by Rex Warner
The battle has been well described by both Herodotus and Aeschylus, but neither of these writers has quite expressed the extraordinary feeling of joy and relief which we all felt after this tremendous victory. Xerxes himself was hurrying back to the Hellespont; his crippled fleet was retiring to Ionia. And this was, as young Pericles was always pointing out to me, in the main the achievement of the Athenians. They had supplied far the largest contingent to the allied fleet and it was generally admitted that the architect of victory was the Athenian Themistocles. In his estimate of this statesman Pericles seems to me to have shown both intelligence and originality. It might be regarded as natural for a boy of his age to have made a hero out of one who had won so great a victory; or again one might say that the boy could reasonably have followed his elders, Xanthippus, Aristides and others, who, being political opponents of Themistocles, tended to belittle his achievements and were again beginning to combine against him. Their usual complaints against him were that he was too clever and that in promoting his own career he was weakening the landed aristocracy and unreasonably strengthening the poorer classes. Pericles, however, was never affected by arguments deriving from envy or prejudice. He knew that it is impossible to be too clever. And as for what were considered the too extreme democratic tendencies of Themistocles, he approved of them, since he could see that, though the balance of power among existing factions might be disturbed, the total power and influence of the whole state was undoubtedly being increased by Themistocles’s policies. And he considered that in a stronger and broader democracy members of his own class, if they had the ability, could exercise a more powerful and fruitful influence than before. If they lacked the ability, they were in any case unfitted for responsibility.
In the year after Salamis there were often arguments along these lines. Even Xanthippus would sometimes listen in an amused and tolerant way. He had the common fault in fathers of believing that he was by nature more intelligent than his son. “When you have an estate of your own to manage, my boy,” he would say, “you will think differently.” And of course such statements as these are true in the cases of those many people who are capable of constructive thought only between the ages of about fourteen and twenty-one. But Pericles had a mind of a different order. His thought was never diverted by self-interest or blunted by the apathy of convention. Even his father recognized in him something that was superior and was vaguely proud of it, though he imagined that in the course of time it would turn into something more ordinary and more easily predictable.
Soon after the battle we had returned to Athens, and I was most generously offered accommodation at Xanthipms’s house near Colonus. With certain reservations (for he thought all Ionians rather apt to be “too clever”) he approved of the friendship that was growing up between Pericles and me. So too did the boy’s mother Agariste. Her family, of course, was even more distinguished than that of Xanthippus. Indeed, there is no family in the Greek world more famous than the Alcmaeonidae — both for good and, it may be added, for evil. Agariste was the niece of the Cleisthenes who had founded democracy in Athens. She herself had much of the intellectual and political brilliance that marked her family. Like her son, she was good rather than evil; and for Pericles, who was by far her favorite son, she confidently and rightly predicted a great future. She told me once that when she was pregnant with him she dreamed that she had given birth to a lion. It was a dream which greatly impressed Xanthippus, though Agariste, being an intelligent woman, took it only half seriously. Personally I regard dreams as being more illustrative of the character or appetites of the dreamer than indicative of the future. Agariste was determined to have a distinguished son; there was, as she soon saw, nothing remarkable about her first son, Ariphron; therefore her mind concentrated all the more fiercely on the prospect of Pericles.
I doubt whether the mind of the mother can greatly influence the human embryo. Many women, both intelligent and stupid, have desired distinguished sons and, as a rule, have been disappointed. But once a child of real ability has been born, there is no doubt that his ability may be increased by the care and enthusiasm of a brilliant and ambitious mother.
Naturally I can remember with particular vividness and pleasure those winter months in Athens when I first made the acquaintance of the city, devastated as it was, and of Athenians who later became the great friends of my adult life. And I too shared in that overwhelming feeling of elation in victory — though of course the victory had still not made Greece, and far less Athens, secure. I can still see in my mind’s eye that choir of young boys singing among the ruined temples of the gods the hymn of thanksgiving and praise for Salamis.
The choir was led by young Sophocles, who was to become the great poet. He was of the same age as Pericles and was perhaps the most beautiful boy in Athens. He had not only beauty, but exquisite manners and a really remarkable skill in music and dancing. His family had an estate near that of Xanthippus and he and Pericles had been friends from early years. I loved to watch the two boys together, for Pericles too was beautiful, though his beauty was not, perhaps, so strictly in accordance with the demands a sculptor might make as was the beauty of Sophocles. He had, for instance, a curiously elongated head and was somewhat overconscious of this. He often wore a hat when it was unnecessary to do so, and in later years would never have a likeness made of himself except when helmeted. This was point eagerly seized upon, of course, by the comic poets. It is the only example I know of any kind of affectation or conceit in Pericles’s character. In fact, when one was speaking to him, one never noticed the shape of his head at all, which in any case was not disagreeable. What one observed most was an almost uncanny brilliance in his eyes. He was not restless; indeed, there was always a certain slow dignity in his movements. But he was capable of the most rapid changes of expression and occasionally made a quick decisive gesture that was the more impressive for being rare. There was a peculiar charm and variety too in his speaking voice, sometimes deeply serious, sometimes passionate, sometimes full of laughter. He was indeed (and this may surprise you) more ready to laugh than Sophocles, who, with an infinite grace of manner, was still somewhat conventional in his conversation and sometimes seemed almost shocked by the quick exchanges of irony or criticism which took place between Pericles and me. It may be that Sophocles, with all his great qualities, lacked that analytical facility which is so important both in a statesman and in a philosopher. Certainly in later years he showed rather less interest than I might have expected in my own philosophical writings, and I did not meet him often except in the company of Pericles himself, to whom he remained devoted to the end. I am glad that Sophocles is still alive and still writing plays which, though less interesting to a philosopher than those of young Euripides, are still most admirable and powerful productions.
