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Pisistratus (also spelled Peisistratus or Peisistratos; ; – 527 BC) 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' 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.
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' later rise to power would draw on support from many of the poor people composing this constituency.
Originally, Pisistratus became known as an Athenian general who captured the port of Nisaea (or Nisaia) in the nearby city-state of Megara in approximately 565 BC.Chester G. Starr, ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA Peisistratus TYRANT OF ATHENS This victory opened up the unofficial 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 (as documented below) 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 (or Hill), 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:
Sarah B. Pomeroy and her fellow three authors state the three factions of Athens are as follows:
Herodotus provides the following information about the three groups:
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' ruse won him further prominence. With the Acropolis in his possession and with the support of his bodyguard, he declared himself tyrant.Aristotle, The Athenian Constitution, Part 13, 24; Herodotus, The Histories, 1.59; Plutarch, “Life of Solon”, in Plutarch’s Lives (London: Printed by W. M'Dowell for J. Davis, 1812), 185.
In this period (557–556 BC), one of the Athenian was Charmus, who had been eromenos of Pisistratus.Plutarch, Life of Solon 1.4 Charmus was the first Athenian to dedicate an altar to Eros, god of love.Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.30.1
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' 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.Aristotle, The Athenian Constitution, Part 14.
In 546 BC, using Eretria as a base and supported by Eretrian cavalry, Pisistratus landed at Marathon on the northern side of Attica and advanced towards Athens, joined by some local sympathizers from Athens and the surrounding demes. The Athenians mustered a force in opposition and met Pisistratus' forces at Pallene. Providing some background details, Herodotus comments that just before the battle commences a seer gave Pisistratus a prophecy that the net has been cast and the tuna will swarm through. With the prophecy both welcomed and understood by Pisistratus, his troops advanced and attacked the Athenian forces who were resting after lunch, easily routing them. While the Athenians retreated and in order to prevent them from reforming their forces, Pisistratus directed his sons to ride after the routed Athenians and announce that they should return home, retaining no anxiety or fear from the situation at hand. With those instructions, the Athenians complied and Pisistratus was able to return to rule Athens for a third time as tyrant, with his reign lasting from 546 BC till his death in 528 or 527 BC.
During the three reigns of Pisistratus in the mid to latter part of the 6th century BC, Athens was beginning its transition to becoming the largest and most dominant of the cities on the Attic peninsula. Starr states that Athens was coalescing into the framework of a city, rather than a loose affiliation of neighbouring villages. Perhaps next in importance was Piraeus, the main port city of Attica, just 5 miles southwest of Athens, and this port location was key to granting Athens easy access to maritime trade opportunities and the ocean waterways. Other notable cities in Attica include Marathon and Eleusis.
New festivals were inaugurated such as the greater and lesser Dionysia, which honoured Dionysus, the god of wine and pleasure, and vase paintings of that period highlighted drinking and exuberant celebratory scenes. At the Dionysia festival, prizes were granted for the singing of and by the year 534 BC approximately, tragedy plays were an annual competition occurrence. Control of the temple of Demeter, located in Eleusis and honouring the goddesses Demeter and Persephone, was also accomplished by Pisistratus and as a result, the floor plan of a great hall, the Telesterion, was redesigned so a much larger building (27m by 30m) could be built on site, with completion during the last few years of Pisistratus' reign or during the time of his sons' rule. Completely made of stone, the Telesterion had marble upper works, a Doric style portico, and tiles. The Greater Mysteries festival at Eleusis was an annual event held in the fall of each year, and was a Pan-Hellenic cult event for people both inside and outside of the Attica region. Other minor local cults sprinkled throughout Attica were either relocated entirely or in part to the city of Athens.
Pisistratus also initiated a travelling system of judges throughout the countryside to conduct trials on location and even the tyrant himself would occasionally accompany these groups for inspection purposes and conflict resolution. At one point, Pisistratus appeared before the court in his own defence, charged with murder, but the prosecution/accuser dropped the charges, being reluctant or afraid to move forward in the case.
On the commerce side, Athenian or Attic pottery was a key export, with small numbers of pottery beginning to arrive in the Black Sea, Italian, and French regions (the modern-day names for these regions) in the 7th century. Under Solon, beginning in the early part of the 6th century, these black-figure pottery commodities began to be exported in ever increasing numbers and distance from Athens, arriving throughout the Aegean Sea and Mediterranean Sea regions. Pisistratus continued to expand this vital pottery trade, with the black-figure pottery being found in Ionia, Cyprus, and as far east as Syria, while to the west, Spain was the most distant market. The popularity of Athenian pottery was noteworthy in the fact that its numbers eventually began to surpass Ancient Corinth pottery exports.
As for the city of Athens itself, Pisistratus embarked on a public building project campaign to improve the infrastructure and architecture of Athens, building new and upgrading old. His administration built roads and worked to improve the water supply of Athens. An aqueduct was connected to the Enneakrounos fountain at the edge of the agora and this marketplace was improved by revising the market lay-out in a more systematic way, improving both its effectiveness and use of space. Archaeology have discovered agora markers from the 6th century supporting such a claim. Aristocrats had previously owned their private wells and Pisistratus elected to construct fountain houses with public access to water. On the Acropolis, the temple of Athena was reconstructed as the 6th century progressed, and during Pisistratus' rule, the building of a very large temple dedicated to Zeus was initiated, stopped upon his death, resumed several centuries later, and finally completed by Hadrian, a Roman Empire emperor, in 131 AD. Public rather than private patronage became the hallmark of a Pisistratus-ruled society, providing a steady source of construction jobs to those citizens in need and more affordable housing in the city centre. Consequently, more people were able to move to the city of Athens.
