of Hyperbolus the practice was discontinued.  The ostracism of Hyperbolus is said to have been brought about in the following manner.  Alkibiades and Nikias, the two most powerful citizens in the state, were at the head of two rival parties.  The people determined to apply the ostracism to them, and would certainly have banished one or the other of them.  They, however, came to terms with one another, combined their several factions, and agreed to have Hyperbolus banished.  The people, enraged at this, and thinking that they had been treated with contempt, abolished the practice of ostracism.  The way in which it was conducted was as follows.  Each man took an oyster-shell, wrote upon it the name of the citizen whom he wished to be banished, and then carried it to a place in the market-place which was fenced off with palings.  The archons now first of all counted the whole number of shells; for if the whole number of voters were less than six thousand, the ostracism was null and void.  After this, they counted the number of times each name occurred, and that man against whom most votes were recorded they sent into exile for ten years, allowing him the use of his property during that time.  Now while the shells were being written upon, on the occasion of which we have been speaking, a very ignorant country fellow is said to have brought his shell to Aristeides, who was one of the bystanders, and to have asked him to write upon it the name of Aristeides.  Aristeides was surprised, and asked him whether Aristeides had ever done him any harm.  “No,” answered the man, “nor do I know him by sight, but I am tired of always hearing him called ’The Just.’” When Aristeides heard this he made no answer, but wrote his name on the man’s shell and gave it back to him.  When he was leaving the city he raised his hands to heaven, and prayed exactly the opposite prayer to that of Achilles, that no crisis might befall the Athenians which would compel them to remember Aristeides.

VIII.  However, three years afterwards, when Xerxes was advancing upon Attica through Thessaly and Boeotia, the Athenians annulled their decree, and permitted all exiles to return, being especially afraid of Aristeides, lest he should join the enemy and lead many of the citizens to desert with him.  In this they took a very false view of his character, for even before this decree he had never ceased to encourage the Greeks to defend their liberty, and after his return, when Themistokles was in sole command of the forces of Athens, he assisted him in every way by word and deed, cheerfully raising his bitterest enemy to the highest position in the state, because the state was benefited thereby.