Editing Callias II (section)

==Life==
Born to the wealthy [[Classical Athens|Athenian]] family that provided [[slavery in ancient Greece|slaves]] to the state-owned [[silver mine]] of [[Laurion]], Callias was one of the richest men in Athens.<ref name="Sacks-177">{{in lang|en}} {{cite book |author1=David Sacks |author-link=David Sacks (historian) |author2=Oswyn Murray |author2-link=Oswyn Murray |editor=Lisa R. Brody|editor-link=Lisa R. Brody|title=Encyclopedia of the Ancient Greek World |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yyrao0dadqAC&dq=Kallias&pg=PA177 |series=Facts on File library of world history |year=2009 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |location=New York |isbn=9781438110202 |page=177 }}</ref> He fought at the [[Battle of Marathon]] (490) in priestly attire.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Callias and Hipponicus|display=Callias and Hipponicus s.v. 1. Callias|volume=5|page=56}}</ref> [[Plutarch]] relates that after the battle, an enemy soldier confused Callias for a king and showed him where a large quantity of gold had been hidden in a ditch. Callias is said to have killed the man and secretly taken the treasure, but rumour later spread of the incident, and comic poets gave his family the name ''Laccopluti'', or "enriched by the ditch".<ref>https://knarf.english.upenn.edu/Plutarch/aristide.html "Aristides", Plutarch's Lives, John Dryden trans.</ref>

Around the time of the death of [[Miltiades]], Callias offered to pay the debt that [[Cimon]] had inherited from his father in exchange for Cimon's sister [[Elpinice]]'s hand in marriage, and Cimon agreed.

A supporter of [[Pericles]], who was the effective leader of Athens during this period, Callias took on the role of  diplomat and ambassador of Athens and of the [[Delian League]].<ref name="Sacks-177"/> In about 461 BC, he made at least one journey as ambassador to [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian]] King [[Artaxerxes I of Persia|Artaxerxes I]].<ref name="Sacks-177"/>

Sometime after the death of Cimon, probably about 449 BC <ref name="Sacks-177"/><ref name="Dillon-402">{{in lang|en}} {{cite book |author1=Matthew Dillon |author2=Lynda Garland|author2-link=Lynda Garland |title=Ancient Greece: Social and Historical Documents from Archaic Times to the Death of Alexander the Great |series=Routledge Sourcebooks for the Ancient World |year=2010|publisher=Taylor & Francis |location=Abingdon |isbn=9780415473293 |page=402 }}</ref> he went to [[Susa]] to conclude with Artaxerxes a peace treaty,<ref name="EB1911"/> which became known as the [[Peace of Callias]]. The treaty ended the [[Greco-Persian Wars|Greco-Persian War]] and safeguarded the Greek [[city-states]] in [[Asia Minor]] from Persian attacks.<ref name="Sacks-177"/> Callias may also been responsible for peace treaties with [[Rhegion]] and [[Leontinoi]], as well as the later peace treaty with [[Sparta]] that is known as the [[Thirty Years' Peace]].<ref name="Meritt-277">{{in lang|en}} {{cite book |author1=Benjamin D. Meritt |author-link=Benjamin D. Meritt |author2=H. T. Wade-Gery |author2-link=H. T. Wade-Gery |author3=Malcolm F. McGregor |title=The Athenian Tribute Lists|volume=III |year=1968 |publisher=[[American School of Classical Studies at Athens]] |location=Princeton, New Jersey |isbn=9780876619131 |page=277 }}</ref>

Callias' fate upon his return to Athens remains a mystery, and information about his later years remain only fragmentary. According to Demosthenes, he was fined fifty [[talent (weight)|talents]] on his return to Athens.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Will|first=Wolfgang|year=2006|entry=Callias [4]|title=Brill's New Pauly|doi=10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e606040}}</ref> Other sources claim<ref name="Dillon-402"/> that the Athenians dedicated an altar of peace and voted special honours to Callias.

Callias' son [[Hipponicus III|Hipponicus]] was also a notable military leader was known as the "richest man in Greece".<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The People of Plato, p. 172-3|last=Nails|first=Debra|author-link=Debra Nails}}</ref>