Lecture 14 - Tyranny in Athens
Solon (Law Giver), Peisistratus (Tyrant), Cleisthenes (Constitution), Pericles (Radical Democracy)
Athens came late to the problem of land hunger and tyranny, probably because Attica as a region possessed more arable
land and was able to sustain a larger subsistence population than most neighboring regions of Greece. When it did
obtain suitable conditions, the community experienced repeated threats of seizure by outside influences, neighboring
tyrannical regimes, Sparta, and Persia. Much of the political development in Athens was affected by the perceptions
induced by these threats. Unlike Sparta, Athens underwent the entire tyrannical experience to emerge by 500 BC
as the leading urban, commercially oriented state of the Aegean world.
Some important aristocratic families of Athens:
THE ALCMEONIDAE | ||
Cleisthenes, tyrant of Sikyon, c. 570 | ||
Megacles of Athens married | Agariste, daugter of Cleisthenes of Sikyon | |
Hippocrates (a relative) | Cleisthenes (archon 525) | |
Agariste married | Xanthippos | |
Pericles married | Aspasia of Miletus the hetaira | |
Alcibiades (ward of Pericles) |
THE PHILAIDAE (from Brauron) | ||
Cypselus, tyrant of Corinth | ||
Miltiades (grandson of Cypselus of Corinth) | Hippokleides, a relative who lost the hand of Agariste to Cleisthenes of Athens | |
Miltiades, archon 524, victor at Battle of Marathon | ||
Cimon, Delian League general | ||
A relative, Thucydides the historian |
These stemma demonstrate not only the longevity of Athenian aristocratic families, but the influence of regional
tyrannies and the attempts they made to extend influence on neighboring cities, such as Athens, while constructing
networks of tyrannical marriages and "guest friendships" (hospitality).
Another, Theagenes, tyrant of Megara, married his daughter to an Athenian aristocrat named Cylon who led conspiracy
to seize power in Athens, 632/1 BC. By that time threat of tyranny in Athens was very real.
Draco's Law code 621/0, very harsh (written in blood), but indicates attempts by aristocracy to head off tyranny.
Land conditions noted in earlier lecture -- the hektomoroi, Athenian small farmer citizen soldiers falling into
debt and slavery. Athenian small farmers looked to examples such as Sparta and demanded annulment of debts, redistribution
of land.
Solon c. 573/2, was appointed (elected?) as "lawgiver" to resolve the debt crisis.
Solon was a war hero and the younger son
of an aristocratic family who went into trade, sailed extensively in the eastern Mediterranean, became one of the
seven sages of Greece, and wrote lyric poetry recording his political actions.
He boasted as his accomplishment, seisachtheia
(the shaking off of debts).
The avowed
Solonian program was to set debtors free; avoid land redistribution; reform constitution;
and avoid tyranny.
He abolished all debts by removing the Horos stones (mortgage stones) from indentured land, but he refused to redistribute
the land. He created census classes to enable wealthy non aristocrats (emerging traders like himself) to obtain
archonship and to enter the Areopagus. This was his main source of support.
Solon claimed to
have avoided tyranny. He tried to stimulate the development of artisan trades,
but he lacked the resources necessary to resolve land problem. He basically delayed tyranny.
After his term as "lawgiver,"
Solon departed Athens for 10 years. When he returned he found the city in chaos.
The Athenian archon list indicates two consecutive
years in which no archon was elected, i.e., "anarchia". His own relative, Peisistratus, a war hero,
was seeking tyranny in
Athens. Peisistratus attempted to impose tyranny in Athens 561/0, but he was quickly expelled by the Alcmeonidae. He traveled
to Macedonia, invested in silver mines, bought mercenary army, made alliances with tyrants of Naxos and Argos,
returned to Athens by force, and established his tyranny 546-527 BC. His sons Hippias and Hipparchus maintained
tyranny until 510 BC, when Hippias was expelled from city.
Peisistratus used state revenues and his own personal income from mines in Macedonia to resolve the land question.
1. Land reform: Peisistratus redistributed land confiscated from his aristocratic opponents.
He put poor farmers on the land, imposed
5% income tax on everyone, and used his revenues to lend farmers money to make the transition from subsistence to surplus
agricultural production, especially production of Attic olive oil. This became
the celebrated export of Athens.
