = h251 /> Persuading the Athenians to take this course was one of the highlights of Themistocles's career.<ref name = PT11>Plutarch, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0182;query=chapter%3D%23227;layout=;loc=Them.%2010.1 Themistocles, 11]</ref> As Holland has it: <blockquote>What precise heights of oratory he attained, what stirring and memorable phrases he pronounced, we have no way of knowing...only by the effect it had on the assembly can we gauge what surely must have been its electric and vivifying quality—for Themistocles's audacious proposals, when put to the vote, were ratified. The Athenian people, facing the gravest moment of peril in their history, committed themselves once and for all to the alien element of the sea, and put their faith in a man whose ambitions many had long profoundly dreaded.<ref name = h251 /></blockquote>
His proposals accepted, Themistocles issued orders for the women and children of Athens to be sent to the city of [[Troezen]], safely inside the Peloponnesus.<ref>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126;query=chapter%3D%231343;layout=;loc=8.39.1 VIII, 40]</ref> He was then able to travel to a meeting of the Allies, at which he proposed his strategy; with the Athenian fleet fully committed to the defence of Greece, the other Allies accepted his proposals.<ref name="h255" />

==== Battle of Artemisium ====
Thus, in August 480&nbsp;BC, when the Persian army was approaching Thessaly, the Allied fleet sailed to Artemisium, and the Allied army marched to Thermopylae.<ref name = h257>Holland, pp. 257–258</ref> Themistocles himself took command of the Athenian contingent of the fleet and went to Artemisium. When the Persian fleet finally arrived at Artemisium after a significant delay, Eurybiades, who both Herodotus and Plutarch suggest was not the most inspiring commander, wished to sail away without fighting.<ref name = VIII4>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126;query=chapter%3D%231307;layout=;loc=8.3.1 VIII, 4]</ref><ref name = PT7>Plutarch, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0182;query=chapter%3D%23223;layout=;loc=Them.%206.1 Themistocles, 7]</ref> At this point Themistocles accepted a large bribe from the local people for the fleet to remain at Artemisium, and he used some of it to bribe Eurybiades to remain, while pocketing the rest.<ref name = h276>Holland, p. 276</ref> From this point on, Themistocles appears to have been more or less in charge of the [[Battle of Artemisium|Allied effort]] at Artemisium.<ref name = PT7 /> Over three days of battle, the Allies held their own against the much larger Persian fleet, but sustained significant losses.<ref>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126;query=chapter%3D%231314;layout=;loc=8.10.1 VIII, 11–19]</ref> However, the loss of the simultaneous [[Battle of Thermopylae]] to the Persians made their continued presence at Artemisium irrelevant, and the Allies thus evacuated.<ref name = VIII21>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126;query=chapter%3D%231324;layout=;loc=8.20.1 VIII, 21]</ref> According to Herodotus, Themistocles left messages at every place where the Persian fleet might stop for drinking water, asking the Ionians in the Persian fleet to defect, or at least fight badly.<ref name = VIII22>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126;query=chapter%3D%231325;layout=;loc=8.23.1 VIII, 22]</ref> Even if this did not work, Themistocles apparently intended that Xerxes would at least begin to suspect the Ionians, thereby sowing dissension in the Persian ranks.<ref name = VIII22 />

==== Battle of Salamis ====
In the aftermath of Thermopylae, Boeotia fell to the Persians, who then began to advance on Athens.<ref>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126;query=chapter%3D%231353;layout=;loc=8.49.1 VIII, 50]</ref> The Peloponnesian Allies prepared to now defend the [[Isthmus of Corinth]], thus abandoning Athens to the Persians.<ref>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126;query=chapter%3D%231380;layout=;loc=8.72.1 VIII, 71]</ref> From Artemisium, the Allied fleet sailed to the island of [[Salamis Island|Salamis]], where the Athenian ships helped with the final evacuation of Athens. The Peloponnesian contingents wanted to sail to the coast of the Isthmus to concentrate forces with the army.<ref name = h302>Holland, pp. 302–303</ref> However, Themistocles tried to convince them to remain in the Straits of Salamis, invoking the lessons of Artemisium; "battle in close conditions works to our advantage".<ref name = h302 /> After threatening to sail with the whole Athenian people into exile in Sicily, he eventually persuaded the other Allies, whose security after all relied on the Athenian navy, to accept his plan.<ref>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126;query=chapter%3D%231368;layout=;loc=8.63.1 VIII, 62]</ref> Therefore, even after Athens had fallen to the Persians, and the Persian navy had arrived off the coast of Salamis, the Allied navy remained in the Straits. Themistocles appears to have been aiming to fight a battle that would cripple the Persian navy, and thus guarantee the security of the Peloponnesus.<ref name = h302 />

