peripoltas the prophet, having brought the king opheltas, and thoseunder his command, from thessaly into boeotia, left there a family,which flourished a long time after； the greater part of them inhabitingchaeronea, the first city out of which they expelled the barbarians.the descendants of this race, being men of bold attempts and warlikehabits, exposed themselves to so many danger's in the invasions ofthe mede, and in battles against the gauls, that at last they werealmost wholly consumed.
there was left one orphan of this house, called damon, surnamed peripoltas,in beauty and greatness of spirit surpassing all of his age, but rudeand undisciplined in temper. a roman captain of a company that winteredin chaeronea became passionately fond of this youth, who was now prettynearly grown a man. and finding all his approaches, his gifts, hisentreaties, alike repulsed, he showed violent inclinations to assaultdamon. our native chaeronea was then in a distressed condition, toosmall and too poor to meet with anything but neglect. damon, beingsensible of this, and looking upon himself as injured already, resolvedto inflict punishment. accordingly, he and sixteen of his companionsconspired against the captain； but that the design might be managedwithout any danger of being discovered, they all daubed their facesat night with soot. thus disguised and inflamed with wine, they setupon him by break of day, as he was sacrificing in the market-place；and having killed him, and several others that were with him, theyfled out of the city, which was extremely alarmed and troubled atthe murder. the council assembled immediately, and pronounced sentenceof death against damon and his accomplices. this they did to justifythe city to the romans. but that evening, as the magistrates wereat supper together, according to the custom, damon and his confederates,breaking into the hall, killed them, and then fled again out of thetown. about this time, lucius lucullus chanced to be passing thatway with a body of troops, upon some expedition, and this disasterhaving but recently happened, he stayed to examine the matter. uponinquiry, he found the city was in no wise faulty, but rather thatthey themselves had suffered； therefore he drew out the soldiers,and carried them away with him. yet damon continuing to ravage thecountry all about, the citizens, by messages and decrees, in appearancefavourable, enticed him into the city, and upon his return, made himgymnasiarch； but afterwards as he was anointing himself in the vapourbaths, they set upon him and killed him. for a long while after apparitionscontinuing to be seen, and groans to be heard in that place, so ourfathers have told us, they ordered the gates of the baths to be builtup； and even to this day those who live in the neighbourhood believethat they sometimes see spectres and hear alarming sounds. the posterityof damon, of whom some still remain, mostly in phocis, near the townof stiris, are called asbolomeni, that is, in the aeolian idiom, mendaubed with soot： because damon was thus besmeared when he committedthis murder.
but there being a quarrel between the people of chaeronea and theorchomenians, their neighbours, these latter hired an informer, aroman, to accuse the community of chaeronea as if it had been a singleperson of the murder of the romans, of which only damon and his companionswere guilty； accordingly, the process was commenced, and the causepleaded before the praetor of macedon, since the romans as yet hadnot sent governors into greece.
the advocates who defended the inhabitants appealed to the testimonyof lucullus, who, in answer to a letter the praetor wrote to him,returned a true account of the matter-of-fact. by this means the townobtained its acquittal, and escaped a most serious danger. the citizens,thus preserved, erected a statue to lucullus in the market-place,near that of the god bacchus.
we also have the same impressions of gratitude； and though removedfrom the events by the distance of several generations, we yet feelthe obligation to extend to ourselves： and as we think an image ofthe character and habits to be a greater honour than one merely representingthe face and the person, we will put lucullus's life amongst our parallelsof illustrious men, and without swerving from the truth, will recordhis actions. the commemoration will be itself a sufficient proof ofour grateful feeling, and he himself would not thank us, if in recompensefor a service which consisted in speaking the truth, we should abusehis memory with a false and counterfeit narration. for as we wouldwish that a painter who is to draw a beautiful face, in which thereis yet some imperfection, should neither wholly leave out, nor yettoo pointedly express what is defective, because this would deformit, and that spoil the resemblance； so since it is hard, or indeedperhaps impossible, to show the life of a man wholly free from blemish,in all that is excellent we must follow truth exactly, and give itfully； any lapses or faults that occur, through human passions orpolitical necessities, we may regard rather as the shortcomings ofsome particular virtue, than as the natural effects of vice； and maybe content without introducing them, curiously and officiously, intoour narrative, if it be but out of tenderness to the weakness of nature,which has never succeeded in producing any human character so perfectin virtue as to be pure from all admixture and open to no criticism.on considering with myself to whom i should compare lucullus i findnone so exactly his parallel as cimon.
they were both valiant in war, and successful against the barbarians；both gentle in political life, and more than any others gave theircountrymen a respite from civil troubles at home, while abroad eachof them raised trophies and gained famous victories. no greek beforecimon, nor roman before lucullus, ever carried the scene of war sofar from their own country； putting out of the question the acts ofbacchus and hercules, and any exploit of perseus against the ethiopians,medes, and armenians, or again of jason, of which any record thatdeserves credit can be said to have come down to our days. moreoverin this they were alike, that they did not finish the enterprisesthey undertook. they brought their enemies near their ruin, but neverentirely conquered them. there was yet a great conformity in the freegood-will and lavish abundance of their entertainments and generalhospitalities, and in the youthful laxity of their habits. other pointsof resemblance, which we have failed to notice, may be easily collectedfrom our narrative itself.