2. He broke down aristocratic control at the local level by a.) instituting rural circuit court judges; b.) Moving
religious cults to Athens and making them national in focus. Cult of Artemis of Brauron moved to the Acropolis,
popular harvest festival of Dionysus was brought to the urban center. the Dionysus festival was an annual
event comprising
prayers, choruses, and fertility rites. Chorus writers devised way to bring singers
forward from the chorus to engage
in poetic dialogues. This marked the beginning of Athenian dramatic performances,
and the birth of Greek Tragedy and Comedy.
All of this was indebted to Peisistratus. He also founded festivals at Eleusis,
and the Panathenaia in Athens.
3. He improved the Athenian commercial position in the Aegean, by creating
"favored nation status" with his allies at Naxos, Samos, Argos, Thessaly, and Macedonia.
He also enhanced trade through colonial settlements on the Hellespont - Sigeon and the Chersonessos,
on the Hellespont, the gateway to
the Black Sea grain trade.
4. He fostered the rise of the polis by the following means:
A. He conducted public building enterprises paid for by his own silver; he created wage labor opportunities for "thetes"
(landless poor citizens). Displaced agricultural laborers quickly migrated from the land
to the urban center of Athens. He constructed the Temple of Olympian Zeus, Temple of Athena (the Hekatompedon), Theater of Dionysus, Fountain house of the 9 Springs
in the Agora, and the Telesterion at Eleusis.
B. Peisistratus elevated the Panathenaic festival to international status (every 4 then every 2 years).
As prizes victors received Panathenaic
amphoras of Athenian wine and oil. Amphoras painted first in Black, then in
Attic Red Figure style, demonstrating the skill and artistry
of Athenian pottery production. Attic Black Figure vases began, c. 600-580 BC;
the transition to Red Figure vases occurred
c. 530 BC during the tyranny. Attic Red Figure vases become the most popular fineware
of the entire Mediterranean
world. Their presence in excavation stratigraphies clearly identifies Classical layers of
occupation (c. 530-400
BC). Attic Red Figure vases were possibly the most significant artifacts of the Classical era.
C. Peisistratus invented the tetradrachmae (4 drachma) coin (roughly 12 grams of silver). Consistent weight and purity of the
coin made it the standard for international trade throughout the Classical period.
The Athenian drachma was still valued in the
Hellenistic
era.
D. Peisistratus offered grants of citizenship to wealthy metics (metoikoi,
resident aliens). We know this because after the expulsion of
the tyranny in 510 BC, Athenian aristocrats demanded a review of the census
roles to remove illegal citizens, offering proof that this had been the program of the Peisistratids.
The
Peisistratids did not tinker with the constitution, but made sure that their political allies obtained the archonships
and entered the Areopagus (council of elders) for life. They did resolve the economic crisis however. One hears
no more about land crises or debt bondage in Athens. Estimates for the Athenian hoplite phalanx,
approximately 15,000 men, mean that
many small farmers were securely installed on the land with small estates of
approximately 10-20 acres and 1-2 slaves per
household -- sufficient to sustain surplus production. This element became Athen's "broadened aristocracy", a very
conservative element compared with the urban poor in the city. Peisistratus found Attica a dispersed uncooperative
rural population centered around the large oikoi of the aristocratic families,
but he left it as a rural hinterland
oriented toward the emerging urban center of Athens, with a population of c. 100,000. Athens became an outward
looking, commercially oriented, internationalized community with significant export, artisan, and craft production.
The city promptly assumed first place as the trading power of the Aegean world.
Economic depression possibly consequent to the Persian conquest of Thrace and Macedonia in 514 BC (Darius I) made
the Peisistratid successors,
Hippias and Hipparchus, unpopular in Athens. The Persian conquest to the North possibly shut them off from
the revenues of their silver mines and
thus they could no longer support public
works programs. An aristocratic assassination plot killed Hipparchus. After this, Hippias engaged in purges and ultimately
was expelled by various aristocratic
factions. He fled to the palace of the Persian satrap at Sardis (Lydia) where he was welcomed and maintained by
the satrap
as a potential tool for future use. The satrap hoped to reinstate the tyrant in Athens
as a way to gain a foothold in mainland
Greece. Athenian ambassadors sent to demand his extradition were advised by the
satrap to take him back as their ruler.
This affair marked the beginning
of difficulties between Athens and Persia.
At same time the Athenian aristocracy was torn regarding the direction in which
to pursue political reform. Conservatives wishing to turn
back the clock began to call for reinstitution of the "ancestral constitution", a political slogan
much repeated during the coming century. More moderate aristocrats, led by Cleisthenes the Alcmeonid, realized that by ancestral constitution
the conservatives were determined to turn back the clock to the constitution
that existed during the pre-Solonian era. Civil war erupted in which the conservatives
were outnumbered, so they
invited intervention by Sparta and the Peloponnesian League. An aggressive Spartan king, Cleomenes, saw his chance like
previous regional tyrants to impose a subservient government in Athens. His effort failed however.