To finance these public infrastructure projects as well as increasing the depth and variety of cultural and arts offerings, Pisistratus used the revenue streams generated from the mining at Mount Pangaeus in northern Greece and the silver mines located closer to home at Laurion, owned by the state, in Attica. However, despite evidence of , R. J. Hopper writes that silver was indeed produced during this time, but the amount is unclear for the years prior to 484 or 483 BC and it is possible that historians and researchers have overestimated the importance of the mines.
Regarding the minting of silver coins, evidence of this production started to appear in the early 6th century in various Greek city-states. Pomeroy contends that the first stamping of coins, imprinted with the image of an owl, was initiated by either Pisistratus or his sons. This owl depiction symbolised the goddess of wisdom, Athena, and these coins quickly became the most widely recognized currency in the Aegean region. Meanwhile, Verlag argues that the minting most likely started in the first decade of Pisistratus' third reign in power (546 to circa 535 BC), but the design was the so-called Wappenmünzen (heraldic coins) at first and then followed by a change to the owl currency version. The dating and placement of this change is uncertain, either late in the Pisistratid dynastic era or early in the democratic era of Athens.
In addition, Pisistratus was able to establish an Athenian presence in the Thracian Chersonese, now known as the Gallipoli peninsula located in modern-day Turkey, by dispatching Miltiades the Elder to rule as tyrant. The Dardanelles waterway was a narrow strait of water between the Thracian Chersonese and Anatolia, and the Thracian peninsula was a key location along travel routes between Asia Minor and the European continent. Herodotus reports in the Histories that Miltiades was sent over to take control of the Chersonese at a later time in the 6th century, in the year 516, by the sons of Pisistratus. In the process of assuming power, Miltiades procured the support of 500 mercenaries, in a tactic similar to that of Pisistratus, and married a Thracian princess.
In Herodotus' view as documented in the Histories, after assuming power for the first time, Pisistratus managed the city of Athens even-handedly and fairly, maintaining the government and political office structure as is with no changes to existing laws. However, after reassuming control in 546 BC for his third stint as head of state, Herodotus says that he firmly established his tyranny with his mercenary force, increased his revenues from mining sources in Attica and Mount Pangaeus, placed opponents' children as hostages on the island of Naxos, and exiled both Alcmaeonids as well as other Athenian dissenters (whether by freely chosen exile or by force is unclear). Pomeroy reaffirms Herodotus' commentary regarding Pisistratus' third turn in power, adding that Pisistratus installed relatives and friends in the offices of various archonships and detained the children of some Athenians as hostages to deter future uprisings and discourage opposition. Some of these actions would contradict the perception that Pisistratus ruled justly and followed the law. Aristotle seconds the initial remarks of Herodotus by characterising Pisistratus' reign as moderate and mild, describing the ruler as having a pleasant and tender disposition. As an illustration, Aristotle relates the case of a member of Pisistratus' entourage encountering a man tilling a stony plot of land and asking what the yield of this land was. The anonymous man responded that he received physical soreness and aches while Pisistratus received one-tenth of this yield. Due to his honesty, or perhaps his cleverness, Pisistratus exempted the man from paying his taxes. Aristotle also comments that Pisistratus' government functioned more in a constitutional manner and less like a tyranny.
Rosivach writes that the Pisistratid dynasty did not fundamentally change the government as originally created by Solon; instead, they maintained power by installing allies in important governmental positions, threatening force as needed, and using marriage alliances, all being tactics residing outside the constitution and law. Forsdyke chronicles the certain usage of Greek words by Herodotus in his Histories in reference to Pisistratus' tyranny and advocates that a society ruled by a tyrant has weak citizens while a democratic society has strong and free people.
The surviving Pisistratid ruler, Hippias, eventually joined the court of King Darius of Iran, and went on to aid the Persians in their attack on Marathon (490 BC) during the Greco-Persian Wars, acting as a guide. Upon the fall of the Pisistratid dynasty in 510 and the deposition of Hippias, Cleisthenes of Athens ultimately triumphs in a power struggle, dividing the Athenian citizens into ten new tribes, creating a Council of Five Hundred as a representative assembly, and ushering in the age of democratic government in the year 508/507. According to Pomeroy, the tyranny of Pisistratus and his sons functioned as a social levelling mechanism, regardless of economic status, for those outside the Pisistratid faction and sympathizers. Hence, the democratic style of government that evolved to replace the overthrow of the Pisistratids was aided by the circumstances and outcomes of the outgoing tyranny.
Upon the passing of Pisistratus, the coalescing of Athens and its city-state population into a tightly knit society, both of a religious and civil nature, was well underway, even though Athens was still much less influential militarily and politically compared to Sparta, its future ally and rival of the upcoming 5th century BC. Per Aristotle, the tyranny during the time of Pisistratus was commonly thought of as "the age of gold". This reference to an age of gold harkened back to the mythological god Cronos (Cronus), who ruled during what was called the Golden Age.
During the era of Athenian democracy, the development of ostracism, the expelling of a citizen for up to ten years, as a governmental management tool arose in reaction to the tyranny of the Pisistratids, and was envisioned, in part, as a defence against potential tyrants or individuals who amassed too much power or influence.
The poet Dante Alighieri in Canto XV of the Purgatorio, the second instalment of the Divine Comedy, references Pisistratus as responding in a gentle way when interacting with an admirer of his daughter.
According to Suda, the bodyguards of Pisistratus were called "wolf-feet" (Λυκόποδες), because they always had their feet covered with wolf-skins, to prevent frostbite; alternatively, because they had a wolf symbol on their shields.
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