[[File:Battle of salamis.png|thumb|right|upright=1.5|Events of the Battle of Salamis]]

To bring about this battle, Themistocles used a cunning mix of subterfuge and misinformation, psychologically exploiting Xerxes' desire to finish the invasion.<ref name = h310 /> Xerxes' actions indicate that he was keen to finish the conquest of Greece in 480&nbsp;BC, and to do this, he needed a decisive victory over the Allied fleet.<ref>Holland, pp. 307–309</ref> Themistocles sent a servant, [[Sicinnus]], to Xerxes, with a message proclaiming that Themistocles was "on the king's side, and prefers that your affairs prevail, not the Hellenes'."<ref name = VIII75>{{cite book |author=Herodotus |title=Histories |page=8.75 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+8.75}}</ref> Themistocles claimed that the Allied commanders were infighting, that the Peloponnesians were planning to evacuate that very night, and that to gain victory all the Persians needed to do was to block the straits.<ref name = VIII75 /> In performing this subterfuge, Themistocles seems to have been trying to lure the Persian fleet into the Straits.<ref name = h310>Holland, pp. 310–315</ref> The message also had a secondary purpose: In the event of an Allied defeat, the Athenians might receive some degree of mercy from Xerxes (having indicated their readiness to submit).<ref name = h310 /> At any rate, this was exactly the kind of news that Xerxes wanted to hear.<ref name = h310 /> Xerxes evidently took the bait, and the Persian fleet was sent out to effect the block.<ref name = VIII76>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126&layout=&loc=8.76 VIII, 76]</ref> Perhaps overconfident and expecting no resistance, the Persian navy sailed into the Straits,<ref>Lazenby, p. 255</ref> only to find that, far from disintegrating, the Allied navy was ready for battle.<ref>Holland, p. 321</ref>

[[File:Kaulbach, Wilhelm von - Die Seeschlacht bei Salamis - 1868.JPG|thumb|upright=1.5|Romantic interpretation of the Battle of Salamis by [[Wilhelm von Kaulbach]]. [[Artemisia I of Caria|Artemisia of Caria]] is seen shooting arrows in the direction of the Greeks led by Themistocles.<ref name="WVK">On the identification with Artemisia: "...Above the ships of the victorious Greeks, against which Artemisia, the Xerxes' ally, sends fleeing arrows...". Original German description of the painting: "Die neue Erfindung, welche Kaulbach für den neuen hohen Beschützer zu zeichnen gedachte, war wahrscheinlich „die Schlacht von Salamis". Ueber den Schiffen der siegreichen Griechen, gegen welche Artemisia, des Xerxes Bundesgenossin, fliehend Pfeile sendet, sieht man in Wolken die beiden Ajaxe" in [https://books.google.com/books?id=DYpgAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA300 Altpreussische Monatsschrift Nene Folge p. 300]</ref>]]

According to Herodotus, after the Persian navy began its maneuvers, Aristides arrived at the Allied camp from Aegina.<ref name = VIII79 /> Aristides had been recalled from exile along with the other ostracised Athenians on the order of Themistocles, so that Athens might be united against the Persians.<ref name = VIII79>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126;query=chapter%3D%231388;layout=;loc=8.78.1 VIII, 79]</ref> Aristides told Themistocles that the Persian fleet had encircled the Allies, which greatly pleased Themistocles, as he now knew that the Persians had walked into his trap.<ref name = VIII80>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126;query=chapter%3D%231389;layout=;loc=8.79.1 VIII, 80]</ref> The Allied commanders seem to have taken this news rather uncomplainingly, and Holland therefore suggests that they were party to Themistocles's ruse all along.<ref>Holland, p. 316</ref> Either way, the Allies prepared for battle, and Themistocles delivered a speech to the marines before they embarked on the ships.<ref>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126;query=chapter%3D%231392;layout=;loc=8.82.1 VIII 83]</ref> In the ensuing [[Battle of Salamis|battle]], the cramped conditions in the Straits hindered the much larger Persian navy, which became disarrayed, and the Allies took advantage to win a famous victory.<ref>Lazenby, p.  190</ref>

