Athenian politician and general (c. 524–459 BC)
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He turned Athens into a naval power and tricked the Persian fleet into a narrow strait where it was destroyed — the victory at Salamis in 480 BC broke the invasion and saved Greece. Then his own city exiled him, and he ended his life governing a Persian province.
Themistocles came from outside the Athenian aristocracy and rose through populist support in the early democracy. Elected archon in 493 BC, he spent years arguing that Athens needed ships, and in 483 BC convinced the city to build 200 triremes. When Persia invaded in 480 BC, he commanded the Athenian navy and used subterfuge to lure the enemy into the Straits of Salamis, where the Greeks won decisively and turned the war. After the threat passed, he ordered Athens re-fortified, enraging Sparta; his arrogance wore thin at home, and in 472 or 471 BC Athens ostracised him. The Spartans accused hi…
Sourced, dated quotes from Themistocles
I never learned how to tune a harp, or play upon a lute; but I know how to raise a small and inconsiderable city to glory and greatness.
May I never sit on a tribunal where my friends shall not find more favor from me than strangers.
Strike, if you will, but hear.
For the Athenians command the rest of Greece, I command the Athenians; your mother commands me, and you command your mother.
I have with me two gods, Persuasion and Compulsion.
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