Themistocles eyed him as he drew up.

‘You are looking well, Xanthippus,’ he said. ‘I thought I recognised you. Have you come to see your ships?’

‘They are not mine,’ Xanthippus replied immediately. How was it that Themistocles always seemed to nettle him with just a word? It was frustrating. He saw Aristides looked calm and unruffled and understood in that moment how the man irritated Themistocles above all others.

‘It is good to see you both well – and your concern for the new galleys,’ Xanthippus said.

Aristides smiled gently.

‘We all have an interest, Xanthippus,’ he said. ‘We three stood with him at Marathon. We bear the scars of that day. It is my duty to see Miltiades launched and launched well. It is the will of the Assembly, after all.’

Xanthippus dipped his head. He thought he saw Themistocles roll his eyes behind him but he did not look past the Assembly member.

‘I heard of your appointment as eponymous archon, Aristides. It is much deserved.’

To his pleasure, Aristides waved away the compliment.

‘Such things matter not at all, Xanthippus, as you know very well. At best, they are temptations to vanity. At worst, they are a worm in the soul! Should it matter to me that the Assembly of the people voted my name as the name for the year? There were other candidates. Were they somehow less worthy of honour? Themistocles could have been named to the position just as easily. A single vote might have separated us – would I then be eaten with envy? Would my worth be less, or his, more? Of course not. It is all trivial, Xanthippus. You understand, I know.’

Xanthippus felt himself flush. He was delighted to be included in the intimacy of equals, regardless of the truth of it. There could only be one eponymous archon elected each year. The year of Aristides would be the pillar on which all events were set. ‘That was three years after Aristides,’ men would say, perhaps for centuries. Xanthippus believed the older man cared little for such honours, but he knew he was not so detached himself. Neither, he suspected, was Themistocles.

‘I am heading over to see the dockmaster,’ Aristides said. He reached out and Xanthippus took his hand, feeling a firm, dry grip. ‘I have found discrepancies in his accounts.’

‘Criminal, or incompetence?’ Xanthippus asked. He found the presence of Aristides made him want to be serious and thoughtful. The man set a high standard.

Aristides weighed his answer before replying, given that a man’s life would hang on it.

‘I believe it is the latter, but I will judge his reaction. If necessary, I will bring him before the Assembly to be judged.’

‘Is there a chance of violence?’ Xanthippus said. ‘I have no sword, but I could accompany you. It would not do to have an archon assaulted in his duties.’

Aristides looked away in thought, then shook his head. He had no physical fear at all, Xanthippus had noted before, as if the threat of mere injury or even death were of no concern.