Salamis was the turning point in the second Persian invasion, and indeed the [[Greco-Persian Wars]] in general.<ref>Lazenby, p. 197</ref> While the battle did not end the Persian invasion, it effectively ensured that all Greece would not be conquered, and allowed the Allies to go on the offensive in 479&nbsp;BC. A number of historians believe that Salamis is one of the most significant battles in human history.<ref name = hanson>Hanson, pp. 12–60</ref><ref name = Strauss>Strauss, pp. 1–294</ref><ref>Holland, p. 399</ref> Since Themistocles's long-standing advocacy of Athenian naval power enabled the Allied fleet to fight, and his stratagem brought about the Battle of Salamis, it is probably not an exaggeration to say, as Plutarch does, that Themistocles, "...is thought to have been the man most instrumental in achieving the salvation of Hellas."<ref name="PT7" />

==== Autumn 480 – Winter 479 BC ====
[[File:The triumph of Themistocles after Salamis.jpg|thumb|19th century illustration of the triumph of Themistocles following the Battle of Salamis]]
The Allied victory at Salamis ended the immediate threat to Greece, and Xerxes now returned to Asia with part of the army, leaving his general [[Mardonius (general)|Mardonius]] to attempt to complete the conquest.<ref name = VIII97>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126;query=chapter%3D%231406;layout=;loc=8.96.1 VIII, 97]</ref> Mardonius wintered in Boeotia and Thessaly, and the Athenians were thus able to return to their city, which had been burnt and razed by the Persians, for the winter.<ref name = h327>Holland, pp. 327–329</ref> For the Athenians, and Themistocles personally, the winter would be a testing one. The Peloponnesians refused to countenance marching north of the Isthmus to fight the Persian army; the Athenians tried to shame them into doing so, with no success.<ref name = h332>Holland, pp. 332–335</ref>

During the winter, the Allies held a meeting at Corinth to celebrate their success, and award prizes for achievement.<ref name = VIII123>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126;query=chapter%3D%231432;layout=;loc=8.124.1 VIII, 123]</ref> However, perhaps tired of the Athenians pointing out their role at Salamis, and of their demands for the Allies to march north, the Allies awarded the prize for civic achievement to Aegina.<ref name = h332 /><ref name = PT17>Plutarch, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0182;query=chapter%3D%23233;layout=;loc=Them.%2018.1 Themistocles, 17]</ref> Furthermore, although the admirals all voted for Themistocles in second place, they all voted for themselves in first place, so that no-one won the prize for individual achievement. In response, realising the importance of the Athenian fleet to their security, and probably seeking to massage Themistocles's ego, the Spartans brought Themistocles to Sparta.<ref name = h332 /><ref name = PT17 /> There, he was awarded a special prize "for his wisdom and cleverness", and won high praise from all.<ref name = PT17 /><ref name = VIII124>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126;query=chapter%3D%231433;layout=;loc=8.123.1 VIII, 124]</ref> Furthermore, Plutarch reports that at the next Olympic Games:

[[File:Themistocles honoured at Sparta, illustration from 'Hutchinson's History of the Nations', 1915.jpg|thumb|Themistocles honoured at Sparta.]]
<blockquote>[When] Themistocles entered the stadium, the audience neglected the contestants all day long to gaze on him, and pointed him out with admiring applause to visiting strangers, so that he too was delighted, and confessed to his friends that he was now reaping in full measure the harvest of his toils in behalf of Hellas.<ref name = PT17 /></blockquote>

After returning to Athens in the winter, Plutarch reports that Themistocles made a proposal to the city while the Greek fleet was wintering at [[Pagasae]]:
<blockquote>Themistocles once declared to the people [of Athens] that he had devised a certain measure which could not be revealed to them, though it would be helpful and salutary for the city, and they ordered that Aristides alone should hear what it was and pass judgment on it. So Themistocles told Aristides that his purpose was to burn the naval station of the confederate Hellenes, for that in this way the Athenians would be greatest, and lords of all. Then Aristides came before the people and said of the deed which Themistocles purposed to do, that none other could be more advantageous, and none more unjust. On hearing this, the Athenians ordained that Themistocles cease from his purpose.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Parallel Lives |author=Plutarch |chapter=The Life of Aristides |publisher=Loeb Classical Library |chapter-url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Aristides*.html |access-date=2014-12-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Themistocles*.html |title=Plutarch • Life of Themistocles}}</ref></blockquote>

