1.1. Peripoltas the seer, who conducted King Opheltas with his subjects from Thessaly into Boeotia, left a posterity there which was in high repute for many generations. The greater part of them settled in Chaeroneia, which was the first city they won from the Barbarians. Now the most of this posterity were naturally men of war and courage, and so were consumed away in the Persian invasions and the contests with the Gauls, because they did not spare themselves.
1.1. Περιπόλτας ὁ μάντις ἐκ Θετταλίας εἰς Βοιωτίαν Ὀφέλταν τὸν βασιλέα καὶ τοὺς ὑπʼ αὐτῷ λαοὺς καταγαγὼν γένος εὐδοκιμῆσαν ἐπὶ πολλοὺς χρόνους κατέλιπεν, οὗ τὸ πλεῖστον ἐν Χαιρωνείᾳ κατῴκησεν, ἣν πρώτην πόλιν ἔσχον ἐξελάσαντες τοὺς βαρβάρους. οἱ μὲν οὖν πλεῖστοι τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ γένους φύσει μάχιμοι καὶ ἀνδρώδεις γενόμενοι καταναλώθησαν ἐν ταῖς Μηδικαῖς ἐπιδρομαῖς καὶ τοῖς Γαλατικοῖς ἀγῶσιν ἀφειδήσαντες ἑαυτῶν·
1.2. There remained, however, an orphan boy, Damon by name, Peripoltas by surname, who far surpassed his fellows in beauty of body and in vigor of spirit, though otherwise he was untrained and of a harsh disposition. With this Damon, just passed out of boy’s estate, the Roman commander of a cohort that was wintering in Chaeroneia fell enamored, and since he could not win him over by solicitations and presents, he was plainly bent on violence, seeing that our native city was at that time in sorry plight, and neglected because of her smallness and poverty.
1.2. λείπεται δὲ παῖς ὀρφανὸς γονέων, ὄνομα Δάμων, παρωνύμιον δὲ Περιπόλτας, πολὺ δή τι καὶ σώματος κάλλει καὶ ψυχῆς φρονήματι τοὺς καθʼ αὑτὸν ὑπεραίρων νέους, ἄλλως δʼ ἀπαίδευτος καὶ σκληρὸς τὸ ἦθος. τούτου Ῥωμαῖος ἡγεμὼν σπείρας τινὸς ἐν Χαιρωνείᾳ διαχειμαζούσης ἐρασθεὶς ἄρτι τὴν παιδικὴν ἡλικίαν παρηλλαχότος, ὡς οὐκ ἔπειθε πειρῶν καὶ διδούς, δῆλος ἦν οὐκ ἀφεξόμενος βίας, ἅτε δὴ καὶ τῆς πατρίδος ἡμῶν τότε λυπρὰ πραττούσης καὶ διὰ μικρότητα καὶ πενίαν παρορωμένης.
1.3. Violence was just what Damon feared, and since the solicitation itself had enraged him, he plotted against the man, and enlisted against him sundry companions,—a few only, that they might escape notice. There were sixteen of them in all, who smeared their faces with soot one might, heated themselves with wine, and at daybreak fell upon the Roman while he was sacrificing in the market-place, slew him, together with many of his followers, and departed the city.
1.3. τοῦτο δὴ δεδιὼς ὁ Δάμων, καὶ τὴν πεῖραν αὐτὴν διʼ ὀργῆς πεποιημένος, ἐπεβούλευε τῷ ἀνδρὶ καὶ συνίστη τῶν ἡλικιωτῶν τινας ἐπʼ αὐτόν, οὐ πολλοὺς ἕνεκα τοῦ λαθεῖν, ἀλλʼ οἱ σύμπαντες ἑκκαίδεκα γενόμενοι χρίονται μὲν αἰθάλῳ τὰ πρόσωπα νυκτός, ἐμπιόντες δὲ ἄκρατον ἅμʼ ἡμέρᾳ προσπίπτουσι τῷ Ῥωμαίῳ κατʼ ἀγορὰν θύοντι, καὶ καταβαλόντες αὐτόν τε καὶ τῶν περὶ αὐτὸν οὐκ ὀλίγους ἐκ τῆς πόλεως μετέστησαν.
1.4. During the commotion which followed, the council of Chaeroneia met and condemned the murderers to death, and this was the defence which the city afterwards made to its Roman rulers. But in the evening, while the magistrates were dining together, as the custom is, Damon and his men burst into the town hall, slew them, and again fled the city.
1.4. γενομένης δὲ ταραχῆς ἡ τῶν Χαιρωνέων βουλὴ συνελθοῦσα θάνατον αὐτῶν κατέγνω· καὶ τοῦτο ἦν ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως ἀπολόγημα πρὸς τοὺς Ῥωμαίους. ἑσπέρας δὲ τῶν ἀρχόντων, ὥσπερ ἔθος ἐστί, κοινῇ δειπνούντων οἱ περὶ τὸν Δάμωνα παρεισπεσόντες εἰς τὸ ἀρχεῖον ἀπέσφαξαν αὐτοὺς καὶ πάλιν ᾤχοντο φεύγοντες ἐκ τῆς πόλεως.
1.5. Now about that time it chanced that Lucius Lucullus passed that way, on some errand, with an army. Halting on his march and investigating matters while they were still fresh in mind, he found that the city was in no wise to blame, but rather had itself also suffered wrong.
1.5. ἔτυχε δὲ περὶ τὰς ἡμέρας ἐκείνας Λεύκιος Λούκουλλος ἐπί τινα πρᾶξιν μετὰ δυνάμεως παρερχόμενος. ἐπιστήσας δὲ τὴν πορείαν καὶ τῶν γεγονότων προσφάτων ὄντων ἐξέτασιν ποιησάμενος εὗρε τὴν πόλιν οὐδενὸς αἰτίαν, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον συνηδικημένην· καὶ τοὺς στρατιώτας ἀναλαβὼν ἀπήγαγε μεθʼ ἑαυτοῦ.
1.6. So he took its garrison of soldiers and led them away with him. Then Damon, who was ravaging the country with predatory forays and threatening the city, was induced by embassies and conciliatory decrees of the citizens to return, and was appointed gymnasiarch. But soon, as he was anointing himself in the vapor-bath, he was slain. And because for a long while thereafter certain phantoms appeared in the place, and groans were heard there, as our Fathers tell us, the door of the vapor-bath was walled up, and to this present time the neighbors think it the source of alarming sights and sounds.
1.6. τὸν δὲ Δάμωνα λῃστείαις καὶ καταδρομαῖς πορθοῦντα τὴν χώραν καὶ τῇ πόλει προσκείμενον ὑπηγάγοντο πρεσβείαις καὶ ψηφίσμασι φιλανθρώποις οἱ πολῖται, κατελθόντα δὲ γυμνασίαρχον κατέστησαν· εἶτʼ ἀλειφόμενον ἐν τῷ πυριατηρίῳ διέφθειραν. ἐπὶ πολὺν δὲ χρόνον εἰδώλων τινῶν ἐν τῷ τόπῳ προφαινομένων καὶ στεναγμῶν ἐξακουομένων, ὡς οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν λέγουσι, τὰς θύρας ἀνῳκοδόμησαν τοῦ πυριατηρίου· καὶ μέχρι νῦν οἱ τῷ τόπῳ γειτνιῶντες οἴονταί τινας ὄψεις καὶ φωνὰς ταραχώδεις φέρεσθαι.
1.7. Descendants of Damon’s family (and some are still living, especially near Stiris in Phocis, Aeolians in speech) are called “Asbolomeni,” or “Besooted,” because Damon smeared himself with soot before he went forth to do his deed of murder.
1.7. τοὺς δʼ ἀπὸ τοῦ γένους αὐτοῦ (διασώζονται γὰρ ἔνιοι, μάλιστα τῆς Φωκίδος περὶ Στεῖριν, αἰολίζοντες) ἀσβολωμένους καλοῦσι διὰ τὸ τὸν Δάμωνα πρὸς τὸν φόνον ἀσβόλῳ χρισάμενον ἐξελθεῖν.
2.1. But the Orchomenians, who were neighbors and rivals of the Chaeroneians, hired a Roman informer to cite the city by name, as though it were an individual person, and prosecute it for the murder of the Roman soldiers who had been slain by Damon. The trial was held before the praetor of Macedonia (the Romans were not yet sending praetors to Greece), and the city’s advocates invoked the testimony of Lucullus.
