I couldn't examine the Classical age of Greece without a biography of Themistocles. It turns out the hero of Salamis played a much larger role in Greek history than I had ever known.
Following the Persian invasions of Greece Themistocles went on as a political leader in Athens for many years, building much of the foundation upon which Pericles brought the city to its well-known apogee.
Themistocles built his political power as a populist. His creation and sponsorship of the Athenian navy provided employment for the masses, which in turn gave him great political power across the lower and middle classes.
His political rivals came from the aristocracy, including Aristides the Just and Xanthippus, the father of Pericles.
And like many other great leaders, his political career ended in shame. Just like Churchill, who was voted out of Parliament shortly after the overthrow of Hitler, Themistocles was ostracized from Athens, a move that landed him in the embraces of Artaxerxes and the Persian Empire.
Themistocles was not a saint, often leading the sacking of powerless city-states across Greece, he ruthlessly led the Athenian people to become a not-so-friendly empire. Greatness doesn't always come with a squeaky-clean record.
But he played a major role in the growth of the first real democracy and one of the great cultural heritages in the history of the world.
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