The Athenian Constitution《雅典政制》英文版

350 BC

THE ATHENIAN CONSTITUTION

by Aristotle

translated by Sir Frederic G. Kenyon

Part 1

...[They were tried] by a court empanelled from among the noble families, and sworn upon the sacrifices. The part of accuser

was taken

by Myron. They were found guilty of the sacrilege, and their bodies were cast out of their graves and their race banished for evermore. In

view of this expiation, Epimenides the Cretan performed a purification

of the city.

Part 2

After this event there was contention for a long time between the upper classes and the populace. Not only was the constitution at this time oligarchical in every respect, but the poorer classes, men, women, and children, were the serfs of the rich. They were known as Pelatae and also as Hectemori, because they cultivated the lands of the rich at the rent thus indicated. The whole

country was in

the hands of a few persons, and if the tenants failed to pay their rent they were liable to be haled into slavery, and their children with them. All loans secured upon the debtor's person, a custom which prevailed until the time of Solon, who was the first to appear as the champion of the people. But the hardest and bitterest part of the constitution in the eyes of the masses was their state

of serfdom.

Not but what they were also discontented with every other feature of their lot; for, to speak generally, they had no part nor share in anything.

Part 3

Now the ancient constitution, as it existed before the time of Draco, was organized as follows. The magistrates were elected according to qualifications of birth and wealth. At first they governed for life, but subsequently for terms of ten years. The

first magistrates, both in date and in importance, were the King,

the Polemarch, and the Archon. The earliest of these offices was that of the King, which existed from ancestral antiquity. To this

was added, secondly, the office of Polemarch, on account of some of the kings proving feeble in war; for it was on this account that Ion

was invited to accept the post on an occasion of pressing need. The

last of the three offices was that of the Archon, which most authorities state to have come into existence in the time of Medon. Others assign it to the time of Acastus, and adduce as proof the

fact that the nine Archons swear to execute their oaths 'as in the

days of Acastus,' which seems to suggest that it was in his time

that the descendants of Codrus retired from the kingship in

return for

the prerogatives conferred upon the Archon. Whichever way it may be, the difference in date is small; but that it was the last of these magistracies to be created is shown by the fact that the

Archon has no

part in the ancestral sacrifices, as the King and the Polemarch

have, but exclusively in those of later origin. So it is only at a comparatively late date that the office of Archon has become of

great importance, through the dignity conferred by these later additions. The Thesmothetae were many years afterwards, when these offices had already become annual, with the object that they might publicly record all legal decisions, and act as guardians of

them with

a view to determining the issues between litigants. Accordingly

their office, alone of those which have been mentioned, was never of more than annual duration.

Such, then, is the relative chronological precedence of these offices. At that time the nine Archons did not all live together.

The King occupied the building now known as the Boculium, near the Prytaneum, as may be seen from the fact that even to the present day the marriage of the King's wife to Dionysus takes place there. The Archon lived in the Prytaneum, the Polemarch in the Epilyceum. The latter building was formerly called the Polemarcheum, but after Epilycus, during his term of office as Polemarch, had rebuilt it and fitted it up, it was called the Epilyceum. The Thesmothetae occupied the Thesmotheteum. In the time of Solon, however, they all came together into the Thesmotheteum. They had power to decide cases finally on their own authority, not, as now, merely to hold a preliminary hearing. Such then was the arrangement of the magistracies. The Council of Areopagus had as its constitutionally assigned duty the protection of the laws; but in point of fact it administered the greater and most important part of the government

of the state, and inflicted personal punishments and fines summarily upon all who misbehaved themselves. This was the natural consequence of the facts that the Archons were elected under qualifications of

birth and wealth, and that the Areopagus was composed of

those who had

served as Archons; for which latter reason the membership of the Areopagus is the only office which has continued to be a

life-magistracy to the present day.

Part 4

Such was, in outline, the first constitution, but not very long

after the events above recorded, in the archonship of Aristaichmus, Draco enacted his ordinances. Now his constitution had the following form. The franchise was given to all who could furnish

themselves with

a military equipment. The nine Archons and the Treasurers

were elected

by this body from persons possessing an unencumbered property of not less than ten minas, the less important officials from those

who could

furnish themselves with a military equipment, and the generals [Strategi] and commanders of the cavalry [Hipparchi] from those who could show an unencumbered property of not less than a hundred minas, and had children born in lawful wedlock over ten years of age. These officers were required to hold to bail the Prytanes, the Strategi, and the Hipparchi of the preceding year until