cimon was the son of miltiades and hegesipyle, who was by birth athracian, and daughter to the king olorus, as appears from the poemsof melanthius and archelaus, written in praise of cimon. by this meansthe historian thucydides was his kinsman by the mother's side； forhis father's name also, in remembrance of this common ancestor, wasolorus, and he was the owner of the gold mines in thrace, and methis death, it is said, by violence, in scapte hyle, a district ofthrace； and his remains having afterwards been brought into attica,a monument is shown as his among those of the family of cimon, nearthe tomb of elpinice, cimon's sister. but thucydides was of the townshipof halimus, and miltiades and his family were laciadae. miltiades,being condemned in a fine of fifty talents of the state, and unableto pay it, was cast into prison, and there died. thus cimon was leftan orphan very young, with his sister elpinice, who was also youngand unmarried. and at first he had but an indifferent reputation,being looked upon as disorderly in his habits, fond of drinking, andresembling his grandfather, also called cimon, in character, whosesimplicity got him the surname of coalemus. stesimbrotus of thasos,who lived near about the same time with cimon, reports of him thathe had little acquaintance either with music, or any of the otherliberal studies and accomplishments, then common among the greeks；that he had nothing whatever of the quickness and the ready speechof his countrymen in attica； that he had great nobleness and candourin his disposition, and in his character in general resembled rathera native of peloponnesus than of athens； as euripides describes hercules-
"——rude and unrefined, for great things well endued：" for this may fairlybe added to the character which stesimbrotus has given of him.
they accused him, in his younger years, of cohabiting with his ownsister elpinice, who, indeed, otherwise had no very clear reputation,but was reported to have been over-intimate with polygnotus the painter；and hence, when he painted the trojan women in the porch, then calledthe plesianactium, and now the poecile, he made laodice a portraitof her. polygnotus was not an ordinary mechanic, nor was he paid forhis work, but out of a desire to please the athenians painted theportico for nothing. so it is stated by the historians, and in thefollowing verses by the poet melanthius：-
"wrought by his hand the deeds of heroes grace at his own charge our temples and our place." some affirm that elpinicelived with her brother, not secretly, but as his married wife, herpoverty excluding her from any suitable match. but afterwards, whencallias, one of the richest men of athens, fell in love with her,and proffered to pay the fine the father was condemned in, if he couldobtain the daughter in marriage, with elpinice's own consent, cimonbetrothed her to callias. there is no doubt but that cimon was, ingeneral, of an amorous temper. for melanthius, in his elegies, rallieshim on his attachment for asteria of salamis, and again for a certainmnestra. and there can be no doubt of his unusually passionate affectionfor his lawful wife isodice, the daughter of euryptolemus, the sonof megacles； nor of his regret, even to impatience, at her death,if any conclusion may be drawn from those elegies of condolence, addressedto him upon his loss of her. the philosopher panaetius is of opinionthat archelaus, the writer on physics, was the author of them, andindeed the time seems to favour that conjecture. all the other pointsof cimon's character were noble and good. he was as daring as miltiades,and not inferior to themistocles in judgment, and was incomparablymore just and honest than either of them. fully their equal in allmilitary virtues, in the ordinary duties of a citizen at home he wasimmeasurably their superior. and this, too, when he was very young,his years not yet strengthened by any experience. for when themistocles,upon the median invasion, advised the athenians to forsake their cityand their country, and to carry all their arms on shipboard and fightthe enemy by sea, in the straits of salamis； when all the people stoodamazed at the confidence and rashness of this advice, cimon was seen,the first of all men, passing with a cheerful countenance throughthe ceramicus, on his way with his companions to the citadel, carryinga bridle in his hand to offer to the goddess, intimating that therewas no more need of horsemen now, but of mariners. there, after hehad paid his devotions to the goddess, and offered up the bridle,he took down one of the bucklers that hung upon the walls of the temple,and went down to the port； by this example giving confidence to manyof the citizens. he was also of a fairly handsome person, accordingto the poet ion, tall and large, and let his thick and curly hairgrow long. after he had acquitted himself gallantly in this battleof salamis, he obtained great repute among the athenians, and wasregarded with affection, as well as admiration. he had many who followedafter him, and bade him aspire to actions not less famous than hisfather's battle of marathon. and when he came forward in politicallife, the people welcomed him gladly, being now weary of themistocles；in opposition to whom, and because of the frankness and easiness ofhis temper, which was agreeable to every one, they advanced cimonto the highest employments in the government. the man that contributedmost to his promotion was aristides, who early discerned in his characterhis natural capacity, and purposely raised him, that he might be acounterpoise to the craft and boldness of themistocles.