2.1. ἐπεὶ δʼ ἀστυγείτονες ὄντες Ὀρχομένιοι καὶ διάφοροι τοῖς Χαιρωνεῦσιν ἐμισθώσαντο Ῥωμαϊκὸν συκοφάντην, ὁ δʼ ὥσπερ ἑνὸς ἀνθρώπου τὸ τῆς πόλεως ὄνομα κατενεγκὼν ἐδίωκε φόνου τῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ Δάμωνος ἀνῃρημένων, ἡ δὲ κρίσις ἦν ἐπὶ τοῦ στρατηγοῦ τῆς Μακεδονίας (οὔπω γὰρ εἰς τὴν Ἑλλάδα Ῥωμαῖοι στρατηγοὺς διεπέμποντο), οἱ λέγοντες ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως ἐπεκαλοῦντο τὴν Λουκούλλου μαρτυρίαν, γράψαντος δὲ τοῦ στρατηγοῦ πρὸς Λούκουλλον ἐκεῖνος ἐμαρτύρησε τἀληθῆ, καὶ τὴν δίκην οὕτως ἀπέφυγεν ἡ πόλις κινδυνεύουσα περὶ τῶν μεγίστων.
2.2. Lucullus, when the praetor wrote to him, testified to the truth of the matter, and so the city escaped capital condemnation. Accordingly, the people who at that time were saved by him erected a marble statue of Lucullus in the market-place beside that of Dionysus. And we, though many generations removed from him, think that his favour extends even down to us who are now living;
2.2. ἐκεῖνοι μὲν οὖν οἱ τότε σωθέντες εἰκόνα τοῦ Λουκούλλου λιθίνην ἐν ἀγορᾷ παρὰ τὸν Διόνυσον ἀνέστησαν, ἡμεῖς δʼ, εἰ καὶ πολλαῖς ἡλικίαις λειπόμεθα, τὴν μὲν χάριν οἰόμεθα διατείνειν καὶ πρὸς ἡμᾶς τοὺς νῦν ὄντας, εἰκόνα δὲ πολὺ καλλίονα νομίζοντες εἶναι τῆς τὸ σῶμα καὶ τὸ πρόσωπον ἀπομιμουμένης τὴν τὸ ἦθος καὶ τὸν τρόπον ἐμφανίζουσαν, ἀναληψόμεθα τῇ γραφῇ τῶν παραλλήλων βίων τὰς πράξεις τοῦ ἀνδρός, τἀληθῆ διεξιόντες.
2.3. and since we believe that a portrait, which reveals character and disposition is far more beautiful than one which merely copies form and feature, we shall incorporate this man’s deeds into our parallel lives, and we shall rehearse them truly. The mere mention of them is sufficient favour to show him; and as a return for his truthful testimony he himself surely would not deign to accept a false and garbled narrative of his career. We demand of those who would paint fair and graceful features that, in case of any slight imperfection therein, they shall neither wholly omit it nor yet emphasize it, because the one course makes the portrait ugly and the other unlike its original. In like manner, since it is difficult, nay rather perhaps impossible, to represent a man’s life as stainless and pure, in its fair chapters we must round out the truth into fullest semblance;
2.3. ἀρκεῖ γὰρ ἡ τῆς μνήμης χάρις· ἀληθοῦς δὲ μαρτυρίας οὐδʼ ἂν αὐτὸς ἐκεῖνος ἠξίωσε μισθὸν λαβεῖν ψευδῆ καὶ πεπλασμένην ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ διήγησιν. ὥσπερ γὰρ τοὺς τὰ καλὰ καὶ πολλὴν ἔχοντα χάριν εἴδη ζῳγραφοῦντας, ἂν προσῇ τι μικρὸν αὐτοῖς δυσχερές, ἀξιοῦμεν μήτε παραλιπεῖν τοῦτο τελέως μήτε ἐξακριβοῦν· τὸ μὲν γὰρ αἰσχράν, τὸ δʼ ἀνομοίαν παρέχεται τὴν ὄψιν· οὕτως, ἐπεὶ χαλεπόν ἐστι, μᾶλλον δʼ ἴσως ἀμήχανον, ἀμεμφῆ καὶ καθαρὸν ἀνδρὸς ἐπιδεῖξαι βίον, ἐν τοῖς καλοῖς ἀναπληρωτέον ὥσπερ ὁμοιότητα τὴν ἀλήθειαν.
2.5. but those transgressions and follies by which, owing to passion, perhaps, or political compulsion, a man’s career is sullied, we must regard rather as shortcomings in some particular excellence than as the vile products of positive baseness, and we must not all too zealously delineate them in our history, and superfluously too, but treat them as though we were tenderly defending human nature for producing no character which is absolutely good and indisputably set towards virtue.
2.5. τὰς δʼ ἐκ πάθους τινὸς ἢ πολιτικῆς ἀνάγκης ἐπιτρεχούσας ταῖς πράξεσιν ἁμαρτίας καὶ κῆρας ἐλλείμματα μᾶλλον ἀρετῆς τινος ἢ κακίας πονηρεύματα νομίζοντας οὐ δεῖ πάνυ προθύμως ἐναποσημαίνειν τῇ ἱστορίᾳ καὶ περιττῶς, ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ αἰδουμένους ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως, εἰ καλὸν οὐδὲν εἰλικρινὲς οὐδʼ ἀναμφισβήτητον εἰς ἀρετὴν ἦθος γεγονὸς ἀποδίδωσιν.
3.1. On looking about for some one to compare with Lucullus, we decided that it must be Cimon. Both were men of war, and of brilliant exploits against the Barbarians, and yet they were mild and beneficent statesmen, in that they gave their countries unusual respite from civil strifes, though each one of them set up martial trophies and won victories that were famous.
3.1. ὁ δʼ οὖν Λούκουλλος ἐδόκει σκοποῦσιν ἡμῖν τῷ Κίμωνι παραβλητέος εἶναι. πολεμικοὶ γὰρ ἀμφότεροι καὶ πρὸς τοὺς βαρβάρους λαμπροί, πρᾷοι δὲ τὰ πολιτικὰ καὶ μάλιστα τῶν ἐμφυλίων στάσεων ἀναπνοὴν ταῖς πατρίσι παρασχόντες, ἕκαστος δέ τις αὐτῶν στήσαντες τρόπαια καὶ νίκας ἀνελόμενοι περιβοήτους.
3.2. No Hellene before Cimon and no Roman before Lucullus carried his wars into such remote lands, if we leave out of our account the exploits of Heracles and Dionysus, and whatever credible deeds of Perseus against the Aethiopians or Medes and Armenians, or of Jason, have been brought down in the memory of man from those early times to our own.
3.2. οὔτε γὰρ Ἑλλήνων Κίμωνος οὔτε Ῥωμαίων Λουκούλλου πρότερος οὐδεὶς οὕτω μακρὰν πολεμῶν προῆλθεν, ἔξω λόγου τιθεμένων τῶν καθʼ Ἡρακλέα καὶ Διόνυσον, εἴ τέ τι Περσέως πρὸς Αἰθίοπας ἢ Μήδους καὶ Ἀρμενίους ἢ Ἰάσονος ἔργον ἀξιόπιστον ἐκ τῶν τότε χρόνων μνήμῃ φερόμενον εἰς τοὺς νῦν ἀφῖκται.
3.3. Common also in a way to both their careers was the incompleteness of their campaigns. Each crushed, but neither gave the death blow to his antagonist. But more than all else, the lavish ease which marked their entertainments and hospitalities, as well as the ardour and laxity of their way of living, was conspicuous alike in both. Possibly we may omit still other resemblances, but it will not be hard to gather them directly from our story.
3.3. κοινὸν δέ πως αὐτῶν καὶ τὸ ἀτελὲς γέγονε τῆς στρατηγίας, ἑκατέρου μὲν συντρίψαντος, οὐδετέρου δὲ καταλύσαντος τὸν ἀνταγωνιστήν. μάλιστα δʼ ἡ περὶ τὰς ὑποδοχὰς καὶ τὰς φιλανθρωπίας ταύτας ὑγρότης καὶ δαψίλεια καὶ τὸ νεαρὸν καὶ ἀνειμένον ἐν τῇ διαίτῃ παραπλήσιον ἐπʼ ἀμφοτέρων ἰδεῖν ὑπάρχει. παραλείπομεν δʼ ἴσως καὶ ἄλλας τινὰς ὁμοιότητας, ἃς οὐ χαλεπὸν ἐκ τῆς διηγήσεως αὐτῆς συναγαγεῖν.