their accounts

had been audited, taking four securities of the same class as that

to which the Strategi and the Hipparchi belonged. There was

also to be

a Council, consisting of four hundred and one members, elected by

lot from among those who possessed the franchise. Both for this and for the other magistracies the lot was cast among those who were

over thirty years of age; and no one might hold office twice until every one else had had his turn, after which they were to

cast the lot

afresh. If any member of the Council failed to attend when

there was a

sitting of the Council or of the Assembly, he paid a fine, to the amount of three drachmas if he was a Pentacosiomedimnus, two

if he was

a Knight, and One if he was a Zeugites. The Council of Areopagus was guardian of the laws, and kept watch over the magistrates to see

that they executed their offices in accordance with the laws. Any person who felt himself wronged might lay an information before the Council of Areopagus, on declaring what law was broken by the wrong done to him. But, as has been said before, loans were

secured upon the

persons of the debtors, and the land was in the hands of a few.

Part 5

Since such, then, was the organization of the constitution, and

the many were in slavery to the few, the people rose against

the upper

class. The strife was keen, and for a long time the two parties were ranged in hostile camps against one another, till at last, by common consent, they appointed Solon to be mediator and Archon, and committed

the whole constitution to his hands. The immediate occasion of his appointment was his poem, which begins with the words:

I behold, and within my heart deep sadness has claimed its place,

As I mark the oldest home of the ancient Ionian race

Slain by the sword.

In this poem he fights and disputes on behalf of each party in

turn against the other, and finally he advises them to come to terms and put an end to the quarrel existing between them. By birth and reputation Solon was one of the foremost men of the day, but

in wealth

and position he was of the middle class, as is generally agreed, and is, indeed, established by his own evidence in these poems, where he exhorts the wealthy not to be grasping.

But ye who have store of good, who are sated and overflow,

Restrain your swelling soul, and still it and keep it low:

Let the heart that is great within you he trained a lowlier way;

Ye shall not have all at your will, and we will not for ever obey. Indeed, he constantly fastens the blame of the conflict on the

rich; and accordingly at the beginning of the poem he says that he fears' the love of wealth and an overweening mind', evidently meaning that it was through these that the quarrel arose.

Part 6

As soon as he was at the head of affairs, Solon liberated

the people

once and for all, by prohibiting all loans on the security of the debtor's person: and in addition he made laws by which he cancelled all debts, public and private. This measure is commonly called the Seisachtheia [= removal of burdens], since thereby the people had their loads removed from them. In connexion with it some persons try to traduce the character of Solon. It so happened that, when he was about to enact the Seisachtheia, he communicated his

intention to some

members of the upper class, whereupon, as the partisans of

the popular

party say, his friends stole a march on him; while those who wish to attack his character maintain that he too had a share in the fraud himself. For these persons borrowed money and bought up a

large amount

of land, and so when, a short time afterwards, all debts were cancelled, they became wealthy; and this, they say, was the origin

of the families which were afterwards looked on as having

been wealthy

from primeval times. However, the story of the popular party

is by far

the most probable. A man who was so moderate and public-spirited in all his other actions, that when it was within his power to put his fellow-citizens beneath his feet and establish himself as tyrant, he preferred instead to incur the hostility of both parties by placing

his honour and the general welfare above his personal aggrandisement, is not likely to have consented to defile

his hands by

such a petty and palpable fraud. That he had this absolute power is,

in the first place, indicated by the desperate condition the

country; moreover, he mentions it himself repeatedly in his poems, and

it is universally admitted. We are therefore bound to consider this accusation to be false.

Part 7

Next Solon drew up a constitution and enacted new laws; and the ordinances of Draco ceased to be used, with the exception of those relating to murder. The laws were inscribed on the wooden stands, and set up in the King's Porch, and all swore to obey them; and the nine Archons made oath upon the stone, declaring that they would dedicate a golden statue if they should transgress any of them. This

is the origin of the oath to that effect which they take to the

present day. Solon ratified his laws for a hundred years; and the following was the fashion in which he organized the constitution. He divided the population according to property into four classes, just

as it had been divided before, namely, Pentacosiomedimni, Knights, Zeugitae, and Thetes. The various magistracies, namely, the nine Archons, the Treasurers, the Commissioners for Public Contracts (Poletae), the Eleven, and Clerks (Colacretae), he assigned to the Pentacosiomedimni, the Knights, and the Zeugitae, giving offices to each class in proportion to the value of their rateable property. To who ranked among the Thetes he gave nothing but a place in the

Assembly and in the juries. A man had to rank as a Pentacosiomedimnus if he made, from his own land, five hundred measures, whether liquid or solid. Those ranked as Knights who made three hundred measures, or, as some say, those who were able to maintain a horse. In support of the latter definition they adduce

the name of the class, which may be supposed to be derived from this fact, and also some votive offerings of early times; for in the Acropolis there is a votive offering, a statue of Diphilus, bearing

this inscription:

The son of Diphilus, Athenion hight,

Raised from the Thetes and become a knight,

Did to the gods this sculptured charger bring,

For his promotion a thank-offering.

