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Cimon
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This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
- GenresBiography
186 pages, Hardcover
Published September 11, 2015
About the author
Plutarch
4,378 books1,024 followersPlutarch (later named, upon becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus; AD 46–AD 120) was a Greek historian, biographer, and essayist, known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia. He is classified as a Middle Platonist. Plutarch's surviving works were written in Greek, but intended for both Greek and Roman readers.
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December 11, 2018
Reconquering Asia Minor
10 December 2018 – Brisbane
Finally, I have managed to get back to reading through Plutarch’s lives, and hopefully I can finish this volume by the end of the year, but that doesn’t mean that I’ve finished since I still have the second volume that I somehow have to get through. Anyway, this is a life of an Athenian statesman who happens to be the son of Miltiadies (who I believe also have a life written about). Basically, the guy is famous for turning Athens into a Naval superpower, and also completely annihilating the Persian fleet at the Battle of Eurymedon River.
This was sort of after the initial Persian defeat at Salamis and then at the battle of Platea. Despite the size of the army, one should remember that this is basically an expeditionary force – or I hope it was. Considering the size that Herodotus makes this army (whether he is exaggerating or not) sort of puts into perspective how big the real Persian army actually was. The thing is that I doubt the Persians would have brought all of their troops since to do so would have resulted in rebellions all over the empire. Unless, of course the inhabitants of Persia thought that the empire was actually pretty good, and chose not to revolt.
The thing is that while they may have been defeated, the Persians still occupied a large part of what the Greeks considered Greece – modern day Turkey (a bone of contention that still exists between both countries, though I doubt Turkey is going to be all that willing to give up Anatolia, since it would strip them of its heartland, and all that would be left would be the section claimed by the Kurds). There was also the problem of the navy, since while they were defeated at Salamis, they weren’t destroyed. Cimon eventually solved that problem, and then took the war to Persia and set about reconquering Anatolia.
The problem with Cimon was that he was what you consider to be a lover of everything Sparta. Well, the Athenians weren’t particularly happy with that. It was sort of like, if you prefer Sparta, then why don’t you go and live there, and proceeded to kick him out through the process of ostracism. In a way, it is one of those things that doesn’t particularly surprise me all that much, especially since that once the Persians had been dealt with, it became clear that there wasn’t enough room in Greece for two superpowers – or was there. When I come to think about it, Sparta was happy to simply be Sparta, it is just that Athens decided that they wanted to impose their will on pretty much everybody else, and when somebody didn’t play ball, they sent in the army.
As with pretty much everything Athenian, when they kick somebody out, they suddenly realise that they actually need them, in this case Cimon was needed to help broker a peace treaty with – you guessed it - Sparta. Then again, the whole idea of ostracism was to remove people who simply became too powerful so as to maintain their idea of democracy. Unfortunately, demagogues (people who are able to speak to the people, and inspire them) were able to use this to remove their political enemies, and not surprisingly entrench themselves in power – people certainly warmed to the idea of ‘make Athens great again’. Another thought is that a term I hear on the news every so often, especially when a sitting government has been tossed out, is that they have been ‘exiled to the political wilderness’. I can’t help but think, whenever I hear this, is the concept behind ostracism.
10 December 2018 – Brisbane
Finally, I have managed to get back to reading through Plutarch’s lives, and hopefully I can finish this volume by the end of the year, but that doesn’t mean that I’ve finished since I still have the second volume that I somehow have to get through. Anyway, this is a life of an Athenian statesman who happens to be the son of Miltiadies (who I believe also have a life written about). Basically, the guy is famous for turning Athens into a Naval superpower, and also completely annihilating the Persian fleet at the Battle of Eurymedon River.
This was sort of after the initial Persian defeat at Salamis and then at the battle of Platea. Despite the size of the army, one should remember that this is basically an expeditionary force – or I hope it was. Considering the size that Herodotus makes this army (whether he is exaggerating or not) sort of puts into perspective how big the real Persian army actually was. The thing is that I doubt the Persians would have brought all of their troops since to do so would have resulted in rebellions all over the empire. Unless, of course the inhabitants of Persia thought that the empire was actually pretty good, and chose not to revolt.
The thing is that while they may have been defeated, the Persians still occupied a large part of what the Greeks considered Greece – modern day Turkey (a bone of contention that still exists between both countries, though I doubt Turkey is going to be all that willing to give up Anatolia, since it would strip them of its heartland, and all that would be left would be the section claimed by the Kurds). There was also the problem of the navy, since while they were defeated at Salamis, they weren’t destroyed. Cimon eventually solved that problem, and then took the war to Persia and set about reconquering Anatolia.
The problem with Cimon was that he was what you consider to be a lover of everything Sparta. Well, the Athenians weren’t particularly happy with that. It was sort of like, if you prefer Sparta, then why don’t you go and live there, and proceeded to kick him out through the process of ostracism. In a way, it is one of those things that doesn’t particularly surprise me all that much, especially since that once the Persians had been dealt with, it became clear that there wasn’t enough room in Greece for two superpowers – or was there. When I come to think about it, Sparta was happy to simply be Sparta, it is just that Athens decided that they wanted to impose their will on pretty much everybody else, and when somebody didn’t play ball, they sent in the army.
As with pretty much everything Athenian, when they kick somebody out, they suddenly realise that they actually need them, in this case Cimon was needed to help broker a peace treaty with – you guessed it - Sparta. Then again, the whole idea of ostracism was to remove people who simply became too powerful so as to maintain their idea of democracy. Unfortunately, demagogues (people who are able to speak to the people, and inspire them) were able to use this to remove their political enemies, and not surprisingly entrench themselves in power – people certainly warmed to the idea of ‘make Athens great again’. Another thought is that a term I hear on the news every so often, especially when a sitting government has been tossed out, is that they have been ‘exiled to the political wilderness’. I can’t help but think, whenever I hear this, is the concept behind ostracism.
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