==== Spring–Summer 479 BC ====
However, as happened to many prominent individuals in the Athenian democracy, Themistocles's fellow citizens grew jealous of his success, and possibly tired of his boasting.<ref name = h332 /><ref name = PT22>Plutarch, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0182;query=chapter%3D%23238;layout=;loc=Them.%2021.1 Themistocles, 22]</ref> It is probable that in early 479&nbsp;BC, Themistocles was stripped of his command; instead, [[Xanthippus]] was to command the Athenian fleet, and Aristides the land forces.<ref name = h332 /><ref name = DSXI27>Diodorus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0084&layout=&loc=11.27 XI, 27]</ref> Though Themistocles was no doubt politically and militarily active for the rest of the campaign, no mention of his activities in 479&nbsp;BC is made in the ancient sources.<ref>Lazenby, p. 209</ref> In the summer of that year, after receiving an Athenian ultimatum, the Peloponnesians finally agreed to assemble an army and march to confront Mardonius, who had reoccupied Athens in June.<ref>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126;query=chapter%3D%231465;layout=;loc=9.10.1 IX, 6–9]</ref> At the decisive [[Battle of Plataea]], the Allies destroyed the Persian army, while apparently on the same day, the Allied navy destroyed the remnants of the Persian fleet at the [[Battle of Mycale]].<ref name = h358 /> These twin victories completed the Allied triumph, and ended the Persian threat to Greece.<ref name =h358>Holland, pp. 358–359</ref>

=== Rebuilding of Athens after the Persian invasion ===
[[File:Athenians rebuilding their city under the direction of Themistocles.jpg|thumb|left|Athenians rebuilding their city under the direction of Themistocles.]]
Whatever the cause of Themistocles's unpopularity in 479&nbsp;BC, it obviously did not last long. Both [[Diodorus Siculus]] and Plutarch suggest he was quickly restored to the favour of the Athenians.<ref name = PT19 /><ref name = DSXI39>Diodorus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0084;query=chapter%3D%23115;layout=;loc=11.40.1 XI, 39]</ref> Indeed, after 479&nbsp;BC, he seems to have enjoyed a relatively long period of popularity.<ref name = DSXI54>Diodorus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0084;query=chapter%3D%23130;layout=;loc=11.55.1 XI, 54]</ref>
[[File:North wall of the Acropolis with built-in fragments.jpg|thumb|The northern wall of the [[Acropolis of Athens]], built by Themistocles with built-in fragments of destroyed temples]]
[[File:Acropolis North wall Older Partenon columns.jpg|thumb|Column drums of the destroyed [[Older Parthenon]], reused in building-up the North wall of the [[Acropolis]], by Themistocles]]
In the aftermath of the invasion and the [[Destruction of Athens]] by the Achaemenids, the Athenians began rebuilding their city under the guidance of Themistocles in the autumn of 479&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shepherd |first1=William |title=Plataea 479 BC: The most glorious victory ever seen |year=2012 |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1-84908-555-7 |page=88 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HFm3CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA88}}</ref><ref name = PT19 /> They wished to restore the fortifications of Athens, but the Spartans objected on the grounds that no place north of the Isthmus should be left that the Persians could use as a fortress.<ref name = DSXI39 /> Themistocles urged the citizens to build the fortifications as quickly as possible, then went to Sparta as an ambassador to answer the charges levelled by the Spartans. There, he assured them that no building work was on-going, and urged them to send emissaries to Athens to see for themselves.<ref name = DSXI40>Diodorus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0084;layout=;query=chapter%3D%23116;loc=11.39.1 XI, 40]</ref> By the time the ambassadors arrived, the Athenians had finished building, and then detained the Spartan ambassadors when they complained about the presence of the fortifications.<ref name = DSXI40 /> By delaying in this manner, Themistocles gave the Athenians enough time to fortify the city, and thus ward off any Spartan attack aimed at preventing the re-fortification of Athens.<ref name = DSXI40 /> Furthermore, the Spartans were obliged to repatriate Themistocles in order to free their own ambassadors.<ref name = PT19 /><ref name = DSXI40 /> However, this episode may be seen as the beginning of the Spartan mistrust of Themistocles, which would return to haunt him.<ref name = PT19 />

Themistocles also now returned to his naval policy,<ref name = PT19 /> and more ambitious undertakings that would increase the dominant position of his native state.<ref name = DSXI41>Diodorus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0084;query=chapter%3D%23117;layout=;loc=11.40.1 XI, 41]</ref> He further extended and fortified the port complex at Piraeus, and "fastened the city [Athens] to the Piraeus, and the land to the sea".<ref name = PT19 /> Themistocles probably aimed to make Athens the dominant naval power in the Aegean.<ref name = DSXI41 /> Indeed, Athens would create the [[Delian League]] in 478&nbsp;BC, uniting the naval power of the Aegean Islands and Ionia under Athenian leadership.<ref>Holland, p. 360</ref> Themistocles introduced tax breaks for merchants and artisans, to attract both people and trade to the city to make Athens a great mercantile centre.<ref name = DSXI43>Diodorus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0084;query=chapter%3D%23117;layout=;loc=11.40.1 XI, 43]</ref> He also instructed the Athenians to build 20 [[triremes]] per year, to ensure that their dominance in naval matters continued.<ref name = DSXI43 /> Plutarch reports that Themistocles also secretly proposed to destroy the beached ships of the other Allied navies to ensure complete naval dominance—but was overruled by Aristides and the council of Athens.<ref name = PT20>Plutarch, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0182;query=chapter%3D%23236;layout=;loc=Them.%2019.1 Themistocles, 20]</ref>

