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Home / People / Themistocles

Historical person

Themistocles

c. 524–c. 459 BCE

Themistocles was an Athenian statesman and strategist who promoted the naval power that proved decisive during the Persian invasion. He persuaded Athens to use silver revenue to build a fleet and helped direct the Greek victory at Salamis in 480 BC. After the war political rivalry led to his ostracism, and later accusations of treason forced him into exile. He ultimately entered Persian service and governed Magnesia under the king he had once resisted.

Themistocles appears throughout Christian Cameron’s Long War series and in many novels about Marathon and Salamis. Fiction often contrasts his brilliance, ambition and adaptability with the moral reputation of Aristides. His final service to Persia creates a complex ending that resists a simple patriotic hero narrative.

In non-fiction, Themistocles is discussed in Plutarch’s The Rise and Fall of Athens. In Plutarch’s The Rise and Fall of Athens, this Plutarch collection gives biographical sources for Athens from legendary Theseus through Solon, Themistocles, Aristides, Cimon, Pericles, Nicias, Alcibiades and Lysander.

Series

Series featuring Themistocles (3 series)

The Long War in Order

by Christian Cameron 7 books 4.6

The Long War follows Arimnestos of Plataea from the Ionian Revolt and slavery to the battles that decide the Persian invasions of Greece. Farmer, bronzesmith, hoplite, sailor and captain, he moves through Marathon, Salamis and Plataea while Greek cities struggle to cooperate against the Achaemenid Empire. The sequence…

All books in this series

Athenian in Order

by Conn Iggulden 2 books 4.5

The Athenian series follows the struggle of Athens and its allies against the Persian Empire, moving from Marathon and the political battles of the intervening decade to Thermopylae, Salamis and Plataea. Xanthippus and Themistocles provide the principal viewpoints as military survival, democratic rivalry and competing Greek interests shape…

All books in this series

The Golden Age in Order

by Conn Iggulden 2 books 4.4

The Golden Age series follows Pericles from the generation after the Persian invasions into the period of Athenian naval empire and intensifying rivalry with Sparta. Political competition, military command and the costs of Athenian power shape both novels.

All books in this series

Non Fiction

Non Fiction featuring Themistocles (1 book)

Biographies, histories and other non-fiction are listed separately from the historical novels above.