It took Pisistratus several very colorful attempts to seize power in Athens before finally establishing himself as in 547 BC. A popular general, Pisistratus first tried to seize power in about 560 BC. Posing as a champion of the hill farmers, he inflicted wounds upon himself and drove his cart into Athens alleging his opponents had attacked him.
Peisistratus ruled Athens as tyrant until his death in 528/527 BC. After the death of Peisistratus, his sons, Hippias and Hipparchus, worked together and then fought each other to be the next Tyrant of Athens.
Therefore, at the time when Peisistratus was growing up, Athens was experiencing political instability. In fact, when Peisistratus seized power, he ended 20 years of unrest in the city state.
Basically, Peisistratus and Megacles found a woman called Phya, dressed her up in a full set of armor, and placed her in a chariot. Peisistratus and Phya then set out for the city, with heralds going before them, who made the following announcement, “Athena is giving Pisistratus the singular honor of personally escorting him back to your Acropolis.
Some of the most influential factors that affected Athens' rise and fall were their form of government, their leadership, and their arrogance. Athens' democracy greatly affected their rise and collapse because it helped them rise to power, but it also caused them to make bad choices, leading to their fall.
Peisistratus, also spelled Pisistratus, (born 6th century—died 527 bce), tyrant of ancient Athens whose unification of Attica and consolidation and rapid improvement of Athens's prosperity helped to make possible the city's later preeminence in Greece.
Athens was the largest and most influential of the Greek city-states. It had many fine buildings and was named after Athena, the goddess of wisdom and warfare. The Athenians invented democracy, a new type of government where every citizen could vote on important issues, such as whether or not to declare war.
Whether to regain this tribute, or simply to assert Athenian leadership, Pericles summoned a conference of all Greek states to consider the questions of rebuilding the Greek temples destroyed by the Persians, the payment of sacrifices due to the gods for salvation, and the freedom of the seas.
Promising to help the common people, he also reformed the legal system. But perhaps his greatest achievement was the transformation of the economy by introducing loans and encouraging farmers to grow 'cash crops', like olives.
Athens developed a system in which every free Athenian man had a vote in the Assembly. Athens developed a system in which every free Athenian man had a vote in the Assembly. In the late 6th century B.C., the Greek city-state of Athens began to lay the foundations for a new kind of political system.
After the Peloponnesian War, the Spartans set up an oligarchy in Athens, which was called the Thirty. It was short-lived, and democracy was restored. And due to an ill-conceived Spartan foreign policy, Athens was able to recover.
Impact of the Peloponnesian War The Peloponnesian War marked the end of the Golden Age of Greece, a change in styles of warfare and the fall of Athens, once the strongest city-state in Greece. The balance in power in Greece was shifted when Athens was absorbed into the Spartan Empire.
After Sparta defeated Athens, they ended democracy and set up a new government ruled by the "Thirty Tyrants". This only lasted for one year, however, as the local Athenians overthrew the tyrants and restored democracy. The Greek soldiers were called hoplites.
Pericles promoted the arts and literature, and it is principally through his efforts that Athens acquired the reputation of being the educational and cultural center of the ancient Greek world. He started an ambitious project that generated most of the surviving structures on the Acropolis, including the Parthenon.
Between 463 and 461, Pericles worked to prosecute and eventually ostracize Cimon for allegedly betraying Athens and emerged as the leader of Athens' democratic party. In 454 he led a successful military campaign in Corinth and sponsored the establishment of Athenian colonies in Thrace and on the Black Sea coast.
Pericles's most important accomplishment was making Athens a more democratic city-state by appointing people to positions based on their skill and abilities instead of their social class.
Although some of Peisistratus’ actions as tyrant would not be considered acceptable today, the tyrant also strove to strengthen Athens’ economy, and promoted cultural activities. The success of Peisistratus’ policies contributed to Athens’ pre-eminence in the 5 th century BC.
After The Death Of The Tyrant Of Athens, His Sons Take Over. After Peisistratus’ death, his eldest son, Hippias, succeeded him as tyrant. Hippias and his brother, Hipparchus, are best-known as the antagonists in the story of Harmodius and Aristogeiton, who became known as the famous Tyrannicides.
Peisistratus had two sons, one of whom, Hippias, succeeded him as tyrant after his death. Peisistratus, Hippias, and his other son, Hipparchus, are usually considered collectively as the Peisistratids. A portrait of Peisistratus, who was born around 607 BC in Attica. (Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres / CC BY-SA 4.0 )
The brutal Draconian laws of ancient Greece. In the long run, the reforms of Solon led to the establishment of Athenian democracy. In the short term, however, they failed to resolve class conflict. Therefore, at the time when Peisistratus was growing up, Athens was experiencing political instability.
Peisistratus came from the eastern part of Attica. The future Tyrant of Athens is said to have been named after Peisistratus of Pylos, a character in Homer’s Odyssey. The Peisistratus of the Odyssey was the youngest son of King Nestor , and a close friend of Odysseus’ son, Telemachus.
According to Herodotus, Megacles was on the losing side, and therefore, he decided to form an alliance with Peisistratus by offering him the hand of his daughter in marriage and placing Athens under Peisistratus’s rule once more. After listening to Megacles’ offer, Peisistratus accepted it, and agreed to his terms.
Peisistratus Leads An Uprising, And Captures Athens Briefly. With the aid of his bodyguards, Peisistratus led an uprising, and captured the Acropolis. Through his seizure of the city by force, Peisistratus became the Tyrant of Athens.