4.1. Cimon was the son of Miltiades by Hegesipyle, a woman of Thracian stock, daughter of King Olorus, as it is stated in the poems of Archelaus and Melanthius addressed to Cimon himself. That explains how it was that the father of Thucydides the historian—and Thucydides was connected with the family of Cimon—was also an Olorus, who referred his name back to that of the common ancestor, and also how it was that Thucydides had gold mines in Thrace.
4.1. Κίμων ὁ Μιλτιάδου μητρὸς ἦν Ἡγησιπύλης, γένος Θρᾴττης, θυγατρὸς Ὀλόρου τοῦ βασιλέως, ὡς ἐν τοῖς Ἀρχελάου καὶ Μελανθίου ποιήμασιν εἰς αὐτὸν Κίμωνα γεγραμμένοις ἱστόρηται. διὸ καὶ Θουκυδίδης ὁ ἱστορικὸς τοῖς περὶ Κίμωνα κατὰ γένος προσήκων Ὀλόρου τε πατρὸς ἦν, εἰς τὸν πρόγονον ἀναφέροντος τὴν ὁμωνυμίαν, καὶ τὰ χρυσεῖα περὶ τὴν Θρᾴκην ἐκέκτητο.
4.2. And it is said that Thucydides died in Skapte Hyle, a place in Thrace, having been murdered there; but his remains were brought to Attica, and his monument is shown among those of Cimon’s family, hard by the tomb of Elpinice, Cimon’s sister. However, Thucydides belonged to the deme of Halimus, the family of Miltiades to that of Laciadae.
4.2. καὶ τελευτῆσαι μὲν ἐν τῇ Σκαπτῇ ὓλῃ (τοῦτο δʼ ἔστι τῆς Θρᾴκης χωρίον)̓ λέγεται φονευθεὶς ἐκεῖ, μνῆμα δʼ αὐτοῦ τῶν λειψάνων εἰς τὴν Ἀττικὴν κομισθέντων ἐν τοῖς Κιμωνείοις δείκνυται παρὰ τὸν Ἐλπινίκης τῆς Κίμωνος ἀδελφῆς τάφον. ἀλλὰ Θουκυδίδης μὲν Ἁλιμούσιος γέγονε τῶν δήμων, οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Μιλτιάδην Λακιάδαι.
4.3. Now Miltiades, who had been condemned to pay a fine of fifty talents and confined till payment should be made, died in prison, and Cimon, thus left a mere stripling with his sister who was a young girl and unmarried, was of no account in the city at first. He had the bad name of being dissolute and bibulous, and of taking after his grandfather Cimon, who, they say, because of his simplicity, was dubbed Coalemus, or Booby.
4.3. Μιλτιάδης μὲν οὖν πεντήκοντα ταλάντων ὀφλὼν δίκην καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἔκτισιν εἱρχθεὶς ἐτελεύτησεν ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ, Κίμων δὲ μειράκιον παντάπασιν ἀπολειφθεὶς μετὰ τῆς ἀδελφῆς ἔτι κόρης οὔσης καὶ ἀγάμου τὸν πρῶτον ἠδόξει χρόνον ἐν τῇ πόλει καὶ κακῶς ἤκουεν ὡς ἄτακτος καὶ πολυπότης καὶ τῷ πάππῳ Κίμωνι προσεοικὼς τὴν φύσιν, ὃν διʼ εὐήθειάν φασι Κοάλεμον προσαγορευθῆναι.
4.4. And Stesimbrotus the Thasian, who was of about Cimon’s time, says that he acquired no literary education, nor any other liberal and distinctively Hellenic accomplishment; that he lacked entirely the Attic cleverness and fluency of speech; that in his outward bearing there was much nobility and truthfulness; that the fashion of the man’s spirit was rather Peloponnesian,Plain, unadorned, in a great crisis brave and true,as Euripides says of Heracles,, a citation which we may add to what Stesimbrotus wrote.
4.4. Στησίμβροτος δʼ ὁ Θάσιος περὶ τὸν αὐτὸν ὁμοῦ τι χρόνον τῷ Κίμωνι γεγονώς φησιν αὐτὸν οὔτε μουσικὴν οὔτε ἄλλο τι μάθημα τῶν ἐλευθερίων καὶ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἐπιχωριαζόντων ἐκδιδαχθῆναι, δεινότητός τε καὶ στωμυλίας Ἀττικῆς ὅλως ἀπηλλάχθαι, καὶ τῷ τρόπῳ πολὺ τὸ γενναῖον καὶ ἀληθὲς ἐνυπάρχειν, καὶ μᾶλλον εἶναι Πελοποννήσιον τὸ σχῆμα τῆς ψυχῆς τοῦ ἀνδρός,φαῦλον, ἄκομψον, τὰ μέγιστʼ ἀγαθόν,κατὰ τὸν Εὐριπίδειον Ἡρακλέα· ταῦτα γὰρ ἔστι τοῖς ὑπὸ τοῦ Στησιμβρότου γεγραμμένοις ἐπειπεῖν.
4.5. While he was still a youth he was accused of improper intercourse with his sister. And indeed in other cases too they say that Elpinice was not very decorous, but that she had improper relations also with Polygnotus the painter, and that it was for this reason that, in the Peisianacteum, as it was then called, but now the Painted Colonnade, when he was painting the Trojan women, he made the features of Laodice a portrait of Elpinice.
4.5. ἔτι δὲ νέος ὢν αἰτίαν ἔσχε πλησιάζειν τῇ ἀδελφῇ. καὶ γὰρ οὐδʼ ἄλλως τὴν Ἐλπινίκην εὔτακτόν τινα γεγονέναι λέγουσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς Πολύγνωτον ἐξαμαρτεῖν τὸν ζῳγράφον· καὶ διὰ τοῦτό φασιν ἐν τῇ Πεισιανακτείῳ τότε καλουμένῃ, Ποικίλῃ δὲ νῦν στοᾷ, γράφοντα τὰς Τρῳάδας τὸ τῆς Λαοδίκης ποιῆσαι πρόσωπον ἐν εἰκόνι τῆς Ἐλπινίκης.
4.6. Now Polygnotus was not a mere artisan, and did not paint the stoa for a contract price, but gratis, out of zeal for the welfare of the city, as the historians relate, and as Melanthius the poet testifies after this fashion:—He at his own lavish outlay the gods’ great fanes, and the marketNamed Cecropia, adorned; demigods’ valor his theme.
4.6. ὁ δὲ Πολύγνωτος οὐκ ἦν τῶν βαναύσων οὐδʼ ἀπʼ ἐργολαβίας ἔγραφε τὴν στοάν, ἀλλὰ προῖκα, φιλοτιμούμενος πρὸς τὴν πόλιν, ὡς οἵ τε συγγραφεῖς ἱστοροῦσι καὶ Μελάνθιος ὁ ποιητὴς λέγει τὸν τρόπον τοῦτον·αὑτοῦ γὰρ δαπάναισι θεῶν ναοὺς ἀγοράν τεΚεκροπίαν κόσμησʼ ἡμιθέων ἀρεταῖς.
4.7. Still, there are some who say that Elpinice did not live with Cimon in secret intercourse, but openly rather, as his wedded wife, because, on account of her poverty, she could not get a husband worthy of her high lineage; but that when Callias, a wealthy Athenian, fell in love with her, and offered to pay into the state treasury the fine which had been imposed upon her father, she consented herself, and Cimon freely gave Elpinice to Callias to wife.
4.7. εἰσὶ δʼ οἳ τὴν Ἐλπινίκην οὐ κρύφα τῷ Κίμωνι, φανερῶς δὲ γημαμένην συνοικῆσαι λέγουσιν, ἀξίου τῆς εὐγενείας νυμφίου διὰ τὴν πενίαν ἀποροῦσαν· ἐπεὶ δὲ Καλλίας τῶν εὐπόρων τις Ἀθήνησιν ἐρασθεὶς προσῆλθε τὴν ὑπὲρ τοῦ πατρὸς καταδίκην ἐκτίνειν ἕτοιμος ὢν πρὸς τὸ δημόσιον, αὐτήν τε πεισθῆναι καὶ τὸν Κίμωνα τῷ Καλλίᾳ συνοικίσαι τὴν Ἐλπινίκην.
