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Tuesday, December 20, 2016

026 - The Tyranny of the Peisistratids



In this episode, we discuss the ascension of Peisistratos as the first tyrant of Athens and the political maneuverings that he and his two sons, Hippias and Hipparchus, took in maintaining (and sometimes regaining) their position, which included armed warfare, trickery, political marriages, and the expulsion of many of their political enemies (who would go and found several colonies in Athens' name); the economic reforms that Peisistratos and his two sons undertook; their patronage of the arts and public works in the Agora and Acropolis, as well as at other religious sanctuaries in Attica; their encouragement of religious festivals, especially the Greater Panathenaia and the Dionysia; and the ultimate dissolution of the tyranny brought about by the assassination of Hipparchus, the susbsequent cruelty and expulsion of Hippias, and the ascendency of Cleisthenes (with the help of the Spartans)

565 BC - Peisistratos captured Nisaea, bringing an end to the wars with Megara, which ended the troublesome food blockage and enhanced his reputation
561 BC - Peisistratos seized the Acropolis with armed bodyguards and made himself tyrant for the first time, much to the chagrin and outcries of Solon
558 BC - Solon died of old age
556 BC - Resistance mounted against Peisistratos, leading the nobles to seek an alliance with the exiled Alcmeonidai; they were recalled to Athens and Peisistratos fled the city; the political alliance soon collapsed, so Megacles of the Alcmeonidai instead realigned with Peissistratos through a political marriage and thus he became tyrant of the city again; but this too was short-lived and Peisistratos was driven from the city a second time
547 BC - earthquake fells the temple of Apollo at Delphi; the Alcmeonidai were able to gain a special position of privilege thanks to their funding of the rebuilding of the temple
546 BC - After spending ten years cultivating powerful allies and a large personal army, Peisistratos invaded Attica; he crushed the Athenian army near Pallene, and became tyrant of Athens for the third and final time
540 BC - Miltiades the Elder established a colony in the Thracian Chersonese and ruled it as a tyrant, only subordinate to Peisistratos' overarching authority
534 BC - Thespis was first winner of tragedy competitions at the Dionysia
528/7 BC - Peisistratos died and the tyranny was passed to Hippias and Hipparchus
525/4 BC - archonship of Cleisthenes of the Alcmeonidai
524/3 BC - archonship of Miltiades the Younger of the Philaids
524 BC - Miltiades the Elder died and his eldest nephew, Stesagoras, replaced him as tyrant in the Thracian Chersonese
519 BC - the Athenians defended the Plataeans militarily against the Thebans
515 BC - Stesagoras was assassinated and replaced by his younger brother, Miltiades the Younger, who immediately quelled the uprising and formed an alliance with king Olorus of Thrace by marrying his daughter
515/4 BC - second archonship of Cleisthenes, but he tried to make it something more than titular (as the tyrants held the unofficial power), and for that he was banished from Athens
514 BC - Hipparchus was assassinated by the Tyrannicides, Harmodius and Aristogeiton; afterwards, Hippias' rule became oppressive
513 BC - Cleisthenes' mercenary army was defeated by Hippias' mercenary forces near Lypsidrion in northern Attica
511 BC - Cleisthenes' uses his families special privilege to get the Delphic oracle to coax Cleomenes and the Spartans to assist them in removing Hippias as tyrant; unfortunately, their first force was defeated near Phaleron
510 BC - Cleisthenes' second attempt was successful, though; Hippias was forced into exile, where he would eventually make his way to the Persian court of Darius; immediately after this the Thebans and Athenians engaged in hostilities again over Plataea, with the result of another Athenian victory


Primary Sources:
Text/Pseudo-Xenophon (Old Oligarch)'s Constitution of the Athenians
Text/Aristotle's Constitution of the Athenians
Text/Plutarch's Life of Solon
Text/Pausanias' Description of Greece (Book 1, Attica)






Supplementary Resources (Videos, Photos, Other Podcasts)

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