gh to turn traitor. He proudly refused to fight; and it
is said that he preferred to commit suicide, rather than injure the
people he had once loved so dearly.

LVI. CIMON IMPROVES ATHENS.

As soon as Themistocles had been banished from Athens, Aristides again
became the chief man of the city, and he was also made the head and
leader of the allies. He was so upright and just that all were ready to
honor and obey him, and they gladly let him take charge of the money of
the state.

In reward for his services, the Athenians offered him a large salary and
many rich gifts; but he refused them all, saying that he needed nothing,
and could afford to serve his country without pay.

He therefore went on seeing to all the public affairs until his death,
when it was found that he was so poor that there was not enough money
left to pay for his funeral. The Athenians, touched by his virtues, gave
him a public burial, held his name in great honor, and often regretted
that they had once been so ungrateful as to banish their greatest
citizen, Aristides the Just.

As Aristides had watched carefully over the money of the allied states,
and had ruled the Athenians very wisely, it is no wonder that Athens had
little by little risen above Sparta, which had occupied the first place
ever since the battle of Thermopylae.

The Athenians, as long as Aristides lived, showed themselves just and
liberal; but as soon as he was dead, they began to treat their former
allies unkindly. The money which all the Greek states furnished was now
no longer used to strengthen the army and navy, as first agreed, but was
lavishly spent to beautify the city.

Now, while it was a good thing to make their town as fine as possible,
it was certainly wrong to use the money of others for this purpose, and
the Athenians were soon punished for their dishonesty.

Cimon, the son of Miltiades, was made the head of the army, and won
several victories over the Persians in Asia Minor. When he returned to
Athens, he brought back a great deal of spoil, and generously gave up
all his share to improve the city and strengthen the walls.

[Illustration: The Theseum.]

It is said that Cimon also enlarged the beautiful gardens of the
A-cad'e-my; and the citizens, by wandering up and down the shady walks,
showed that they liked this as well as the Lyceum, which, you will
remember, Pisistratus had given them.

They also went in crowds to these gardens to hear the phi