Second Persian invasion of Greece
142-552: Xanthippus ( / z æ n ˈ θ ɪ p ə s / ; Greek : Ξάνθιππος , pronounced [ksán.tʰip.pos] ; c. 525 – 475 BC) was a wealthy Athenian politician and general during the early part of the 5th century BC. His name means "Yellow Horse". He was the son of Ariphron and father of Pericles . A marriage to Agariste, niece of Cleisthenes , linked Xanthippus with the Alcmaeonid clan, whose interests he often represented in government. He distinguished himself in
284-577: A basis for coinages: anthropology , photography , telephony , isomer , biomechanics , cinematography , etc. Together with Latin words , they form the foundation of international scientific and technical vocabulary ; for example, all words ending in -logy ('discourse'). There are many English words of Greek origin . Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European language family. The ancient language most closely related to it may be ancient Macedonian , which, by most accounts,
426-498: A casus belli; his fore-bearers detractors amassing, and the democratic circle declared corrupted without singular authoritarian overseeing to cleanse the adjudication of maligned authority. In 472 or 471 BC, he was ostracised , and went into exile in Argos . Themistocles thus fled from southern Greece. Alexander I of Macedon (r. 498–454 BC) temporarily gave him sanctuary at Pydna before he traveled to Asia Minor , where he entered
568-640: A decisive victory over the Allied fleet. 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'." 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
710-558: A fairly stable set of consonantal contrasts . The main phonological changes occurred during the Hellenistic and Roman period (see Koine Greek phonology for details): In all its stages, the morphology of Greek shows an extensive set of productive derivational affixes , a limited but productive system of compounding and a rich inflectional system. Although its morphological categories have been fairly stable over time, morphological changes are present throughout, particularly in
852-560: A faster, more convenient cursive writing style with the use of ink and quill . The Greek alphabet consists of 24 letters, each with an uppercase ( majuscule ) and lowercase ( minuscule ) form. The letter sigma has an additional lowercase form (ς) used in the final position of a word: In addition to the letters, the Greek alphabet features a number of diacritical signs : three different accent marks ( acute , grave , and circumflex ), originally denoting different shapes of pitch accent on
994-540: A foreign language. It is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, " Homeric Greek is probably closer to Demotic than 12-century Middle English is to modern spoken English ". Greek is spoken today by at least 13 million people, principally in Greece and Cyprus along with a sizable Greek-speaking minority in Albania near
1136-577: A friend, and joined him in exile. His friends also managed to send him many of his belongings, although up to 100 talents worth of his goods were confiscated by the Athenians. When, after a year, Themistocles returned to the king's court, he appears to have made an immediate impact, and "he attained ... very high consideration there, such as no Hellene has ever possessed before or since". Plutarch recounts that "honors he enjoyed were far beyond those paid to other foreigners; nay, he actually took part in
1278-419: A large sum of gold to aid him on his way. Themistocles then fled from Greece, apparently never to return, thus effectively bringing his political career to an end. From Molossia, Themistocles apparently fled to Pydna , from where he took a ship for Asia Minor . This ship was blown off course by a storm, and ended up at Naxos , which an Athenian fleet was in the process of besieging. Desperate to avoid
1420-476: A massive new seam of silver was found in the Athenian mines at Laurium . Themistocles proposed that the silver should be used to build a new fleet of 200 triremes , while Aristides suggested it should instead be distributed among the Athenian citizens. 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 . At
1562-472: A meeting at Corinth to celebrate their success, and award prizes for achievement. 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. Furthermore, although the admirals all voted for Themistocles in second place, they all voted for themselves in first place, so that no-one won
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#17328011815381704-418: A most excellent horseman, but no equal to his father in deeds or virtue. And Themistocles had two sons older than these three, Neocles and Diocles. Neocles died when he was young, bitten by a horse, and Diocles was adopted by his grandfather, Lysander. Themistocles had many daughters: Mnesiptolema, the product of his second marriage, married her step-brother Archeptolis and became priestess of Cybele ; Italia
1846-421: A new institution of the democracy, which had been part of Cleisthenes' reforms, but remained so far unused. 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. This may have been triggered by Miltiades' prosecution, and used by the Athenians to try to stop such power-games among
1988-514: A recurring theme in his political career. During the first Persian invasion of Greece , he fought at the Battle of Marathon (490 BC), and may have been one of the ten Athenian strategoi (generals) in that battle. In the years after Marathon, and in the run-up to the second Persian invasion of 480–479 BC, Themistocles became the most prominent politician in Athens. He continued to advocate for
2130-536: A similar tale, namely that Themistocles stayed briefly with an acquaintance (Lysitheides or Nicogenes) who was also acquainted with the Persian king, Artaxerxes I . Since there was a bounty on Themistocles's head, this acquaintance devised a plan to safely convey Themistocles to the Persian king in the type of covered wagon that the King's concubines travelled in. All three chroniclers agree that Themistocles's next move
2272-467: A single voter's name, Themistocles had set his eyes on a radical new constituency" However, he took care to ensure that he did not alienate the nobility of Athens. He began to practice law, the first person in Athens to prepare for public life in this way. His ability as attorney and arbitrator, used in the service of the common people, gained him further popularity. Themistocles probably turned 30 in 494 BC, which qualified him to become an archon,
2414-473: A strong Athenian navy, and in 483 BC he persuaded the Athenians to build a fleet of 200 triremes ; these proved crucial in the forthcoming conflict with Persia. During the second invasion, he commanded the Greek allied navy at the battles of Artemisium and Salamis in 480 BC. Due to his subterfuge, the Allies successfully lured the Persian fleet into the Straits of Salamis, and the decisive Greek victory there