after the medes had been driven out of greece, cimon was sent outas an admiral, when the athenians had not yet attained their dominionby sea, but still followed pausanias and the lacedaemonians； and hisfellow-citizens under his command were highly distinguished, bothfor the excellence of their discipline, and for their extraordinaryzeal and readiness. and further, perceiving that pausanias was carryingon secret communications with the barbarians, and writing lettersto the king of persia to betray greece, and puffed up with authorityand success, was treating the allies haughtily, and committing manywanton injustices, cimon, taking this advantage, by acts of kindnessto those who were suffering wrong, and by his general humane bearing,robbed him of the command of the greeks, before he was aware, notby arms, but by his mere language and character. the greatest partof the allies, no longer able to endure the harshness and pride ofpausanias, revolted from him to cimon and aristides, who acceptedthe duty, and wrote to the ephors of sparta, desiring them to recalla man who was causing dishonour to sparta and trouble to greece. theytell of pausanias, that when he was in byzantium, he solicited a younglady of a noble family in the city, whose name was cleonice, to debauchher. her parents, dreading his cruelty, were forced to consent, andso abandoned their daughter to his wishes. the daughter asked theservants outside the chamber to put out all the lights； so that approachingsilently and in the dark towards his bed, she stumbled upon the lamp,which she overturned. pausanias, who was fallen asleep, awakened and,startled with the noise, thought an assassin had taken that dead timeof night to murder him, so that hastily snatching up his poniard thatlay by him, he struck the girl, who fell with the blow, and died.after this, he never had rest, but was continually haunted by her,and saw an apparition visiting him in his sleep, and addressing himwith these angry words：-
"go on thy way, unto the evil end, that doth on lust and violence attend." this was one of the chiefoccasions of indignation against him among the confederates, who now,joining their resentments and forces with cimon's, besieged him inbyzantium. he escaped out of their hands, and, continuing, as it issaid, to be disturbed by the apparition, fled to the oracle of thedead at heraclea, raised the ghost of cleonice, and entreated herto be reconciled. accordingly she appeared to him, and answered that,as soon as he came to sparta, he should speedily be freed from allevils； obscurely foretelling, it would seem, his imminent death. thisstory is related by many authors.
cimon, strengthened with the accession of the allies, went as generalinto thrace. for he was told that some great men among the persians,of the king's kindred, being in possession of eion, a city situatedupon the river strymon, infested the neighbouring greeks. first hedefeated these persians in battle, and shut them up within the wallsof their town. then he fell upon the thracians of the country beyondthe strymon, because they supplied eion with victuals, and drivingthem entirely out of the country, took possession of it as conqueror,by which means he reduced the besieged to such straits, that butes,who commanded there for the king, in desperation set fire to the town,and burned himself, his goods, and all his relations, in one commonflame. by this means, cimon got the town, but no great booty； as thebarbarians had not only consumed themselves in the fire, but the richestof their effects. however, he put the country about into the handsof the athenians, a most advantageous and desirable situation fora settlement. for this action, the people permitted him to erect thestone mercuries, upon the first of which was this inscription：-
"of bold and patient spirit, too, were those, who, where the strymon under eion flows, with famine and the sword, to utmost need, reduced at last the children of the mede." upon the second stood this：-
"the athenians to their leaders this reward for great and useful service did accord； others hereafter shall, from their applause, learn to be valiant in their country's cause." and upon the thirdthe following：-
"with atreus' sons, this city sent of yore divine menestheus to the trojan shore； of all the greeks, so homer's verses say, the ablest man an army to array： so old the title of her sons the name of chiefs and champions in the field to claim."
