18. Themistocles got rid of the opposition by exiling opponents
There was strong opposition to Themistocles’ plan to invest Athens’ resources – especially the newly discovered silver – in warships. A strong navy meant higher taxes, borne mostly by the rich. Simultaneously, it would enhance the political clout of the poorer classes who would row those ships. A land strategy based on hoplites, such as those who had won at Marathon, would cost less. It also would secure the monopoly of the middle and upper classes – the only ones who could afford to equip themselves as hoplites – on the prestige of being Athens’ sole armed protectors.
Themistocles got rid of the opposition by literally getting rid of it. Athens had a process called ostracism, whereby the citizens could vote each year to exile one man for ten years. So Themistocles engineered the ostracism and banishment of his chief opponents, then won the Athenian Assembly’s approval for his ship-building program. By 480 BC, when the Persians launched a massive invasion of Greece, Athens had over 200 triremes – as many as the rest of Greece combined. The city also had a booming ship-building industry, and her shipyards were kept constantly busy, churning out new warships.