1
Aristides (“the Just”)
JULIA L. SHEAR
Aristides, the son of LYSIMACHOS, of the
Athenian deme Alopeke, was probably born
in the 520s BCE and died about 467. Prominent
both as a general and as a politician in the 480s
and 470s, he assessed the first TRIBUTE to be paid
by the members of the DELIAN LEAGUE. His rep-
utation for probity was known already to
HERODOTUS, who described him as “the best
and most just man among the Athenians”
(Hdt. 8.79.1). His reputation was empha-
sized by later sources and PLUTARCH’s Life of
Aristides contains a series of anecdotes
attesting to his upright character.
Although the later ancient traditions stressed
Aristides’ poverty, he seems to have been a cousin
of the wealthy Kallias, the son of Hipponikos,
and his family evidently had the resources to
perform liturgies for the city (see LITURGY, GREECE
AND ROME). He is said by Plutarch to have been
a friend (hetairos) of Kleisthenes (Plut. Arist.
2.1; Mor. 790F–791A) and he seems to have
been archon in 489/8 (Plut. Arist. 1.2, 8;
5.9–10). Plutarch identifies him as one of the
Athenian generals at the battle of Marathon
in 490 (Plut. Arist. 5.1–6), but Herodotus
does not mention him in his narrative and
modern scholars are divided over the veracity
of Plutarch’s version. During the 480s, Aristi-
des and THEMISTOKLES were political opponents
and their rivalry culminated in Aristides’
OSTRACISM in the winter of 483/2 ([Arist.] Ath.
Pol. 22.7–8).
When the Athenian exiles were recalled in
481/80 in advance of Xerxes’ invasion ([Arist.]
The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, First Edition. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine,
and Sabine R. Huebner, print pages 691–692.
© 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah04043
Ath. Pol. 22.8), Aristides was among those
returning. During the battle of Salamis, he led
the Athenian HOPLITES in evicting the Persians
from the island of Psyttaleia (Hdt. 8.95) and,
despite his earlier enmity with Themistokles,
both men worked together for the common
good. As general in 479/8, Aristides led the
Athenian contingent at the battle of PLATAIA
(Hdt. 9.28.6; Plut. Arist. 11.1–19.8). When the
Athenians subsequently returned to the city, he
served as envoy to the Spartans in connection
with the rebuilding of the fortification walls at
Athens and, in this capacity, he again cooperated
with Themistokles (Thuc. 1.91.3). Aristides was
general again in the following year (478/7) when
the Delian League was established. As part of
this process, he made the first assessment of
tribute and, according to Plutarch, administered
the oaths to the allies (Thuc. 5.18.5; Plut. Arist.
23.1–25.1). His subsequent actions are not
certainly attested.
SEE ALSO: Archon/archontes; Kleisthenes
of Athens; Marathon, battle of; Salamis, island
and battle of.
REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS
Davies, J. K. (1971) Athenian propertied families
600–300 BC: 48–53, 256–7. Oxford.
Develin, R. (1989) Athenian officials 684–321 BC:
56, 57, 65–7. Cambridge.
Meiggs, R. (1972) The Athenian empire: 42–67.
Oxford.
Rhodes, P. J. (1981) A commentary on the
Aristotelian Athenaion Politeia: 280–2.
Oxford.