THE EARLY HISTORY OF ATHENS, DOWN TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF DEMOCRACY BY
CLISTHENES, B.C. 510.
Sparta was the only state in Greece which continued to retain the
kingly form of government during the brilliant period of Grecian
history. In all other parts of Greece royalty had been abolished at as
early age, and various forms of republican government established in
its stead. The abolition of royalty was first followed by an Oligarchy
or the government of the Few. Democracy, or the government of the Many,
was of later growth. It was not from the people that the oligarchies
received their first and greatest blow. They were generally overthrown
by the usurpers, to whom the Greeks gave the name of TYRANTS. [The
Greek word Tyrant does not correspond in meaning to the same word in
the English language. It signifies simply an irresponsible ruler, and
may, therefore, be more correctly rendered by the term Despot.]
The rise of the Tyrants seems to have taken place about the same time
in a large number of the Greek cities. In most cases they belonged to
the nobles, and they generally became masters of the state by espousing
the cause of the commonalty, and using the strength of the people to
put down the oligarchy by force. At first they were popular with the
general body of the citizens, who were glad to see the humiliation of
their former masters. But discontent soon began to arise; the tyrant
had recourse to violence to quell disaffection; and the government
became in reality a tyranny in the modern sense of the word.
Many of the tyrants in Greece were put down by the Lacedaemonians. The
Spartan government was essentially an oligarchy, and the Spartans were
always ready to lend their powerful aid in favour of the government of
the Few. Hence they took an active part in the overthrow of the
despots, with the intention of establishing the ancient oligarchy in
their place. But this rarely happened; and they found it impossible in
most cases to reinstate the former body of nobles in their ancient
privileges. The latter, it is true, attempted to regain them and were
supported in their attempts by Sparta. Hence arose a new struggle.
The first contest after the abolition of royalty was between oligarchy
and the despot, the next was between oligarchy and democracy.
The history of Athens affords the most striking illustration of the
different revolutions of which we have been speaking.
Little is known of Athens before the age of Solon. Its legendary tales
are few, its historical facts still fewer. Cecrops, the first ruler of
Attica, is said to have divided the country into twelve districts,
which are represented as independent communities, each governed by a
separate king. They were afterwards united into a single state, having
Athens as its capital and the seat of government. At what time this
important union was effected cannot be determined; but it is ascribed
to Theseus, as the national hero of the Athenian people.
A few generations after Theseus, the Dorians are said to have invaded
Attica. An oracle declared that they would be victorious if they
spared the life of the Athenian King; whereupon Codrus, who then
reigned at Athens, resolved to sacrifice himself for the welfare of his
country. Accordingly he went into the invaders' camp in disguise,
provoked a quarrel with one of the Dorian soldiers and was killed by
the latter. Upon learning the death of the Athenian king, the Dorians
retired from Attica without striking a blow: and the Athenians, from
respect to the memory of Codrus, abolished the title of king, and
substituted for it that of Archon or Ruler. The office, however, was
held for life, and was confined to the family of Codrus. His son Medon
was the first archon, and he was followed in the dignity by eleven
members of the family in succession. But soon after the accession
Alcmaeon, the thirteenth in descent from Medon, another change was
introduced, and the duration of the archonship was limited to ten years
(B.C. 752). The dignity was still confined to the descendants of
Medon; but in the time of Hippomenes (B.C. 714) this restriction was
removed, and the office was thrown open to all the nobles in the state.
In B.C. 683 a still more important change took place. The archonship
was now made annual, and its duties were distributed among nine
persons, all of whom bore the title. The last of the decennial archons
was Eryxias, the first of the nine annual archons Creon.
Such is the legendary account of the change of government at Athens,
from royalty to an oligarchy. It appears to have taken place peaceably
and gradually, as in most other Greek states. The whole political power
was vested in the nobles; from them the nine annual archons were taken,
and to them alone these magistrates were responsible. The people, or
general body of freemen, had no share in the government.
The Athenian nobles were called EUPATRIDAE, the two other classes in
the state being the GEOMORI or husbandmen, and DEMIURGI or artisans.