And a horse stands in evidence beside the man, implying that this

was what was meant by belonging to the rank of Knight. At the same time it seems reasonable to suppose that this class, like the Pentacosiomedimni, was defined by the possession of an income of a certain number of measures. Those ranked as Zeugitae who made two hundred measures, liquid or solid; and the rest ranked as Thetes,

and were not eligible for any office. Hence it is that even at the present day, when a candidate for any office is asked to

what class he

belongs, no one would think of saying that he belonged to the Thetes. Part 8

The elections to the various offices Solon enacted should

be by lot,

out of candidates selected by each of the tribes. Each tribe

selected ten candidates for the nine archonships, and among these

the lot was cast. Hence it is still the custom for each tribe to

choose ten candidates by lot, and then the lot is again cast among these. A proof that Solon regulated the elections to office

according to the property classes may be found in the law still in force with regard to the Treasurers, which enacts that they shall be chosen from the Pentacosiomedimni. Such was Solon's legislation with respect to the nine Archons; whereas in early times the Council of Areopagus summoned suitable persons according to its own judgement and

appointed them for the year to the several offices. There were four tribes, as before, and four tribe-kings. Each tribe was divided into three Trittyes [=Thirds], with twelve Naucraries in each; and the Naucraries had officers of their own, called Naucrari, whose duty it was to superintend the current receipts and expenditure. Hence,

among the laws of Solon now obsolete, it is repeatedly written that the Naucrari are to receive and to spend out of the Naucraric fund. Solon also appointed a Council of four hundred, a hundred from each tribe; but he assigned to the Council of the Areopagus the duty of superintending the laws, acting as before as the guardian of the constitution in general. It kept watch over the affairs of the state

in most of the more important matters, and corrected offenders, with full powers to inflict either fines or personal punishment. The money received in fines it brought up into the Acropolis, without assigning the reason for the mulct. It also tried those who conspired for the overthrow of the state, Solon having enacted a process of impeachment to deal with such offenders. Further, since he saw the state often engaged in internal disputes, while

many of the

citizens from sheer indifference accepted whatever might turn up, he made a law with express reference to such persons, enacting that any one who, in a time civil factions, did not take up arms with either party, should lose his rights as a citizen and cease to have any

part in the state.

Part 9

Such, then, was his legislation concerning the magistracies. There are three points in the constitution of Solon which appear to be its most democratic features: first and most important, the prohibition of

loans on the security of the debtor's person; secondly, the right of every person who so willed to claim redress on behalf of any one to whom wrong was being done; thirdly, the institution of the appeal to the jurycourts; and it is to this last, they say, that the

masses have

owed their strength most of all, since, when the democracy is master of the voting-power, it is master of the constitution.

Moreover, since

the laws were not drawn up in simple and explicit terms (but like the one concerning inheritances and wards of state), disputes inevitably occurred, and the courts had to decide in every matter, whether public or private. Some persons in fact believe that Solon deliberately made the laws indefinite, in order that the final decision might be in the hands of the people. This, however, is not probable, and the reason no doubt was that it is impossible to

attain ideal perfection when framing a law in general terms; for we must judge of his intentions, not from the actual results in the present day, but from the general tenor of the rest of his legislation.

Part 10

These seem to be the democratic features of his laws; but in addition, before the period of his legislation, he carried

through his

abolition of debts, and after it his increase in the standards of

weights and measures, and of the currency. During his administration the measures were made larger than those of Pheidon, and the mina, which previously had a standard of seventy drachmas, was

raised to the

full hundred. The standard coin in earlier times was the two-drachma piece. He also made weights corresponding with the coinage,

sixty-three minas going to the talent; and the odd three minas were distributed among the staters and the other values.

Part 11

When he had completed his organization of the constitution in the manner that has been described, he found himself beset by people coming to him and harassing him concerning his laws, criticizing

here and questioning there, till, as he wished neither to alter what

he had decided on nor yet to be an object of ill will to every one

by remaining in Athens, he set off on a journey to Egypt, with the combined objects of trade and travel, giving out that he should not return for ten years. He considered that there was no call for him

to expound the laws personally, but that every one should obey them just as they were written. Moreover, his position at this time was unpleasant. Many members of the upper class had been estranged from him on account of his abolition of debts, and both parties were alienated through their disappointment at the condition of things which he had created. The mass of the people had expected him to make a complete redistribution of all property, and the upper class hoped he would restore everything to its former position, or, at any rate, make but a small change. Solon, however, had resisted both classes. He might have made himself a despot by attaching himself to whichever party he chose, but he preferred, though at the cost of incurring the enmity of both, to be the saviour of his

country and the

ideal lawgiver.

