Cimon | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | c. 510 BC |
| Died | 450 BC (agedc. 59–60) |
| Allegiance | Athens |
| Rank | Strategos (general) |
| Conflicts | Persian Wars andWars of the Delian League: |
| Children | Lacedaemonius Oulius Thessalus Cimon Miltiades Peisianax[1] |
| Relations | Miltiades (Father)[1] |
Cimon orKimon[pronunciation?] (Ancient Greek:Κίμων,romanized: Kimōn;c. 510 – 450 BC)[1] was anAthenianstrategos (general and admiral) and politician.
He was the son ofMiltiades, also an Athenianstrategos. Cimon rose to prominence for his bravery fighting in the navalBattle of Salamis (480 BC), during theSecond Persian invasion of Greece. Cimon was then elected as one of the tenstrategoi, to continue thePersian Wars against theAchaemenid Empire. He played a leading role in the formation of theDelian League against Persia in 478 BC, becoming its commander in the earlyWars of the Delian League, including at theSiege of Eion (476 BC).
In 466 BC, Cimon led a force toAsia Minor, where he destroyed a Persian fleet and army at theBattle of the Eurymedon river. From 465 to 463 BC he suppressed theThasian rebellion, in which the island ofThasos attempted to leave the Delian League. This event marked the transformation of the Delian League into theAthenian Empire.
Cimon took an increasingly prominent role in Athenian politics, generally supporting the aristocrats and opposing the popular party (which sought to expand theAthenian democracy). Alaconist, Cimon also acted asSparta'srepresentative in Athens. In 462 BC, he convinced theAthenian Assembly to send military support to Sparta, where thehelots were in revolt (theThird Messenian War). Cimon personally commanded the force of 4,000hoplites sent to Sparta. However, the Spartans refused their aid, telling the Athenians to go home – a major diplomatic snub. The resulting embarrassment destroyed Cimon's popularity in Athens; he wasostracized in 461 BC, exiling him for a period of ten years.
TheFirst Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta began the following year. At the end of his exile, Cimon returned to Athens in 451 BC and immediately negotiated atruce with Sparta; however it did not lead to a permanent peace. He then proposed an expedition toCyprus, which was in revolt against the Persians. Cimon was placed in command of the fleet of 200 warships. He laid siege to the town ofKition, but died (of unrecorded causes) around the time of the failure of the siege in 450 BC.
Cimon was born into Athenian nobility in 510 BC. He was a member of thePhilaidae clan, from thedeme ofLaciadae (Lakiadai). His grandfather wasCimon Coalemos, who won threeOlympic victories with hisfour-horse chariot and was assassinated by the sons ofPeisistratus.[2] His father was the celebrated Athenian generalMiltiades[3] and his mother was Hegesipyle, daughter of theThracian kingOlorus and a relative of the historianThucydides.[4]
While Cimon was a young man, his father was fined 50 talents after an accusation oftreason by the Athenian state. As Miltiades could not afford to pay this amount, he was put in jail, where he died in 489 BC. Cimon inherited this debt and, according to Diodorus, some of his father's unserved prison sentence[3] in order to obtain his body for burial.
[5] As the head of his household, he also had to look after his sister or half-sisterElpinice. According toPlutarch, the wealthyCallias took advantage of this situation by proposing to pay Cimon's debts for Elpinice's hand in marriage. Cimon agreed.[6][7][8]
Cimon in his youth had a reputation of being dissolute, a hard drinker, and blunt and unrefined; it was remarked that in this latter characteristic he was more like a Spartan than an Athenian.[9][10]
Cimon is repeatedly said to have married or been otherwise involved with his sister or half-sisterElpinice (who herself had a reputation for sexualpromiscuity) prior to her marriage withCallias, although this may be a legacy of simple political slander.[9][5] He later married Isodice,Megacles' granddaughter and a member of theAlcmaeonidae family. Their first children were twin boys namedLacedaemonius (who would become an Athenian commander) and Eleus. Their third son was Thessalus (who would become a politician).
During theBattle of Salamis, Cimon distinguished himself by his bravery. He is mentioned as being a member of an embassy sent to Sparta in 479 BC.
Between 478 BC and 476 BC, a number of Greek maritime cities around theAegean Sea did not wish to submit to Persian control again and offered their allegiance to Athens throughAristides atDelos. There, they formed theDelian League (also known as the Confederacy of Delos), and it was agreed that Cimon would be their principal commander.[11] As strategos, Cimon commanded most of the League's operations until 463 BC. During this period, he and Aristides drove the Spartans underPausanias out ofByzantium.
Cimon also capturedEion on theStrymon[2] from the Persian generalBoges. Other coastal cities of the area surrendered to him after Eion, with the notable exception ofDoriscus. He also conqueredScyros and drove out the pirates who were based there.[6][12] On his return, he brought the "bones" of the mythologicalTheseus back to Athens. To celebrate this achievement, threeHerma statues were erected around Athens.[6]
Around 466 BC, Cimon carried the war against Persia intoAsia Minor and decisively defeated the Persians at theBattle of the Eurymedon on theEurymedon River inPamphylia. Cimon's land and sea forces captured the Persian camp and destroyed or captured the entire Persian fleet of 200triremes manned byPhoenicians. And he established an Athenian colony nearby calledAmphipolis with 10,000 settlers.[11] Many new allies of Athens were then recruited into the Delian League, such as the trading city ofPhaselis on theLycian-Pamphylian border.