4.8. However, it is perfectly apparent that Cimon was given to the love of women. Asteria, of a Salaminian family, and a certain Mnestra are mentioned by the poet Melanthius, in a sportive elegy addressed to Cimon, as wooed and won by him.
4.8. οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅλως φαίνεται τοῖς περὶ τὰς γυναῖκας ἐρωτικοῖς ὁ Κίμων ἔνοχος γενέσθαι. καὶ γὰρ Ἀστερίας τῷ γένει Σαλαμινίας καὶ πάλιν Μνήστρας τινὸς ὁ ποιητὴς Μελάνθιος μνημονεύει πρὸς τὸν Κίμωνα παίζων διʼ ἐλεγείας, ὡς σπουδαζομένων ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ.
4.9. And it is clear that he was even too passionately attached to his lawful wife, Isodice, the daughter of Euryptolemus and grand-daughter of Megacles, and that he was too sorely afflicted at her death, if we may judge from the elegy addressed to him for the mitigation of his grief. This was composed by the naturalist Archelaus, as Panaetius the philosopher thinks, and his conjecture is chronologically possible.
4.9. δῆλος δʼ ἐστὶ καὶ πρὸς Ἰσοδίκην τὴν Εὐρυπτολέμου μὲν θυγατέρα τοῦ Μεγακλέους, κατὰ νόμους δʼ αὐτῷ συμβιώσασαν ὁ Κίμων ἐμπαθέστερον διατεθεὶς καὶ δυσφορήσας ἀποθανούσης, εἴ τι δεῖ τεκμαίρεσθαι ταῖς γεγραμμέναις ἐπὶ παρηγορίᾳ τοῦ πένθους ἐλεγείαις πρὸς αὐτόν, ὧν Παναίτιος ὁ φιλόσοφος οἴεται ποιητὴν γεγονέναι τὸν φυσικὸν Ἀρχέλαον, οὐκ ἀπὸ τρόπου τοῖς χρόνοις εἰκάζων.
5.1. All other traits of Cimon’s character were admirable and noble. Neither in daring was he inferior to Miltiades, nor in sagacity to Themistocles, and it is admitted that he was a juster man than either, and that while not one whit behind them in the good qualities of a soldier, he was inconceivably their superior in those of a statesman, even when he was still young and untried in war.
5.1. τὰ δʼ ἄλλα πάντα τοῦ ἤθους ἀγαστὰ καὶ γενναῖα τοῦ Κίμωνος. οὔτε γὰρ τόλμῃ Μιλτιάδου λειπόμενος οὔτε συνέσει Θεμιστοκλέους, δικαιότερος ἀμφοῖν ὁμολογεῖται γενέσθαι, καὶ ταῖς πολεμικαῖς οὐδὲ μικρὸν ἀποδέων ἀρεταῖς ἐκείνων ἀμήχανον ὅσον ἐν ταῖς πολιτικαῖς ὑπερβαλέσθαι νέος ὢν ἔτι καὶ πολέμων ἄπειρος.
5.2. When the Medes made their invasion, and Themistocles was trying to persuade the people to give up their city, abandon their country, make a stand with their fleet off Salamis, and fight the issue at sea, most men were terrified at the boldness of the scheme; but lo! Cimon was first to act, and with a gay mien led a procession of his companions through the Cerameicus up to the Acropolis, to dedicate to the goddess there the horse’s bridle which he carried in his hands, signifying thus that what the city needed then was not knightly prowess but sea-fighters.
5.2. ὅτε γὰρ τὸν δῆμον ἐπιόντων Μήδων Θεμιστοκλῆς ἔπειθε προέμενον τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὴν χώραν ἐκλιπόντα πρὸ τῆς Σαλαμῖνος ἐν ταῖς ναυσὶ τὰ ὅπλα θέσθαι καὶ διαγωνίσασθαι κατὰ θάλατταν, ἐκπεπληγμένων τῶν πολλῶν τὸ τόλμημα πρῶτος Κίμων ὤφθη διὰ τοῦ Κεραμεικοῦ φαιδρὸς ἀνιὼν εἰς τὴν ἀκρόπολιν μετὰ τῶν ἑταίρων ἵππου τινὰ χαλινὸν ἀναθεῖναι τῇ θεῷ, διὰ χειρῶν κομίζων, ὡς οὐδὲν ἱππικῆς ἀλκῆς, ἀλλὰ ναυμάχων ἀνδρῶν ἐν τῷ παρόντι τῆς πόλεως δεομένης.
5.3. After he had dedicated his bridle, he took one of the shields which were hung up about the temple, addressed his prayers to the goddess, and went down to the sea, whereat many were first made to take heart. He was also of no mean presence, as Ion the poet says, but tall and stately, with an abundant and curly head of hair. And since he displayed brilliant and heroic qualities in the actual struggle at Salamis, he soon acquired reputation and good will in the city. Many thronged to him and besought him to purpose and perform at once what would be worthy of Marathon.
5.3. ἀναθεὶς δὲ τὸν χαλινὸν καὶ λαβὼν ἐκ τῶν περὶ τὸν ναὸν κρεμαμένων ἀσπίδων, καὶ προσευξάμενος τῇ θεῷ, κατέβαινεν ἐπὶ θάλασσαν, οὐκ ὀλίγοις ἀρχὴ τοῦ θαρρεῖν γενόμενος. ἦν δὲ καὶ τὴν ἰδέαν οὐ μεμπτός, ὡς Ἴων ὁ ποιητής φησιν, ἀλλὰ μέγας, οὔλῃ καὶ πολλῇ τριχὶ κομῶν τὴν κεφαλήν. φανεὶς δὲ καὶ κατʼ αὐτὸν τὸν ἀγῶνα λαμπρὸς καὶ ἀνδρώδης ταχὺ δόξαν ἐν τῇ πόλει μετʼ εὐνοίας ἔσχεν, ἀθροιζομένων πολλῶν πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ παρακαλούντων ἄξια τοῦ Μαραθῶνος ἤδη διανοεῖσθαι καὶ πράσσειν.
5.4. So when he entered politics the people gladly welcomed him, and promoted him, since they were full to surfeit of Themistocles, to the highest honors and offices in the city, for he was engaging and attractive to the common folk by reason of his gentleness and artlessness. But it was Aristides, son of Lysimachus, who more than any one else furthered his career, for he saw the fine features of his character, and made him, as it were, a foil to the cleverness and daring of Themistocles.
5.4. ὁρμήσαντα δʼ αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὴν πολιτείαν ἄσμενος ὁ δῆμος ἐδέξατο, καὶ μεστὸς ὢν τοῦ Θεμιστοκλέους ἀνῆγε πρὸς τὰς μεγίστας ἐν τῇ πόλει τιμὰς καὶ ἀρχάς, εὐάρμοστον ὄντα καὶ προσφιλῆ τοῖς πολλοῖς διὰ πρᾳότητα καὶ ἀφέλειαν. οὐχ ἥκιστα δὲ αὐτὸν ηὔξησεν Ἀριστείδης ὁ Λυσιμάχου, τὴν εὐφυΐαν ἐνορῶν τῷ ἤθει, καὶ ποιούμενος οἷον ἀντίπαλον πρὸς τὴν Θεμιστοκλέους δεινότητα καὶ τόλμαν.
6.1. After the flight of the Medes from Hellas, Cimon was sent out as a commander, before the Athenians had obtained their empire of the sea, and while they were still under the leadership of Pausanias and the Lacedaemonians. During this campaign, the citizen-soldiers he furnished on expeditions were always admirably disciplined and far more zealous than any others;
6.1. ἐπεὶ δὲ Μήδων φυγόντων ἐκ τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἐπέμφθη στρατηγός, κατὰ θάλατταν οὔπω τὴν ἀρχὴν Ἀθηναίων ἐχόντων, ἔτι δὲ Παυσανίᾳ τε καὶ Λακεδαιμονίοις ἑπομένων, πρῶτον μὲν ἐν ταῖς στρατείαις ἀεὶ παρεῖχε τοὺς πολίτας κόσμῳ τε θαυμαστοὺς καὶ προθυμίᾳ πολὺ πάντων διαφέροντας·
6.2. and again, while Pausanias was holding treasonable conference with the Barbarians, writing letters to the King, treating the allies with harsh arrogance, and displaying much wantonness of power and silly pretension, Cimon received with mildness those who brought their wrongs to him, treated them humanely, and so, before men were aware of it, secured the leadership of Hellas, not by force of arms, but by virtue of his address and character.
