24A. Alcibiades. Athenian General.
25. Miltiades. Athenian General.
[Date and place of birth unknown. Died B.C. 489.]
An Athenian. Succeeded his father Cimon as “Tyrant” of the Thracian Chersonesus. He accompanied Darius on his expedition into Scythia. He was subsequently driven out of the Chersonesus by the Persians, and fled to Athens, where he resumed his rights as an Athenian citizen. He was one of the ten generals chosen by the Athenians to resist the Persian invasion, but by the consent of his colleagues he was invested with sole command. He defeated the Persians under Datis and Artaphernes, at Marathon (B. C. 490), and saved Greece. The victory, as well for the import of its consequences as for the disproportion between the numbers engaged, is one of the most memorable recorded in history. Afterwards intrusted with the command of a fleet, with which he attacked the Island of Paros, to gratify a private enmity. This expedition proving unsuccessful, Miltiades was impeached, condemned to a fine, and thrown into prison, where he died of his wounds.
[The hero of Marathon received all portrait honours from the Athenians. Pliny relates that Panænus, the brother of Phidias, painted a picture of the battle with portraits of the generals; and the great sculptor himself made a statue of the conqueror, the cost of which was appropriately paid out of the spoils of the Persians. It was placed in the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. The bust, No. 25A, is in the Louvre; it was found on the Celian Hill at Rome. The back part of the helmet has sculptured upon it the furious bull of Marathon which Theseus killed, and which Miltiades wears as a trophy of valour. This portrait has been identified by a bust engraved with the name, described by Fulvius Ursinus, but which is unfortunately lost.]
25A. Miltiades. Athenian General.
26. Aspasia.
[Born at Miletus, in Asia Minor. Date of birth and death unknown; but in the fifth century B.C.]
A woman of great beauty and intellectual power, and the contemporary of Pericles, who was her lover, and over whom she gained unbounded sway. Her house was the resort of the greatest and most learned men in Athens, and Socrates, Plato, and Alcibiades were her frequent guests. She is the first of her sex whose portrait has been handed down from hoary antiquity unto the present time. It is related that Pericles learnt political wisdom from her instruction, and took eloquence from her lips. Pericles rewarded his instructress by saving her life through his eloquence and tears, when, like Socrates, Aspasia was arraigned on the charge of impiety. After the death of Pericles, Aspasia attached herself to an obscure man of the name of Lysicles, whom she advanced by her instructions to high office in the Athenian republic.
[From the marble in the Vatican, which is inscribed with her name. This form of bust is rare for women; but it is thought to have been chosen purposely, to show the superiority of one who gave counsel to Pericles and taught, they say, Socrates eloquence. Her great celebrity is guaranteed by this monument, which is the earliest antique Greek portrait of a lady.]