Part 12

The truth of this view of Solon's policy is established alike by common consent, and by the mention he has himself made of the matter in his poems. Thus:

I gave to the mass of the people such rank as befitted their need,

I took not away their honour, and I granted naught to their greed;

While those who were rich in power, who in wealth were glorious and great,

I bethought me that naught should befall them unworthy their

splendour and state;

So I stood with my shield outstretched, and both were sale in its

sight,

And I would not that either should triumph, when the triumph was

not with right.

Again he declares how the mass of the people ought to be treated: But thus will the people best the voice of their leaders obey,

When neither too slack is the rein, nor violence holdeth the sway;

For indulgence breedeth a child, the presumption that spurns control, When riches too great are poured upon men of unbalanced soul.

And again elsewhere he speaks about the persons who wished to redistribute the land:

So they came in search of plunder, and their cravings knew no hound, Every one among them deeming endless wealth would here be found. And that I with glozing smoothness hid a cruel mind within.

Fondly then and vainly dreamt they; now they raise an angry din,

And they glare askance in anger, and the light within their eyes

Burns with hostile flames upon me. Yet therein no justice lies.

All I promised, fully wrought I with the gods at hand to cheer, Naught beyond in folly ventured. Never to my soul was dear

With a tyrant's force to govern, nor to see the good and base

Side by side in equal portion share the rich home of our race.

Once more he speaks of the abolition of debts and of those who before were in servitude, but were released owing to the Seisachtheia:

Of all the aims for which I summoned forth

The people, was there one I compassed not?

Thou, when slow time brings justice in its train,

O mighty mother of the Olympian gods,

Dark Earth, thou best canst witness, from whose breast

I swept the pillars broadcast planted there,

And made thee free, who hadst been slave of yore.

And many a man whom fraud or law had sold

For from his god-built land, an outcast slave,

I brought again to Athens; yea, and some,

Exiles from home through debt's oppressive load,

Speaking no more the dear ATHENIAN tongue,

But wandering far and wide, I brought again;

And those that here in vilest slavery

Crouched 'neath a master's frown, I set them free.

Thus might and right were yoked in harmony,

Since by the force of law I won my ends

And kept my promise. Equal laws I gave

To evil and to good, with even hand

Drawing straight justice for the lot of each.

But had another held the goad as

One in whose heart was guile and greediness,

He had not kept the people back from strife.

For had I granted, now what pleased the one,

Then what their foes devised in counterpoise,

Of many a man this state had been bereft.

Therefore I showed my might on every side,

Turning at bay like wolf among the hounds.

And again he reviles both parties for their grumblings in the

times that followed:

Nay, if one must lay blame where blame is due,

Wer't not for me, the people ne'er had set

Their eyes upon these blessings e'en in dreams:-

While greater men, the men of wealthier life,

Should praise me and should court me as their friend.

For had any other man, he says, received this exalted post,

He had not kept the people hack, nor ceased

Til he had robbed the richness of the milk.

But I stood forth a landmark in the midst,

And barred the foes from battle.

Part 13

Such then, were Solon's reasons for his departure from the country. After his retirement the city was still torn by divisions.

For four years, indeed, they lived in peace; but in the fifth year

after Solon's government they were unable to elect an Archon on account of their dissensions, and again four years later they

elected no Archon for the same reason. Subsequently, after a similar period had elapsed, Damasias was elected Archon; and he governed for two years and two months, until he was forcibly expelled from his office. After this, it was agreed, as a compromise, to elect ten

Archons, five from the Eupatridae, three from the Agroeci, and two from the Demiurgi, and they ruled for the year following Damasias. It is clear from this that the Archon was at the time the magistrate who possessed the greatest power, since it is always in

connexion with

this office that conflicts are seen to arise. But altogether

they were

in a continual state of internal disorder. Some found the cause and justification of their discontent in the abolition of debts, because thereby they had been reduced to poverty; others were dissatisfied with the political constitution, because it had undergone a revolutionary change; while with others the motive was found in personal rivalries among themselves. The parties at this time were three in number. First there was the party of the Shore, led by Megacles the son of Alcmeon, which was considered to aim at

a moderate

form of government; then there were the men of the Plain, who desired an oligarchy and were led by Lycurgus; and thirdly there were the men of the Highlands, at the head of whom was Pisistratus, who was looked on as an extreme democrat. This latter party was reinforced by those who had been deprived of the debts due to them, from motives of poverty, and by those who were not of pure descent, from motives of personal apprehension. A proof of this is seen in

the fact that after the tyranny was overthrown a revision was made

of the citizen-roll, on the ground that many persons were partaking in

the franchise without having a right to it. The names given to the respective parties were derived from the districts in which they

held their lands.