6.2. ἔπειτα Παυσανίου τοῖς μὲν βαρβάροις διαλεγομένου περὶ προδοσίας καὶ βασιλεῖ γράφοντος ἐπιστολάς, τοῖς δὲ συμμάχοις τραχέως καὶ αὐθαδῶς προσφερομένου καὶ πολλὰ διʼ ἐξουσίαν καὶ ὄγκον ἀνόητον ὑβρίζοντος, ὑπολαμβάνων πράως τοὺς ἀδικουμένους καὶ φιλανθρώπως ἐξομιλῶν ἔλαθεν οὐ διʼ ὅπλων τὴν τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἡγεμονίαν, ἀλλὰ λόγῳ καὶ ἤθει παρελόμενος.
6.3. For most of the allies, because they could not endure the severity and disdain of Pausanias, attached themselves to Cimon and Aristides, who had no sooner won this following than they sent also to the Ephors and told them, since Sparta had lost her prestige and Hellas was in confusion, to recall Pausanias.
6.3. προσετίθεντο γὰρ οἱ πλεῖστοι τῶν συμμάχων ἐκείνῳ τε καὶ Ἀριστείδῃ τὴν χαλεπότητα καὶ ὑπεροψίαν τοῦ Παυσανίου μὴ φέροντες. οἱ δὲ καὶ τούτους ἅμα προσήγοντο καὶ τοῖς ἐφόροις πέμποντες ἔφραζον, ὡς ἀδοξούσης τῆς Σπάρτης καὶ ταραττομένης τῆς Ἑλλάδος, ἀνακαλεῖν τὸν Παυσανίαν.
6.4. It is said that a maiden of Byzantium, of excellent parentage, Cleonice by name, was summoned by Pausanias for a purpose that would disgrace her. Her parents influenced by constraint and fear, abandoned their daughter to her fate, and she, after requesting the attendants before his chamber to remove the light, in darkness and silence at length drew near the couch on which Pausanias was asleep, but accidentally stumbled against the lamp-holder and upset it.
6.4. λέγεται δὲ παρθένον τινὰ Βυζαντίαν ἐπιφανῶν γονέων, ὄνομα Κλεονίκην, ἐπʼ αἰσχύνῃ τοῦ Παυσανίου μεταπεμπομένου, τοὺς μὲν γονεῖς ὑπʼ ἀνάγκης καὶ φόβου προέσθαι τὴν παῖδα, τὴν δὲ τῶν πρὸ τοῦ δωματίου δεηθεῖσαν ἀνελέσθαι τὸ φῶς, διὰ σκότους καὶ σιωπῆς τῇ κλίνῃ προσιοῦσαν ἤδη τοῦ Παυσανίου καθεύδοντος, ἐμπεσεῖν καὶ ἀνατρέψαι τὸ λυχνίον ἄκουσαν·
6.5. Pausanias, startled by the noise, drew the dagger which lay at his side, with the idea that some enemy was upon him, and smote and felled the maiden. After her death in consequence of the blow, she gave Pausanias no peace, but kept coming into his sleep by night in phantom form, wrathfully uttering this verse:—Draw thou nigh to thy doom;’tis evil for men to be wanton.At this outrage the allies were beyond measure incensed, and joined Cimon in forcing Pausanias to give up the city.
6.5. τὸν δʼ ὑπὸ τοῦ ψόφου ταραχθέντα καὶ σπασάμενον τὸ παρακείμενον ἐγχειρίδιον, ὥς τινος ἐπʼ αὐτὸν ἐχθροῦ βαδίζοντος, πατάξαι καὶ καταβαλεῖν τὴν παρθένον, ἐκ δὲ τῆς πληγῆς ἀποθανοῦσαν αὐτὴν οὐκ ἐᾶν τὸν Παυσανίαν ἡσυχάζειν, ἀλλὰ νύκτωρ εἴδωλον αὐτῷ φοιτῶσαν εἰς τὸν ὕπνον ὀργῇ λέγειν τόδε τὸ ἡρῷον·στεῖχε δίκης ἆσσον· μάλα τοι κακὸν ἀνδράσιν ὕβρις.ἐφʼ ᾧ καὶ μάλιστα χαλεπῶς ἐνεγκόντες οἱ σύμμαχοι μετὰ τοῦ Κίμωνος ἐξεπολιόρκησαν αὐτόν.
6.6. Driven from Byzantium, and still harassed by the phantom, as the story goes, he had recourse to the ghost-oracle of Heracleia, and summoning up the spirit of Cleonice, besought her to forgo her wrath. She came into his presence and said that he would soon cease from his troubles on coming to Sparta, thus darkly intimating, as it seems, his impending death. At any rate, this tale is told by many.
6.6. ὁ δʼ ἐκπεσὼν τοῦ Βυζαντίου καὶ τῷ φάσματι ταραττόμενος, ὡς λέγεται, κατέφυγε πρὸς τὸ νεκυομαντεῖον εἰς Ἡράκλειαν, καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν ἀνακαλούμενος τῆς Κλεονίκης παρῃτεῖτο τὴν ὀργήν. ἡ δʼ εἰς ὄψιν ἐλθοῦσα ταχέως ἔφη παύσεσθαι τῶν κακῶν αὐτὸν ἐν Σπάρτῃ γενόμενον, αἰνιττομένη, ὡς ἔοικε, τὴν μέλλουσαν αὐτῷ τελευτήν. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ὑπὸ πολλῶν ἱστόρηται.
7.1. But Cimon, now that the allies had attached themselves to him, took command of them and sailed to Thrace, for he heard that men of rank among the Persians and kinsmen of the King held possession of Eion, a city on the banks of the Strymon, and were harassing the Hellenes in that vicinity.
7.1. Κίμων δέ, τῶν συμμάχων ἤδη προσκεχωρηκότων αὐτῷ, στρατηγὸς εἰς Θρᾴκην ἔπλευσε, πυνθανόμενος Περσῶν ἄνδρας ἐνδόξους καὶ συγγενεῖς βασιλέως Ἠϊόνα πόλιν παρὰ τῷ Στρυμόνι κειμένην ποταμῷ κατέχοντας ἐνοχλεῖν τοῖς περὶ τὸν τόπον ἐκεῖνον Ἕλλησι.
7.2. First he defeated the Persians themselves in battle and shut them up in the city; then he expelled from their homes above the Strymon the Thracians from whom the Persians had been getting provisions, put the whole country under guard, and brought the besieged to such straits that Butes, the King’s general, gave up the struggle, set fire to the city, and destroyed with it his family, his treasures, and himself.
7.2. πρῶτον μὲν οὖν αὐτοὺς μάχῃ τοὺς Πέρσας ἐνίκησε καὶ κατέκλεισεν εἰς τὴν πόλιν· ἔπειτα τοὺς ὑπὲρ Στρυμόνα Θρᾷκας, ὅθεν αὐτοῖς ἐφοίτα σῖτος, ἀναστάτους ποιῶν καὶ τὴν χώραν παραφυλάττων ἅπασαν εἰς τοσαύτην ἀπορίαν τοὺς πολιορκουμένους κατέστησεν, ὥστε Βούτην τὸν βασιλέως στρατηγὸν ἀπογνόντα τὰ πράγματα τῇ πόλει πῦρ ἐνεῖναι καὶ συνδιαφθεῖραι μετὰ τῶν φίλων καὶ τῶν χρημάτων ἑαυτόν.
