The Age of Tyrants: The History of the Early Tyrants in Ancient Greece by Charles River Editors

Author:Charles River Editors [Editors, Charles River]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Charles River Editors
Published: 2016-11-15T23:00:00+00:00

A relief in the Persian capital of Persepolis depicting Darius the Great

In addition to the problems on his doorstep, Hippias had to contend with a number of other deteriorating situations. Athenian outposts in the Aegean were constantly under threat from the expansionist Persian Empire, and Peisistratid allies in Naxos and Samos were ousted. In the case of Naxos, this meant that the hostages sent there in the time of his father were now free to work actively for Hippias’s removal. His opponents were successful in gaining Spartan support, according to Herodotus, by bribing the Pythia: “They bribed the Pythia at Delphi to tell the Spartiates who came to consult the oracle either on private or public business to liberate Athens. As the Spartans always received the same response they sent Anchimolos son of Aster a distinguished citizen, with an army to drive the Peisistratidai out of Athens although they shared strong ties of hospitality with them as they considered the divine injunction more important than human relationships.”[56]

They took Athens in 510 B.C. under the command of Cleomenes. Hippias took refuge in the Acropolis, but when his family was captured, he was forced to surrender to ensure their safety. He was then expelled from Athens in the same year.

The Spartans quickly regretted their decision to remove Hippias and tried to recall him. Hippias had Persian support, too, and Darius threatened to invade if the Athenians did not accept Hippias back. However, despite the threats from the two major powers in the region, the after the Athenians had re-established democracy, they refused to restore the tyranny. Events then moved in such a way as to support Athens at this critical time. The Greek cities of Ionia revolted against Persian rule and were brutally suppressed in 494 B.C.

Darius, however, was not a forgiving man, and he was determined to punish Athens for its support of the rebels. This would bring about the First Persian War, and in 490 B.C., Hippias actually accompanied Darius to Marathon, where the Persians suffered the climactic defeat that doomed Darius the Great’s invasion.

The major sources available on the tyrannicides and their later cult are from Thucydides, found in his History of the Peloponnesian War,[57] and Aristotle, but their story is also retold by Herodotus and Plutarch.[58] The fact that regular cults, honors for their families, and statues in the agora all followed in the years after the murder of Hipparchus is testimony to the contempt and loathing that Athenians had developed for the harsh tyranny of Hippias and Hipparchus. However, it is debatable as to whether this loathing was artificially induced later by democrats, and whether the adoration and deliberate obscuring of the personal motives for the assassination were attempts to nullify the part played by Sparta in the overthrow of the tyrants.

Whatever the case, Harmodius and Aristogeiton came to symbolize 5th century freedom and democracy, and in contrast, the crucial role played by the Alcmaeonidai in securing Spartan assistance, and in actually organizing the removal of the tyrants, was ignored by the general public.

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