But I must not give the impression that these winter months were merely a time of triumph and of agreeable conversations with boys. It very soon became clear that the Persians were still with us. Xerxes had left Europe and his fleet too had retired to its bases in Ionia; but Mardonius, with the best part of the army, was still in Greece, evidently intending to resume the campaign in the spring, and the whole of northern Greece, down to the frontier of Attica, was on his side. So was the whole coastal area of Thrace and Chalcidice. Here one Greek town had ventured to revolt and was subdued with some difficulty. A nearby town, Olynthus, was suspected of planning revolt. We heard with horror of how the Persian governor had assembled the entire population of this town in a marsh near the city and had butchered them all — men, women and children. We knew that it was possible that the same fate might befall the population of Athens.
Danger, however, bred resolution rather than fear. When Mardonius cleverly tried to detach Athens from Sparta by offering her peace, alliance and compensation for war damage, the Athenian reply was that so long as the sun kept his course in the sky, Athens would never make peace with Persia. The reply was given by the ancient Council of the Areopagus, which at this ti
me exercised a more than normal power in politics. This council consists, of course, of those who have held the high office of archon Athens; but in those days the archonship was a more important office than it is now. True, seven years before this there had been a reform (largely initiated by Themistocles) by which the archons were chosen by lot rather than by election or personal or family influence. But they were still chosen only from the richer classes, and of course most of the council had become members in the days before the reform. It was therefore, on the whole, a conservative body. Themistocles, as an ex-archon, was himself a member, but the majority of his colleagues were opposed to him politically. Moreover, they were, in this time of peril, able to make their views felt.
The council had not only political but religious authority. It was revered as something time-honored and almost divine; for the Athenians (as I have discovered to my cost) somehow combine a genius for invention and innovation with an almost ludicrous reverence for antiquity. At one moment they can be the freest of thinkers; at the next they will be overcome by religious or superstitious scruples. So, with the Persian army poised for invasion in the spring, the people of Athens looked for guidance to this respected and ancient collection of statesmen, who did in fact show themselves both resolute and efficient — their only defect being their mistrust of Themistocles, the most able diplomatist and the most brilliant commander in Greece. His position as the hero of Salamis was too strong to be entirely undermined, and his services were used in diplomatic missions to Sparta, where he was greatly honored and greatly suspected; for he was free in his speech and scarcely bothered to disguise his contempt for the conservatism of Spartan ways and the tyranny of Spartan institutions. In Athens, however, the commands in war went to those who in the past had been his political opponents. Aristides took command of the Athenian army and Xanthippus took over the Athenian contingent of the allied fleet. Fortunately both were able men and Xanthippus in particular made excellent use of that fleet which was the creation of Themistocles.
It is worth pointing out that at this time the behavior of the Spartan government seemed to many Athenians positively treacherous; yet in the battles that followed the Athenians loyally cooperated with the Spartans and even at sea, in spite of their much greater experience and strength, they accepted Spartan leadership. This was admirable conduct and afterwards the Athenians were rightly proud of it. Yet they remained conscious that it was not matched by anything equally high-minded and generous on the side of Sparta. In those days Spartan hegemony was almost undisputed, but it soon began to be questioned, and young Pericles was one of those who questioned it most passionately and most rationally. He had an instinctive dislike for Spartan regimentation and gracelessness; now in these years he observed evidence that the Spartans were reluctant to take any risk that was not strictly in accordance with their own interests; also that the type of training and discipline which stood them in such good stead in battle was inappropriate and indeed useless in any other connection. A Spartan abroad tends to become a savage or a charlatan.
During the months after Salamis there had been plenty of time for the Spartans and their allies to have marched out of the Peloponnese and to have taken up a defensive position on the northern and western frontiers of Attica. Instead they spent the winter and spring in building a wall across the isthmus. So, in the early summer, when Mardonius invaded Attica again, we had once more to take to the ships and retire to the safety of the islands, abandoning Athens again to the Persians. Even then, there was only one man who suggested making peace, and he was stoned to death; but in spite of this national resolution, there were bitter feelings against allies who had done nothing to help. Looking across the sea from Salamis, we could see once again the cloud of smoke over what was left of Athens, And this time Mardonius completed the ruin of the city. Among the Athenians the pro-Spartan party — still, through a kind of convention, numerous — were hard put to it to find excuses for Spartan inactivity. Others found it difficult to believe that Spartan policy was not deliberate. It was openly said that Sparta had determined that, whatever the result of the war, Athens, her nearest rival in Greece, should certainly be weakened irreparably.