7.3. And so it was that though Cimon took the city, he gained no other memorable advantage thereby, since most of its treasures had been burned up with the Barbarians; but the surrounding territory was very fertile and fair, and this he turned over to the Athenians for occupation. Wherefore the people permitted him to dedicate the stone Hermae, on the first of which is the inscription:— Valorous-hearted as well were they who at Eion fighting,Facing the sons of the Medes, Strymon’s current beside,Fiery famine arrayed, and gore-flecked Ares, against them,Thus first finding for foes that grim exit,—despair;and on the second:—Unto their leaders reward by Athenians thus hath been given;Benefits won such return, valorous deeds of the brave. All the more strong at the sight will the men of the future be eager,Fighting for commonwealth, war’s dread strife to maintain;
7.3. οὕτω δὲ λαβὼν τὴν πόλιν ἄλλο μὲν οὐδὲν ἀξιόλογον ὠφελήθη, τῶν πλείστων τοῖς βαρβάροις συγκατακαέντων, τὴν δὲ χώραν εὐφυεστάτην οὖσαν καὶ καλλίστην οἰκῆσαι παρέδωκε τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις. καὶ τοὺς Ἑρμᾶς αὐτῷ τοὺς λιθίνους ὁ δῆμος ἀναθεῖναι συνεχώρησεν, ὧν ἐπιγέγραπται τῷ μὲν πρώτῳ· ἦν ἄρα κἀκεῖνοι ταλακάρδιοι, οἵ ποτε Μήδωνπαισὶν ἐπʼ Ἠϊόνι, Στρυμόνος ἀμφὶ ῥοάς,λιμόν τʼ αἴθωνα κρυερόν τʼ ἐπάγοντες Ἄρηαπρῶτοι δυσμενέων εὗρον ἀμηχανίην.τῷ δὲ δευτέρῳ·ἡγεμόνεσσι δὲ μισθὸν Ἀθηναῖοι τάδʼ ἔδωκανἀντʼ εὐεργεσίης καὶ μεγάλων ἀγαθῶν.μᾶλλόν τις τάδʼ ἰδὼν καὶ ἐπεσσομένων ἐθελήσειἀμφὶ περὶ ξυνοῖς πράγμασι δῆριν ἔχειν.
7.5. and on the third:—With the Atridae of old, from this our city, MenestheusLed his men to the plain Trojan called and divine.He, once Homer asserted, among well-armoured Achaeans,Marshaller was of the fight, best of them all who had come.Thus there is naught unseemly in giving that name to Athenians;Marshallers they both of war and of the vigor of men.
7.5. τῷ δὲ τρίτῳ·ἔκ ποτε τῆσδε πόληος ἅμʼ Ἀτρείδῃσι Μενεσθεὺςἡγεῖτο ζάθεον Τρωϊκὸν ἐς πεδίον·ὅν ποθʼ Ὅμηρος ἔφη Δαναῶν πύκα θωρηκτάωνκοσμητῆρα μάχης ἔξοχον ὄντα μολεῖν.οὕτως οὐδὲν ἀεικὲς Ἀθηναίοισι καλεῖσθαι κοσμηταῖςπολέμου τʼ ἀμφὶ καὶ ἠνορέης.
8.1. Although these inscriptions nowhere mentioned Cimon by name, his contemporaries held them to be a surpassing honor for him. Neither Themistocles nor Miltiades achieved any such, nay, when the latter asked for a crown of olive merely, Sophanes the Deceleian rose up in the midst of the assembly and protested. His speech was ungracious, but it pleased the people of that day. “When,” said he, “thou hast fought out alone a victory over the Barbarians, then demand to be honored alone.”
8.1. ταῦτα καίπερ οὐδαμοῦ τὸ Κίμωνος ὄνομα δηλοῦντα τιμῆς ὑπερβολὴν ἔχειν ἐδόκει τοῖς τότε ἀνθρώποις. οὔτε γὰρ Θεμιστοκλῆς τοιούτου τινὸς οὔτε Μιλτιάδης ἔτυχεν, ἀλλὰ τούτῳ γε θαλλοῦ στέφανον αἰτοῦντι Σωφάνης ὁ Δεκελεὺς ἐκ μέσου τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἀναστὰς ἀντεῖπεν, οὐκ εὐγνώμονα μέν, ἀρέσασαν δὲ τῷ δήμῳ τότε φωνὴν ἀφείς· ὅταν γάρ, ἔφη, μόνος ἀγωνισάμενος, ὦ Μιλτιάδη, νικήσῃς τοὺς βαρβάρους, τότε καὶ τιμᾶσθαι μόνος ἀξίου.
8.2. Why, then, were the people so excessively pleased with the achievement of Cimon? Perhaps it was because when the others were their generals they were trying to repel their enemies and so avert disaster; but when he led them they were enabled to ravage the land of their enemies with incursions of their own, and acquired fresh territories for settlement, not only Eion itself, but also Amphipolis.
8.2. διὰ τί τοίνυν τὸ Κίμωνος ὑπερηγάπησαν ἔργον; ἢ ὅτι τῶν μὲν ἄλλων στρατηγούντων ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ παθεῖν ἠμύνοντο τοὺς πολεμίους, τούτου δὲ καὶ ποιῆσαι κακῶς ἠδυνήθησαν ἐπὶ τὴν ἐκείνων αὐτοὶ στρατεύσαντες, καὶ προσεκτήσαντο χώρας αὐτήν τε τὴν Ἠϊόνα καὶ τὴν Ἀμφίπολιν οἰκίσαντες;
8.3. They settled Scyros too, which Cimon seized for the following reason. Dolopians were living on the island, but they were poor tillers of the soil. So they practised piracy on the high sea from of old, and finally did not withhold their hands even from those who put into their ports and had dealings with them, but robbed some Thessalian merchants who had cast anchor at Ctesium, and threw them into prison.
8.3. ὤικισαν δὲ καὶ Σκῦρον ἑλόντος Κίμωνος ἐξ αἰτίας τοιαύτης. Δόλοπες ᾤκουν τὴν νῆσον, ἐργάται κακοὶ γῆς· ληϊζόμενοι δὲ τὴν θάλασσαν ἐκ παλαιοῦ, τελευτῶντες οὐδὲ τῶν εἰσπλεόντων παρʼ αὐτοὺς καὶ χρωμένων ἀπείχοντο ξένων, ἀλλὰ Θετταλούς τινας ἐμπόρους περὶ τὸ Κτήσιον ὁρμισαμένους συλήσαντες εἷρξαν.
8.4. When these men had escaped from bondage and won their suit against the city at the Amphictyonic assembly, the people of Scyros were not willing to make restitution, but called on those who actually held the plunder to give it back. The robbers, in terror, sent a letter to Cimon, urging him to come with his fleet to seize the city, and they would give it up to him.
8.4. ἐπεὶ δὲ διαδράντες ἐκ τῶν δεσμῶν οἱ ἄνθρωποι δίκην κατεδικάσαντο τῆς πόλεως Ἀμφικτυονικήν, οὐ βουλομένων τὰ χρήματα τῶν πολλῶν συνεκτίνειν, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἔχοντας καὶ διηρπακότας ἀποδοῦναι κελευόντων, δείσαντες ἐκεῖνοι πέμπουσι γράμματα πρὸς Κίμωνα, κελεύοντες ἥκειν μετὰ τῶν νεῶν ληψόμενον τὴν πόλιν ὑπʼ αὐτῶν ἐνδιδομένην.
8.5. In this manner Cimon got possession of the island, drove out the Dolopians and made the Aegean a free sea. On learning that the ancient Theseus, son of Aegeus, had fled in exile from Athens to Scyros, but had been treacherously put to death there, through fear, by Lycomedes the king, Cimon eagerly sought to discover his grave.
8.5. παραλαβὼν δʼ οὕτω τὴν νῆσον ὁ Κίμων τοὺς μὲν Δόλοπας ἐξήλασε καὶ τὸν Αἰγαῖον ἠλευθέρωσε, πυνθανόμενος δὲ τὸν παλαιὸν Θησέα τὸν Αἰγέως φυγόντα μὲν ἐξ Ἀθηνῶν εἰς Σκῦρον, αὐτοῦ δʼ ἀποθανόντα δόλῳ διὰ φόβον ὑπὸ Λυκομήδους τοῦ βασιλέως, ἐσπούδασε τὸν τάφον ἀνευρεῖν.
8.6. For the Athenians had once received an oracle bidding them bring back the bones of Theseus to the city and honor him as became a hero, but they knew not where he lay buried, since the Scyrians would not admit the truth of the story, nor permit any search to be made. Now, however, Cimon set to work with great ardour, discovered at last the hallowed spot, had the bones bestowed in his own trireme, and with general pomp and show brought them back to the hero’s own country after an absence of about four hundred years. This was the chief reason why the people took kindly to him.
