How Ready Was Athens for People Rule in 510bc?
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How ready was Athens for people rule in 510BC?
Athens was one of the leading powers in the southern eastern Mediterranean in the ancient world; it was part of mainland Greece and was respected and feared by many of its neighbours and fellow large states, such as Sparta. The government of Athens was democratic, it was supposedly run by the people with an Archon to help with their needs and orders. However in theory the real power and decision lay not as it was supposed to with the people but more with the archonships who were supposed to work from what the people wanted. This power could be used for either good or bad and throughout the sixth century both types were widely used.
Solon is widely accepted to be the most influential early archon, we know very little of him due to lack of sources available to us. However we do know that he tried to alter Athens and its system of government under his reforms . In Solons reforms he included complete cancellation of all debt bondage and most debts, this was viewed in two manners, complete joy b the lower classes who had taken debts for themselves and their families to live on but it was also detested by the upper classes. He also under his term in office he banned all future loans on the security of the person, this meant an ending to debt bondage. He may have also ordered the recall of citizens who had been sold abroad under debt bondage or slavery, however we do not know if this is completely true as there is a distinct lack of sources and information on this. These reforms included that the division of citizens should be according to wealth not birth as it had previously been hence allowing the philosophy of new money being used to help in patronage. Solon furthermore made only the top three classes allotted the archonship and other major positions of power. He created something entirely new when he created a jury to which the bottom classes could appeal to in any case of injustice or just persecution. One of the reasons we know about Solons reform as he used epigraphic ways to portray them so that everyone could know and understand his knew reforms. Solons reforms included an increase in weight and measure this hence increased prosperity in the economy. We also know of Solon due to the Athpole which was written by a student of Aristotle.
The reforms of Solon dealt with both economic and political issues, and the new system he put down in his reforms laid the foundations for what eventually became Athenian democracy. But in the short term it failed to quell class conflict and after 20 years of political and social unrest the popular party led by Peisistratus, a cousin of Solon seized power in 546 BC. However it was 561 BC that he first took power, it is recorded in Herodotus when Peisistratus appeared in the agora wounded (self-inflicted!), claiming he was being chased by people opposed to him because of the assistance he had given the common people. The assembly granted him a bodyguard of 50 armed men. Peisistratus used these 50 armed men to seize the acropolis and proclaimed himself ruler. His rule did not last , he was driven out by Lycurgus and Megacles and others from the party of the Coast within the year (opposition). He returned in 559 BC with the help of Megacles, who had split from Lycurgus. Megacles had allied with Peisistratus on the condition that Peisistratus would marry Megacles daughter. The Athenians were persuaded by Megacles that Athena was bringing Peisistratus home and Peisistratus returned from exile in a carriage accompanied by a tall woman disguised as Athena in a suit of armour. Later, Megacles was angered by the fact that Peisistratus refused to have children with his daughter, and Peisistratus was again exiled in 556 BC by Lycurgus and Megacles. He went to Euboea and remained there for almost ten years, becoming quite rich through mining. He returned to Athens in 546 BC with a considerable force and regained power with the support of Lygdamos of Naxos. Peisistratus is usually called a tyrant, but the Greek word tyrannos does not mean a cruel and despotic ruler, merely one who had taken power through sheer force. Peisistratus was in fact a very popular ruler, who made Athens a wealthy, powerful state and one that was a centre of culture