§11.58.1Θεμιστοκλῆς μὲν οὖν ἀπολυθεὶς τοῦ παρʼ Ἕλλησι φόβου, καὶ παραδόξως ὑπὸ μὲν τῶν τὰ μέγιστα εὐεργετηθέντων φυγαδευθείς, ὑπὸ δὲ τῶν τὰ δεινότατα παθόντων εὐεργετηθείς, ἐν ταύταις ταῖς πόλεσι κατεβίωσε πάντων τῶν πρὸς ἀπόλαυσιν ἀγαθῶν εὐπορούμενος, καὶ τελευτήσας ἐν τῇ Μαγνησίᾳ ταφῆς ἔτυχεν ἀξιολόγου καὶ μνημείου τοῦ ἔτι νῦν διαμένοντος.
Themistocles, then, having been released from his fear among the Greeks, and having been, paradoxically, banished by those who had received the greatest benefits from him, but benefited by those who had suffered the most terrible things, spent the rest of his life in these cities, possessing an abundance of all things for enjoyment; and having died in Magnesia, he received a noteworthy burial and a monument which remains even to this day.
§11.58.2ἔνιοι δὲ τῶν συγγραφέων φασὶ τὸν Ξέρξην ἐπιθυμήσαντα πάλιν στρατεύειν ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα παρακαλεῖν τὸν Θεμιστοκλέα στρατηγεῖν ἐπὶ τοῦ πολέμου, τὸν δὲ συγχωρήσαντα περὶ τούτων πίστεις λαβεῖν ἐνόρκους μὴ στρατεύσειν ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἄνευ Θεμιστοκλέους.
But some of the historians say that Xerxes, desiring to campaign against Greece once more, invited Themistocles to take command in the war, and that the latter, having agreed to this, received sworn assurances regarding these matters that the king would not campaign against the Greeks without Themistocles.
§11.58.3σφαγιασθέντος δὲ ταύρου καὶ τῶν ὅρκων γενομένων, τὸν Θεμιστοκλέα κύλικα τοῦ αἵματος πληρώσαντα ἐκπιεῖν καὶ παραχρῆμα τελευτῆσαι.
And when a bull had been sacrificed and the oaths taken, Themistocles, filling a cup with the blood, drank it down and immediately died.
καὶ τὸν μὲν Ξέρξην ἀποστῆναι τῆς ἐπιβολῆς ταύτης, τὸν δὲ Θεμιστοκλέα διὰ τῆς ἰδίας τελευτῆς ἀπολογίαν ἀπολιπεῖν καλλίστην ὅτι καλῶς ἐπολιτεύθη τὰ πρὸς τοὺς Ἕλληνας.
And Xerxes abandoned this enterprise, while Themistocles by his own death left behind the finest defense that his conduct toward the Greeks had been honorable.
§11.58.4ἡμεῖς δὲ πάρεσμεν ἐπὶ τὴν τελευτὴν ἀνδρὸς μεγίστου τῶν Ἑλλήνων, περὶ οὗ πολλοὶ διαμφισβητοῦσι, πότερον οὗτος ἀδικήσας τὴν πατρίδα καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους Ἕλληνας ἔφυγεν εἰς Πέρσας, ἢ τοὐναντίον ἥ τε πόλις καὶ πάντες οἱ Ἕλληνες εὐεργετηθέντες μεγάλα τῆς μὲν χάριτος ἐπελάθοντο, τὸν δʼ εὐεργέτην ἤγαγον αὐτὸν ἀδίκως εἰς τοὺς ἐσχάτους κινδύνους.
But we have arrived at the death of a man who was the greatest of the Greeks, concerning whom many dispute whether he, having wronged his homeland and the other Greeks, fled to the Persians, or on the contrary, the city and all the Greeks, having received great benefits, forgot the gratitude and unjustly led their benefactor himself into the extreme dangers.
§11.58.5εἰ δέ τις χωρὶς φθόνου τήν τε φύσιν τἀνδρὸς καὶ τὰς πράξεις ἐξετάζοι μετʼ ἀκριβείας, εὑρήσει πάντων ὧν μνημονεύομεν ἀμφοτέροις τοῖς εἰρημένοις πεπρωτευκότα.
If anyone, free from envy, should examine with accuracy both the man's nature and his deeds, he will find that he held the first place in both of the aforementioned respects among all those whom we remember.
διὸ καὶ θαυμάσειεν ἄν τις εἰκότως, εἰ στερῆσαι σφᾶς αὐτοὺς ἀνδρὸς τοιούτου τὴν φύσιν ἠθέλησαν.
Therefore, one might reasonably wonder if they wished to deprive themselves of a man of such a nature.