Cleisthenes

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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
Born570 BC
Died508 BC
RelationsAlcmaeonidae

Cleisthenes (/ˈklaɪsθɪniːz/ KLYS-thin-eez; 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

isonomic institutions—equal rights for all citizens (though only free men were citizens)[7]—and established ostracism as a punishment.[8]

Biography

Historians estimate that Cleisthenes was born around 570 BC.

Oracle of Delphi to persuade the Spartans to help him free Athens from tyranny. Cleisthenes' plea for assistance was accepted by the Oracle as his family had previously helped rebuild the sanctuary when it was destroyed by fire.[12]

Rise to power

With help from the Spartans and the

sculptor Antenor in honour of the lovers and tyrannicides Harmodius and Aristogeiton, whom Hippias had executed.[15]

Reformations and governance of Athens

Political reorganization

Coinage of Athens at the time of Cleisthenes. Effigy of Athena, with owl and ΑΘΕ, initials of "Athens". Circa 510-500/490 BC.

After this victory, Cleisthenes began to reform the government of Athens. In order to forestall strife between the traditional clans, which had led to the

paralia; and an inland region, mesogeia).[17] D.M Lewis argues that Cleisthenes established the deme system in order to balance the central unifying force that a tyranny has with the democratic concept of having the people (instead of a single person) at the peak of political power.[6] Another by-product of the deme system was that it split up and weakened his political adversaries.[18] Cleisthenes also abolished patronymics in favour of demonymics (a name given according to the deme to which one belongs), thus increasing Athenians' sense of belonging to a deme.[17] This and the other aforementioned reforms had an additional effect in that they worked to include (wealthy, male) foreign citizens in Athenian society.[19]

He also established sortition – the random selection of citizens to fill government positions rather than kinship or heredity. It is also speculated that, in another move to lower the barriers of kinship and heredity when it comes to participation in Athenian society, Cleisthenes made it so foreign residents of Athens were eligible to become legally privileged.[20][18] In addition, he reorganized the Boule, created with 400 members under Solon, so that it had 500 members, 50 from each tribe. He also introduced the bouleutic oath, "To advise according to the laws what was best for the people".[21] The court system (Dikasteria – law courts) was reorganized and had from 201–5001 jurors selected each day, up to 500 from each tribe. It was the role of the Boule to propose laws to the assembly of voters, who convened in Athens around forty times a year for this purpose. The bills proposed could be rejected, passed, or returned for amendments by the assembly.

Introduction of ostracism

Bowl-like shards of pottery with Themistocles' name inscribed along the outer edge.
Most famously, Cleisthenes' ostracism was used against Themistocles in 472/471 BC. These were the particular ostraca used.

Cleisthenes also may have introduced

Xanthippus in 485–84 BC).[24] Under this system, the exiled man's property was maintained, but he was not physically in the city where he could possibly create a new tyranny. One later ancient author records that Cleisthenes himself was the first person to be ostracized.[25]

Cleisthenes called these reforms isonomia ("equality vis à vis law", iso- meaning equality; nomos meaning law), instead of demokratia.[26] Cleisthenes' life after his reforms is unknown as no ancient texts mention him thereafter.

Attempt to obtain Persian support

Earth and Water to the Persians in 507 BC, at the time Cleisthenes was leading Athenian politics.[27]

In 507 BC, during the time Cleisthenes was leading Athenian politics, and probably at his instigation, democratic

Asia Minor in the capital of Sardis, looking for Persian assistance in order to resist the threats from Sparta.[28][29] Herodotus reports that Artaphernes had no previous knowledge of the Athenians, and his initial reaction was "Who are these people?"[28] Artaphernes asked the Athenians for "Water and Earth", a symbol of submission, if they wanted help from the Achaemenid king.[29] The Athenian ambassadors apparently accepted to comply, and to give "Earth and Water".[28] Artaphernes also advised the Athenians that they should receive back the Athenian tyrant Hippias. The Persians threatened to attack Athens if they did not accept Hippias. Nevertheless, the Athenians preferred to remain democratic despite the danger from the Achaemenid Empire, and the ambassadors were disavowed and censured upon their return to Athens.[28]

After that, the Athenians sent to bring back Cleisthenes and the seven hundred households banished by Cleomenes; then they despatched envoys to Sardis, desiring to make an alliance with the Persians; for they knew that they had provoked the

Darius earth and water, then he would make alliance with them; but if not, his command was that they should begone. The envoys consulted together and consented to give what was asked, in their desire to make the alliance. So they returned to their own country, and were then greatly blamed for what they had done.

— Herodotus 5.73.[27]

There is a possibility that the Achaemenid ruler now saw the Athenians as subjects who had solemnly promised submission through the gift of "Earth and Water", and that subsequent actions by the Athenians, such as their intervention in the Ionian revolt, were perceived as a breach of oath and a rebellion against the central authority of the Achaemenid ruler.[28]

Citations

  1. ^ Ober, pp. 83 ff.
  2. 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. ^
    JSTOR 4434773
    – via JSTOR.
  7. OCLC 498999
    .
  8. JSTOR 500834
    .
  9. ^ The Greeks:Crucible of Civilization (2000)
  10. ^ Herodotus, Histories 6.131
  11. ^ Plutarch. Plutarch's Lives. with an English Translation by. Bernadotte Perrin. Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1916. 4.
  12. ^ Garvin, Edward (2013). "The Athenian Constitution" (PDF). University of Alberta. p. 19.4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 August 2017.
  13. ^
    OCLC 900444999
    .
  14. ^ Aristotle, Constitution of the Athenians, Chapter 20
  15. ^ "Lucian, De parasito sive artem esse parasiticam, section 48". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  16. ^ Aristotle, Politics 6.4.
  17. ^ a b Aristotle, Constitution of the Athenians, Chapter 21
  18. ^
    JSTOR 283606
    .
  19. JSTOR 4434774
    .
  20. JSTOR 4434675
    .
  21. ^ Morris & Raaflaub Democracy 2500?: Questions and Challenges
  22. ^ "Aristotle, Athenian Constitution, chapter 22". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  23. ^ of Athens, Philochorus. "Philochorus: Translation of Fragments". www.attalus.org. 30. Archived from the original on 17 September 2010. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  24. ^ Aristotle, Constitution of the Athenians, Chapter 22
  25. ^ Aelian, Varia historia 13.24
  26. ^ "Cleisthenes of Athens | Biography & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  27. ^ a b LacusCurtius • Herodotus — Book V: Chapters 55‑96.
  28. ^
    ISBN 9781107009608
    .
  29. ^
    ISBN 9781107009608
    .

References

Primary sources

Secondary sources
Library resources about
Cleisthenes

Further reading

External links

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