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ARISTEIDES ¹

[1] Aristeides the Just was always an independent in politics, and avoided political parties, on the ground that influence derived from friends encourages wrongdoing. ²

[2] At one time when the Athenians had impetuously determined to vote on ostracism, an ignorant country fellow, holding his potsherd, approached him and bade him write on it the name of Aristeides. Why, said he, do you know Aristeides ? And when the man said that he did not know him, but was irritated at his being called the Just, Aristeides said never a word more, but wrote the name on the potsherd, and gave it back to him. ³

[3] He was hostile to Themistocles, ⁴ and once, when he was sent as ambassador in his company, he said, Are you willing, Themistocles, that we should leave our hostility behind us at the boundaries ? And then, if it be agreeable, we will take it up again on our return.⁵

[4] When he had fixed the contributions that the Greeks were to pay, he returned poorer by exactly as much as he spent on his journey.⁶

[5] Aeschylus ⁷ wrote referring to Amphiaraus,

His wish is not to seem, but be, the best,⁸ Reaping the deep-sown furrow of his mind In which all goodly counsels have their root.

And as these words were spoken all looked towards Aristeides.

Regum et imperatorum apophthegmata. Plutarch. Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1931.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

Sayings of Kings and Commanders (English) (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. III. Babbitt, Frank Cole, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1931 (printing).)

Editions (2)

Ἀποφθέγματα βασιλέων καὶ στρατηγῶν Perseus (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. III. Babbitt, Frank Cole, editor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1931 (printing).) — 41 focus

Ἀριστείδου

[1] Ἀριστείδης δὲ ὁ δίκαιος ἀεὶ καθʼ αὑτὸν ἐπολιτεύετο καὶ τὰς ἑταιρείας ἔφευγεν, ὡς τῆς ἀπὸ τῶν φίλων δυνάμεως ἀδικεῖν ἐπαιρούσης.

[2] ἐπεὶ δὲ τῶν Ἀθηναίων ὁρμωμένων ἐπὶ τὸν ἐξοστρακισμὸν ἄνθρωπος ἀγράμματος καὶ ἄγροικος ὄστρακον ἔχων προσῆλθεν αὐτῷ κελεύων ἐγγράψαι τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Ἀριστείδου, γινώσκεις 186b γάρ, ἔφη, τὸν Ἀριστείδην; τοῦ δὲ ἀνθρώπου γιγνώσκειν μὲν οὐ φήσαντος, ἄχθεσθαι δὲ τῇ τοῦ δικαίου προσηγορίᾳ, σιωπήσας ἐνέγραψε τὸ ὄνομα τῷ ὀστράκῳ καὶ ἀπέδωκεν.

[3] ἐχθρὸς δὲ ὢν τοῦ Θεμιστοκλέους καὶ πρεσβευτὴς ἐκπεμφθεὶς σὺν αὐτῷ, βούλει, φησίν, ὦ Θεμιστόκλεις ἐπὶ τῶν ὅρων τὴν ἔχθραν ἀπολίπωμεν; ἂν γὰρ δοκῇ, πάλιν αὐτὴν ἐπανιόντες ληψόμεθα.

[4] τάξας δὲ τοὺς φόρους τοῖς Ἕλλησι τοσούτῳ πτωχότερος ἐπανῆλθεν ὅσον εἰς τὴν ἀποδημίαν ἀνήλωσεν.

[5] Αἰσχύλου δὲ ποιήσαντος εἰς Ἀμφιάραον,

οὐ γὰρ δοκεῖν ἄριστος¹ ἀλλʼ εἶναι θέλει,

βαθεῖαν ἄλοκα διὰ φρενὸς καρπούμενος,

186c ἐξ² ἧς τὰ κεδνὰ βλαστάνει βουλεύματα·

καὶ λεγομένων τούτων, πάντες εἰς Ἀριστείδην ἀπέβλεψαν.

Ἀποφθέγματα βασιλέων καὶ στρατηγῶν Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol II. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1889.) — 41 focus

Ἀριστείδου

[1] Ἀριστείδης δὲ ὁ δίκαιος ἀεὶ καθʼ αὑτὸν ἐπολιτεύετο καὶ τὰς ἑταιρείας ἔφευγεν, ὡς τῆς ἀπὸ τῶν 20 φίλων δυνάμεως ἀδικεῖν ἐπαιρούσης

[2] ἐπεὶ δὲ τῶν Ἀθηναίων ὁρμωμένων ἐπὶ τὸν ἐξοστρακισμὸν ἄνθρωπος ἀγράμματος καὶ ἄγροικος ὄστρακον ἔχων προσῆλθεν αὐτῷ κελεύων ἐγγράψαι τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Ἀριστείδου, γινώσκεις γάρ ἔφη τὸν 186b Ἀριστείδην; τοῦ δὲ ἀνθρώπου γινώσκειν μὲν οὐ φήσαντος, ἄχθεσθαι δὲ τῇ τοῦ δικαίου προσηγορίᾳ, σιωπήσας ἐνέγραψε τὸ ὄνομα τῷ ὀστράκῳ καὶ ἀπέδωκεν.