Part 14

Pisistratus had the reputation of being an extreme democrat, and

he also had distinguished himself greatly in the war with Megara. Taking advantage of this, he wounded himself, and by representing that

his injuries had been inflicted on him by his political rivals, he persuaded the people, through a motion proposed by Aristion, to grant him a bodyguard. After he had got these 'club-bearers', as

they were called, he made an attack with them on the people

and seized

the Acropolis. This happened in the archonship of Comeas, thirty-one years after the legislation of Solon. It is related that, when Pisistratus asked for his bodyguard, Solon opposed the request, and declared that in so doing he proved himself wiser than half

the people

and braver than the rest,-wiser than those who did not see that Pisistratus designed to make himself tyrant, and braver than

those who

saw it and kept silence. But when all his words availed nothing he carried forth his armour and set it up in front of his house, saying

that he had helped his country so far as lay in his power (he was already a very old man), and that he called on all others to do the same. Solon's exhortations, however, proved fruitless, and Pisistratus

assumed the sovereignty. His administration was more like a constitutional government than the rule of a tyrant; but before his power was firmly established, the adherents of Megacles and Lycurgus made a coalition and drove him out. This took place in the archonship of Hegesias, five years after the first establishment of

his rule. Eleven years later Megacles, being in difficulties in a

party struggle, again opened-negotiations with Pisistratus, proposing that the latter should marry his daughter; and on these terms he brought him back to Athens, by a very primitive and

simple-minded device. He first spread abroad a rumour that Athena was bringing back Pisistratus, and then, having found a

woman of great

stature and beauty, named Phye (according to Herodotus, of

the deme of

Paeania, but as others say a Thracian flower-seller of the deme of Collytus), he dressed her in a garb resembling that of the

goddess and

brought her into the city with Pisistratus. The latter drove in on a chariot with the woman beside him, and the inhabitants of the city, struck with awe, received him with adoration.

Part 15

In this manner did his first return take place. He did

not, however,

hold his power long, for about six years after his return he

was again

expelled. He refused to treat the daughter of Megacles as his wife, and being afraid, in consequence, of a combination of the

two opposing

parties, he retired from the country. First he led a colony

to a place

called Rhaicelus, in the region of the Thermaic gulf; and thence he passed to the country in the neighbourhood of Mt. Pangaeus. Here he acquired wealth and hired mercenaries; and not till ten years had elapsed did he return to Eretria and make an attempt to recover the government by force. In this he had the assistance of many allies,

notably the Thebans and Lygdamis of Naxos, and also the Knights who held the supreme power in the constitution of Eretria. After his victory in the battle at Pallene he captured Athens, and when he had disarmed the people he at last had his tyranny securely established, and was able to take Naxos and set up Lygdamis as ruler there. He effected the disarmament of the people in the following manner. He ordered a parade in full armour in the Theseum, and began to make a speech to the people. He spoke for a short time, until the people called out that they could not hear him, whereupon he bade them come up to the entrance of the Acropolis, in order that his voice might

be better heard. Then, while he continued to speak to them at great length, men whom he had appointed for the purpose collected the arms and locked them up in the chambers of the Theseum hard by, and came and made a signal to him that it was done. Pisistratus accordingly, when he had finished the rest of what he had to say, told the people also what had happened to their arms; adding that they were not to

be surprised or alarmed, but go home and attend to their private affairs, while he would himself for the future manage all

the business

of the state.

Part 16

Such was the origin and such the vicissitudes of the tyranny of Pisistratus. His administration was temperate, as has been said before, and more like constitutional government than a tyranny. Not only was he in every respect humane and mild and ready to forgive those who offended, but, in addition, he advanced money to the poorer people to help them in their labours, so that they might make their living by agriculture. In this he had two objects, first that

they might not spend their time in the city but might be scattered

over all the face of the country, and secondly that, being

moderately well off and occupied with their own business, they might have neither the wish nor the time to attend to public

affairs. At the

same time his revenues were increased by the thorough cultivation of the country, since he imposed a tax of one tenth on all the produce. For the same reasons he instituted the local justices,' and

often made

expeditions in person into the country to inspect it and to settle disputes between individuals, that they might not come into the city and neglect their farms. It was in one of these progresses that, as

the story goes, Pisistratus had his adventure with the man of Hymettus, who was cultivating the spot afterwards known as 'Tax-free Farm'. He saw a man digging and working at a very stony piece of ground, and being surprised he sent his attendant to ask what he got

out of this plot of land. 'Aches and pains', said the man;

