The Role and Contribution of Aristides and Cimon

The role and contribution of Aristides and Cimon

The roles of the great statesmen, Aristides and Cimon in Greece during both the Persian wars and the pentacontaetia (the ‘Fifty Years 479-431) though all very different, undoubtedly contributed substantially to the establishment of the Athenian Empire. Known to us by Plutarch as ‘The Just’, Aristides selflessly fought in the Persian wars and attempted to make the newly formed Delian League as equitable as possible for all allied states, in turn allowing Athens to grow in both wealth and power, whilst reflecting his honest nature. Cimon, through his great campaigns abroad particularly during the pentacontaetia, can arguably be called the force that drove the transformation of the Delian League to the early Athenian Empire, by securing Athens position as Hegemon and aiding the subjugation of the allied states.

Aristides was an Athenian aristocrat, statesman, and general. A selfless individual whose chief concern was the welfare of Athens, he achieved a reputation for justice and fairness and was commonly called Aristides the Just. He played a major role in the Greek defeat of the Persians in the Persian Wars and subsequently was instrumental in founding the Delian confederacy to keep the Persians in check.

Aristides was not a radical democrat, although he was one of several spokesmen for the anti-Persian faction. He cooperated with Themistocles in 487/486 in supporting legislation that changed the method of choosing archons from election to selection by lot. The legislation also transferred military authority from the archon polemarch to an elected strategos, or general. Although both men represented the anti-Persian faction, Aristides bitterly opposed Themistocles a few years later when the latter advocated a strong navy. As a result of his opposition he was ostracized in 482, but was allowed to return to the city two years later under a general amnesty.

In 480, during the second phase of the Persian Wars, he was one of the ten generals elected to lead the fight against the Persians. In this capacity he cooperated fully with Themistocles. He was present at the Battle of Salamis and led an Athenian force to the island of Psyttaleia, where he defeated a Persian garrison. He was reelected general in the following year, and in 479 commanded the Athenian army in the final battle of the war at Plataea, in which the Persians were driven from Greek soil. In 478/477 he served as Athenian naval commander and convinced many Greek states in the Aegean islands and on the Asia Minor mainland that it was to their advantage to cast their lot with Athens rather than with Sparta. About 477 these states joined with Athens in founding the Delian League to present a united front against further Persian attack.

Aristides attended the first meeting of the Delian League as the Athenian representative. He was held in such