This arrangement is ascribed to Theseus; but there was another division
of the people of still greater antiquity. As the Dorians were divided
into three tribes, so the Ionians were usually distributed into four
tribes. The latter division also existed among the Athenians, who were
Ionians, and it continued in full vigour down to the great revolution
of Clisthenes (B.C. 509). These tribes were distinguished by the names
of GELEONTES (or TELEONTES) "cultivators," HOPLETES "warriors,"
AEGICORES "goat-herds," and ARGADES "artisans." Each tribe contained
three Phratriae, each Phratry thirty Gentes, and each Gens thirty heads
of families.
The first date in Athenian history on which certain reliance can be
placed is the institution of annual archons, in the year 683 B.C. The
duties of the government were distributed among the nine archons in the
following manner. The first was called THE ARCHON by way of
pre-eminence, and sometimes the Archon Eponymus, because the year was
distinguished by his name. The second archon was called THE BASILEUS
or THE KING, because he represented the king in his capacity as
high-priest of the nation. The third archon bore the title of THE
POLEMARCH, or Commander-in-chief and was, down to the time of
Clisthenes, the commander of the troops. The remaining six had the
common title of THESMOTHETAE, or Legislators. Their duties seem to
have been almost exclusively judicial.
The government of the Eupatrids was oppressive; and the discontent of
the people at length became so serious, that Draco was appointed in 624
B.C. to draw up a written code of laws. They were marked by extreme
severity. He affixed the penalty of death to all crimes alike; to
petty thefts, for instance, as well as to sacrilege and murder. Hence
they were said to have been written not in ink but in blood; and we are
told that he justified this extreme harshness by saying that small
offences deserved death, and that he knew no severer punishment for
great ones.
The legislation of Draco failed to calm the prevailing discontent. The
people gained nothing by the written code, except a more perfect
knowledge of its severity; and civil dissensions prevailed as
extensively as before. The general dissatisfaction with the government
was favourable to revolutionary projects; and accordingly, twelve years
after Draco's legislation (B.C. 612), Cylon, one of the nobles,
conceived the design of depriving his brother Eupatrids of their power,
and making himself tyrant of Athens. Having collected a considerable
force, he seized the Acropolis; but he did not meet with support from
the great mass of the people, and he soon found himself closely
blockaded by the forces of the Eupatrids. Cylon and his brother made
their escape, but the remainder of his associates, hard pressed by
hunger, abandoned the defence of the walls, and took refuge at the
altar of Athena (Minerva). They were induced by the archon Megacles,
one of the illustrious family of the Alcmaeonidae, to quit the altar on
the promise that their lives should be spared; but directly they had
left the temple they were put to death, and some of them were murdered
even at the altar of the Eumenides or Furies.
The conspiracy thus failed; but its suppression was attended with a
long train of melancholy consequences. The whole family of the
Alcmaeonidae was believed to have become tainted by the daring act of
sacrilege committed by Megacles; and the friends and partisans of the
murdered conspirators were not slow in demanding vengeance upon the
accursed race. Thus a new element of discord was introduced into the
state, In the midst of these dissensions there was one man who enjoyed
a distinguished reputation at Athens, and to whom his fellow citizens
looked up as the only person in the state who could deliver them from
their political and social dissensions, and secure them from such
misfortunes for the future. This man was Solon, the son of
Execestides, and a descendant of Codrus. He had travelled through many
parts of Greece and Asia, and had formed acquaintance with many of the
most eminent men of his time. On his return to his native country he
distinguished himself by recovering the island of Salamis, which had
revolted to Megara (B.C. 600). Three years afterwards he persuaded the
Alcmaeonidae to submit their case to the judgment of three hundred
Eupatridae, by whom they were adjudged guilty of sacrilege, and were
expelled from Attica. The banishment of the guilty race did not,
however, deliver the Athenians from their religious fears. A
pestilential disease with which they were visited was regarded as an
unerring sign of the divine wrath. Upon the advice of the Delphic
oracle, they invited the celebrated Cretan prophet and sage,
Epimenides, to visit Athens, and purify their city from pollution and
sacrilege. By performing certain sacrifices and expiatory acts,
Epimenides succeeded in staying the plague.