'and that's

what Pisistratus ought to have his tenth of'. The man spoke without knowing who his questioner was; but Pisistratus was so

leased with his

frank speech and his industry that he granted him exemption from all taxes. And so in matters in general he burdened the people as little

as possible with his government, but always cultivated peace and

kept them in all quietness. Hence the tyranny of Pisistratus

was often

spoken of proverbially as 'the age of gold'; for when his sons succeeded him the government became much harsher. But most important of all in this respect was his popular and kindly disposition. In

all things he was accustomed to observe the laws, without giving himself any exceptional privileges. Once he was summoned on a charge of homicide before the Areopagus, and he appeared in person to make his defence; but the prosecutor was afraid to present himself and abandoned the case. For these reasons he held power long,

and whenever

he was expelled he regained his position easily. The

majority alike of

the upper class and of the people were in his favour; the former he

won by his social intercourse with them, the latter by the

assistance which he gave to their private purses, and his nature

fitted him to win the hearts of both. Moreover, the laws in

reference to tyrants at that time in force at Athens were very mild, especially the one which applies more particularly to the establishment of a tyranny. The law ran as follows: 'These are the ancestral statutes of the ATHENIANs; if any persons shall make an attempt to establish a tyranny, or if any person shall join

in setting

up a tyranny, he shall lose his civic rights, both himself and his

whole house.'

Part 17

Thus did Pisistratus grow old in the possession of power, and he

died a natural death in the archonship of Philoneos, three and

thirty years from the time at which he first established himself as tyrant, during nineteen of which he was in possession of power; the

rest he spent in exile. It is evident from this that the

story is mere

gossip which states that Pisistratus was the youthful favourite of

Solon and commanded in the war against Megara for the recovery of Salamis. It will not harmonize with their respective ages, as any

one may see who will reckon up the years of the life of each of

them, and the dates at which they died. After the death of Pisistratus

his sons took up the government, and conducted it on the same system. He had two sons by his first and legitimate wife, Hippias

and Hipparchus, and two by his Argive consort, Iophon and Hegesistratus, who was surnamed Thessalus. For Pisistratus

took a wife

from Argos, Timonassa, the daughter of a man of Argos, named Gorgilus;

she had previously been the wife of Archinus of Ambracia, one of the descendants of Cypselus. This was the origin of his friendship with the Argives, on account of which a thousand of them were brought over by Hegesistratus and fought on his side in the battle

at Pallene.

Some authorities say that this marriage took place after his first expulsion from Athens, others while he was in possession of the government.

Part 18

Hippias and Hipparchus assumed the control of affairs on grounds alike of standing and of age; but Hippias, as being also naturally

of a statesmanlike and shrewd disposition, was really the head of

the government. Hipparchus was youthful in disposition, amorous, and fond of literature (it was he who invited to Athens Anacreon, Simonides, and the other poets), while Thessalus was much junior in age, and was violent and headstrong in his behaviour. It was from

his character that all the evils arose which befell the house. He became enamoured of Harmodius, and, since he failed to win his affection, he lost all restraint upon his passion, and in addition

to other exhibitions of rage he finally prevented the sister of Harmodius from taking the part of a basket-bearer in the Panathenaic procession, alleging as his reason that Harmodius was a person of loose life. Thereupon, in a frenzy of wrath, Harmodius and Aristogeiton did their celebrated deed, in conjunction with a number of confederates. But while they were lying in wait for Hippias in

the Acropolis at the time of the Panathenaea (Hippias, at

this moment,

was awaiting the arrival of the procession, while Hipparchus was organizing its dispatch) they saw one of the persons privy

to the plot

talking familiarly with him. Thinking that he was betraying them,

and desiring to do something before they were arrested, they rushed down and made their attempt without waiting for the rest of their confederates. They succeeded in killing Hipparchus near the Leocoreum while he was engaged in arranging the procession,

but ruined

the design as a whole; of the two leaders, Harmodius was

killed on the

spot by the guards, while Aristogeiton was arrested, and perished

later after suffering long tortures. While under the torture he accused many persons who belonged by birth to the most distinguished families and were also personal friends of the tyrants. At first the government could find no clue to the conspiracy; for the current story, that Hippias made all who were taking part in the procession leave their arms, and then detected those who were carrying secret daggers, cannot be true, since at that time they did not bear arms