Xanthippus was one of those who went with an embassy to Sparta at this time. He and his colleagues did persuade the Spartans at last to act in the interests of Greece, but the action came late and the effects of previous inaction were remembered. Still, we were glad enough when we heard that the Peloponnesian army was in Attica and that Mardonius had withdrawn to the neighborhood of Thebes, where the great plain provided the best ground for cavalry, in which he was greatly superior.
At about the same time the Greek fleet sailed for Ionia with orders to keep a watch upon and, if conditions were favorable, to attack the Persian fleet, which was then at Samos. There were all sorts of rumors, which turned out to be well founded, that not only Samos but many other Greek states in Asia were ready to revolt. I should have accompanied Xanthippus on this expedition, if at the last moment I had not been struck down by a fever.
I was still convalescing when we heard the news of the great victory at Plataea, where the Greeks, under the command of the Spartan Pausanias, had routed and destroyed the Persian army of Mardonius with his Theban, Thessalian and Macedonian allies. In the final storming of the Persian camp the Athenians, under Aristides, had played a great part. But there is no need for me to describe this battle here. Its effects were to free the mainland of Greece from all immediate danger and also greatly to increase the prestige of Sparta; for it was the Spartans who had engaged the best Persian troops. After studying the battle I am inclined to believe that the direction of these troops was faulty and timorous; but their courage and steadfastness in the actual fighting is beyond praise.
A few days later we received news of another Greek victory in a battle that had actually been fought on the same day as that of Plataea. Over the sea at Cape Mycale, near Miletus, the Greek fleet had recovered the liberty of Ionia. The Spartan Leotychidas had been in command, but in Athens, which had supplied the far greater part of the fleet, the credit for the victory was given, naturally enough, to Pericles’s father, Xanthippus. Persia had now lost control not only of the Greek mainland but also of the Aegean sea. What had appeared to be impossible had actually taken place. A few small states had beaten back the greatest empire that has ever existed.
Not unnaturally the Greeks take pride in this event, but they often misrepresent it. It is constantly said, for instance, that in those great days a united Greece, under Spartan leadership, defeated the Great King. Such a statement will not bear investigation. There was Spartan leadership indeed. Anything else would have been unthinkable. But Greece was not united. With the exception of Athens, every important state outside the Peloponnese was, sometimes unwillingly, sometimes enthusiastically, on the Persian side. In two out of the three great victories the predominant part had been played by Athenian leaders and Athenian soldiers and sailors; and even at Plataea the Athenians had some claim to have been mainly responsible for the total rout. And now, in the moment of liberation, the divergencies between the great powers — Sparta, the leader, and Athens, the initiator of victory — became immediately acute. The tendency of Athens was to advance and to expand; that of Sparta to retreat and to contract. This clear fact was evident to Themistocles and it was evident to the young Pericles. Most people, out of convention, did not for the time being observe it. But it is a commonplace of philosophical investigation that most people do not see what is in front of their eyes.
3
Athens and Her Allies
After the victories we, together with the rest of the population of Athens, began to rebuild the city. The house of Xanthippus had not received extensive damage, since up to the last moment it had been occupied by a senior Persian officer. But all the temples and nearly all the poorer houses had been totally destroyed. People naturally wished first of all to make their dwelling places habitable before the winter, though there were a certain number o
f oracle-mongers who attempted to influence public opinion in the direction of first undertaking the reconstruction of the religious buildings. It was at this point that Themistocles once again took the initiative and once again showed his power to make the Athenians choose greatness rather than convenience. He persuaded those who had been his political opponents as well as the rest of the people that before any other work was taken in hand the fortifications of the city must be rebuilt. Ostensibly this measure was to make Athens defensible against another Persian invasion. In fact, of course, there was no danger of such a thing in the near future. What Themistocles was really aiming at was once and for all to make Athens independent in Greece. He had correctly divined the wishes and the probable actions of Sparta and he knew that there was no time to waste. Just for the moment, after the known self-sacrifice and the splendid actions of Athens in the war, it would be difficult for Sparta to intervene. Yet there were many Spartans who were already frightened not only of the growing power and prestige but of the whole spirit of Athens a spirit of adventure and of confident democracy. Themistocles saw things, as usual, clearly and distinctly. He had an uncanny gift of estimating the future. What was almost more remarkable was his ability to carry with him Athenians who were already committed to a pro-Spartan policy.
So the work of refortifying the city was begun, and soon enough an embassy arrived from Sparta. The envoys were polite, but attempted to be firm. It was unnecessary, they said, for Athens to be fortified. In the event of another invasion, the Athenians would be welcome in the Peloponnese behind the wall already constructed across the isthmus. And in the general national interest it was inadvisable for any city north of this point to be equipped with strong fortifications, since such a city, if it fell into Persian hands, would constitute a menace to the rest of Greece.