The civil dissensions however still continued. The population of
Attica was now divided into three hostile factions, consisting of the
PEDIEIS or wealthy Eupatrid inhabitants of the plains; of the DIACRII,
or poor inhabitants of the hilly districts in the north and east of
Attica; and of the PARALI, or mercantile inhabitants of the coasts, who
held an intermediate position between the other two. Their disputes
were aggravated by the miserable condition of the poorer population.
The latter were in a state of abject poverty, They had borrowed money
from the wealthy at exorbitant rates of interest upon the security of
their property and their persons. If the principal and interest of the
debt were not paid, the creditor had the power of seizing the person as
well as the land of his debtor, and of using him as a slave. Many had
thus been torn from their homes and sold to barbarian masters, while
others were cultivating as slaves the lands of their wealthy creditors
in Attica. Matters had at length reached a crisis; the existing laws
could no longer be enforced; and the poor were ready to rise in open
insurrection against the rich.
In these alarming circumstances the ruling oligarchy were obliged to
have recourse to Solon; and they therefore chose him Archon in B.C.
594, investing him under that title with unlimited powers to effect any
changes he might consider beneficial to the state. His appointment was
hailed with satisfaction by the poor; and all parties were willing to
accept his mediation and reforms.
Solon commenced his undertaking by relieving the poorer class of
debtors from their existing distress. He cancelled all contracts by
which the land or person of a debtor had been given as security; and he
forbad for the future all loans in which the person of the debtor was
pledged. He next proceeded to draw up a new constitution and a new
code of laws. As a preliminary step he repealed all the laws of Draco,
except those relating to murder. He then made a new classification of
the citizens, distributing them into four classes according to the
amount of their property, thus making wealth and not birth the title to
the honours and offices of the state. The first class consisted of
those whose annual income was equal to 500 medimni of corn and upwards,
and were called PENTACOSIOMEDIMNI. [The medimnus was one bushel and a
half.] The second class consisted of those whose incomes ranged
between 300 and 500 medimni and were called KNIGHTS, from their being
able to furnish a war-horse. The third class consisted of those who
received between 200 and 300 medimni, and were called ZEUGITAE from
their being able to keep a yoke of oxen for the plough. The fourth
class, called THETES, included all whose property fell short of 200
medimni. The first class were alone eligible to the archonship and the
higher offices of the state. The second and third classes filled
inferior posts, and were liable to military service, the former as
horsemen, and the latter as heavy-armed soldiers on foot. The fourth
class were excluded from all public offices, and served in the army
only as light-armed troops. Solon, however, allowed them to veto in
the public assembly, where they must have constituted by far the
largest number. He gave the assembly the right of electing the archons
and the other officers of the state; and he also made the archons
accountable to the assembly at the expiration of their year of office.
This extension of the duties of the public assembly led to the
institution of a new body. Solon created the Senate, or Council of
Four Hundred with the special object of preparing all matters for the
discussion of the public assembly, of presiding at its meetings, and of
carrying its resolutions into effect. No subject could be introduced
before the people, except by a previous resolution of the Senate. The
members of the Senate were elected by the public assembly, one hundred
from each of the four ancient tribes, which were left untouched by
Solon. They held their office for a year, and were accountable at its
expiration to the public assembly for the manner in which they had
discharged their duties.
The Senate of the Areopagus [It received its name from its place of
meeting, which was a rocky eminence opposite the Acropolis, called the
hill of Ares (Mars Hill)], is said by some writers to have been
instituted by Solon; but it existed long before his time, and may be
regarded as the representative of the Council of Chiefs in the Heroic
age. Solon enlarged its powers, and intrusted it with the general
supervision of the institutions and laws of the state, and imposed upon
it the duty of inspecting the lives and occupations of the citizens.
All archons became members of it at the expiration of their year of
office.
Solon laid only the foundation of the Athenian democracy by giving the
poorer classes a vote in the popular assembly, and by enlarging the
power of the latter; but he left the government exclusively in the
hands of the wealthy. For many years after his time the government
continued to be an oligarchy, but was exercised with more moderation
and justice than formerly.
Solon enacted numerous laws, containing regulations on almost all
subjects connected with the public and private life of the citizens.
He encouraged trade and manufactures, and invited foreigners to settle
in Athens by the promise of protection and by valuable privileges. To
discourage idleness a son was not obliged to support his father in old
age, if the latter had neglected to teach him some trade or occupation.