=== Fall and exile ===
[[File:AGMA Ostrakon Thémistocle 1.jpg|thumb|[[Ostracon]] with inscription: "Themist[h]ocles, son of Neocles"]]

It seems clear that, towards the end of the decade, Themistocles had begun to accrue enemies, and had become arrogant; moreover his fellow citizens had become jealous of his prestige and power.<ref name = PT19 /><ref name = PT22 /> The Rhodian poet [[Timocreon]] was among his most eloquent enemies, composing slanderous [[skolion|drinking songs]].<ref>David Campbell, ''Greek Lyric Poetry'', Bristol Classical Press (1982), p. 406</ref> Meanwhile, the Spartans actively worked against him, trying to promote [[Cimon]] (son of Miltiades) as a rival to Themistocles. Furthermore, after the treason and disgrace of the Spartan general [[Pausanias (general)|Pausanias]], the Spartans tried to implicate Themistocles in the plot; he was, however, acquitted of these charges.<ref name="DSXI54" /> In Athens itself, he lost favour by building a sanctuary of [[Artemis]], with the [[epithet]] ''[[Aristoboule|Aristoboulẽ]]'' ("of good counsel") near his home, a blatant reference to his own role in delivering Greece from the Persian invasion.<ref name = PT22 /> Eventually, in either 472 or 471&nbsp;BC, he was ostracised.<ref name = PT22 /><ref name = DSXI55>Diodorus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0084;query=chapter%3D%23131;layout=;loc=11.54.1 XI, 55]</ref> In itself, this did not mean that Themistocles had done anything wrong; ostracism, in the words of Plutarch, "was not a penalty, but a way of pacifying and alleviating that jealousy which delights to humble the eminent, breathing out its malice into this disfranchisement."

[[File:Franc Kavčič - Temistokles išče zatočišče pri kralju Admetu.jpg|thumb|left|Themistocles finds refuge with King [[Admetus (king)|Admetus]].]]
Themistocles first went to live in exile in [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]].<ref name = DSXI55 /><ref name = PT23>Plutarch, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0182;query=chapter%3D%23239;layout=;loc=Them.%2024.1 Themistocles, 23]</ref> However, perceiving that they now had a prime opportunity to bring Themistocles down for good, the Spartans again levelled accusations of Themistocles's complicity in Pausanias's treason.<ref name = DSXI55 /> They demanded that he be tried by the 'Congress of Greeks', rather than in Athens, although it seems that in the end he was actually summoned to Athens to stand trial.<ref name = DSXI55 /><ref name = PT23 /> Perhaps realising he had little hope of surviving this trial, Themistocles fled, first to [[Kerkyra]], and thence to [[Admetus (king)|Admetus]], king of [[Molossia]].<ref name = PT24>Plutarch, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0182;query=chapter%3D%23240;layout=;loc=Them.%2025.1 Themistocles, 24]</ref><ref name = DSXI56>Diodorus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0084;query=chapter%3D%23132;layout=;loc=11.57.1 XI, 56]</ref> Themistocles's flight probably only served to convince his accusers of his guilt, and he was declared a traitor in Athens, his property to be confiscated.<ref name = PT25>Plutarch, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0182;query=chapter%3D%23241;layout=;loc=Them.%2024.1 Themistocles, 25]</ref> Both Diodorus and Plutarch considered that the charges were false, and made solely for the purposes of destroying Themistocles.<ref name = DSXI55 /><ref name = PT23 /> The Spartans sent ambassadors to Admetus, threatening that the whole of Greece would go to war with the Molossians unless they surrendered Themistocles.<ref name = DSXI56 /> Admetus, however, allowed Themistocles to escape, giving him a large sum of gold to aid him on his way.<ref name = DSXI56 /> Themistocles then fled from Greece, apparently never to return, thus effectively bringing his political career to an end.<ref name = DSXI56 /><ref name = TI137>Thucydides [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0200;query=chapter%3D%23137;layout=;loc=1.136.1 I, 137]</ref>