Aristides
Athenian general and statesman (530-468 BC) · Politicians · Lived 540 BC to 467 BC · aged 73
An Athenian general who fought the Persians and somehow earned the nickname "the Just" - rare in any era, rarer still in one where politics meant exile, backstabbing, and mob rule.
Aristides is read about 173 times a day, in 40 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 12 November 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 114 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?A life in dates
Media & music
Photos 8
Augustins - Aristide, 1806 - Charles Brocas
1-3 - Stoà of Attalus Museum - Ostraka against Perikles, Kimon, Aristeides - Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto, Nov 9 2009
1238 - Keramikos Museum, Athens - Ostrakon against Aristides, son of Lysimachos - Photo by Giovanni Dall CROPPED
1238 - Keramikos Museum, Athens - Ostrakon against Aristides, son of Lysimachos - Photo by Giovanni Dall_-_Photo_by_Giovanni_Dall'Orto%2C_Nov_9_2009.jpg?width=1200)
16 - Stoà of Attalus Museum - Ostracism against Aristeides (483 BC) - Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto, Nov 9 2009
Franciszek Smuglewicz - Banishment of Aristeides from Athens_-_Photo_by_Giovanni_Dall'Orto%2C_Nov_9_2009.jpg?width=1200)
18 - Stoà of Attalus Museum - Ostracism against Aristeides (483 BC) - Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto, Nov 9 2009_-_Photo_by_Giovanni_Dall'Orto%2C_Nov_9_2009.jpg?width=1200)
20 - Stoà of Attalus Museum - Ostracism against Aristeides (483 BC) - Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto, Nov 9 2009About this person
Aristides came up in Athens at the start of its Classical period, around 530 BC, and made his name as a statesman and military commander during the Persian Wars. Herodotus called him "the best and most honourable man in Athens" - high praise from a historian not known for sentiment. That reputation for fairness stuck: contemporaries tagged him "the Just", and the label held through Plato's later dialogues, where Socrates held him up as a model. He died around 468 BC, leaving behind a legacy built less on battlefield glory than on the odd distinction of being trusted in a city that rarely trusted anyone.