He found himself engaged
in urban street fighting in Athens, and soon was surrounded on the Athenian Acropolis. The other Peloponnesian League states eventually
refused to participate in an
intervention in what was essentially the internal affairs of an independent Greek city state and withdrew, leaving Cleomenes and the
Spartans trapped in Athens. The Athenian faction of Cleisthenes eventually was persuaded by conservatives to allow Spartan forces and allied conservatives
to leave peacefully. The democratic reaction was swift and forceful, nonetheless. Cleisthenes introduced dramatic political reforms
to prevent the return of aristocratic dominance in Athenian politics. Peisistratus had reformed the economic order;
Cleisthenes now reformed the constitution.
CLEISTHENIC POLITICAL REFORMS, C. 510-500 BC.
In essence
Cleisthenic democracy meant hoplite democracy. All those bearing arms
were allowed to participate in the assembly.
For one of the most significant political figures of Athenian history, Cleisthenes' career remains a mystery. We
do not even know what office he held, for how long, or when. It is clear from Athenian sources,
nonetheless, that most of the
significant political reforms were attributed to him.
Cleisthenes was clearly influenced by Greek philosophical developments, particularly mathematical breakthroughs of
Pythagoras. Pythagoras and his followers taught the notion of putting oneself in harmony with the universe by living
one's life according to perceived natural laws, particularly those of "magic
numbers". Cleisthenes attempted to organize the Athenian
constitution according to the "magic number" 10. He reorganized political institutions in such a way
as to eradicate permanently
aristocratic influence on Athenian society. Cleisthenes used the slogan isonomia, or equality before the law.
This was essentially "one man one
vote".
Cleisthenes instituted a new political structure organized according to demes (voting wards).
At the local level, some 174 demes were created. These were organized
into 30 tritteis or thirds of tribes which were then organized into
10 new voting tribes, each named after a significant
Athenian hero. Each tribe consisted of 3 tritteis ideally drawn from different areas of Attica. Tribal organization
of the Ekklesia (the assembly), and hence of the national army, now consisted of citizens drawn from throughout Attica. In the
phalanx battle line, one's life depended now on the cooperation of those to one's right or left who haled from
distant areas of Attica. Artificially, this diminished an individual citizen's need
to identify with his local region and
compelled him to think in more national terms.
Reorganization of the government:
10 generals (one from each tribe originally) annually elected chief magistrates
to direct the military; generals could hold
office repeatedly and consecutively.
10 archons, after 487 BC selected by lot, one per tribe, to handle the courts. Could only hold office once.
Council of 500 -- 500 representatives, 50 per tribe, selected by lot from all citizens for one year's service.
Council itself divided into 10 prytanies or governing committees that performed full time duties in Athens for
one month of the year (the Athenian year had 10 months, therefore, 1/month per tribal prytany of 50
councilors).
The calendrical order of prytanies was determined by lot. Within prytanies committees of 10 would work through the night each day to
handle emergencies, with the order of each committee to be determined by lot. Presidency of the council also
was determined by
lot. The Council of 500 became a clearing house for all legislation to be put before the
Ekklesia, bills were packaged by the council,
committees met with foreign ambassadors, etc. Theoretically every Athenian citizen could expect to serve
at least once on
the council during his lifetime.
The
Areopagus -- became a shadow council. It continued to be composed of ex-archons for life
and continued to hold certain
religiously based political authority, but its supremacy was clearly supplanted by the new Council of 500 of the
democracy. Apart from a brief comeback during and after the Persian War, its status declined throughout the
Classical period.
The
Ekklesia -- organized according to 10 tribes, voted on all public issues. Presided over by president of the council,
with generals present, the assembly openly debated questions and answers, and
thus introduced the notion of public debate. Business was no longer conducted
merely according to yes or no votes. The assembly
could ask for amendments, send bills back to the council, etc. All public issues -- war and peace, etc., were decided
by the entire body politic in the assembly. Cleisthenic Democracy was
essentially participatory democracy by those who could afford to attend.
POPULAR COURTS -- possibly originated with Solon, the courts now became the organ of appeals for the democracy.