in the processions, this being a custom instituted at a later period

by the democracy. According to the story of the popular party, Aristogeiton accused the friends of the tyrants with the deliberate intention that the latter might commit an impious act, and

at the same

time weaken themselves, by putting to death innocent men who were their own friends; others say that he told no falsehood, but was betraying the actual accomplices. At last, when for all his

efforts he

could not obtain release by death, he promised to give further information against a number of other persons; and, having induced Hippias to give him his hand to confirm his word, as soon as he had hold of it he reviled him for giving his hand to the murderer of his brother, till Hippias, in a frenzy of rage, lost control of himself

and snatched out his dagger and dispatched him.

Part 19

After this event the tyranny became much harsher. In consequence

of his vengeance for his brother, and of the execution and banishment of a large number of persons, Hippias became a distrusted and an embittered man. About three years after the death of Hipparchus, finding his position in the city insecure, he set about fortifying Munichia, with the intention of establishing

himself there.

While he was still engaged on this work, however, he was expelled by Cleomenes, king of Lacedaemon, in consequence of the Spartans being continually incited by oracles to overthrow the tyranny.

These oracles

were obtained in the following way. The Athenian exiles,

headed by the

Alcmeonidae, could not by their own power effect their return, but failed continually in their attempts. Among their other

failures, they

fortified a post in Attica, Lipsydrium, above Mt. Parnes, and were

there joined by some partisans from the city; but they were besieged by the tyrants and reduced to surrender. After this disaster the following became a popular drinking song:

Ah! Lipsydrium, faithless friend!

Lo, what heroes to death didst send,

Nobly born and great in deed!

Well did they prove themselves at need

Of noble sires a noble seed.

Having failed, then, in very other method, they took the contract

for rebuilding the temple at Delphi, thereby obtaining ample funds, which they employed to secure the help of the Lacedaemonians. All this

time the Pythia kept continually enjoining on the Lacedaemonians who came to consult the oracle, that they must free Athens; till finally

she succeeded in impelling the Spartans to that step, although the house of Pisistratus was connected with them by ties of hospitality. The resolution of the Lacedaemonians was, however, at least equally due to the friendship which had been formed between the house of Pisistratus and Argos. Accordingly they first sent Anchimolus by sea at the head of an army; but he was defeated and killed, through the arrival of Cineas of Thessaly to support the sons of Pisistratus

with a force of a thousand horsemen. Then, being roused to anger by this disaster, they sent their king, Cleomenes, by land at

the head of

a larger force; and he, after defeating the Thessalian cavalry when they attempted to intercept his march into Attica, shut up Hippias within what was known as the Pelargic wall and blockaded him there with the assistance of the Athenians. While he was sitting

down before

the place, it so happened that the sons of the Pisistratidae were captured in an attempt to slip out; upon which the tyrants capitulated

on condition of the safety of their children, and surrendered the Acropolis to the Athenians, five days being first allowed them to remove their effects. This took place in the archonship of Harpactides, after they had held the tyranny for about

seventeen years

since their father's death, or in all, including the period of their

father's rule, for nine-and-forty years.

Part 20

After the overthrow of the tyranny, the rival leaders in the state were Isagoras son of Tisander, a partisan of the tyrants, and

Cleisthenes, who belonged to the family of the Alcmeonidae. Cleisthenes, being beaten in the political clubs, called in

the people

by giving the franchise to the masses. Thereupon Isagoras, finding himself left inferior in power, invited Cleomenes, who was united to him by ties of hospitality, to return to Athens, and persuaded him

to 'drive out the pollution', a plea derived from the fact that the Alcmeonidae were suppposed to be under the curse of

pollution. On this

Cleisthenes retired from the country, and Cleomenes, entering Attica with a small force, expelled, as polluted, seven hundred Athenian families. Having effected this, he next attempted to dissolve the Council, and to set up Isagoras and three hundred of his partisans

as the supreme power in the state. The Council, however, resisted, the

populace flocked together, and Cleomenes and Isagoras, with their adherents, took refuge in the Acropolis. Here the people sat down and besieged them for two days; and on the third they agreed to let Cleomenes and all his followers de art, while they summoned Cleisthenes and the other exiles back to Athens. When the people had thus obtained the command of affairs, Cleisthenes was their chief and popular leader. And this was natural; for the Alcmeonidae were perhaps the chief cause of the expulsion of the tyrants, and for the greater part of their rule were at perpetual war with them. But even earlier than the attempts of the Alcmeonidae, one Cedon made

an attack

on the tyrants; when there came another popular drinking song, addressed to him:

