person
Aristides
also: Aristides, Lysimachum
Athenian statesman called 'the Just', son of Lysimachus and rival of Themistocles; Cicero cites him to show that Themistocles, with his prodigious memory, would never confuse Aristides with his father Lysimachus.
Reading notes
- On the Ends of Good and Evil §5.62 Aristides, though he is dead
Aristides 'the Just', the fifth-century Athenian statesman proverbial for honesty. Cicero cites the love we still feel for him as proof that we admire virtue for its own sake.
- On Duties §3.49 Aristides
Aristides 'the Just' of Athens (5th century BC), proverbial for integrity. He rejected Themistocles' useful but dishonourable plan to burn the Spartan fleet, and the Athenians abided by his judgment.
- Tusculan Disputations §5.105 What of Aristides
Aristides "the Just" of Athens, ostracized (c. 482 BC) for being, the story goes, too just. Cicero prefers Greek to Roman examples in showing that peoples resent any preeminence in virtue.