2556-451: A unique position in which he could transfer the notion of individual portraiture , already current in the Greek world, and at the same time wield the dynastic power of an Achaemenid dynast who could issue his own coins and illustrate them as he wished. Still, there is some doubt that his coins may have represented Zeus rather than himself. During his lifetime, Themistocles is known to have erected two statues to himself, one in Athens, and
2698-409: A wealth of opportunity for men like Themistocles, who previously would have had no access to power. 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." Themistocles moved to
2840-804: Is also found in Bulgaria near the Greek-Bulgarian border. Greek is also spoken worldwide by the sizable Greek diaspora which has notable communities in the United States , Australia , Canada , South Africa , Chile , Brazil , Argentina , Russia , Ukraine , the United Kingdom , and throughout the European Union , especially in Germany . Historically, significant Greek-speaking communities and regions were found throughout
2982-479: Is an Indo-European language, but also includes a number of borrowings from the languages of the populations that inhabited Greece before the arrival of Proto-Greeks, some documented in Mycenaean texts ; they include a large number of Greek toponyms . The form and meaning of many words have changed. Loanwords (words of foreign origin) have entered the language, mainly from Latin, Venetian , and Turkish . During
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#17328011815383124-601: Is known of his early years. Some authors report that he was unruly as a child and was consequently disowned by his father. Plutarch considers this to be false. Plutarch indicates that, on account of his mother's background, Themistocles was considered something of an outsider; furthermore the family appear to have lived in an immigrant district of Athens, Cynosarges, outside the city walls. However, in an early example of his cunning, Themistocles persuaded "well-born" children to exercise with him in Cynosarges, thus breaking down
3266-466: Is matched only by the now-extinct Anatolian languages . The Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods: In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia : the coexistence of vernacular and archaizing written forms of the language. What came to be known as the Greek language question was a polarization between two competing varieties of Modern Greek: Dimotiki ,
3408-401: Is probable that in early 479 BC, Themistocles was stripped of his command; instead, Xanthippus was to command the Athenian fleet, and Aristides the land forces. Though Themistocles was no doubt politically and militarily active for the rest of the campaign, no mention of his activities in 479 BC is made in the ancient sources. In the summer of that year, after receiving an Athenian ultimatum,
3550-519: Is protected and promoted officially as a regional and minority language in Armenia, Hungary , Romania, and Ukraine. It is recognized as a minority language and protected in Turkey by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne . The phonology , morphology , syntax , and vocabulary of the language show both conservative and innovative tendencies across the entire attestation of the language from the ancient to
3692-977: Is sometimes called aljamiado , as when Romance languages are written in the Arabic alphabet. Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Greek: Transcription of the example text into Latin alphabet : Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in English: Proto-Greek Mycenaean Ancient Koine Medieval Modern Themistocles Themistocles ( / θ ə ˈ m ɪ s t ə k l iː z / ; ‹See Tfd› Greek : Θεμιστοκλῆς ; c. 524 – c. 459 BC )
3834-763: Is still used internationally for the writing of Ancient Greek . In Greek, the question mark is written as the English semicolon, while the functions of the colon and semicolon are performed by a raised point (•), known as the ano teleia ( άνω τελεία ). In Greek the comma also functions as a silent letter in a handful of Greek words, principally distinguishing ό,τι ( ó,ti , 'whatever') from ότι ( óti , 'that'). Ancient Greek texts often used scriptio continua ('continuous writing'), which means that ancient authors and scribes would write word after word with no spaces or punctuation between words to differentiate or mark boundaries. Boustrophedon , or bi-directional text,
3976-674: The Balkans , Caucasus , the Black Sea coast, Asia Minor , and the Eastern Mediterranean . It has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning at least 3,400 years of written records. Its writing system is the Greek alphabet , which has been used for approximately 2,800 years; previously, Greek was recorded in writing systems such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary . The alphabet arose from
4118-624: The Byzantine Empire and developed into Medieval Greek . In its modern form , Greek is the official language of Greece and Cyprus and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union . It is spoken by at least 13.5 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey , and the many other countries of the Greek diaspora . Greek roots have been widely used for centuries and continue to be widely used to coin new words in other languages; Greek and Latin are
4260-506: The 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: "he 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
4402-627: The Christian Bible was also originally written in Greek. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world , the Greek texts and Greek societies of antiquity constitute the objects of study of the discipline of Classics . During antiquity , Greek was by far the most widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world . It eventually became the official language of
Xanthippus (father of Pericles) - Misplaced Pages Continue
4544-495: The Eastern Mediterranean , in what are today Southern Italy , Turkey , Cyprus , Syria , Lebanon , Israel , Palestine , Egypt , and Libya ; in the area of the Black Sea , in what are today Turkey, Bulgaria , Romania , Ukraine , Russia , Georgia , Armenia , and Azerbaijan ; and, to a lesser extent, in the Western Mediterranean in and around colonies such as Massalia , Monoikos , and Mainake . It
4686-516: The Indo-Iranian languages (see Graeco-Aryan ), but little definitive evidence has been found. In addition, Albanian has also been considered somewhat related to Greek and Armenian, and it has been proposed that they all form a higher-order subgroup along with other extinct languages of the ancient Balkans; this higher-order subgroup is usually termed Palaeo-Balkan , and Greek has a central position in it. Linear B , attested as early as