8.6. καὶ γὰρ ἦν χρησμὸς Ἀθηναίοις τὰ Θησέως λείψανα κελεύων ἀνακομίζειν εἰς ἄστυ καὶ τιμᾶν ὡς ἥρωα πρεπόντως, ἀλλʼ ἠγνόουν ὅπου κεῖται, Σκυρίων οὐχ ὁμολογούντων οὐδʼ ἐώντων ἀναζητεῖν. τότε δὴ πολλῇ φιλοτιμίᾳ τοῦ σηκοῦ μόγις ἐξευρεθέντος, ἐνθέμενος ὁ Κίμων εἰς τὴν αὑτοῦ τριήρη τὰ ὀστᾶ καὶ τἆλλα κοσμήσας μεγαλοπρεπῶς κατήγαγεν εἰς τὴν αὐτοῦ διʼ ἐτῶν σχεδὸν τετρακοσίων. ἐφʼ ᾧ καὶ μάλιστα πρὸς αὐτὸν ἡδέως ὁ δῆμος ἔσχεν.
8.7. But they also cherished in kindly remembrance of him that decision of his in the tragic contests which became so famous. When Sophocles, still a young man, entered the lists with his first plays, Apsephion the Archon, seeing that the spirit of rivalry and partisanship ran high among the spectators, did not appoint the judges of the contest as usual by lot, but when Cimon and his fellow-generals advanced into the theater and made the customary libation to the god, he would not suffer them to depart, but forced them to take the oath and sit as judges, being ten in all, one from each tribe.
8.7. ἔθεντο δʼ εἰς μνήμην αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν τῶν τραγῳδῶν κρίσιν ὀνομαστὴν γενομένην. πρώτην γὰρ διδασκαλίαν τοῦ Σοφοκλέους ἔτι νέου καθέντος, Ἀψεφίων ὁ ἄρχων, φιλονεικίας οὔσης καὶ παρατάξεως τῶν θεατῶν, κριτὰς μὲν οὐκ ἐκλήρωσε τοῦ ἀγῶνος, ὡς δὲ Κίμων μετὰ τῶν συστρατήγων προελθὼν εἰς τὸ θέατρον ἐποιήσατο τῷ θεῷ τὰς νενομισμένας σπονδάς, οὐκ ἀφῆκεν αὐτοὺς ἀπελθεῖν, ἀλλʼ ὁρκώσας ἠνάγκασε καθίσαι καὶ κρῖναι δέκα ὄντας, ἀπὸ φυλῆς μιᾶς ἕκαστον.
8.8. So, then, the contest, even because of the unusual dignity of the judges, was more animated than ever before. But Sophocles came off victorious and it is said that Aeschylus, in great distress and indignation thereat, lingered only a little while at Athens, and then went off in anger to Sicily. There he died also, and is buried near Gela.
8.8. ὁ μὲν οὖν ἀγὼν καὶ διὰ τὸ τῶν κριτῶν ἀξίωμα τὴν φιλοτιμίαν ὑπερέβαλε. νικήσαντος δὲ τοῦ Σοφοκλέους λέγεται τὸν Αἰσχύλον περιπαθῆ γενόμενον καὶ βαρέως ἐνεγκόντα χρόνον οὐ πολὺν Ἀθήνησι διαγαγεῖν, εἶτʼ οἴχεσθαι διʼ ὀργὴν εἰς Σικελίαν, ὅπου καὶ τελευτήσας περὶ Γέλαν τέθαπται.
9.1. Ion says that, coming from Chios to Athens as a mere stripling, he was once a fellow-guest with Cimon at a dinner given by Laomedon, and that over the wine the hero was invited to sing, and did sing very agreeably, and was praised by the guests as a cleverer man than Themistocles. That hero, they said, declared that he had not learned to sing, nor even to play the lyre, but knew how to make a city great and rich.
9.1. συνδειπνῆσαι δὲ τῷ Κίμωνί φησιν ὁ Ἴων παντάπασι μειράκιον ἥκων εἰς Ἀθήνας ἐκ Χίου παρὰ Λαομέδοντι· καὶ τῶν σπονδῶν γενομένων παρακληθέντος ᾆσαι, καὶ ἄσαντος οὐκ ἀηδῶς ἐπαινεῖν τοὺς παρόντας ὡς δεξιώτερον Θεμιστοκλέους· ἐκεῖνον γὰρ ᾄδειν μὲν οὐ φάναι μαθεῖν οὐδὲ κιθαρίζειν, πόλιν δὲ ποιῆσαι μεγάλην καὶ πλουσίαν ἐπίστασθαι·
9.2. Next, Ion says, as was natural over the cups, the conversation drifted to the exploits of Cimon, and as his greatest deeds were being recounted, the hero himself dwelt at length on one particular stratagem which he thought his shrewdest. Once, he said, when the Athenians and their allies had taken many barbarian prisoners at Sestos and Byzantium and turned them over to him for distribution, he put into one lot the persons of the captives, and into another the rich adornments of their bodies, and his distribution was blamed as unequal.
9.2. τοὐντεῦθεν, οἷον εἰκὸς ἐν πότῳ, τοῦ λόγου ῥυέντος ἐπὶ τὰς πράξεις τοῦ Κίμωνος καὶ μνημονευομένων τῶν μεγίστων, αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον ἓν διελθεῖν στρατήγημα τῶν ἰδίων ὡς σοφώτατον. ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἐκ Σηστοῦ καὶ Βυζαντίου πολλοὺς τῶν βαρβάρων αἰχμαλώτους λαβόντες οἱ σύμμαχοι τῷ Κίμωνι διανεῖμαι προσέταξαν, ὁ δὲ χωρὶς μὲν αὐτούς, χωρὶς δὲ τὸν περὶ τοῖς σώμασι κόσμον αὐτῶν ἔθηκεν, ᾐτιῶντο τὴν διανομὴν ὡς ἄνισον.
9.3. But he bade the allies choose one of the lots, and the Athenians would be content with whichever one they left. So, on the advice of Herophytus the Samian to choose Persian wealth rather than Persians, the Allies took the rich adornments for themselves, and left the prisoners for the Athenians. At the time Cimon came off with the reputation of being a ridiculous distributor, since the allies had their gold anklets and armlets and collars and jackets and purple robes to display, while the Athenians got only naked bodies ill-trained for labour.
9.3. ὁ δὲ τῶν μερίδων ἐκέλευσεν αὐτοὺς ἑλέσθαι τὴν ἑτέραν, ἣν δʼ ἂν ἐκεῖνοι καταλίπωσιν, ἀγαπήσειν Ἀθηναίους. Ἡροφύτου δὲ τοῦ Σαμίου συμβουλεύσαντος αἱρεῖσθαι τὰ Περσῶν μᾶλλον ἢ Πέρσας, τὸν μὲν κόσμον αὐτοὶ ἔλαβον, Ἀθηναίοις δὲ τοὺς αἰχμαλώτους ἀπέλιπον. καὶ τότε μὲν ὁ Κίμων ἀπῄει γελοῖος εἶναι δοκῶν διανομεύς, τῶν μὲν συμμάχων ψέλια χρυσᾶ καὶ μανιάκας καὶ στρεπτοὺς καὶ κάνδυας καὶ πορφύραν φερομένων, τῶν δʼ Ἀθηναίων γυμνὰ σώματα κακῶς ἠσκημένα πρὸς ἐργασίαν παραλαβόντων.
9.4. But a little while after, the friends and kinsmen of the captives came down from Phrygia and Lydia and ransomed every one of them at a great price, so that Cimon had four months’ pay and rations for his fleet, and besides that, much gold from the ransoms was left over for the city.
9.4. μικρὸν δὲ ὕστερον οἱ τῶν ἑαλωκότων φίλοι καὶ οἰκεῖοι καταβαίνοντες ἐκ Φρυγίας καὶ Λυδίας ἐλυτροῦντο μεγάλων χρημάτων ἕκαστον, ὥστε τῷ Κίμωνι τεσσάρων μηνῶν τροφὰς εἰς τὰς ναῦς ὑπάρξαι καὶ προσέτι τῇ πόλει χρυσίον οὐκ ὀλίγον ἐκ τῶν λύτρων περιγενέσθαι.
10.1. And since he was already wealthy, Cimon lavished the revenues from his campaign, which he was thought to have won with honor from the enemy, to his still greater honor, on his fellow-citizens. He took away the fences from his fields, that strangers and needy citizens might have it in their power to take fearlessly of the fruits of the land; and every day he gave a dinner at his house—simple, it is true, but sufficient for many, to which any poor man who wished came in, and so received a maintenance which cost him no effort and left him free to devote himself solely to public affairs.