Solon punished theft by compelling the guilty party to restore double
the value of the property stolen. He forbade speaking evil either of
the dead or of the living.
Solon is said to have been aware that he had left many imperfections in
his laws. He described them not as the best laws which he could
devise, but as the best which the Athenians could receive. Having
bound the government and people of Athens by a solemn oath to observe
his institutions for at least ten years, he left Athens and travelled
in foreign lands. During his absence the old dissensions between the
Plain, the Shore, and the Mountain broke out afresh with more violence
than ever. The first was headed by Lycurgus, the second by Megacles,
an Alcmaeonid, and the third by Pisistratus, the cousin of Solon. Of
these leaders, Pisistratus was the ablest and the most dangerous. He
had espoused the cause of the poorest of the three classes, in order to
gain popularity, and to make himself master of Athens. Solon on his
return to Athens detected the ambitious designs of his kinsman, and
attempted to disuade him from them. Finding his remonstrances
fruitless, he next denounced his projects in verses addressed to the
people. Few, however, gave any heed to his warnings: and Pisistratus,
at length finding his schemes ripe for action, had recourse to a
memorable strategem to secure his object. One day he appeared in the
market-place in a chariot, his mules and his own person bleeding with
wounds inflicted with his own hands. These he exhibited to the people,
telling them that he had been nearly murdered in consequence of
defending their rights. The popular indignation was excited; and a
guard of fifty clubmen was granted him for his future security. He
gradually increased the number of his guard and soon found himself
strong enough to throw off the mask and seize the Acropolis (B.C. 560).
Megacles and the Alcmaeonidae left the city. Solon alone had the
courage to oppose the usurpation, and upbraided the people with their
cowardice and their treachery. "You might," said he, "with ease have
crushed the tyrant in the bud; but nothing now remains but to pluck him
up by the roots." But no one responded to his appeal. He refused to
fly; and when his friends asked him on what he relied for protection,
"On my old age," was his reply. It is creditable to Pisistratus that
he left his aged relative unmolested, and even asked his advice in the
administration of the government. Solon did not long survive the
overthrow of the constitution. He died a year or two afterwards at the
advanced age of eighty. His ashes are said to have been scattered by
his own direction round the island of Salamis, which he had won for the
Athenian people.
Pisistratus however did not retain his power long. The leaders of the
factions of the Shore and the Plain combined and drove the usurper into
exile. But the Shore and the Plain having quarrelled, Pisistratus was
recalled and again became master of Athens. Another revolution shortly
afterwards drove him into exile a second time, and he remained abroad
ten years. At length, with the assistance of mercenaries from other
Grecian states and with the aid of his partisans in Athens, he became
master of Athens for the third time, and henceforth continued in
possession of the supreme power till the day of his death. As soon as
he was firmly established in the government, his administration was
marked by mildness and equity. He maintained the institutions of
Solon, taking care, however, that the highest offices should always be
held by some members of his own family. He not only enforced strict
obedience to the laws, but himself set the example of submitting to
them. Being accused of murder, he disdained to take advantage of his
authority, and went in person to plead his cause before the Areopagus,
where his accuser did not venture to appear. He courted popularity by
largesses to the citizens and by throwing open his gardens to the poor.
He adorned Athens with many public buildings. He commenced on a
stupendous scale a temple to the Olympian Zeus, which remained
unfinished for centuries, and was at length completed by the emperor
Hadrian. He was a patron of literature, as well as of the arts. He is
said to have been the first person in Greece who collected a library,
which he threw open to the public; and to him posterity is indebted for
the collection of the Homeric poems. On the whole it cannot be denied
that he made a wise and noble use of his power.
Pisistratus died at an advanced age in 527 B.C., thirty-three years
after his first usurpation. He transmitted the sovereign power to his
sons, Hippias and Hipparchus, who conducted the government on the same
principles as their father. Hipparchus inherited his father's literary
tastes. He invited several distinguished poets, such as Anacreon and
Simonides, to his court. The people appear to have been contented with
their rule; and it was only an accidental circumstance which led to
their overthrow and to a change in the government.