4828-515: The Isthmus of Corinth , thus abandoning Athens to the Persians. From Artemisium, the Allied fleet sailed to the island of 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. However, Themistocles tried to convince them to remain in the Straits of Salamis, invoking
4970-657: The Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin , Cyrillic , Coptic , Gothic , and many other writing systems. The Greek language holds a very important place in the history of the Western world. Beginning with the epics of Homer , ancient Greek literature includes many works of lasting importance in the European canon . Greek is also the language in which many of the foundational texts in science and philosophy were originally composed. The New Testament of
5112-510: The aristocracy , Xanthippus most likely fought during the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. He first appears in the historical record the following year (489 BC), heading the prosecution of Miltiades the Younger, the general who had led the Athenians to victory at Marathon. Miltiades had asked for a fleet of 70 ships and a supply of troops to be put at his disposal in reward for his victory, saying that he would not reveal his intentions, but that
5254-400: The love of a boy : "... they were rivals for the affection of the beautiful Stesilaus of Ceos, and were passionate beyond all moderation." During the decade, Themistocles continued to advocate the expansion of Athenian naval power. 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
5396-492: The nominal and verbal systems. The major change in the nominal morphology since the classical stage was the disuse of the dative case (its functions being largely taken over by the genitive ). The verbal system has lost the infinitive , the synthetically -formed future, and perfect tenses and the optative mood . Many have been replaced by periphrastic ( analytical ) forms. Pronouns show distinctions in person (1st, 2nd, and 3rd), number (singular, dual , and plural in
5538-488: The Allies prepared for battle, and Themistocles delivered a speech to the marines before they embarked on the ships. In the ensuing 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. Salamis was the turning point in the second Persian invasion, and indeed the Greco-Persian Wars in general. While
5680-484: The Athenian government, and reflected the new-found power which the lower classes had gained under Themistocles. There were 5 prominent ostracisms of aristocrats during the political clashes of the 480's BC, and both Xanthippus and Aristides were among the victims. Xanthippus was ostracised in 484 BC, an action carrying a 10-year sentence of exile. The Persians returned to attack Greece in 480 BC, and Themistocles and Athens recalled both Xanthippus and Aristides to aid in
5822-577: The Athenian political arena, championing the aristocratic party. His rivalry with Themistocles led to his ostracism , but he was recalled from exile when the Persians invaded Greece. Xanthippus' actions in the ensuing Greco-Persian Wars contributed significantly to the victory of the Greeks and the subsequent ascendancy of the Athenian Empire. As a citizen-soldier of Athens and a member of
Xanthippus (father of Pericles) - Misplaced Pages Continue
5964-460: The Athenians must prepare to abandon Athens. Persuading the Athenians to take this course was one of the highlights of Themistocles's career. As Holland has it: "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
6106-404: The Athenians were thus able to return to their city, which had been burnt and razed by the Persians, for the winter. 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. During the winter, the Allies held
6248-475: 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." 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. It
6390-547: 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." 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 to attempt to complete the conquest. Mardonius wintered in Boeotia and Thessaly, and
6532-465: The Greek (hereafter referred to as "Allied") fleet would be dominated by Athens, Themistocles tried to claim command of the naval forces. However, the other naval powers, including Corinth and Aegina, refused to give command to the Athenians, and Themistocles pragmatically backed down. Instead, as a compromise, the Spartans (an insignificant naval power), in the person of Eurybiades , were to command
6674-486: The Greek alphabet since approximately the 9th century BC. It was created by modifying the Phoenician alphabet , with the innovation of adopting certain letters to represent the vowels. The variant of the alphabet in use today is essentially the late Ionic variant, introduced for writing classical Attic in 403 BC. In classical Greek, as in classical Latin, only upper-case letters existed. The lower-case Greek letters were developed much later by medieval scribes to permit
6816-443: The Greek fleet was wintering at Pagasae : "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
6958-495: The Greek language was the Cypriot syllabary (also a descendant of Linear A via the intermediate Cypro-Minoan syllabary ), which is closely related to Linear B but uses somewhat different syllabic conventions to represent phoneme sequences. The Cypriot syllabary is attested in Cyprus from the 11th century BC until its gradual abandonment in the late Classical period, in favor of the standard Greek alphabet. Greek has been written in
7100-629: The Greek verb have likewise remained largely the same over the course of the language's history but with significant changes in the number of distinctions within each category and their morphological expression. Greek verbs have synthetic inflectional forms for: Many aspects of the syntax of Greek have remained constant: verbs agree with their subject only, the use of the surviving cases is largely intact (nominative for subjects and predicates, accusative for objects of most verbs and many prepositions, genitive for possessors), articles precede nouns, adpositions are largely prepositional, relative clauses follow
7242-685: The Greek-Albanian border. A significant percentage of Albania's population has knowledge of the Greek language due in part to the Albanian wave of immigration to Greece in the 1980s and '90s and the Greek community in the country. Prior to the Greco-Turkish War and the resulting population exchange in 1923 a very large population of Greek-speakers also existed in Turkey , though very few remain today. A small Greek-speaking community
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#17328011815387384-722: The King's hunts and in his household diversions". Themistocles advised the king on his dealings with the Greeks, although it seems that for a long period, the king was distracted by events elsewhere in the empire, and thus Themistocles "lived on for a long time without concern". He was made governor of the district of Magnesia on the Maeander River in Asia Minor , and assigned the revenues of three cities: Magnesia (about 50 talents per year—"for bread"); Myus ("for opson "); and Lampsacus ("for wine"). According to Plutarch , Neanthes of Cyzicus and Phanias reported two more,