though the name of cimon is not mentioned in these inscriptions, yethis contemporaries considered them to be the very highest honoursto him； as neither miltiades nor themistocles ever received the like.when miltiades claimed a garland, sochares of decelea stood up inthe midst of the assembly and opposed it, using words which, thoughungracious, were received with applause by the people： "when you havegained a victory by yourself, miltiades, then you may ask to triumphso too." what then induced them so particularly to honour cimon？ wasit that under other commanders they stood upon the defensive？ butby his conduct, they not only attacked their enemies, but invadedthem in their own country, and acquired new territory, becoming mastersof eion and amphipolis, where they planted colonies, as also theydid in the isle of scyros, which cimon had taken on the followingoccasion. the dolopians were the inhabitants of this isle, a peoplewho neglected all husbandry, and had, for many generations, been devotedto piracy； this they practised to that degree, that at last they beganto plunder foreigners that brought merchandise into their ports. somemerchants of thessaly, who had come to shore near to ctesium, werenot only spoiled of their goods, but themselves put into confinement.these men afterwards escaping from their prison, went and obtainedsentence against the scyrians in a court of amphictyons, and whenthe scyrian people declined to make public restitution, and calledupon the individuals who had got the plunder to give it up, thesepersons, in alarm, wrote to cimon to succour them, with his fleet,and declared themselves ready to deliver the town into his hands.cimon, by these means, got the town, expelled the dolopian pirates,and so opened the traffic of the aegean sea. and, understanding thatthe ancient theseus, the son of aegeus, when he fled from athens andtook refuge in this isle, was here treacherously slain by king lycomedes,who feared him, cimon endeavoured to find out where he was buried.for an oracle had commanded the athenians to bring home his ashes,and pay him all due honours as a hero； but hitherto they had not beenable to learn where he was interred, as the people of scyros dissembledthe knowledge of it, and were not willing to allow a search. but now,great inquiry being made, with some difficulty he found out the tomband carried the relics into his own galley, and with great pomp andshow brought them to athens, four hundred years, or thereabouts, afterhis expulsion. this act got cimon great favour with the people, onemark of which was the judgment, afterwards so famous, upon the tragicpoets. sophocles, still a young man, had just brought forward hisfirst plays； opinions were much divided, and the spectators had takensides with some heat. so, to determine the case, apsephion, who wasat that time archon, would not cast lots who should be judges； butwhen cimon and his brother commanders with him came into the theatre,after they had performed the usual rites to the god of the festival,he would not allow them to retire, but came forward and made themswear （being ten in all, one from each tribe） the usual oath； andso being sworn judges, he made them sit down to give sentence. theeagerness for victory grew all the warmer from the ambition to getthe suffrages of such honourable judges. and the victory was at lastadjudged to sophocles, which aeschylus is said to have taken so ill,that he left athens shortly after, and went in anger to sicily, wherehe died, and was buried near the city of gela.
ion relates that when he was a young man, and recently come from chiosto athens, he chanced to sup with cimon at laomedon's house. aftersupper, when they had, according to custom, poured out wine to thehonour of the gods, cimon was desired by the company to give thema song, which he did with sufficient success, and received the commendationsof the company, who remarked on his superiority to themistocles, who,on a like occasion, had declared he had never learnt to sing, norto play, and only knew how to make a city rich and powerful. aftertalking of things incident to such entertainments, they entered uponthe particulars of the several actions for which cimon had been famous.and when they were mentioning the most signal, he told them they hadomitted one, upon which he valued himself most for address and goodcontrivance. he gave this account of it. when the allies had takena great number of the barbarians prisoners in sestos and byzantium,they gave him the preference to divide the booty； he accordingly putthe prisoners in one lot, and the spoils of their rich attire andjewels in the other. this the allies complained of as an unequal division；but he gave them their choice to take which lot they would, for thatthe athenians should be content with that which they refused. herophytusof samos advised them to take the ornaments for their share, and leavethe slaves to the athenians； and cimon went away, and was much laughedat for his ridiculous division. for the allies carried away the goldenbracelets, and armlets, and collars, and purple robes, and the athenianshad only the naked bodies of the captives, which they could make noadvantage of, being unused to labour. but a little while after, thefriends and kinsmen of the prisoners coming from lydia and phrygia,redeemed everyone his relations at a high ransom； so that by thismeans cimon got so much treasure that he maintained his whole fleetof galleys with the money for four months； and yet there was someleft to lay up in the treasury at athens.
cimon now grew rich, and what he gained from the barbarians with honour,he spent yet more honourably upon the citizens. for he pulled downall the enclosures of his gardens and grounds, that strangers, andthe needy of his fellow-citizens, might gather of his fruits freely.at home he kept a table, plain, but sufficient for a considerablenumber； to which any poor townsman had free access, and so might supporthimself without labour, with his whole time left free for public duties.aristotle states, however, that this reception did not extend to allthe athenians, but only to his own fellow-townsmen, the laciadae.besides this, he always went attended by two or three young companions,very well clad； and if he met with an elderly citizen in a poor habit,one of these would change clothes with the decayed citizen, whichwas looked upon as very nobly done. he enjoined them, likewise, tocarry a considerable quantity of coin about them, which they wereto convey silently into the hands of the better class of poor men,as they stood by them in the market-place. this, cratinus the poetspeaks of in one of his comedies, the archilochi-
"for i, metrobius too, the scrivener poor, of ease and comfort in my age secure by greece's noblest son in life's decline, cimon, the generous-hearted, the divine, well-fed and feasted hoped till death to be, death which, alas！ has taken him ere me."
gorgias the leontine gives him this character, that he got richesthat he might use them, and used them that he might get honour bythem. and critias, one of the thirty tyrants, makes it, in his elegies,his wish to have-
"the scopads' wealth, and cimon's nobleness, and king agesilaus's success."
