Themistokles (English spelling)

Japanese: テミストクレス（英語表記）Themistoklēs

[Born] 527?
[Died] 460?
A Greek Athenian politician and general. He was from the prestigious Lycomidae family, but his mother was not Greek. He gained citizenship during the reforms of Cleisthenes. He was the founder of the Athenian navy and a hero who saved the country during the Persian Wars, but because he was a central figure in the democratic movement, he was generally criticized by conservative ancient historians. Herodotus also described him as a newcomer to the political world around 480 BC. In fact, he was chosen as the chief archon in 493 BC, and feeling the threat of the Achaemenid Empire, he began building a naval port at Piraeus (now Piraeus) and expanding the navy. After the death of his political rival Miltiades (489 BC), he strengthened his power, and in 483 BC he persuaded the assembly (Ecclesia) to use the profits from the Laureion silver mines to build warships, ostracized Aristides, who opposed this, and made Athens the number one naval power in Greece with 200 triremes. In 480 BC, he commanded the Athenian fleet as a general (strategos), and when the Persian army approached Attica by land, he evacuated the elderly and women to Troezen and other places, and had all the remaining Athenians board warships. The Greek combined fleet gathered at Salamis and fought a decisive battle with the Persian navy, and his strategy resulted in a great victory (→Battle of Salamis). He later rebuilt the walls of Athens against the wishes of Sparta, further strengthening its defenses, but he gradually lost power due to an alliance of conservatives in Athenian politics, and was exiled in 473-471 BC. During his exile, he was sentenced to death on the basis of rumors that he was in collusion with the Persian king, and fled to Asia Minor, where he spent the rest of his life under the Persian king Artaxerxes I. His consistent policy of building up the navy helped Athens to ward off the national crisis of the time, and built the foundations for Athens' later naval power.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

[生]前527?
[没]前460?
古代ギリシア，アテネの政治家，将軍。名門リュコミダイ家の出であるが，母はギリシア人ではなかったらしい。クレイステネスの改革の際に市民権を得た。アテネ海軍の創始者であり，ペルシア戦争の救国の英雄であるが，民主派の中心人物であったため，保守的傾向が強い古代の歴史家たちは，おおむね批判的であった。ヘロドトスも前 480年頃の彼を評して，政界の新参者であったとしている。実際には前 493年筆頭のアルコンに選ばれ，アケメネス朝ペルシアの脅威を感じてペイライエウス (現ピレエフス) の軍港建設と海軍増強に着手。政敵ミルチアデスの死 (前 489) 後，勢力を強め，前 483年ラウレイオン銀山からの収益を軍艦建造に向けるように民会 (エクレシア ) を説得，これに反対するアリステイデスを陶片追放 (オストラシズム ) し，アテネを 200隻の3段櫂 (オール) 船を有するギリシア第1の海軍国にした。前 480年には将軍 (ストラテゴス ) としてアテネ艦隊を指揮し，ペルシア軍が陸路アッチカに迫ると，老人や婦女をトロイゼンなどへ疎開させ，残りの全アテネ人を軍艦に乗込ませた。サラミスに集結したギリシア連合艦隊はペルシア海軍と決戦を交え，彼の作戦により大勝 (→サラミスの海戦 ) 。その後，スパルタの意向に反してアテネの城壁を再建し，防備を一層強固にしたが，アテネ政界における保守派の連合によって次第に勢力を失い，前 473～471年陶片追放となり，さらに追放中ペルシア王と内通しているという噂のため死刑の宣告を受けて小アジアへ逃げ，ペルシアのアルタクセルクセス1世のもとで余生をおくった。彼の一貫した海軍増強策は，当時のアテネの国難をはねのけ，のちの海軍国としてのアテネの基礎を築いた。

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