Their fall was occasioned by the conspiracy of Harmodius and
Aristogiton, who were attached to each other by a most intimate
friendship. Harmodius having given offence to Hippias, the despot
revenged himself by putting a public affront upon his sister. This
indignity excited the resentment of the two friends, and they now
resolved to slay the despots at the festival of the Great Panathenaea,
when all the citizens were required to attend in arms. Having
communicated their design to a few associates, the conspirators
appeared armed at the appointed time like the rest of the citizens, but
carrying concealed daggers besides. Harmodius and Aristogiton had
planned to kill Hippias first as he was arranging the order of the
procession outside the city, but, upon approaching the spot where he
was standing, they were thunderstruck at beholding one of the
conspirators in close conversation with the despot. Believing that
they were betrayed, they rushed back into the city with their daggers
hid in the myrtle boughs which they were to have carried in the
procession, and killed Hipparchus. Harmodius was immediately cut down
by the guards. Aristogiton died under the tortures to which he was
subjected in order to compel him to disclose his accomplices.
Hipparchus was assassinated in B.C. 514, the fourteenth year after the
death of Pisistratus. From this time the character of the government
became entirely changed. His brother's murder converted Hippias into a
cruel and suspicious tyrant. He put to death numbers of the citizens,
and raised large sums of money by extraordinary taxes.
The Alcmaeonidae, who had lived in exile ever since the third and final
restoration of Pisistratus to Athens, now began to form schemes to
expel the tyrant. Clisthenes, the son of Megacles, who was the head of
the family, secured the Delphian oracle by pecuniary presents to the
Pythia, or priestess, henceforth, whenever the Spartans came to consult
the oracle, the answer of the priestess was always the same, "Athens
must be liberated." This order was so often repeated, that the Spartans
at last resolved to obey. Cleomenes, king of Sparta, defeated the
Thessalian allies of Hippias; and the tyrant, unable to meet his
enemies in the field, took refuge in the Acropolis. Here he might have
maintained himself in safety, had not his children been made prisoners
as they were being secretly carried out of the country. To procure
their restoration, he consented to quit Attics in the space of five
days. He sailed to Asia, and took up his residence at Sigeum in the
Troad, which his father had wrested from the Mytilenaeans in war.
Hippias was expelled in B.C. 510, four years after the assassination of
Hipparchus. These four years had been a time of suffering and
oppression for the Athenians, and had effaced from their minds all
recollection of the former mild rule of Pisistratus and his sons.
Hence the expulsion of the family was hailed with delight. The memory
of Harmodius and Aristogiton was cherished with the fondest reverence;
and the Athenians of a later age, overlooking the four years which had
elapsed from their death to the overthrow of the despotism, represented
them as the liberators of their country and the first martyrs for its
liberty. Their statues were erected in the market-place soon after the
expulsion of Hippias; their descendants enjoyed immunity from all taxes
and public burdens; and their deed of vengeance formed the favourite
subject of drinking songs.
The Lacedaemonians quitted Athens soon after Hippias had sailed away,
leaving the Athenians to settle their own affairs. Clisthenes, to whom
Athens was mainly indebted for its liberation from the despotism,
aspired to be the political leader of the state but he was opposed by
Isagoras, the leader of the party of the nobles. By the Solonian
constitution, the whole political power was vested in the hands of the
nobles; and Clisthenes soon found that it was hopeless to contend
against his rival under the existing order of things. For this reason
he resolved to introduce an important change in the constitution, and
to give to the people an equal share in the government.
The reforms of Clisthenes gave birth to the Athenian democracy, which
can hardly be said to have existed before this time. His first and
most important measure was a redistribution of the whole population of
Attica into ten new tribes. He abolished the four ancient Ionic
tribes, and enrolled in the ten new tribes all the free inhabitants of
Attica, including both resident aliens and even emancipated slaves. He
divided the tribes into a certain number of cantons or townships,
called DEMI, which at a later time were 174 in number. Every Athenian
citizen was obliged to be enrolled in a demus, each of which, like a
parish in England, administered its own affairs. It had its public
meetings it levied rates, and was under the superintendence of an
officer called DEMARCHUS.
