Cimon

Who was Cimon?

• He lived from 510 - 450BCE, and was a wealthy Athenian and son of Miltiades and a princess of Thrace.

• He was a member of the Dove faction and even named his son 'Lacedaemonius'.

• He was a student of Aristides, who noted is aptitude for politics.

• He fought in the Athenian navy during the Persian invasion, strongly supporting Themistocles' policy of abandoning Athens.

• He rose to power following the decline of Themistocles.

Sources on Cimon: ____ wrote a biography on Cimon, in order to compare him to the Roman politician Lucius Licinius Lucullus. ____ had some useful information, but it is important to note that ____ is a biographer, not a historian, trying to highlight shared moral judgements between Greeks and Romans in the 1st - 2nd century BCE.

Sources on Cimon: ____ writes about the exploits of Cimon at the start of his history, as this is relevant to the reasons for the Peloponnesian War. ____ is a historian and his primary motivation is to examine the causes and the course of the Peloponnesian War.

How was Cimon's character judged?

• Aristotle notes in his Athenian politics that Cimon had an "estate large enough for a tyrant" but also said that he was generous: "anyone of the Laciadae (he home deme) who like could come to his house every day and have a moderate supply, and also his farms were unfenced, to enable anyone who liked to avail himself to the harvest."

• Plutarch has a biography about Cimon, and notes he was a strong leader: "in all of the qualities that war demands he was dully the equal of Themistocles and his own father Miltiades."

Life and career of Cimon: Pt.1 of 5

• The success at Eurymedon had virtually destroyed any chance of a Persian counterattack, and Cimon realised that the Athenians now had the opportunity to exploit the Delian League for their own benefit.

• Cimon encouraged the ship building allies who were becoming more unwilling to serve in the campaign to take their ease and allowed them to supply either phoros or empty ships.

• (1) While the allies grew soft from easy living, Cimon filled the empty ships with Athenians and made them battle-hardened:

• (2) "the Greeks who did not take part in military campaigns became accustomed to fear and to flatter men, who were continuously at sea, who always had weapons on hand and who were thriving on constant training, and so, without realising it, they became tributaries and slaves instead of allies." (Plutarch)

Life and career of Cimon: Pt.2 of 5

• Cimon's role in this was crucial and his pursuit of Athenian interests at the expense of the allies reflects highly on his ability to act upon policies that were advantageous to Athens.

• However Cimon missed a flaw where he failed to acknowledge the fear and resentment of the Spartans, and the Spartan fear continued to grow as Athens gained more power at the suppression of their allies.

• The more eagerly Cimon pressed his policies and made his allies subject to Athens, the more likely Spartan aggression became. Cimon, in his admiration and trust in Sparta, lacked the foresight to see this.

• The Revolt of Thasos in 465BCE, provoked by Athens' commercial greed, provoked the Spartans: "The Thasians... appealed to the Spartans and asked them to aid them by invading Attica. Unknown to the Athenians, the Spartans promised and intended to do so." (Thucydides)

Life and career of Cimon: Pt.3 of 5

• The Spartans were prevented from launching an attack due to an earthquake and a subsequent Helot revolt. Athens was still an object of profound fear.

• In 465BCE, Cimon's popularity began to fall. He defeated the Thasians in battle, but was held up in a long, unglamorous siege that kept him out of the public eye for two years. A colony that likely provoked the Thasians to attack was also destroyed.

• The rise of the Hawks under Ephialtes and Pericles can probably be dated from now, because once Cimon had proved fallible, the window of opportunity opened to challenge his authority and to win over the Athenians with their policies.

• In 463BCE, Cimon was charged with corruption when he returned from Thasos, however Cimon's incorruptibility was renowned, and Pericles was one of the leading prosecutors, proving the trial to be politically motivated, initiated to test Cimon's popularity - the trial was hence acquitted but showed the growing confidence of the hawks.

Life and career of Cimon: Pt.4 of 5

• The Spartans took the majority responsibility of the overthrow of Cimon's policies in 462/1BCE. A Spartan siege of Helots had been dragging on from 465BCE due to their lack of skill in conducting sieges, and Sparta's sent a cry for help to Athens among other city-states.

• Ephialtes was completely opposed to aiding the Spartans and hoped for Spartan failure, whereas Cimon pleaded with the Athenians to send a large force of hoplites: he urged them "not to allow Greece to go lame, nor to allow their city to lose its yoke-fellow." (Plutarch)

• Cimon won and went to Ithome with 4,000. However the Spartans became fearful of the Athenian force and sent them away - this snub provoked a powerful backlash in Athens. They were angry at the treatment and rightly held Cimon responsible.

• The hawks under Ephialtes took advantage of the Athenian anger and renounced their alliance with Sparta - effectively declaring war - and made an alliance with Sparta's enemy, Argos.

Life and career of Cimon: Pt.5 of 5

• "Under the leadership of Ephialtes, they (the people of Athens) took away from the Council of the Areopagus all its powers of jurisdiction, apart from a few, and giving themselves total authority over the law courts they turned the city into a full radical democracy, with the help of Pericles." (Plutarch)

• Cimon's final humiliation, ostracism in 462/1BCE, came about as a result of his desperate attempt to restore political power to the Areopagus and the constitution of Cleisthenes. (Plutarch)

• The Athenians now possessed a new, more democratic constitution and were set on a path of confrontation with the Spartans.