lichas, we know, became famous in greece, only because on the daysof the sports, when the young boys run naked, he used to entertainthe strangers that came to see these diversions. but cimon's generosityoutdid all the old athenian hospitality and good-nature. for thoughit is the city's just boast that their forefathers taught the restof greece to sow corn, and how to use springs of water, and to kindlefire, yet cimon, by keeping open house for his fellow-citizens, andgiving travellers liberty to eat the fruits which the several seasonsproduced in his land, seemed to restore to the world that communityof goods, which mythology says existed in the reign of saturn. thosewho object to him, that he did this to be popular and gain the applauseof the vulgar, are confuted by the constant tenor of the rest of hisactions, which all tended to uphold the interests of the nobilityand the spartan policy, of which he gave instances, when togetherwith aristides he opposed themistocles, who was advancing the authorityof the people beyond its just limits, and resisted ephialtes, who,to please the multitude, was for abolishing the jurisdiction of thecourt of areopagus. and when all of this time, except aristides andephialtes, enriched themselves out of the public money, he still kepthis hands clean and untainted, and to his last day never acted orspoke for his own private gain or emolument. they tell us that rhoesaces,a persian, who had traitorously revolted from the king his master,fled to athens, and there, being harassed by sycophants, who werestill accusing him to the people, he applied himself to cimon forredress, and, to gain his favour, laid down in his doorway two cups,the one full of gold and the other of silver darics. cimon smiledand asked him whether he wished to have cimon's hired service or hisfriendship. he replied, his friendship. "if so," said he, "take awaythese pieces, for, being your friend, when i shall have occasion forthem, i will send and ask for them."
the allies of the athenians began now to be weary of war and militaryservice, willing to have repose, and to look after their husbandryand traffic. for they saw their enemies driven out of the country,and did not fear any new vexations from them. they still paid thetax they were assessed at, but did not send men and galleys, as theyhad done before. this the other athenian generals wished to constrainthem to, and by judicial proceedings against defaulters, and penaltieswhich they inflicted on them, made the government uneasy, and evenodious. but cimon practised a contrary method； he forced no man togo that was not willing, but of those that desired to be excused fromservice he took money and vessels unmanned, and let them yield tothe temptation of staying at home, to attend to their private business.thus they lost their military habits and luxury, and their own follyquickly changed them into unwarlike husbandmen and traders； whilecimon, continually embarking large numbers of athenians on board hisgalleys, thoroughly disciplined them in his expeditions, and ere longmade them the lords of their own paymasters. the allies, whose indolencemaintained them, while they thus went sailing about everywhere, andincessantly bearing arms and acquiring skill, began to fear and flatterthem, and found themselves after a while allies no longer, but unwittinglybecome tributaries and slaves.
nor did any man ever do more than cimon did to humble the pride ofthe persian king. he was not content with getting rid of him out ofgreece； but following close at his heels, before the barbarians couldtake breath and recover themselves, he was already at work, and whatwith his devastations, and his forcible reduction of some places,and the revolts and voluntary accession of others, in the end, fromionia to pamphylia, all asia was clear of persian soldiers. word beingbrought him that the royal commanders were lying in wait upon thecoast of pamphylia with a numerous land army and a large fleet, hedetermined to make the whole sea on his side the chelidonian islandsso formidable to them that they should never dare to show themselvesin it； and setting off from cnidos and the triopian headland withtwo hundred galleys, which had been originally built with particularcare by themistocles, for speed and rapid evolutions, and to whichhe now gave greater width and roomier decks along the sides to moveto and fro upon, so as to allow a great number of full-armed soldiersto take part in the engagements and fight from them, he shaped hiscourse first of all against the town of phaselis, which though inhabitedby greeks, yet would not quit the interests of persia, but deniedhis galleys entrance into their port. upon this he wasted the country,and drew up his army to their very walls； but the soldiers of chios,who were then serving under him, being ancient friends to the phaselites,endeavouring to propitiate the general in their behalf, at the sametime shot arrows into the town, to which were fastened letters conveyingintelligence. at length he concluded peace with them, upon the conditionsthat they should pay down ten talents, and follow him against thebarbarians. ephorus says the admiral of the persian fleet was tithraustes,and the general of the land army pherendates； but callisthenes ispositive that ariomandes, the son of gobryas, had the supreme commandof all the forces. he lay waiting with the whole fleet at the mouthof the river eurymedon, with no design to fight, but expecting a reinforcementof eighty phoenician ships on their way from cyprus. cimon, awareof this, put out to sea, resolved, if they would not fight a battlewillingly, to force them to it. the barbarians, seeing this, retiredwithin the mouth of the river to avoid being attacked； but when theysaw the athenians come upon them, notwithstanding their retreat, theymet them with six hundred ships, as phanodemus relates, but, accordingto ephorus, only with three hundred and fifty. however, they did nothingworthy such mighty forces, but immediately turned the prows of theirgalleys toward the shore, where those that came first threw themselvesupon the land, and fled to their army drawn up thereabout, while therest perished with their vessel or were taken. by this, one may guessat their number, for though a great many escaped out of the fight,and a great many others were sunk, yet two hundred galleys were takenby the athenians.
