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ATHENS
Archaic Period (750-490 BCE)
 City-state ruled by basileus (king)
 Central polis (city) in Attica, agriculturally rich, excellent harbor for trade/shipping
Areopagus (beginning 700s BCE)
 Hill where council of nobles met, becomes oligarchy (rule by the few) as nobles’ wealth & power
increases
 Position of king disappears
 Elects 9 archons (rulers) to run city, submit veto to entire body of Areopagus
 Nobles control wine & olive oil production
 Increasingly poor and disenfranchised wheat farming peasants forced into slavery to pay debts
Solon’s Reforms (590)
 Drastic, nearly revolutionary situation due to disparity between rich & poor
 Solon granted tyranny (temporary sole ruler above the law) to solve the problem
 Dismisses debts, frees Athenians sold into slavery, bans slavery as security for loans, brings
Athenians home, encourages oil & wine production for all
 Creates 4 classes based on wealth: 1st & 2nd most wealthy serve on Areopagus; 3rd elected to
council of 400 (100 each for 4 Athenian tribes) and serve as semi-check to Areopagus; 4th
participate in Assembly, vote on affairs brought by Council of 400, elect local magistrates,
oversee judicial courts
Peisistratus & Sons Hippias and Hipparchus (560-510)
 Peisistratus becomes tyrant as democracy collapses again, passes power to sons
 P. uses mercenary army to back up political control as tyrant
 P. conducts massive building campaigns, cultural & religious reforms to est. unity & cultural
identity, patronizes poets, playwrights, artists
 P. reduces power of nobility and increases power of Assembly & poorest classes
 Sons Hippias & Hipparchus take over tyranny on death of P. in 527 (thus hereditary monarchy)
 514 Hipparchus assassinated by Harmodius & Aristogeiton over lover’s quarrel, Hippias flees to
Persia after Spartans help Athenians oust Hippias
Spartan Involvement (510-508)
 King Cleomenes I directs Spartan defeat of Hippias, assisted by Alcmaeonid family of Athens
 Spartans install Isagoras as tyrant despite being rival of Alcmaeonids; Isagoras disenfranchises
many of citizenship rights
 Cleisthenes of Alcmaeonid family instigates popular revolt to overthrow Isagoras
 Spartans invade 2nd time, Cleisthenes flees
 Second popular revolt restores Cleisthenes to power
Cleisthenes (508-502)
 C’s reforms finalize Athenian democracy
 Enfranchises (gives right to vote) to all free men in Athens & Attica
 Establishes council of executive and administrative control (all citizens over 30 serve on it)
 Assembly (all male citizens) can veto council and declare war
 Economy focused on cash crops for export, crafts (such as pottery)
 Athens becomes center for art, architecture, literature (state patronage)
 Religious festivals largely established and regularized by this point
Ostracism (489)
 Last element of Athenian democracy, developed to prevent tyranny
 One person per year voted into exile for 10 years by Assembly, votes cast on ostraka (pottery
sherds), subject to manipulation (pre-written ostraka handed out to illiterate voters)