13. Despite saving Athens, the Athenians ostracized and exiled this warrior
The Battle of Salamis, engineered by Themistocles, was the decisive Greek victory that turned the war around and saved the Greek mainland from the Persians. Persia’s King Xerxes, who until then had personally commanded the campaign, hurriedly took ship and returned home. However, there was still some mopping up left to do. King Xerxes left behind a formidable army under a relative to continue the campaign, but it was defeated and destroyed the following year at the Battle of Plataea.
When the Athenians returned to their destroyed city, their Spartan allies asked them not to rebuild the city’s walls as a sign of good faith. Themistocles led a delegation to Sparta to negotiate and dragged out the negotiations while the Athenians feverishly rebuilt their walls. By the time the Spartans caught on, the walls had already been erected. Afterward, Themistocles’ political fortunes declined. Despite having saved Athens, his city screwed him over. Not given to gratitude for long, the Athenians ostracized and exiled him some years after Salamis. Nimbly, he went to Persia, and ended his days governing some Greek cities in Asia Minor on behalf of the Persian king.