[3] ἐχθρὸς δὲ ὢν τοῦ Θεμιστοκλέους καὶ πρεσβευτὴς 5 ἐκπεμφθεὶς σὺν αὐτῷ βούλει φησὶν ὦ Θεμιστόκλεις ἐπὶ τῶν ὅρων τὴν ἔχθραν ἀπολίπωμεν; ἂν γὰρ δοκῇ, πάλιν αὐτὴν ἐπανιόντες ληψόμεθα.

[4] τάξας δὲ τοὺς φόρους τοῖς Ἕλλησι τοσούτῳ πτωχότερος ἐπανῆλθεν,. ὅσον εἰς τὴν ἀποδημίαν 10 ἀνήλωσεν.

[5] Αἰσχύλου ¹ δὲ ποιήσαντος εἰς Ἀμφιάραον

οὐ γὰρ δοκεῖν ἄριστος ἀλλʼ εἶναι θέλει,

βαθεῖαν ἄλοκα διὰ φρενὸς καρπούμενος, 186c

ἐξ ἧς τὰ κεδνὰ βλαστάνει βουλεύματα· 15

καὶ λεγομένων τούτων, πάντες εἰς Ἀριστείδην ἀπέβλεψαν.

Translations (1)

The apophthegms or remarkable sayings of kings and great commanders. Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals, Vol. I. Goodwin, William W., editor; Hinton, Edward, translator. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company; Cambridge: Press of John Wilson and Son, 1874.) — 41 focus

[41] ARISTIDES. Aristides the Just always managed his offices himself, and avoided all political clubs, because power gotten by the assistance of friends was an encouragement to the unjust. When the Athenians were fully bent to banish him by an ostracism, an illiterate country fellow came to him with his shell, and asked him to write in it the name of Aristides. Friend, said he, do you know Aristides Not I, said the fellow, but I do not like his surname of Just. He said no more, but wrote his name in the shell and gave it him. He was at variance with Themistocles, who was sent on an embassy with him. Are you content, said he, Themistocles, to leave our enmity at the borders? and if you please we will take it up again at our return. When he levied an assessment upon the Greeks, he returned poorer by so much as he spent in the journey.

Aeschylus wrote these verses on Amphiaraus—

His shield no emblem bears; his generous soul

Wishes to be, not to appear, the best;

While the deep furrows of his noble mind

Harvests of wise and prudent counsel bear.¹

And when they were pronounced in the theatre, all turned their eyes upon Aristides.

Notes on the current edition

Sayings of Kings and Commanders

1. Athenian statesman, sixth and fifth centuries B.C.

2. Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Aristeides, chap. ii. (319 F).

3. Cf. Plutarch’s, Life of Aristeides, chap. vii (323 A); Cornelius Nepos, Aristeides, i. 3.

4. Herodotus, viii. 79; Plutarch’s Life of Aristeides, chap. viii. (323 C).

5. Cf. Moralia 809 B; Polyaenus, Strategemata, i. 31; and the following (from a newspaper in 1929): Paying a tribute to Senator Robinson, the Democratic member of the conference delegation, Senator Reed said: I can say for him that when his ship sails from New York he quits being a Democrat, just as I quit becoming a Republican, leaving politics behind us at the American shore.

6. In 478-477 B.C. Aristeides, because of his reputation for fairness, was chosen to determine the initial contribution which each member of the confederacy of Delos should make to the common cause. Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Aristeides, chap. xxiv. (333 C); Aelian, Varia Historia, xi. 9.

7. Aeschylus, Seven against Thebes, 592; Plutarch quotes the lines also in whole or in part in Moralia, 32 D, and 88 B, and Life of Aristeides, chap. iii. (320 B).

8. On account of the reading δίκαιος in the Life of Aristeides it has been thought that the actor who spoke the words may have substituted the Just for the best when he saw Aristeides in the audience.

Plutarch Regum et imperatorum apophthegmata 41

Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator)

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

ARISTEIDES ¹

Current edition Perseus

Ἀριστείδου

Ἀριστείδου

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

ARISTEIDES 1

Current edition Perseus

Ἀριστείδου

Ἀριστείδου

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers

ARISTEIDES ¹