when their land army drew toward the seaside, cimon was in suspensewhether he should venture to try and force his way on shore； as heshould thus expose his greeks, wearied with slaughter in the firstengagement, to the swords of the barbarians, who were all fresh men,and many times their number. but seeing his men resolute, and flushedwith victory, he bade them land, though they were not yet cool fromtheir first battle. as soon as they touched ground, they set up ashout and ran upon the enemy, who stood firm and sustained the firstshock with great courage, so that the fight was a hard one, and someprincipal men of the athenians in rank and courage were slain. atlength, though with much ado, they routed the barbarians, and killingsome, took others prisoners, and plundered all their tents and pavilions,which were full of rich spoil. cimon, like a skilled athlete at thegames, having in one day carried off two victories wherein he surpassedthat of salamis by sea and that of plataea by land, was encouragedto try for yet another success. news being brought that the phoeniciansuccours, in number eighty sail, had come in sight at hydrum, he setoff with all speed to find them, while they as yet had not receivedany certain account of the larger fleet, and were in doubt what tothink； so that, thus surprised, they lost all their vessels and mostof their men with them. this success of cimon so daunted the kingof persia that he presently made that celebrated peace, by which heengaged that his armies should come no nearer the grecian sea thanthe length of a horse's course, and that none of his galleys or vesselsof war should appear between the cyanean and chelidonian isles. callisthenes,however, says that he did not agree to any such articles, but that,upon the fear this victory gave him, he did in reality thus act, andkept off so far from greece, that when pericles with fifty and ephialteswith thirty galleys cruised beyond the chelidonian isles, they didnot discover one persian vessel. but in the collection which craterusmade of the public acts of the people, there is a draft of this treatygiven. and it is told, also, that at athens they erected the altarof peace upon this occasion, and decreed particular honours to callias,who was employed as ambassador to procure the treaty.
the people of athens raised so much money from the spoils of thiswar, which were publicly sold, that besides other expenses, and raisingthe south wall of the citadel, they laid the foundation of the longwalls, not, indeed, finished till at a later time, which were calledthe legs. and the place where they built them being soft and marshyground, they were forced to sink great weights of stone and rubbleto secure the foundation, and did all this out of the money cimonsupplied them with. it was he, likewise, who first embellished theupper city with those fine and ornamental places of exercise and resort,which they afterwards so much frequented and delighted in. he setthe market-place with plane-trees； and the academy, which was beforea bare, dry, and dirty spot, he converted into a well-watered grove,with shady alleys to walk in, and open courses for races.
when the persians who had made themselves masters of the chersonese,so far from quitting it, called in the people of the interior of thraceto help them against cimon, whom they despised for the smallness ofhis forces, he set upon them with only four galleys, and took thirteenof theirs； and having driven out the persians, and subdued the thracians,he made the whole chersonese the property of athens. next he attackedthe people of thasos, who had revolted from the athenians； and, havingdefeated them in a fight at sea, where he took thirty-three of theirvessels, he took their town by siege, and acquired for the atheniansall the mines of gold on the opposite coast, and the territory dependenton thasos. this opened him a fair passage into macedon, so that hemight, it was thought, have acquired a good portion of that country；and because he neglected the opportunity, he was suspected of corruption,and of having been bribed off by king alexander. so, by the combinationof his adversaries, he was accused of being false to his country.in his defence he told the judges that he had always shown himselfin his public life the friend, not, like other men, of rich ioniansand thessalians, to be courted, and to receive presents, but of thelacedaemonians； for as he admired, so he wished to imitate, the plainnessof their habits, their temperance, and simplicity of living, whichhe preferred to any sort of riches： but that he always had been, andstill was, proud to enrich his country with the spoils of her enemies.stesimbrotus, making mention of this trial, states that elpinice,in behalf of her brother, addressed herself to pericles, the mostvehement of his accusers, to whom pericles answered, with a smile,"you are old, elpinice, to meddle with affairs of this nature." however,he proved the mildest of his prosecutors, and rose up but once allthe while, almost as a matter of form, to plead against him. cimonwas acquitted.
in his public life after this he continued, whilst at home, to controland restrain the common people, who would have trampled upon the nobility.and drawn all the power and sovereignty to themselves. but when heafterwards was sent out to war, the multitude broke loose, as it were,and overthrew all the ancient laws and customs they had hitherto observed,and, chiefly at the instigation of ephialtes, withdrew the cognisanceof almost all causes from the areopagus； so that all jurisdictionnow being transferred to them, the government was reduced to a perfectdemocracy, and this by the help of pericles, who was already powerful,and had pronounced in favour of the common people. cimon, when hereturned, seeing the authority of this great council so upset, wasexceedingly troubled, and endeavoured to remedy these disorders bybringing the courts of law to their former state, and restoring theold aristocracy of the time of clisthenes. this the others declaimedagainst with all the vehemence possible, and began to revive thosestories concerning him and his sister, and cried out against him asthe partisan of the lacedaemonians. to these calumnies the famousverses of eupolis the poet upon cimon refer：-
"he was as good as others that one sees, but he was fond of drinking and of ease； and would at nights to sparta often roam, leaving his sister desolate at home."
but if, though slothful and a drunkard, he could capture so many townsand gain so many victories, certainly if he had been sober and mindedhis business, there had been no grecian commander, either before orafter him, that could have surpassed him for exploits of war.