The establishment of the ten new tribes led to a change in the number
of the Senate. It had previously consisted of 400 members, but it was
now enlarged to 500, fifty being selected from each of the ten new
tribes. The Ecclesia, or formal assembly of the citizens, was now
summoned at certain fixed periods; and Clisthenes transferred the
government of the state, which had hitherto been in the hands of the
archons, to the senate and the ecclesia. He also increased the
judicial as well as the political power of the people; and enacted that
all public crimes should be tried by the whole body of citizens above
thirty years of age, specially convoked and sworn for the purpose. The
assembly thus convened was called HELIAEA and its members HELIASTS.
Clisthenes also introduced the OSTRACISM, by which an Athenian citizen
might be banished without special accusation, trial, or defence for ten
years, which term was subsequently reduced to five. It must be
recollected that the force which a Greek government had at its disposal
was very small; and that it was comparatively easy for an ambitious
citizen, supported by a numerous body of partisans, to overthrow the
constitution and make himself despot. The Ostracism was the means
devised by Clisthenes for removing quietly from the state a powerful
party leader before he could carry into execution any violent schemes
for the subversion of the government. Every precaution was taken to
guard this institution from abuse. The senate and the ecclesia had
first to determine by a special vote whether the safety of the state
required such a step to be taken. If they decided in the affirmative,
a day was fixed for the voting, and each citizen wrote upon a tile or
oyster-shell [OSTRACON, whence the name OSTRACISM] the name of the
person whom he wished to banish. The votes were then collected, And if
it was found that 6000 had been recorded against any one person, he was
obliged to withdraw from the city within ten days: if the number of
votes did not amount to 6000, nothing was done.
The aristocratical party, enraged at these reforms called in the
assistance of Cleomenes, king of the Lacedaemonians. Athens was
menaced by foreign enemies and distracted by party struggles.
Clisthenes was at first compelled to retire from Athens; but the people
rose in arms against Cleomenes, expelled the Lacedaemonians, who had
taken possession of the city, and recalled Clisthenes. Thereupon
Cleomenes collected a Peloponnesian army in order to establish Isagoras
as a tyrant over the Athenians, and at the same time he concerted
measures with the Thebans and the Chalcidians of Euboea for a
simultaneous attack upon Attica. The Peloponnesian army, commanded by
the two kings, Cleomenes and Demaratus, entered Attica, and advanced as
far as Eleusis; but when the allies became aware of the object for
which they had been summoned, they refused to march farther, and
strongly protested against the attempt to establish a tyranny at
Athens. Their remonstrances being seconded by Demaratus, Cleomenes
found it necessary to abandon the expedition and return home. At a
later period (B.C. 491) Cleomenes took revenge upon Demaratus by
persuading the Spartans to depose him upon the ground of illegitimacy.
The exiled king took refuge at the Persian court.
The unexpected retreat of the Peloponnesian army delivered the
Athenians from their most formidable enemy, and they lost no time in
turning their arms against their other foes. Marching into Boeotia,
they defeated the Thebans and then crossed over into Euboea, where they
gained a decisive victory over the Chalcidians. In order to secure
their dominion in Euboea, and at the same time to provide for their
poorer citizens, the Athenians distributed the estates of the wealthy
Chalcidian landowners among 4000 of their citizens, who settled in the
country under the name of CLERUCI.
The successes of Athens excited the jealousy of the Spartans, and they
now resolved to make a third attempt to overthrow the Athenian
democracy. They had meantime discovered the deception which had been
practised upon them by the Delphic oracle; And they invited Hippias to
come from Sigeum to Sparta, in order to restore him to Athens. The
experience of the last campaign had taught them that they could not
calculate upon the co-operation of their allies without first obtaining
their approval of the project; and they therefore summoned deputies
from all their allies to meet at Sparta, in order to determine
respecting the restoration of Hippias. But the proposal was received
with universal repugnance; and the Spartans found it necessary to
abandon their project. Hippias returned to Sigeum, and afterwards
proceeded to the court of Darius.
Athens had now entered upon her glorious career. The institutions of
Clisthenes had given her citizens a personal interest in the welfare
and the grandeur of their country. A spirit of the warmest patriotism
rapidly sprang up among them; and the history of the Persian wars,
which followed almost immediately, exhibits a striking proof of the
heroic sacrifices which they were prepared to make for the liberty and
independence of their state.