Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

Oh, yeah, yeah.

You know, people say never burn your bridges, right?

So what happens to Themistocles is kind of typical of any Athenian politician who's been there for too long.

He gets ostracized, right?

You know, he's literally voted out of office and has to go into exile, which I think is a really good idea and that any politician should always be under the threat of ostracism.

So, you know, this happens numerous times in Athenian democracy.

And so he becomes – Themistocles becomes this kind of vagabond, really, and he goes – sort of bounces around different city-states and even goes to the island of Thassos to see if he can't, like, you know, stay there.

He finally ends up in the Persian Empire in Asia Minor, close to the city of Dascyleon, which is a satrapal capital there.

And he actually goes and sees the satrap and says, look, do you think I could, you know –

Do you think I could appeal to the king and he could give me a home or something?

Could I live here?

And so the satrap says, okay, well, I'll write on your behalf.

He writes to Xerxes and Xerxes invites him to Susa.

And not only invites him to Susa, but gives him a house there, gives him a pension.

And Themistocles becomes completely Persianized.

He learns Persian to fluency.

And he lives out the rest of his life as a guest of state.

Beyond Xerxes' reign, into the reign of his son as well.

So isn't it strange?

Absolutely.