Page:History of Greece Vol V.djvu/74

50 HISTORY OF GREECE. to have been prosecuted by frequent descents and privateering on both sides, — in which Nikodromus and the -^ginetan exiles, planted by Athens on the coast of Attica near Suniura, took an active part ;^ the advantage on the whole being on the side oi' Athens. The general course of this war, and especially the failure of the enterprise concerned with Nikodromus in consequence of de- lay in borrowing ships from Corinth, were well calculated to impress upon the Athenians the necessity of enlarging their naval force. And it is from the present time that we trace among them the first growth of that decided tendency towards maritime activity, which coincided so happily with the expansion of their democracy, and opened a new phase in Grecian history, as well as a new career for themselves. The exciting effect produced upon them by the repulse of the Persians at Marathon has been dwelt upon in my preceding volume, lliltiades, the victor in that field, kaving been removed from the scene under circumstances already described, Aristeides and Themistokles became the chief men at Athens : and the for- mer was chosen archon during the succeeding year. His exem- plary uprightness in magisterial functions insured to him lofty esteem from the general public, not without a certain proportion of active enemies, some of them sufferers by his justice. These enemies naturally became partisans of his rival, Themisto- kles, who had all the talents necessary for bringing them into cooperation : and the rivalry between the two chiefs became so bitter and menacing, that even Aristeides himself is reported to have said, '•' If the Athenians were wise, they would cast both of us into the barathrum." Under such circumstances, it is not too much to say that the peace of the country was preserved mainly by the institution called Ostracism, of which so much has been said in the pi'eceding volume. After three or four years of con- tinued political rivaliy, the two chiefs appealed to a vote of ostra- cism, and Aristeides was banished. ' Herodot. vi, 90-93. Thucyd. i, 41. About Sophanes, comp. ix, 75. How much damage was done by such a privateering war, between coun- tries so near as ^gina and Attica, may be seen by the more detailed de- scription of a later war of the same kind in 388 B.C. (Xenophon, Hellenic. Y.l.)