Themistocles

These were surely great achievements of Themistocles, but there was a greater still to come. When he saw that the citizens yearned for Aristides, and feared lest out of wrath he might join himself to the Barbarian and so subvert the cause of Hellas,—he had been ostracized before the war in consequence of political defeat at the hands of Themistocles,[*](Cf. Plut. Them. 5 fin.)—he introduced a bill providing that those who had been removed for a time be permitted to return home and devote their best powers to the service of Hellas along with the other citizens.

When Eurybiades, who had the command of the fleet on account of the superior claims of Sparta, but who was faint-hearted in time of danger, wished to hoist sail and make for the Isthmus, where the infantry also of the Peloponnesians had been assembled, it was Themistocles who spoke against it, and it was then, they say, that these memorable sayings of his were uttered. When Eurybiades said to him, Themistocles, at the games those who start too soon get a caning, Yes, said Themistocles, but those who lag behind get no crown.