The Persian King, who beheld the battle of Salamis from a neighbouring height, finding himself unable to support his immense army, after the loss of his fleet, retreated with the utmost precipitation. But before he quitted Greece, he gave Mardonius the command of a large detachment, to secure part of his conquests; but these being some months afterwards entirely defeated by Pausanias and Aristides at Platæa, and most of the troops the King carried with him having perished in the retreat, the Grecians pursued him into Asia. Athens now rose, by rapid strides, to its highest lustre. Themistocles augmented the navy, rebuilt the city, fortified the Pyræus, and joined it to the town, which is four miles distant, by a strong fortified wall. His grand object was to throw the whole power of Greece into the hands of the Athenians; but the steps by which he proposed to attain this end, were so much disapproved, that he was banished. Accused afterwards of being concerned in the conspiracy of Pausanias, the Lacedemonian Admiral, for delivering Greece into the hands of the Persians, he was obliged to fly his country; and being pursued from place to place, although innocent of the charge preferred against him, he was at last compelled to take refuge at the Court of Persia. There he was most hospitably entertained for several years; but in the succeeding wars, the King requiring him to lead an army against the Grecians, he suffered the greatest distress in the contest between gratitude and patriotism; and neither of these virtues being able to overcome the other, he ended the conflict by putting a period to his existence. On his being banished, Aristides succeeded him in the charge of the revenues, [Sidenote: A. A. C. 470.] and Cimon in the command of the forces. The glorious exploits of this young hero almost eclipsed even those of Miltiades, his father. He gained several great victories over the Persians, by sea and land, and beautified the city with the spoils of the enemy. Aristides dying, Pericles succeeded him, and became the rival of Cimon, who was banished on a suspicion of favoring the Lacedemonians, [Sidenote: A. A. C. 455.] but recalled five years afterwards. He settled, for a time, the differences between the rival cities, and led them once more against the common enemy. And having ended a war of fifty-one years, by an honorable peace with the Persians, he died on the eve of returning to Athens. He was succeeded by Thucydides, his brother-in-law, but who was soon banished by Pericles, who now exercised alone the sovereign authority. This illustrious patriot was equally attentive to the prosperity, and to the beauty of the city. With one hand he enriched her with the wealth of every nation, with the other he adorned her with the works of the most celebrated masters. Phidias, the famous sculptor, flourished in his administration, and it is to him we are indebted for the magnificent Temple of Minerva.