10.1. ἤδη δʼ εὐπορῶν ὁ Κίμων ἐφόδια τῆς στρατηγίας ἃ καλῶς ἀπὸ τῶν πολεμίων ἔδοξεν ὠφελῆσθαι κάλλιον ἀνήλισκεν εἰς τοὺς πολίτας. τῶν τε γὰρ ἀγρῶν τοὺς φραγμοὺς ἀφεῖλεν, ἵνα καὶ τοῖς ξένοις καὶ τῶν πολιτῶν τοῖς δεομένοις ἀδεῶς ὑπάρχῃ λαμβάνειν τῆς ὀπώρας, καὶ δεῖπνον οἴκοι παρʼ αὐτῷ λιτὸν μέν, ἀρκοῦν δὲ πολλοῖς, ἐποιεῖτο καθʼ ἡμέραν, ἐφʼ ὃ τῶν πενήτων ὁ βουλόμενος εἰσῄει καὶ διατροφὴν εἶχεν ἀπράγμονα, μόνοις τοῖς δημοσίοις σχολάζων.
10.2. But Aristotle says that it was not for all Athenians, but only for his own demesmen, the Laciadae, that he provided a free dinner. He was constantly attended by young comrades in fine attire, each one of whom, whenever an elderly citizen in needy array came up, was ready to exchange raiment with him. The practice made a deep impression.
10.2. ὡς δʼ Ἀριστοτέλης φησίν, οὐχ ἁπάντων Ἀθηναίων, ἀλλὰ τῶν δημοτῶν αὐτοῦ Λακιαδῶν παρεσκευάζετο τῷ βουλομένῳ τὸ δεῖπνον. αὐτῷ δὲ νεανίσκοι παρείποντο συνήθεις ἀμπεχόμενοι καλῶς, ὧν ἕκαστος, εἴ τις συντύχοι τῷ Κίμωνι τῶν ἀστῶν πρεσβύτερος ἠμφιεσμένος ἐνδεῶς, διημείβετο πρὸς αὐτὸν τὰ ἱμάτια· καὶ τὸ γινόμενον ἐφαίνετο σεμνόν.
10.3. These same followers also carried with them a generous sum of money, and going up to poor men of finer quality in the market-place, they would quietly thrust small change into their hands. To such generosity as this Cratinus seems to have referred in his Archilochi, with the words:— Yes, I too hoped, Metrobius, I, the public scribe,Along with man divine, the rarest host that lives,In every way the best of all Hellenic men,With Cimon, feasting out in joy a sleek old age,To while away the remnant of my life.
10.3. οἱ δʼ αὐτοὶ καὶ νόμισμα κομίζοντες ἄφθονον παριστάμενοι τοῖς κομψοῖς τῶν πενήτων ἐν ἀγορᾷ σιωπῇ τῶν κερματίων ἐνέβαλλον εἰς τὰς χεῖρας. ὧν δὴ καὶ Κρατῖνος ὁ κωμικὸς ἐν Ἀρχιλόχοις ἔοικε μεμνῆσθαι διὰ τούτων·
10.4. But heHas gone before and left me. And again, Georgias the Leontine says that Cimon made money that he might spend it, and spent it that he might he honored for it. And Critias, one of the thirty tyrants, prays in his elegies that he may havethe wealth of the Scopadae, the great-mindedness of Cimon,and the victories of Arcesilaus of Lacedaemon.And yet we know that Lichas the Spartan became famous among the Hellenes for no other reason than that he entertained the strangers at the boys’ gymnastic festival; but the generosity of Cimon surpassed even the hospitality and philanthropy of the Athenians of olden time.
10.4. κἀγὼ γὰρ ηὔχουν Μητρόβιος ὁ γραμματεὺςσὺν ἀνδρὶ θείῳ καὶ φιλοξενωτάτῳκαὶ πάντʼ ἀρίστῳ τῶν Πανελλήνων πρὸ τοῦΚίμωνι λιπαρὸν γῆρας εὐωχούμενοςαἰῶνα πάντα συνδιατρίψειν. ὁ δὲλιπὼν βέβηκε πρότερος. ἔτι τοίνυν Γοργίας μὲν ὁ Λεοντῖνός φησι τὸν Κίμωνα τὰ χρήματα κτᾶσθαι μὲν ὡς χρῷτο, χρῆσθαι δὲ ὡς τιμῷτο, Κριτίας δὲ τῶν τριάκοντα γενόμενος ἐν ταῖς ἐλεγείαις εὔχεται·πλοῦτον μὲν Σκοπαδῶν, μεγαλοφροσύνην δὲ Κίμωνος,νίκας δʼ Ἀρκεσίλα τοῦ Λακεδαιμονίου. καίτοι Λίχαν γε τὸν Σπαρτιάτην ἀπʼ οὐδενὸς ἄλλου γινώσκομεν ἐν τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ὀνομαστὸν γενόμενον ἢ ὅτι τοὺς ξένους ἐν ταῖς γυμνοπαιδίαις ἐδείπνιζεν· ἡ δὲ Κίμωνος ἀφθονία καὶ τὴν παλαιὰν τῶν Ἀθηναίων φιλοξενίαν καὶ φιλανθρωπίαν ὑπερέβαλεν.
10.6. For they—and their city is justly very proud of it—spread abroad among the Hellenes the sowing of grain and the lustral uses of spring waters, and taught mankind who knew it not the art of kindling fire. But he made his home in the city a general public residence for his fellow citizens, and on his estates in the country allowed even the stranger to take and use the choicest of the ripened fruits, with all the fair things which the seasons bring. Thus, in a certain fashion, he restored to human life the fabled communism of the age of Cronus,—the golden age.
10.6. οἱ μὲν γάρ, ἐφʼ οἷς ἡ πόλις μέγα φρονεῖ δικαίως, τό τε σπέρμα τῆς τροφῆς εἰς τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἐξέδωκαν ὑδάτων τε πηγαίων … καὶ πυρὸς ἔναυσιν χρῄζουσιν ἀνθρώποις ἐδίδαξαν, ὁ δὲ τὴν μὲν οἰκίαν τοῖς πολίταις πρυτανεῖον ἀποδείξας κοινόν, ἐν δὲ τῇ χώρᾳ καρπῶν ἑτοίμων ἀπαρχὰς καὶ ὅσα ὧραι καλὰ φέρουσι χρῆσθαι καὶ λαμβάνειν ἅπαντα τοῖς ξένοις παρέχων, τρόπον τινὰ τὴν ἐπὶ Κρόνου μυθολογουμένην κοινωνίαν εἰς τὸν βίον αὖθις κατῆγεν.
10.7. Those who slanderously said that this was flattery of the rabble and demagogic art in him, were refuted by the man’s political policy, which was aristocratic and Laconian. He actually opposed Themistocles when he exalted the democracy unduly, as Aristides also did. Later on he took hostile issue with Ephialtes, who, to please the people, tried to dethrone the Council of the Areiopagus;
10.7. οἱ δὲ ταῦτα κολακείαν ὄχλου καὶ δημαγωγίαν εἶναι διαβάλλοντες ὑπὸ τῆς ἄλλης ἐξηλέγχοντο τοῦ ἀνδρὸς προαιρέσεως ἀριστοκρατικῆς καὶ Λακωνικῆς οὔσης, ὅς γε καὶ Θεμιστοκλεῖ πέρα τοῦ δέοντος ἐπαίροντι τὴν δημοκρατίαν ἀντέβαινε μετʼ Ἀριστείδου, καὶ πρὸς Ἐφιάλτην ὕστερον χάριτι τοῦ δήμου καταλύοντα τὴν ἐξ Ἀρείου πάγου βουλὴν διηνέχθη, λημμάτων δὲ δημοσίων τοὺς ἄλλους πλὴν Ἀριστείδου καὶ Ἐφιάλτου πάντας ἀναπιμπλαμένους ὁρῶν, αὑτὸν ἀδέκαστον καὶ ἄθικτον ἐκ τῇ πολιτείᾳ δωροδοκίας καὶ πάντα προῖκα καὶ καθαρῶς πράττοντα καὶ λέγοντα διὰ τέλους παρέσχε.