In this juncture, the Athenians consulted the Oracle, and were desired to trust to their wooden walls. Themistocles persuaded all those who were capable of bearing arms to embark in the fleet; the women and children were removed; and the town, abandoned to the enemy, fell a prey to the barbarians.
The fleet was assembled in the straits, within the Island of Salamis. Xerxes, who already talked of nothing but of extirpating the Greeks, by seizing their ships, flattered himself that he had now an opportunity of destroying them all at one blow. He therefore rashly attacked them in this narrow pass; but he soon found the superiority of the Grecian Admirals, who, by the excellence of their disposition, brought a much greater number of ships into action than the Persians could oppose at one time. Their van was of course defeated, which threw a general panick into the barbarians, and ended in a complete victory on the side of the Greeks.
The Persian King, who beheld the battle of Salamis from a neighbouring height, finding himself unable to support his immense army, after the loss of his fleet, retreated with the utmost precipitation. But before he quitted Greece, he gave Mardonius the command of a large detachment, to secure part of his conquests; but these being some months afterwards entirely defeated by Pausanias and Aristides at Platæa, and most of the troops the King carried with him having perished in the retreat, the Grecians pursued him into Asia.
Athens now rose, by rapid strides, to its highest lustre. Themistocles augmented the navy, rebuilt the city, fortified the Pyræus, and joined it to the town, which is four miles distant, by a strong fortified wall. His grand object was to throw the whole power of Greece into the hands of the Athenians; but the steps by which he proposed to attain this end, were so much disapproved, that he was banished. Accused afterwards of being concerned in the conspiracy of Pausanias, the Lacedemonian Admiral, for delivering Greece into the hands of the Persians, he was obliged to fly his country; and being pursued from place to place, although innocent of the charge preferred against him, he was at last compelled to take refuge at the Court of Persia.
There he was most hospitably entertained for several years; but in the succeeding wars, the King requiring him to lead an army against the Grecians, he suffered the greatest distress in the contest between gratitude and patriotism; and neither of these virtues being able to overcome the other, he ended the conflict by putting a period to his existence. On his being banished, Aristides succeeded him in the charge of the revenues, | A. A. C. 470.| and Cimon in the command of the forces. The glorious exploits of this young hero almost eclipsed even those of Miltiades, his father. He gained several great victories over the Persians, by sea and land, and beautified the city with the spoils of the enemy.
Aristides dying, Pericles succeeded him, and became the rival of Cimon, who was banished on a suspicion of favoring the Lacedemonians, | A. A. C. 455.| but recalled five years afterwards. He settled, for a time, the differences between the rival cities, and led them once more against the common enemy. And having ended a war of fifty-one years, by an honorable peace with the Persians, he died on the eve of returning to Athens. He was succeeded by Thucydides, his brother-in-law, but who was soon banished by Pericles, who now exercised alone the sovereign authority.
This illustrious patriot was equally attentive to the prosperity, and to the beauty of the city. With one hand he enriched her with the wealth of every nation, with the other he adorned her with the works of the most celebrated masters. Phidias, the famous sculptor, flourished in his administration, and it is to him we are indebted for the magnificent Temple of Minerva.
But neither his refined genius, nor his political abilities, could exempt his country from the envy which prosperity generally attracts. The splendour she had attained, and the haughtiness it occasioned, drew upon her the complaints of many of the Powers of Greece, and particularly of all those within the Peloponnesus. Animated by Pericles, Athens, although averse to hostile measures, was resolved not to submit to the attacks of the Lacedemonians, but, conscious of her resources, determined | A. A. C. 431.|to support her dignity; and thus, undaunted by superior force, she sustained herself for twenty-seven years, against the united efforts of all her enemies, in the famous Peloponnesian war.
Pericles died at the close of the fourth campaign; but the war was continued until the end of the tenth, when a truce was concluded, on terms very advantageous to Athens. But the ambition of Alcibiades, who now began to be distinguished at Athens, soon brought on a renewal of hostilities. He opposed Nicias on every occasion, and, contrary to the advice of that excellent General, persuaded the Athenians to send a considerable part of their forces into Sicily, himself embarking on that expedition: but, being soon recalled, he fled to Sparta, where he joined the enemy, and became the scourge of Attica. In the mean while, Syracuse was reduced to great | A. A. C. 413.| straights; but, a reinforcement arriving from Peloponnesus, the Athenians were entirely defeated, and Nicias, their General, most inhumanly put to death.
This blow dispirited the Athenians so much, that Alcibiades, compassionating their distress, returned to his duty. At first he was surprisingly successful; but the fleet suffering a defeat whilst he was absent on an expedition, he was deprived of the command, for having left it in unworthy hands.