Pour a health yet again, boy, to Cedon; forget not this duty to do,

If a health is an honour befitting the name of a good man and true. Part 21

The people, therefore, had good reason to place confidence in Cleisthenes. Accordingly, now that he was the popular leader, three years after the expulsion of the tyrants, in the archonship of Isagoras, his first step was to distribute the whole population into

ten tribes in place of the existing four, with the object of intermixing the members of the different tribes, and so securing

that more persons might have a share in the franchise. From

this arose

the saying 'Do not look at the tribes', addressed to those who wished to scrutinize the lists of the old families. Next he made the Council to consist of five hundred members instead of four hundred, each tribe now contributing fifty, whereas formerly each had sent a

hundred. The reason why he did not organize the people into twelve tribes was that he might not have to use the existing division into trittyes; for the four tribes had twelve trittyes, so that he would

not have achieved his object of redistributing the

population in fresh

combinations. Further, he divided the country into thirty groups of demes, ten from the districts about the city, ten from the coast,

and ten from the interior. These he called trittyes; and he assigned three of them by lot to each tribe, in such a way that each should

have one portion in each of these three localities. All who lived in

any given deme he declared fellow-demesmen, to the end that the new citizens might not be exposed by the habitual use of family names, but

that men might be officially described by the names of their demes; and accordingly it is by the names of their demes that the Athenians speak of one another. He also instituted Demarchs, who had the same duties as the previously existing Naucrari,-the demes being made to take the place of the naucraries. He gave names to the demes, some from the localities to which they belonged, some from the persons who founded them, since some of the areas no longer corresponded to localities possessing names. On the other hand he allowed

every one to

retain his family and clan and religious rites according to

ancestral custom. The names given to the tribes were the ten

which the

Pythia appointed out of the hundred selected national heroes.

Part 22

By these reforms the constitution became much more democratic than that of Solon. The laws of Solon had been obliterated by

disuse during

the period of the tyranny, while Cleisthenes substituted new

ones with

the object of securing the goodwill of the masses. Among

these was the

law concerning ostracism. Four year after the establishment of this system, in the archonship of Hermocreon, they first imposed upon the Council of Five Hundred the oath which they take to the present day. Next they began to elect the generals by tribes, one from each

tribe, while the Polemarch was the commander of the whole army. Then, eleven years later, in the archonship of Phaenippus

they won the

battle of Marathon; and two years after this victory, when the

people had now gained self-confidence, they for the first time made use of the law of ostracism. This had originally been passed as a

precaution against men in high office, because Pisistratus took advantage of his position as a popular leader and general to make himself tyrant; and the first person ostracized was one of his relatives, Hipparchus son of Charmus, of the deme of Collytus, the very person on whose account especially Cleisthenes had enacted the law, as he wished to get rid of him. Hitherto, however, he had escaped; for the Athenians, with the usual leniency of the democracy, allowed all the partisans of the tyrants, who had not joined in their evil deeds in the time of the troubles to remain in

the city; and the chief and leader of these was Hipparchus. Then in the very next year, in the archonship of Telesinus, they for

the first

time since the tyranny elected, tribe by tribe, the nine Archons by

lot out of the five hundred candidates selected by the demes, all

the earlier ones having been elected by vote; and in the same year Megacles son of Hippocrates, of the deme of Alopece, was ostracized. Thus for three years they continued to ostracize the friends of the tyrants, on whose account the law had been passed; but in the following year they began to remove others as well, including any one who seemed to be more powerful than was expedient. The first person unconnected with the tyrants who was ostracized was Xanthippus son of Ariphron. Two years later, in the archonship of Nicodemus, the mines of Maroneia were discovered, and the

state made a

profit of a hundred talents from the working of them. Some persons advised the people to make a distribution of the money among themselves, but this was prevented by Themistocles. He refused to say on what he proposed to spend the money, but he bade them lend it to the hundred richest men in Athens, one talent to each,

and then, if

the manner in which it was employed pleased the people, the expenditure should be charged to the state, but otherwise the state should receive the sum back from those to whom it was lent. On these terms he received the money and with it he had a hundred triremes built, each of the hundred individuals building one; and it was with these ships that they fought the battle of Salamis against the barbarians. About this time Aristides the son of Lysimachus was ostracized. Three years later, however, in the archonship of Hypsichides, all the ostracized persons were recalled, on account of the advance of the army of Xerxes; and it was laid down for

the future

that persons under sentence of ostracism must live between Geraestus and Scyllaeum, on pain of losing their civic rights irrevocably.

Part 23