he was, indeed, a favourer of the lacedaemonians, even from his youth,and he gave the names of lacedaemonius and eleus to two sons, twins,whom he had, as stesimbrotus says, by a woman of clitorium, whencepericles often upbraided them with their mother's blood. but diodorusthe geographer asserts that both these, and another son of cimon's,whose name was thessalus, were born of isodice, the daughter of euryptolemus,the son of megacles.
however, this is certain, that cimon was countenanced by the lacedaemoniansin opposition to themistocles, whom they disliked； and while he wasyet very young, they endeavoured to raise and increase his creditin athens. this the athenians perceived at first with pleasure, andthe favour the lacedaemonians showed him was in various ways advantageousto them and their affairs； as at that time they were just rising topower, and were occupied in winning the allies to their side. so theyseemed not at all offended with the honour and kindness shown to cimon,who then had the chief management of all the affairs of greece, andwas acceptable to the lacedaemonians, and courteous to the allies.but afterwards the athenians, grown more powerful, when they saw cimonso entirely devoted to the lacedaemonians, began to be angry, forhe would always in his speeches prefer them to the athenians, andupon every occasion, when he would reprimand them for a fault, orincite them to emulation, he would exclaim, "the lacedaemonians wouldnot do thus." this raised the discontent, and got him in some degreethe hatred of the citizens； but that which ministered chiefly to theaccusation against him fell out upon the following occasion.
in the fourth year of the reign of archidamus, the son of zeuxidamus,king of sparta, there happened in the country of lacedaemon the greatestearthquake that was known in the memory of man； the earth opened intochasms, and the mountain taygetus was so shaken, that some of therocky points of it fell down, and except five houses, all the townof sparta was shattered to pieces. they say that a little before anymotion was perceived, as the young men and the boys just grown upwere exercising themselves together in the middle of the portico,a hare, of a sudden, started out just by them, which the young men,though all naked and daubed with oil, ran after for sport. no soonerwere they gone from the place, than the gymnasium fell down upon theboys who had stayed behind, and killed them all. their tomb is tothis day called sismatias. archidamus, by the present danger madeapprehensive of what might follow, and seeing the citizens intentupon removing the most valuable of their goods out of their houses,commanded an alarm to be sounded, as if an enemy were coming uponthem, in order that they should collect about him in a body, witharms. it was this alone that saved sparta at that time, for the helotswere got together from the country about, with design to surprisethe spartans, and overpower those whom the earthquake had spared.but finding them armed and well prepared, they retired into the townsand openly made war with them, gaining over a number of the laconiansof the country districts； while at the same time the messenians, also,made an attack upon the spartans, who therefore despatched periclidasto athens to solicit succours, of whom aristophanes says in mockerythat he came and-
"in a red jacket, at the altars seated, with a white face, for men and arms entreated."
this ephialtes opposed, protesting that they ought not to raise upor assist a city that was a rival to athens； but that being down,it were best to keep her so, and let the pride and arrogance of spartabe trodden under. but cimon, as critias says, preferring the safetyof lacedaemon to the aggrandisement of his own country, so persuadedthe people, that he soon marched out with a large army to their relief.ion records, also, the most successful expression which he used tomove the athenians. "they ought not to suffer greece to be lamed,nor their own city to be deprived of her yoke-fellow."
in his return from aiding the lacedaemonians, he passed with his armythrough the territory of corinth； whereupon lachartus reproached himfor bringing his army into the country without first asking leaveof the people. for he that knocks at another man's door ought notto enter the house till the master gives him leave. "but you corinthians,o lachartus," said cimon, "did not knock at the gates of the cleonaeansand megarians, but broke them down, and entered by force, thinkingthat all places should be open to the stronger." and having thus ralliedthe corinthian, he passed on with his army. some time after this,the lacedaemonians sent a second time to desire succours of the atheniansagainst the messenians and helots, who had seized upon ithome. butwhen they came, fearing their boldness and gallantry, of all thatcame to their assistance, they sent them only back, alleging theywere designing innovations. the athenians returned home, enraged atthis usage, and vented their anger upon all those who were favourersof the lacedaemonians, and seizing some slight occasion, they banishedcimon for ten years, which is the time prescribed to those that arebanished by the ostracism. in the meantime, the lacedaemonians, ontheir return after freeing delphi from the phocians, encamped theirarmy at tanagra, whither the athenians presently marched with designto fight them.