7526-474: The Peloponnesians finally agreed to assemble an army and march to confront Mardonius, who had reoccupied Athens in June. 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 . These twin victories completed the Allied triumph, and ended the Persian threat to Greece. Whatever
7668-520: The Peloponnesus) would require the army of Xerxes to travel through the very narrow pass of Thermopylae . This could easily be blocked by the Greek hoplites , 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 . However, after the Tempe debacle, it was uncertain whether
7810-497: The Persian fleet might stop for drinking water, asking the Ionians in the Persian fleet to defect, or at least fight badly. 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. In the aftermath of Thermopylae, Boeotia fell to the Persians, who then began to advance on Athens. The Peloponnesian Allies prepared to now defend
7952-604: The Persian fleet. Herodotus claims this battle occurred on the same day as the Battle of Plataea , where Aristides led the Athenian contingent under the command of the Spartan Pausanias , and defeated the Persian land-forces. With these two decisive battles the war was won and Athens was now safe. After the Battle of Mycale, the Spartans suggested that the defence of the Ionian colonies of Asia Minor should be abandoned, since it would be difficult to protect them from
8094-421: The Persians first and fought ferociously to earn all the credit. They broke through the line and sent the Persian troops running to their fort for safety. But the Athenians were able to breach the wall and when the other flank joined them they set to slaughtering the enemy. After the rout, the Greeks, led by Xanthippus and Leotychidas, went back to the beach and set fire to the Persian ships effectively destroying
8236-557: The Spartans again levelled accusations of Themistocles's complicity in Pausanias's treason. 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. Perhaps realising he had little hope of surviving this trial, Themistocles fled, first to Kerkyra , and thence to Admetus , king of Molossia . Themistocles's flight probably only served to convince his accusers of his guilt, and he
8378-477: The Spartans would be willing to march out from the Peloponnesus again. 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
8520-442: 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. To bring about this battle, Themistocles used a cunning mix of subterfuge and misinformation, psychologically exploiting Xerxes' desire to finish the invasion. Xerxes' actions indicate that he was keen to finish the conquest of Greece in 480 BC, and to do this, he needed
8662-562: 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. Shortly afterwards, they received the news that Xerxes had crossed the Hellespont. Themistocles now developed a second strategy. The route to southern Greece (Boeotia, Attica and
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#17328011815388804-404: The acute during the late 20th century, and it has only been retained in typography . After the writing reform of 1982, most diacritics are no longer used. Since then, Greek has been written mostly in the simplified monotonic orthography (or monotonic system), which employs only the acute accent and the diaeresis. The traditional system, now called the polytonic orthography (or polytonic system),
8946-426: The aftermath, the other noble ('eupatrid') families of Athens rejected Cleisthenes, electing Isagoras as archon , with the support of Cleomenes. 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
9088-402: The ancient language; singular and plural alone in later stages), and gender (masculine, feminine, and neuter), and decline for case (from six cases in the earliest forms attested to four in the modern language). Nouns, articles, and adjectives show all the distinctions except for a person. Both attributive and predicative adjectives agree with the noun. The inflectional categories of
9230-414: The bait, and the Persian fleet was sent out to effect the block. Perhaps overconfident and expecting no resistance, the Persian navy sailed into the Straits, only to find that, far from disintegrating, the Allied navy was ready for battle. According to Herodotus, after the Persian navy began its maneuvers, Aristides arrived at the Allied camp from Aegina. Aristides had been recalled from exile along with
9372-408: 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 BC. A number of historians believe that Salamis is one of the most significant battles in human history. Since Themistocles's long-standing advocacy of Athenian naval power enabled the Allied fleet to fight, and his stratagem brought about
9514-523: The cause of Themistocles's unpopularity in 479 BC, it obviously did not last long. Both Diodorus and Plutarch suggest he was quickly restored to the favour of the Athenians. Indeed, after 479 BC, he seems to have enjoyed a relatively long period of popularity. In the aftermath of the invasion and the Destruction of Athens by the Achaemenids, the Athenians began rebuilding their city under
9656-596: The city into battle against her rival, Sparta. Greek language Greek ( Modern Greek : Ελληνικά , romanized : Elliniká , [eliniˈka] ; Ancient Greek : Ἑλληνική , romanized : Hellēnikḗ ) is an Indo-European language, constituting an independent Hellenic branch within the Indo-European language family. It is native to Greece , Cyprus , Italy (in Calabria and Salento ), southern Albania , and other regions of
9798-747: The city of Palaescepsis ("for clothes") and the city of Percote ("for bedding and furniture for his house"), both near Lampsacus . Themistocles was one of the several Greek aristocrats who took refuge in the Achaemenid Empire following reversals at home, other famous ones being Hippias , Demaratos , Gongylos or later Alcibiades . In general, those were generously welcomed by the Achaemenid kings, and received land grants to support them, and ruled on various cities of Asia Minor . Conversely, some Achaemenid satraps were welcomed as exiles in western courts, such as Artabazos II . Coins are
9940-417: The city to make Athens a great mercantile centre. He also instructed the Athenians to build 20 triremes per year, to ensure that their dominance in naval matters continued. 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. It seems clear that, towards
10082-408: The death penalty. Miltiades was in great pain due to his injury and could not defend himself, but his friends put up enough of a defence to avoid his execution; instead he was fined a sum too large to pay and thrown in prison as a debtor. He died there of his wounds. Athenians would come to regret their treatment of their war hero, but immediately following the trial Xanthippus had a brief interval as
