alone restrained the Greeks from dealing with him as he deserved.  Finally they left him, and sailed away to join the Athenian ships.  On this occasion the magnanimous conduct of the Lacedaemonians deserves high praise.  When they perceived that the heads of their generals were being turned by the greatness of their power, they of their own accord withdrew from the supreme power, and no longer sent any generals to the wars, choosing rather to have moderate citizens who would abide by their laws at home, than to bear rule over the whole of Greece.

Even while the Lacedaemonians remained in command, the Greeks paid a certain contribution to pay the expenses of the war; and as they wished each city to be assessed to pay a reasonable sum, they asked the Athenians to appoint Aristeides to visit each city, learn the extent of its territory and revenues, and fix upon the amount which each was capable of contributing according to its means.  Although he was in possession of such a power as this—­the whole of Greece having as it were given itself up to be dealt with at his discretion—­yet he laid down his office a poorer man than when he accepted it, but having completed his assessment to the satisfaction of all.  As the ancients used to tell of the blessedness of the golden age, even so did the states of Greece honour the assessment made by Aristeides, calling the time when it was made, fortunate and blessed for Greece, especially when no long time afterwards it was doubled, and subsequently trebled.  The money which Aristeides proposed to raise amounted to four hundred and sixty talents; to which Perikles added nearly a third part, for Thucydides tells us that at the commencement of the Peloponnesian war, the Athenians received six hundred talents a year from their allies.  After the death of Perikles, the popular orators gradually raised the sum total to thirteen hundred talents.  It was not so much that the money was required for the expenses of a long and costly war, as that these men had accustomed the people to largesses of money, dramatic representations, and the erection of statues and temples.  Themistokles was the only man who had sneered at the great reputation which Aristeides had won by his assessment of the Greek states, saying that the praise which was lavished on him was not suitable to a man, but to a chest which kept money safe.  This he said as a retort to a saying of Aristeides, who once, when Themistokles said that he thought it the most valuable quality for a general to be able to divine beforehand what the enemy would do, answered, “That, Themistokles, is very true, but it is also the part of an honourable general to keep his hands clean.”