Cleisthenes (570 BC-) was an Athenian nobleman and statesman during the 6th century BC. In 508 BC, he led the democratic revolution in Athens, increasing the power of the citizens' assembly and reducing the power of the nobility over Athenian politics.
Biography[]
Cleisthenes was born in 570 BC, the son of Megacles. He came from an aristocratic Athenian family, and he was the uncle of Pericles' mother and of Alcibiades' maternal grandfather. In 510 BC, with the help of the Spartans, the common Athenians overthrew their tyrant Hippias (the son of Cleisthenes' brother-in-law Peisistratos); however, the Spartans established an oligarchy led by Isagoras. Cleisthenes, backed by the middle class and aided by supporters of democracy, seized power in 508 BC. After a three-day siege at the Acropolis, Isagoras was banished from Athens, and Cleisthenes reformed the government of Athens by empowering the citizens at the expense of the aristocracy. He also invented ostracism, whereby citizens could vote a person into exile for ten years; this punishment was typically reserved for people deemed to hold too much power in the city. In 507 BC, Cleisthenes attempted to court Persian support to counter the rising power of Sparta, giving the Persians earth and water as a sign of submission, but the Persians attempted to force them to welcome Hippias back into power. The Athenians refused, and this refusal was believed by the Persians to signify a breach of Athens' nominal submission; this, and subsequent actions taken by Athens over the next twenty years, provoked the Greco-Persian Wars.