cimon, also, came thither armed, and ranged himself among those ofhis own tribe which was the oeneis, desirous of fighting with therest against the spartans； but the council of five hundred being informedof this, and frighted at it, his adversaries crying out he would disorderthe army, and bring the lacedaemonians to athens, commanded the officersnot to receive him. wherefore cimon left the army, conjuring euthippus,the anaphlystian, and the rest of his companions, who were most suspectedas favouring the lacedaemonians, to behave themselves bravely againsttheir enemies, and by their actions make their innocence evident totheir countrymen. these, being in all a hundred, took the arms ofcimon, and followed his advice； and making a body by themselves, foughtso desperately with the enemy, that they were all cut off, leavingthe athenians deep regret for the loss of such brave men, and repentancefor having so unjustly suspected them. accordingly, they did not longretain their severity toward cimon, partly upon remembrance of hisformer services, and partly, perhaps, induced by the juncture of thetimes. for being defeated at tanagra in a great battle, and fearingthe peloponnesians would come upon them at the opening of the spring,they recalled cimon by a decree, of which pericles himself was author.so reasonable were men's resentments in those times, and so moderatetheir anger, that it always gave way to the public good. even ambition,the least governable of all human passions, could then yield to thenecessities of the state.
cimon, as soon as he returned, put an end to the war, and reconciledthe two cities. peace thus established, seeing the athenians impatientof being idle, and eager after the honour and aggrandisement of war,lest they should set upon the greeks themselves, or with so many shipscruising about the isles and peloponnesus they should give occasionsto intestine wars, or complaining of their allies against them, heequipped two hundred galleys, with design to make an attempt uponegypt and cyprus； purposing, by this means, to accustom the atheniansto fight against the barbarians, and enrich themselves honestly byspoiling those who were the natural enemies of greece. but when allthings were prepared, and the army ready to embark, cimon had thisdream. it seemed to him that there was a furious bitch barking athim, and mixed with the barking a kind of human voice uttered thesewords：-
"come on, for thou shalt shortly be, a pleasure to my whelps and me." this dream was hard to interpret,yet astyphilus of posidonia, a man skilled in divinations, and intimatewith cimon, told him that his death was presaged by this vision, whichhe thus explained. a dog is enemy to him he barks at； and one is alwaysmost a pleasure to one's enemies when one is dead； the mixture ofhuman voice with barking signifies the medes, for the army of themedes is mixed up of greeks and barbarians. after this dream, as hewas sacrificing to bacchus, and the priest cutting up the victim,a number of ants, taking up the congealed particles of the blood,laid them about cimon's great toe. this was not observed for a goodwhile, but at the very time when cimon spied it, the priest came andshowed him the liver of the sacrifice imperfect, wanting that partof it called the head. but he could not then recede from the enterprise,so he set sail. sixty of his ships he sent toward egypt； with therest he went and fought the king of persia's fleet, composed of phoenicianand cilician galleys, recovered all the cities thereabout, and threatenedegypt； designing no less than the entire ruin of the persian empire.and the rather, for that he was informed themistocles was in greatrepute among the barbarians, having promised the king to lead hisarmy, whenever he should make war upon greece. but themistocles, itis said, abandoning all hopes of compassing his designs, very muchout of the despair of overcoming the valour and good fortune of cimon,died a voluntary death. cimon, intent on great designs, which he wasnow to enter upon, keeping his navy about the isle of cyprus, sentmessengers to consult the oracle of jupiter ammon upon some secretmatter. for it is not known about what they were sent, and the godwould give them no answer, but commanded them to return again, forthat cimon was already with him. hearing this, they returned to sea,and as soon as they came to the grecian army, which was then aboutegypt, they understood that cimon was dead； and computing the timeof the oracle, they found that his death had been signified, he beingthen already with the gods.
he died, some say, of sickness, while besieging citium, in cyprus；according to others, of a wound he received in a skirmish with thebarbarians. when he perceived he should die he commanded those underhis charge to return, and by no means to let the news of his deathbe known by the way； this they did with such secrecy that they allcame home safe, and neither their enemies nor the allies knew whathad happened. thus, as phanodemus relates, the grecian army was, asit were, conducted by cimon thirty days after he was dead. but afterhis death there was not one commander among the greeks that did anythingconsiderable against the barbarians, and instead of uniting againsttheir common enemies, the popular leaders and partisans of war animatedthem against one another to that degree, that none could interposetheir good offices to reconcile them. and while, by their mutual discord,they ruined the power of greece, they gave the persians time to recoverbreath, and repair all their losses. it is true, indeed, agesilauscarried the arms of greece into asia, but it was a long time after；there were, indeed, some brief appearances of a war against the king'slieutenants in the maritime provinces, but they all quickly vanished；before he could perform anything of moment, he was recalled by freshcivil dissensions and disturbances at home. so that he was forcedto leave the persian king's officers to impose what tribute they pleasedon the greek cities in asia, the confederates and allies of the lacedaemonians.whereas, in the time of cimon, not so much as a letter-carrier, ora single horseman, was ever seen to come within four hundred furlongsof the sea.
the monuments, called cimonian to this day, in athens, show that hisremains were conveyed home, yet the inhabitants of the city citiumpay particular honour to a certain tomb which they call the tomb ofcimon, according to nausicrates the rhetorician, who states that ina time of famine, when the crops of their land all failed, they sentto the oracle, which commanded them not to forget cimon, but givehim the honours of a superior being. such was the greek commander.
the end