10224-489: The defence of the city. The rival politicians settled their differences and prepared for war. The city of Athens had to be abandoned to protect its citizens and Plutarch relates a folk tale about Xanthippus' dog, who had been left behind by his master when the Athenians embarked for the safety of the Island of Salamis . The dog was so loyal that it jumped into the sea and swam after Xanthippus' boat, managing to swim across to
10366-471: The distinction between "alien and legitimate". Plutarch further reports that Themistocles was preoccupied, even as a child, with preparing for public life. His teacher is said to have told him: "My boy, you will be nothing insignificant, but definitely something great, either for good or evil." Themistocles left three sons by Archippe, the daughter of Lysander of Alopece : Archeptolis , Polyeuctus, and Cleophantus. Plato 's Meno mentions Cleophantus as
10508-417: 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. The Rhodian poet Timocreon was among his most eloquent enemies, composing slanderous drinking songs . Meanwhile, the Spartans actively worked against him, trying to promote Cimon (son of Miltiades) as a rival to Themistocles. Furthermore, after
10650-435: The esteem in which he was then held. At that time a large force of Persian infantry still remained in Greece and Athens was still under threat. He also succeeded Themistocles as commander of the Athenian fleet that year, while Aristides was given command of the land forces. (It remains unclear why Themistocles, after his brilliant victory at Salamis, did not retain his position.) Xanthippus' greatest military accomplishment
10792-442: The existing facilities at Phalerum . Although further away from Athens, Piraeus offered three natural harbours, and could be easily fortified. Since Athens was to become an essentially maritime power during the 5th century 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
10934-424: 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. 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
11076-518: The good that I did him during his retreat, which brought no danger for me but much for him." (Thucydides) Thucydides and Plutarch say that Themistocles asked for a year's grace to learn the Persian language and customs, after which he would serve the king, and Artaxerxes granted this. Plutarch reports that, as might be imagined, Artaxerxes was elated that such a dangerous and illustrious foe had come to serve him. At some point in his travels, Themistocles's wife and children were extricated from Athens by
11218-399: The great honor and power he was to have in the war, but possibly thinking his task not even approachable, both because Hellas had other great generals at the time, and especially because Cimon was so marvelously successful in his campaigns; yet most of all out of regard for the reputation of his own achievements and the trophies of those early days; having decided that his best course was to put
11360-451: The great war with Persia with this relatively minor affair has led some scholars to imply that the historian wished to end on a note that flattered Xanthippus' son, Pericles , who was one of Herodotus' patrons. Xanthippus returned to Athens a hero. He died a few years later, but Pericles, his son, would go on to build upon the family glory, transforming Athens into the greatest centre of learning, art and architecture in Greece, while leading
11502-457: The guidance of Themistocles in the autumn of 479 BC. 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. 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
11644-430: The highest of the magistracies in Athens. On the back of his popularity, he evidently decided to run for this office and was elected Archon Eponymous , the highest government office in the following year (493 BC). 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
11786-439: The infinitive entirely (employing a raft of new periphrastic constructions instead) and uses participles more restrictively. The loss of the dative led to a rise of prepositional indirect objects (and the use of the genitive to directly mark these as well). Ancient Greek tended to be verb-final, but neutral word order in the modern language is VSO or SVO. Modern Greek inherits most of its vocabulary from Ancient Greek, which in turn
11928-430: The isle, before dying of exhaustion. In Plutarch's day there was still a place on Salamis called "the dog's grave." Although not mentioned directly, it would seem that Xanthippus at least witnessed, if not fought in, the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC, which saved the Athenians and began to force back the Persian invaders. Xanthippus was elected to the position of eponymous archon the following year (479/478 BC), showing
12070-467: The late 15th century BC, was the first script used to write Greek. It is basically a syllabary , which was finally deciphered by Michael Ventris and John Chadwick in the 1950s (its precursor, Linear A , has not been deciphered and most likely encodes a non-Greek language). The language of the Linear B texts, Mycenaean Greek , is the earliest known form of Greek. Another similar system used to write
12212-597: The legal authorities, Themistocles, who had been traveling under an assumed identity, revealed himself to the captain and said that if he did not reach safety he would tell the Athenians that he'd bribed the ship to take him. According to Thucydides, who wrote within living memory of the events, the ship eventually landed safely at Ephesus, where Themistocles disembarked. Plutarch has the ship docking at Cyme in Aeolia , and Diodorus has Themistocles making his way to Asia in an undefined manner. Diodorus and Plutarch next recount
12354-473: The lessons of Artemisium; "battle in close conditions works to our advantage". 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. 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
12496-449: The long-term prospects of Athens. 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. After Marathon, probably in 489, Miltiades , the hero of the battle, was seriously wounded in an abortive attempt to capture Paros. Taking advantage of his incapacitation,
12638-576: The membership of Greece and Cyprus in the European Union, Greek is one of the organization's 24 official languages . Greek is recognized as a minority language in Albania, and used co-officially in some of its municipalities, in the districts of Gjirokastër and Sarandë . It is also an official minority language in the regions of Apulia and Calabria in Italy. In the framework of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages , Greek
