Cleisthenes

For other uses, see Cleisthenes (disambiguation).

Cleisthenes
Κλεισθένης
Modern bust of Cleisthenes, known as "the father of Athenian democracy", on view at the Ohio Statehouse, Columbus, Ohio
Eponymous archon of Athens
In office
525 – 524 BC
Preceded byHippias
Succeeded byMiltiades
Personal details
Bornc. 570 BC
Diedc. 508 BC
RelationsAlcmaeonidae
Preview warning: Page using Template:Infobox officeholder with unknown parameter "parents."

Cleisthenes (/ˈklaɪsθɪniːz/ KLYS-thin-eez; ‹See Tfd›Greek: Κλεισθένης), or Clisthenes (c. 570 – c. 508 BC), was an ancient Athenian lawgiver credited with reforming the constitution of ancient Athens and setting it on a democratic footing in 508 BC.[1][2] For these accomplishments, historians refer to him as "the father of Athenian democracy".[3] He was a member of the aristocratic Alcmaeonid clan. He was the younger son of Megacles and Agariste making him the maternal grandson of the tyrant Cleisthenes of Sicyon.[4] He was also credited with increasing the power of the Athenian citizens' assembly and for reducing the power of the nobility over Athenian politics.[5]

In 510 BC, Spartan troops helped the Athenians overthrow the tyrant Hippias, son of Peisistratus. Cleomenes I, king of Sparta, put in place a pro-Spartan oligarchy headed by Isagoras.[6] However, Cleisthenes, with the support of the middle class and aided by democrats, took over. Cleomenes intervened in 508 and 506 BC, but could not stop Cleisthenes and his Athenian supporters. Through Cleisthenes' reforms, the people of Athens endowed their city with isonomic institutions—equal rights for all citizens (though only free men were citizens)[7]—and established ostracism as a punishment.[8]

  1. ^ Ober, pp. 83 ff.
  2. ^ The New York Times (30 October 2007) [1st pub:2004]. John W. Wright (ed.). The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge, Second Edition: A Desk Reference for the Curious Mind. New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 628. ISBN 978-0-312-37659-8. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  3. ^ R. Po-chia Hsia, Julius Caesar, Thomas R. Martin, Barbara H. Rosenwein, and Bonnie G. Smith, The Making of the West, Peoples and Cultures, A Concise History, Volume I: To 1740 (Boston and New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2007), 44.
  4. ^ Smith, William (1867). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. pp. 105–106. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  5. ^ Langer, William L. (1968) The Early Period, to c. 500 B.C. An Encyclopedia of World History (Fourth Edition pp. 66). Printed in the United States of America: Houghton Mifflin Company. Accessed: January 30, 2011
  6. ^ Lewis, D. M. (1963). "Cleisthenes and Attica". Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte. 12 (1): 25. ISSN 0018-2311. JSTOR 4434773 – via JSTOR.
  7. ^ Hayek, Friedrich A. von (1960). The constitution of liberty. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 238–242. ISBN 0-226-32084-7. OCLC 498999.
  8. ^ Robinson, C. A. (1952). "Cleisthenes and Ostracism". American Journal of Archaeology. 56 (1): 23–24. doi:10.2307/500834. ISSN 0002-9114. JSTOR 500834.