Cimon

Cimon, an Athenian commander, was the son of the great Miltiades, the conqueror at Marathon. Being unable to pay the fine of 50 talents from which his father escaped by dying, he was kept in prison until the fine was paid by the wealthy Callias who had married his sister. Young Cimon enjoyed the patronage of Aristides, and soon distinguished himself in the patriotic struggle against the Persians. In conjunction with Aristides he was placed over the Athenian contingent to the allied fleet, which, under the supreme command of the Spartan Pausanias, continued the war against the Persians (477 B.C.). He effected the important conquest of Eion, a town on the river Strymon, then garrisoned by the Persians. His greatest exploit was his encounter with a Persian fleet of 350 ships at the river Eurymedon (466), when he destroyed or captured 300, and defeated the land- forces on the same day. He succeeded likewise in driving the Persians from Thrace, Caria, and Lycia; and expended much of the money which he had obtained by the recovery of his patrimony in Thrace upon the improvement of the city of Athens. The lavish bounty with which he opened his gardens and the honours of his table, together with his cheerful temper and patience, endeared him to his fellow-citizens. At this period he appears to have been the most influential of the Athenians. The hereditary enemy of Persia, it was his policy to advocate a close alliance with Sparta; and when the Helots revolted, he twice led an army to the support of the Spartan troops; but on the latter occasion, having lost the confidence of his allies, he was ignominiously dismissed. After his return to Athens his policy was opposed by the democracy, headed by Pericles, who procured his banishment by ostracism. He was recalled in the fifth year of his exile, and was instrumental in obtaining a five years' armistice between the Spartans and the Athenians. He died in the year 449 B.C., at the siege of a Cyprian town.