12780-441: The modern period. The division into conventional periods is, as with all such periodizations, relatively arbitrary, especially because, in all periods, Ancient Greek has enjoyed high prestige, and the literate borrowed heavily from it. Across its history, the syllabic structure of Greek has varied little: Greek shows a mixed syllable structure, permitting complex syllabic onsets but very restricted codas. It has only oral vowels and
12922-508: The most evocative version of this story: "But when Egypt revolted with Athenian aid...and Cimon's mastery of the sea forced the King to resist the efforts of the Hellenes and to hinder their hostile growth...messages came down to Themistocles saying that the King commanded him to make good his promises by applying himself to the Hellenic problem; then, neither embittered by anything like anger against his former fellow-citizens, nor lifted up by
13064-429: The most influential politician in Athens. However, the support of the nobility began to coalesce around the man who would become Themistocles's great rival— Aristides . Aristides cast himself as Themistocles's opposite—virtuous, honest and incorruptible—and his followers called him "the just". Plutarch suggests that, according the philosopher Ariston of Ceos , the rivalry between the two had begun when they competed over
13206-491: The naval forces. Herodotus is clear, however, that Themistocles commanded the fleet in all but name. The congress met again in the spring of 480 BC. A Thessalian delegation suggested that the allies could muster in the narrow Vale of Tempe , on the borders of Thessaly, and thereby block Xerxes' advance. A force of 10,000 hoplites was dispatched under the command of the Spartan polemarch Euenetus and Themistocles to
13348-589: The nearby Persians. Xanthippus, however, refused to consider the proposal. Athens was the "mother city" of many of the Ionian colonies and she felt a deep kinship with them that demanded their common defence. So the Greek fleet sailed to the Hellespont to destroy the Persian pontoon bridge there, but when they discovered it had already been destroyed, the Spartans withdrew and headed home, while Xanthippus led
13490-509: The noble families. Certainly, in the years (487 BC) following, the heads of the prominent families, including the Alcmaeonids, were exiled. The career of a politician in Athens thus became fraught with more difficulty, since displeasing the population was likely to result in exile. 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
13632-399: The noun they modify and relative pronouns are clause-initial. However, the morphological changes also have their counterparts in the syntax, and there are also significant differences between the syntax of the ancient and that of the modern form of the language . Ancient Greek made great use of participial constructions and of constructions involving the infinitive, and the modern variety lacks
13774-706: The older periods of Greek, loanwords into Greek acquired Greek inflections, thus leaving only a foreign root word. Modern borrowings (from the 20th century on), especially from French and English, are typically not inflected; other modern borrowings are derived from Albanian , South Slavic ( Macedonian / Bulgarian ) and Eastern Romance languages ( Aromanian and Megleno-Romanian ). Greek words have been widely borrowed into other languages, including English. Example words include: mathematics , physics , astronomy , democracy , philosophy , athletics , theatre, rhetoric , baptism , evangelist , etc. Moreover, Greek words and word elements continue to be productive as
13916-436: The only contemporary documents remaining from the time of Themistocles. Although many of the first coins of Antiquity illustrated the images of various gods or symbols, the first portraiture of actual rulers only appears in the 5th century BC. Themistocles was probably the first ruler ever to issue coinage with his personal portrait, as he became Achaemenid Governor of Magnesia in 465–459 BC. Themistocles may have been in
14058-417: The opposite shore, under the slopes of Mount Mycale , where they beached their ships and retreated inland to set up a defensive fort. The Greek forces launched an attack on them, with Xanthippus leading his Athenian contingent on the left flank (Greek generals fought on the front lines as an example for their men). Xanthippus' men had easier terrain to cross than the other flank, so they engaged in combat with
14200-519: The other in Magnesia, which would lend credence to the possibility that he also illustrated himself on his coins. The Themistocles statue in Magnesia was illustrated on the reverse of some of the Magnesian coins of Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius in the 2nd century CE. The rulers of Lycia followed towards the end of the 5th century as the most prolific and unambiguous producers of coins displaying
14342-461: The other ostracised Athenians on the order of Themistocles, so that Athens might be united against the Persians. 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. 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. Either way,
14484-468: The people—a "democracy". 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. 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" The new system of government in Athens opened up
14626-668: The port complex at Piraeus, and "fastened the city [Athens] to the Piraeus, and the land to the sea". Themistocles probably aimed to make Athens the dominant naval power in the Aegean. Indeed, Athens would create the Delian League in 478 BC, uniting the naval power of the Aegean Islands and Ionia under Athenian leadership. Themistocles introduced tax breaks for merchants and artisans, to attract both people and trade to
14768-638: The portrait of their rulers. From the time of Alexander the Great , portraiture of the issuing ruler would then become a standard, generalized, feature of coinage. Themistocles died at Magnesia in 459 BC, at the age of 65, according to Thucydides , from natural causes. However, perhaps inevitably, there were also rumours surrounding his death, saying that unwilling to follow the Great King's order to make war on Athens, he committed suicide by taking poison, or drinking bull's blood . Plutarch provides
14910-412: The powerful Alcmaeonid family arranged for him to be prosecuted. The Athenian aristocracy, and indeed Greek aristocrats in general, were loath to see one person pre-eminent, and such maneuvers were commonplace. Miltiades was given a massive fine for the crime of 'deceiving the Athenian people', but died weeks later as a result of his wound. In the wake of this prosecution, the Athenian people chose to use
15052-412: The pre-eminent politician of the day. Xanthippus' leadership was short lived due to the rise of Themistocles , a populist set against the aristocracy that Xanthippus represented. Xanthippus teamed up with his fellow aristocrat Aristides to counter the ambitions of Themistocles, but Themistocles out-manoeuvred them with a series of ostracisms . These were basic referendums concerning the direction of