There is a view amongst some historians that while in Asia Minor, Cimon negotiated a peace between the League and the Persians after his victory at the Battle of the Eurymedon. This may help to explain why thePeace of Callias negotiated by his brother-in-law in 450 BC is sometimes called the Peace of Cimon as Callias' efforts may have led to a renewal of Cimon's earlier treaty. He had served Athens well during thePersian Wars and according toPlutarch: "In all the qualities that war demands he was fully the equal ofThemistocles and his own father Miltiades".[6][11]
After his successes in Asia Minor, Cimon moved to the Thracian colonyChersonesus. There he subdued the local tribes and ended the revolt of the Thasians between 465 BC and 463 BC.Thasos had revolted from the Delian League over a trade rivalry with the Thracian hinterland and, in particular, over the ownership of agold mine. Athens under Cimon laidsiege to Thasos after the Athenian fleet defeated the Thasos fleet. These actions earned him the enmity ofStesimbrotus of Thasos (a source used byPlutarch in his writings about this period in Greek history).
Despite these successes, Cimon was prosecuted by Pericles for allegedly acceptingbribes fromAlexander I of Macedon. According to Plutarch's account, Pericles at trial "was very gentle with Cimon, and took the floor only once in accusation." Cimon, in his defense, pointed out that he was never envoy to the rich kingdoms of Ionia or Thessaly, but rather to Sparta, whose frugality he lovingly imitated; and that, rather than enrich himself, he enriched Athens with the booty he acquired from the enemy. Cimon was in the end acquitted.[6]
Cimon was Sparta'sproxenos atAthens. He strongly advocated a policy of cooperation between the two states. He was known to be so fond of Sparta that he named one of his sons Lacedaemonius.[13][14] In 462 BC, Cimon sought the support of Athens' citizens to provide help to Sparta. Although Ephialtes maintained that Sparta was Athens' rival for power and should be left to fend for itself, Cimon's view prevailed. Cimon then led 4,000hoplites toMt. Ithome to help the Spartan aristocracy deal with a major revolt by its helots. However, this expedition ended in humiliation for Cimon and for Athens when, fearing that the Athenians would end up siding with the helots, Sparta sent the force back to Attica.[15]
This insulting rebuff caused the collapse of Cimon's popularity in Athens. As a result, he wasostracised from Athens for ten years beginning in 461 BC.[16] The reformer Ephialtes then took the lead in running Athens and, with the support of Pericles, reduced the power of the Athenian Council of theAreopagus (filled with ex-archons and so a stronghold ofoligarchy).
Power was transferred to the citizens, i.e. theCouncil of Five Hundred, the Assembly, and the popular law courts. Some of Cimon's policies were reversed including his pro-Spartan policy and his attempts at peace with Persia. Manyostraka bearing his name survive; one bearing the spiteful inscription: "Cimon, son of Miltiades, andElpinice too" (his haughty sister).
In 458 BC, Cimon sought to return to Athens to assist its fight against Sparta atTanagra, but was rebuffed.
Eventually, around 451 BC, Cimon returned to Athens. Although he was not allowed to return to the level of power he once enjoyed, he was able to negotiate on Athens' behalf a five-year truce with the Spartans. Later, with a Persian fleet moving against a rebelliousCyprus, Cimon proposed an expedition to fight the Persians. He gained Pericles' support and sailed to Cyprus with two hundred triremes of the Delian League. From there, he sent sixty ships under AdmiralCharitimides toEgypt to help the Egyptian revolt ofInaros, in theNile Delta. Cimon used the remaining ships to aid the uprising of the Cypriot Greek city-states.
From his many military exploits and money gained through the Delian League, Cimon funded many construction projects throughout Athens. These projects were greatly needed in order to rebuild after theAchaemenid destruction of Athens. He ordered the expansion of theAcropolis and the walls around Athens, and the construction of public roads, public gardens, and many political buildings.[17]
Cimon laid siege to thePhoenician andPersian stronghold ofCitium on the southwest coast ofCyprus in 450 BC; he died during or soon after the failed attempt.[3] However, his death was kept secret from the Athenian army, who subsequently won an important victory over the Persians under his 'command' at theBattle of Salamis-in-Cyprus.[18] He was later buried in Athens,[19] where a monument was erected in his memory.
During his period of considerable popularity and influence at Athens, Cimon's domestic policy was consistently antidemocratic, and this policy ultimately failed. His success and lasting influence came from his military accomplishments and his foreign policy, the latter being based on two principles: continued resistance to Persian aggression, and recognition that Athens should be the dominant sea power in Greece, and Sparta the dominant land power. The first principle helped to ensure that direct Persian military aggression against Greece had essentially ended; the latter probably significantly delayed the outbreak of thePeloponnesian War.[10]
Smith, William, ed. (1870),"Cimon",Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. 1, pp. 749–751
