Pisistratus


Pisistratus was a politician in ancient Athens, ruling as tyrant in the late 560s, the early 550s and from 546 BC until his death. His unification of Attica, the triangular peninsula of Greece containing Athens, along with economic and cultural improvements laid the groundwork for the later pre-eminence of Athens in ancient Greece. His legacy lies primarily in his institution of the Panathenaic Games, historically assigned the date of 566 BC, and the consequent first attempt at producing a definitive version of the Homeric epics. Pisistratus's championing of the lower class of Athens is an early example of populism. While in power, he did not hesitate to confront the aristocracy and greatly reduce their privileges, confiscating their lands and giving them to the poor. Pisistratus funded many religious and artistic programs, in order to improve the economy and spread the wealth more equally among the Athenian people.
Pisistratids is the common family or clan name for the three tyrants, who ruled in Athens from 546 to 510 BC, referring to Pisistratus and his two sons, Hipparchus and Hippias.

Background

Ancient Greek governments were typically monarchies in the 10th and 9th centuries BC. In the 7th and 6th centuries, political power began to be wielded by aristocratic families, who had accumulated wealth, land, and religious or political offices as the Greek city-states developed. The most notable families could trace their lineage back to a legendary or mythological founder/king, such as Herakles or an ancestor who participated in the Trojan War, for example. In the 6th and 5th centuries BC, prominent aristocratic families of Athens were the Pisistratids, Philaids, and the Alcmaeonids. The Pisistratid clan traced their ancestry back to Neleus of Pylos, father of the Homeric hero Nestor, who fought in the Trojan War.
The second clan, the Alcmaeonids, came to prominence in the 6th century BC during the lifetime of their namesake Alcmaeon and whose son, Megacles, both opposed and supported Pisistratus at various points in his reign. Due to the infighting between aristocratic families and the inability to maintain order, a tyrant was well-positioned to capitalise on the discontent of the poor and disenfranchised to make a bid for power. In the age of antiquity and especially in the Archaic Age of Greece, a tyrant was not viewed in the modern sense of the definition, but rather, a ruler who obtained power unconstitutionally, usually through the use of force, or inherited such power. In the first documented instance of Athenian tyranny, Herodotus notes the story of Cylon, an ancient Olympic Games champion, who gathered supporters, in either 636 or 632 BC, in an attempt to seize power by occupying the Acropolis. His attempt was unsuccessful and despite assurances to the contrary, Cylon and his supporters were allegedly killed by the Alcmaeonids, resulting in the Alcmaeonid curse.
Related to Pisistratus through his mother, Solon was an Athenian statesman and lawmaker who, in the early 6th century BC, restructured the social class system of Athens as well as reformed the law code, originated by Draco. Among his many reforms, Solon eliminated debt slavery, which primarily affected poor Athenians, who were in the majority, giving the demos — the common people of the city-state — collectively a concession to ease their suffering and possibly preventing a civil war. Pisistratus's later rise to power would draw on support from many of the poor people composing this constituency.