15194-541: The predominant sources of international scientific vocabulary . Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, or possibly earlier. The earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the world's oldest recorded living language . Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation
15336-404: The preparations for the invasion of Greece. 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. Aristides, as champion of the zeugites (the upper, 'hoplite-class') vigorously opposed such a policy. In 483 BC,
15478-412: 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. There, he was awarded a special prize "for his wisdom and cleverness", and won high praise from all. Furthermore, Plutarch reports that at the next Olympic Games: "[when] Themistocles entered
15620-451: The re-fortification of Athens. Furthermore, the Spartans were obliged to repatriate Themistocles in order to free their own ambassadors. However, this episode may be seen as the beginning of the Spartan mistrust of Themistocles, which would return to haunt him. Themistocles also now returned to his naval policy, and more ambitious undertakings that would increase the dominant position of his native state. He further extended and fortified
15762-529: The remaining force on an assault upon Sestus in the Thracian Chersonese , which had been captured by the Persians and left under the charge of a Persian governor, Artayctes . Sestus controlled the European side of the Hellespont and all the shipping trade that passed. Since Athens was very dependent upon imported grain, this made trade with the Black Sea of strategic importance and Xanthippus
15904-543: The rest. From this point on, Themistocles appears to have been more or less in charge of the Allied effort at Artemisium. Over three days of battle, the Allies held their own against the much larger Persian fleet, but sustained significant losses. However, the loss of the simultaneous Battle of Thermopylae to the Persians made their continued presence at Artemisium irrelevant, and the Allies thus evacuated. According to Herodotus, Themistocles left messages at every place where
16046-406: The run-up to the Persian invasion, Themistocles had thus become the foremost politician in Athens. In 481 BC a congress of Greek city-states was held, during which 30 or so states agreed to ally themselves against the forthcoming invasion. The Spartans and Athenians were foremost in this alliance, being sworn enemies of the Persians. The Spartans claimed the command of land forces, and since
16188-511: The salvation of Greece" from the Persian threat, as Plutarch describes him. His naval policies would have a lasting impact on Athens as well, since maritime power became the cornerstone of the Athenian Empire and golden age . Thucydides assessed Themistocles as "a man who exhibited the most indubitable signs of genius ; indeed, in this particular he has a claim on our admiration quite extraordinary and unparalleled". Themistocles
16330-428: The service of the Persian king Artaxerxes I (reigned 465–424 BC). He was made governor of Magnesia , and lived there for the rest of his life. Themistocles died in 459 BC, probably of natural causes. His reputation was posthumously rehabilitated, and he was re-established as a hero of the Athenian, and indeed Greek, cause. Themistocles can still reasonably be thought of as "the man most instrumental in achieving
16472-404: 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." After returning to Athens in the winter, Plutarch reports that Themistocles made a proposal to the city while
16614-437: The stressed vowel; the so-called breathing marks ( rough and smooth breathing ), originally used to signal presence or absence of word-initial /h/; and the diaeresis , used to mark the full syllabic value of a vowel that would otherwise be read as part of a diphthong. These marks were introduced during the course of the Hellenistic period. Actual usage of the grave in handwriting saw a rapid decline in favor of uniform usage of
16756-469: 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. As a result, Themistocles's motion was carried easily, although only 100 triremes were to be built. Aristides refused to countenance this; conversely Themistocles was not pleased that only 100 ships would be built. Tension between the two camps built over
16898-435: The treason and disgrace of the Spartan general Pausanias , the Spartans tried to implicate Themistocles in the plot; he was, however, acquitted of these charges. In Athens itself, he lost favour by building a sanctuary of Artemis , with the epithet Aristoboulẽ ("of good counsel") near his home, a blatant reference to his own role in delivering Greece from the Persian invasion. Eventually, in either 472 or 471 BC, he
17040-447: The various stages of the Greek language are often emphasized. Although Greek has undergone morphological and phonological changes comparable to those seen in other languages, never since classical antiquity has its cultural, literary, and orthographic tradition been interrupted to the extent that one can speak of a new language emerging. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than
17182-484: The venture would reap great profit for the city. The Athenians granted his wish, but he met with set-backs during an attack on Paros and had to return empty handed and wounded. Many Athenians suspected him of deceiving them. The Alcmaeonidae were traditional political rivals of Miltiades' clan, the Philaidae , and they pressed for charges against the hero of Marathon, with Xanthippus making their case and asking for
17324-529: The vernacular form of Modern Greek proper, and Katharevousa , meaning 'purified', a compromise between Dimotiki and Ancient Greek developed in the early 19th century that was used for literary and official purposes in the newly formed Greek state. In 1976, Dimotiki was declared the official language of Greece, after having incorporated features of Katharevousa and thus giving birth to Standard Modern Greek , used today for all official purposes and in education . The historical unity and continuing identity between
17466-413: 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." 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. He
17608-415: The winter, so that the ostracism of 482 BC became a direct contest between Themistocles and Aristides. In what has been characterized as the first referendum , Aristides was ostracised, and Themistocles's policies were endorsed. 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. In
