ARISTIDES, surnamed the Just, flourished at Athens, about the beginning of the 6th century, before the Chris tian xra ; and was distinguished by all those virtues which we are accustomed to admire in a warrior and a statesman. During the political contentions which then agitated the Athenian government, Aristides found a powerful and persevering rival in the person of Themis tocles. Accustomed to admire the laws of Lycurgus, Aristides preferred an oligarchical form of government, while Themistocles was devotedly attached to the de mocratical constitution of his country. Hence arose a perpetual contest for superiority, which was frequently less directed by a regard for P public good than by the love of victory and power As odes was not blind to the evils of this pol'• I ' •`'`'" in t•-I, after having vio lently opposed P ! •bath of n was brought forward by - .'-' '' %)*, oT 'to have exclaimed, that " Athens , '• . ,,.,1' till both of them were thin ' L v nen Aristides filled the office of tn.,. c excited against himself a powerful p in consk,quence of having accused The mistocles and others of embezzling the public ey. The charge was retaliated by the disaffected pa and nd it required the interposition of the court of Ar opagus to remove the shade which was thus thrown over the purity of Aristides. He was, however, re-elected to this office, and, by permitting his coadjutors to act without controul, while he himself kept a secret account against them, 're brought disgrace upon his enemies, and raised himself high in the public estimation.
Aristides was one of the ten generals who commanded the Athenians, that were sent to repel the Persian army under the command of Darius. Sacrificing his private anibi.ion to the interests of his country, he induced the other generals to transfer the chief command to Mil tiadcs. The Persians were completely routed in the famous battle of Marathon, (B. C. 490 ;) and the spoils, which were entrusted to the charge of Aristides, were faithfully transferred to the public treasury. He was chosen Archon, or chief magistrate, for the following year ; and such was the esteem with which he was viewed by his fellow citizens, that he was appealed to as the umpire in all their differences. The Athenian ma gistrates were dissatisfied with an authority which seem ed to supersede their own ; and Themistocles watched with a jealous eye the increasing reputation of Aristides, and the powerful hold which his inflexible integrity had gained over the affections of the people. The insinua ting manners of Themistocles, the splendour of his talents, and the showy magnificence of his entertain ments, enabled him to seduce the public mind, and to detach the hearts of the people from the object of their idolatry. Aristides, disdaining to court the varying at
tachments of the multitude, was at last undermined by the intrigues of his rival, and was banished for ten years by the Ostracism. One of the citizens, who had come forward on this occasion to vote against Aristides, ac cidentally met with him in the street, and requested him to write his name upon the shell with which he was to vote. The patriot asked him, " if Aristides had ever injured him ?" " I do not even know him," replied the citizen, "but I am displeased that he should have la boured so ear4zstly to be called the Just." Aristides inscribed the citizen's name upon the shell.
During the exile of Aristides, the immense arma ment was completed, with which Xerxes threatened the liberties of Athens. Themistocles commanded the Gre cian fleet ; and Aristides, forgetting their former quar rels, and influenced by the wishes of his countrymen, repaired to Salamis, and shared in the danger and glory of the brilliant engagement in which the Persian fleet was nearly annihilated.
Aristides was again elected to the office of chief magistrate, and commanded the Athenian troops in the battle of Platxa, in which Mardonius, the Persian gen eral, sustained a signal defeat. After the rebuilding of Athens, Aristides exhibited great zeal in passing the decree which gave every citizen an 'interest in the government, and appointed the Archons to be chosen out of the whole body of the people. The reputation of Aristides was now extended throughout the whole of different states courted the alliance of and chose them for their leaders against the barbarians. Aristides was appointed to fix upon the contributions to be furnished by each city, and the whole of this money was committed to his charge. About this time Themistocles began to decline in popular favour, but Aristides refused to concur in his prosecu tion ; and, after his great rival was banished from Athens, he never spoke of him but in terms of respect and ad miration.
Worn out with years, Aristides died, either at Athens or Pontus, about the year 467, before the Christian xra. Though the treasury of Athens had long been at his disposal, he died so poor, that he did not leave a suffi cient sum for defraying the expellees of his funeral. His daughters were portioned at the public expence, and his son Lysimachus received a pension and landed property, gs a testimony of the gratitude and esteem which were cherished for the services of his father. Sec Plutarch In Vit. Aristid. ; Come!. Nepos, In Vit. Aristid. ; Univers. Hist. tom. v. p. 214 ; and Barthelemy's Travels of Anacharsis, vol. i. (o)