Early life and rise to power

Pisistratus was a native of the deme of Philaidae near Brauron in eastern Attica. Not much is known about the early years of Pisistratus's life, but his father, Hippocrates, attended the Olympic Games in either 608 or 604, and during a sacrifice to the gods, the meat was said to have been boiled without a fire, as witnessed by Chilon the Lacedaemonian. As a result of this sign, Chilon recommended that Hippocrates send away his wife, if she could bear children, and if he had a son, to disown him. Hippocrates did not follow Chilon's advice, and later, he had a son named Pisistratus.
Originally, Pisistratus became known as an Athenian general who captured the port of Nisaea in the nearby city-state of Megara in approximately 565 BC. This victory opened up the unofficial trade blockage that had been contributing to food shortages in Athens during the previous several decades.
In the subsequent years after Solon and his departure from Athens, Aristotle reports that the city of Athens was still very divided and in turmoil, with many secondary sources noting the development of three distinct political factions competing for control of Athens and its government. According to Aristotle, these groups were partitioned in both a geographic and economic sense. The first two factions, based on the plains and the coast, appeared to exist prior to the formation of the third faction. The third group, referred to as men of the Highlands, had various motives to align with Pisistratus, including those men in poverty, recent immigrants who feared loss of citizenship, and lenders who were denied the ability to collect their debts. Names of the competing factions differ according to the accessed source, with some references offering details on each group's composition while others do not:
  • Pedieis or Pediakoi: the population that resided on the plains, led by Lycurgus. These landowners produced grain, giving them leverage during the food shortage.
  • Paralioi or Paraloi: the population living along the coast, led by Megacles, an Alcmaeonid. The Paralioi party was not as strong as the Pedieis, primarily because they could not produce grain, like the plainsmen. With the Megareans patrolling the sea, much of Athens's import/export power was limited.
  • Hyperakrioi: not previously represented by the first two factions or parties listed above, dwelled primarily in the hills and were by far the poorest of the Athenian population. Their only production was barter in items like honey and wool. Pisistratus organised them into a third faction, the Hyperakrioi, or hill dwellers. This party grossly outnumbered the other two parties combined. R.J. Hopper provides similar names for the factions and classifies them by their region in Attica: Pedion, Paralia, and Diakria.
Sarah B. Pomeroy and her fellow three authors state the three factions of Athens are as follows:
  • the Men of the Plain: the population composed mostly of large landowners.
  • the Men of the Coast: the population likely including fishermen and craftsmen.
  • the Men of the Hill: the population containing the poorer residents of the Attic highlands, and possibly including residents of cities of Attica as well.
Herodotus provides the following information about the three groups:
  • Plains district: led by Lycurgus, son of Aristoleides.
  • Coastal district: led by Megacles, son of Alcmaeon.
  • Hill district: formed by Pisistratus in an effort to become tyrant of Athens.
His role in the Megarian conflict gained Pisistratus popularity in Athens, but he did not have the political clout to seize power. Around the year 561 BC, Herodotus writes how Pisistratus intentionally wounded himself and his mules, asking the Athenian people to provide bodyguards for protection and reminding them of his prior accomplishments, including the port capture of Nisaea. Pisistratus had driven his chariot into the agora or marketplace of Athens, claiming he had been wounded by his enemies outside of town, and thus, the people of Athens selected some of their men to function as a bodyguard, armed with clubs rather than spears, for him. Previously, he had assumed control of the Hyperakrioi, which was not an aristocratic group like the other two Athens factions, by promoting his democratic program and securing a mutual agreement with the members or demos of the faction. By obtaining support from this vast number of the poorer population and receiving the protection of bodyguards, he was able to overrun and seize the Acropolis as well as grasp the reins of the government. The Athenians were open to a tyranny similar to that under Solon, who previously had been offered the tyranny of Athens but declined, and in the early part of the Archaic Age, the rivalries among the aristocratic clans was fierce, making a single-ruler tyranny an attractive option, with the promise of possible stability and internal peace, and Pisistratus's ruse won him further prominence. With the Acropolis in his possession and with the support of his bodyguard, he declared himself tyrant.

Periods of power/three attempts at tyranny

First period of power

Pisistratus assumed and held power for three different periods of time, ousted from political office and exiled twice during his reign, before taking command of Athens for the third, final, and longest period of time from 546–528 BC.
His first foray into power started in the year 561 and lasted about five years. His first ouster from office was circa 556/555 BC after the other two factions, the Plains people led by Lycurgus and the Coastal people led by Megacles, normally at odds with each other, joined forces and removed him from power. Different sources provide conflicting or unspecified time intervals for the periods of Pisistratus's reign. For example, Herodotus writes that Megacles's and Lycurgus's followers combined after a short time to expel Pisistratus from power. Aristotle comments that Pisistratus was forced out during the year of the archonship of Hegesias, five years after he originally assumed his first tyranny in Athens.
In this period, one of the Athenian polemarchs was Charmus of Kolyttus, who had been eromenos of Pisistratus. Charmus was the first Athenian to dedicate an altar to Eros, god of love.

Exile and second period of power

He was exiled for three to six years during which the agreement between the Pedieis and the Paralioi fell apart. Soon after, in the year 556 BC or so, Megacles invited Pisistratus back for a return to power upon the condition Pisistratus marry Megacles's daughter, Coesyra. According to Herodotus, the two men concocted a creative method to rally the people of Athens back to Pisistratus's side. A tall, almost six foot woman, Phye, from the deme or rural village of Paiania was selected to pose as the goddess Athena, by being dressed in full armour, riding in a chariot, and being counselled on how to portray the goddess. Heralds were sent ahead to announce that Athena herself was bringing Pisistratus back to her acropolis and that she exalted him above all other men. Word travelled fast to the people throughout the villages and even to those in the city believing that Phye was the goddess Athena and consequently, Pisistratus was welcomed back by the awestruck Athenians.
How much of this story is based in facts versus an oral fabrication or exaggeration passed down to Herodotus is not entirely known. Lavelle writes that this story provides a Homer-type mythological tie-in to the connection between the gods and Greek heroes where Pisistratus's prior resume as a warrior and general would be viewed as heroic and furthermore, Pisistratus would be viewed in a similar manner as the Greek hero Odysseus, who was viewed as cunning and having a special relationship with Athena. It is debated to what extent this staged event impacted the return of many to his side. Krentz postulates that the story should be viewed in the context of a premeditated performance of Athena returning to the temple dedicated to her. While some argue that the general public believed he had won the favour of the goddess, others instead put forward the idea that the public were aware that he was using the chariot ride as a political manoeuvre, drawing comparisons between himself and the ancient kings of Athens.