17750-574: Was a distinct dialect of Greek itself. Aside from the Macedonian question, current consensus regards Phrygian as the closest relative of Greek, since they share a number of phonological, morphological and lexical isoglosses , with some being exclusive between them. Scholars have proposed a Graeco-Phrygian subgroup out of which Greek and Phrygian originated. Among living languages, some Indo-Europeanists suggest that Greek may be most closely related to Armenian (see Graeco-Armenian ) or
17892-568: Was also used as the official language of government and religion in the Christian Nubian kingdoms , for most of their history. Greek, in its modern form, is the official language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population. It is also the official language of Cyprus (nominally alongside Turkish ) and the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (alongside English ). Because of
18034-557: Was also used in Ancient Greek. Greek has occasionally been written in the Latin script , especially in areas under Venetian rule or by Greek Catholics . The term Frankolevantinika / Φραγκολεβαντίνικα applies when the Latin script is used to write Greek in the cultural ambit of Catholicism (because Frankos / Φράγκος is an older Greek term for West-European dating to when most of (Roman Catholic Christian) West Europe
18176-475: Was an Athenian politician and general . He was one of a new breed of non-aristocratic politicians who rose to prominence in the early years of the Athenian democracy . As a politician, Themistocles was a populist , having the support of lower-class Athenians, and generally being at odds with the Athenian nobility. Elected archon in 493 BC, he convinced the polis to increase the naval power of Athens,
18318-451: Was born in the Attic deme of Phrearrhii around 524 BC, the son of Neocles, a Leontian also of Phrearrhii , who was, in the words of Plutarch "no very conspicuous man at Athens". His mother is more obscure; her name was either Euterpe or Abrotonum , and her place of origin has been given variously as Halicarnassus , Thrace , or Acarnania . Like many contemporaries, little
18460-470: Was declared a traitor in Athens, his property to be confiscated. Both Diodorus and Plutarch considered that the charges were false, and made solely for the purposes of destroying Themistocles. The Spartans sent ambassadors to Admetus, threatening that the whole of Greece would go to war with the Molossians unless they surrendered Themistocles. Admetus, however, allowed Themistocles to escape, giving him
18602-411: Was determined to bring these shipping lanes back under Athenian protection. After a winter siege, Artayctes and his son attempted to escape, but they were captured. Artayctes offered 200 talents to Xanthippus to spare his life - a huge sum. But Xanthippus refused. Artayctes' son was stoned to death in front of his father, and then Artayctes himself was crucified . That Herodotus ends his account of
18744-429: Was his command of the Athenian naval forces at the decisive Battle of Mycale against the Persians , which was fought off the coast of Lydia in Asia Minor under the command of Leotychidas of Sparta . The remains of the Persian fleet that had survived the Battle of Salamis were stationed at the island of Samos . When they discovered that they were being pursued by the Greek fleet they abandoned Samos and sailed to
18886-474: Was married to Panthoides of Chios ; and Sybaris to Nicomedes the Athenian. After Themistocles died, his nephew Phrasicles went to Magnesia and married another daughter, Nicomache (with her brothers' consent). Phrasicles then took charge of her sister Asia, the youngest of all ten children. Themistocles grew up in a period of upheaval in Athens. The tyrant Peisistratos had died in 527 BC, passing power to his sons, Hipparchus and Hippias . Hipparchus
19028-503: Was murdered in 514 BC, and in response to this, Hippias became paranoid and started to rely increasingly on foreign mercenaries to keep a hold on power. The head of the powerful but exiled Alcmaeonid family, Cleisthenes , began to scheme to overthrow Hippias and return to Athens. In 510 BC, he persuaded the Spartan king Cleomenes I to launch a full-scale attack on Athens, which succeeded in overthrowing Hippias. However, in
19170-411: Was on-going, and urged them to send emissaries to Athens to see for themselves. 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. 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
19312-445: Was ostracised. 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." Themistocles first went to live in exile in Argos . However, perceiving that they now had a prime opportunity to bring Themistocles down for good,
19454-411: Was the turning point of the war. The invasion was conclusively repulsed the following year after the Persian defeat at the land Battle of Plataea . After the conflict ended, Themistocles continued his pre-eminence among Athenian politicians. However, he aroused the hostility of Sparta by ordering the re-fortification of Athens. A move counter to Spartan and Persian regional interests, usurpers initated
19596-469: 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. Thus, in August 480 BC, when the Persian army was approaching Thessaly, the Allied fleet sailed to Artemisium, and the Allied army marched to Thermopylae. Themistocles himself took command of the Athenian contingent of
19738-423: Was to block the straits. In performing this subterfuge, Themistocles seems to have been trying to lure the Persian fleet into the Straits. 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). At any rate, this was exactly the kind of news that Xerxes wanted to hear. Xerxes evidently took
19880-516: Was to contact the Persian king; in Thucydides, this is by letter, while Plutarch and Diodorus have a face-to-face meeting with the king. The spirit is, however, the same in all three: Themistocles introduces himself to the king and seeks to enter his service: "I, Themistocles, am come to you, who did your house more harm than any of the Hellenes, when I was compelled to defend myself against your father's invasion—harm, however, far surpassed by
20022-580: Was under the control of the Frankish Empire ). Frankochiotika / Φραγκοχιώτικα (meaning 'Catholic Chiot') alludes to the significant presence of Catholic missionaries based on the island of Chios . Additionally, the term Greeklish is often used when the Greek language is written in a Latin script in online communications. The Latin script is nowadays used by the Greek-speaking communities of Southern Italy . The Yevanic dialect
20164-673: Was written by Romaniote and Constantinopolitan Karaite Jews using the Hebrew Alphabet . In a tradition, that in modern time, has come to be known as Greek Aljamiado , some Greek Muslims from Crete wrote their Cretan Greek in the Arabic alphabet . The same happened among Epirote Muslims in Ioannina . This also happened among Arabic-speaking Byzantine rite Christians in the Levant ( Lebanon , Palestine, and Syria ). This usage
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