They were organized according to 10 courts administered by the 10 archons to handle all public and private legal business. Jurors
were selected
by lot. For public issues that were too complex to be addressed by the Assembly, particularly questions of constitutional
procedure and/or accusations of treasonous behavior (i.e., proposing legislation that was contrary to the "ancestral
constitution"), an issue would be raised by accuser in the assembly. The
suit would be removed from the assembly
and thrown into the popular courts where an uneven number of jurors (101, 501, or 1001), chosen by lot, would decide
final outcome. The Helaia or popular courts represented a court of appeal whose decision became binding on the state.
Heavy reliance on sortition (selection by lot) and other elements reveal the Cleisthenic leadership's intense fear of aristocratic influence.
Sortition was originally a religious tool, essentially leaving the choice to the gods, apparently because selection by humans
could not be trusted. Examples of sortition within sortition within sortition, as in the Council of 500, demonstrates
the intense jealousy of the new democracy to institute truly random means of selection in order to eliminate any
and all influence by existing aristocratic factions. The context of the recent Spartan invasion and
the willingness of conservative
aristocrats to "sell out" Athens in order to preserve their position in society needs to be borne in
mind.
CLEISTHENIC CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS
CLEISTHENIC |
FORMERLY |
|
10 GENERALS |
NONE |
ELECTED |
10 ARCHONS |
9 ARCHONS |
SORTITION |
COUNCIL OF 500 |
AREOPAGUS |
SORTITION |
ASSEMBLY-10 TRIBES |
4 TRIBES |
ONE MAN ONE VOTE |
POPULAR COURTS (6000) |
|
SORTITION |
Along these lines one other political institution, OSTRACISM, appears to have been invented by Cleisthenes to insure the smooth working maintenance of the democracy. OSTRACISM, a national unpopularity contest, was first successfully used in 486 BC. Every Spring before the military season a vote would be taken in the assembly as to whether or not there was need for a vote of ostracism. If the vote was positive, a date would be set for the election, and campaigning among rival political factions would begin. Voting would occur at the Sacred Pit at the Agora, Citizens would cast their votes inscribed on broken pieces of pottery (ostraka), cast into the pit. Apparently a quorum of 6000 votes had to be cast for the vote to be official. If that number was achieved the politician receiving the most votes would have to leave Attica forthwith for 10 years' exile, without loss of citizenship or property. The object was to eliminate a contrary voice in the assembly and to prevent political grid-lock that was incumbent on participatory democracy.
Repeatedly in Athenian history debate in the
assembly became polarized between two figurehead politicians and their followings, as with Themistocles and Aristides
over the construction of the Athenian fleet in 483/2. Their debate was sufficient to bring all public business
to a standstill. Gridlock could endanger the democracy during emergencies; therefore, ostracism was created to
offer a "release valve", to eliminate one point of view so that the other could proceed to set policy
for the state, right or wrong. During moments of political polarization, the intensity of competition was so great
that ostracism campaigning became notorious. Sherds themselves were preserved by magistrates as religious attributes,
buried at various sacred places in the Agora, the Kerameikos, and the Acropolis. Archaeologists have been able
to reconstruct entire vases from sherd fragments and to determine that each sherd was inscribed by the same hand.
Sherds for several of the most famous ostracisms have been recovered. Obvious practices of
electioneering occurred outside the voting precinct as politicians handed out previously inscribed sherds to get their rivals
ostracized.
This suggests that the voters were frequently illiterate or incapable of writing the names themselves.
Plutarch relates the story of Aristides standing outside the
voting precinct during an ostracism, meeting a rustic Athenian farmer from the countryside, and asking him who he wanted to
ostracize.
Not knowing that he was talking to Aristides himself, the man said he wanted to expel Aristides. When Aristides asked
him why, he insisted that he was tired of hearing the name Aristides "the Just" day in/day out and wanted
him expelled. Living up to his name, Aristides wrote his own name on the sherd and gave it to the man. He was ultimately
ostracized but recalled during the Battle of Salamis. Aristides remained a patriot.
CONCLUSION - political developments in Athens required nearly a century long process of adaptation that took the
community through full blown tyranny into participatory democracy. Peisistratus converted Attica into an urban
commercial power focused on its city center of Athens; Cleisthenes introduced political reforms to create
isonomia
throughout the society. In fact, the process was not complete because it was restricted only to those who could
afford to participate -- hoplite democracy. The landless poor of the city, the
thetes, could rarely attend. Important
to observe the degree to which perceived threats, both internal and external, drove this process forward. To a
significant degree the political and social development of Athens was the product of the shifting events and developments
of the wider Aegean world.