Although the Athenian politician Clysphenes is considered one of the founders of democratic society, very little is known about him. However, his story is intrinsically linked to the birth of democracy.
The Athenians were generous when it came to memorializing the founders of their democracy. The sixth-century reformer Solon was held in high esteem, as were the two assassins of Hipparchus, Harmodius and Aristogiton.
Even the mythological king Theseus was an object of veneration. Strangely enough, the one man who had the greatest right to be called the founder of democracy, Clysphenes, has often remained forgotten. As a result, very little is known today about this man and his motivations.
He was an important aristocrat in sixth-century BC Athens, and his radical reforms radically changed Athenian society. Few facts about his life and death are available, which raises intriguing questions. Was Clisthenes a democrat or a manipulative aristocrat? Was he a leader or was he directed?
The Alcmaeonidae and Pisistratidae
In the 6th century BC, Athens was an unstable and divided society. Aristocratic families dominated, but the monarchy had long since disappeared. Tensions among the elite and between them and the rest of the population often led to violence. In 594 - 593 BC, the Athenians turned to one man, Solon, to try to restore order.
He calmed tensions somewhat by offering some protection to non-elites, for which he is later remembered as the founder of democracy. But the rest of the century was ruled by Pisistratus, who established a hereditary tyranny for his family, the Pisistratids.
When one family suddenly became all-powerful, the other aristocratic clans had to decide how to react. One such clan was the Alcmaeonids. They had been known as a powerful family since at least the 7th century BC. They suppressed a coup attempt by an aristocrat named Kylon. Their sacrilegious murder of Kylon's supporters earned the Alcmaeonids a reputation as a cursed family. It was to this family that Clysphenes belonged.
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The name Clysphenes had a history of its own. Clysphenes' maternal grandfather was Clysphenes of Sikyon, tyrant of a small city in the northern Peloponnese. The Alcmaeonids looked like any other rival aristocratic clan. They were not opposed to the principle of one-man rule, as long as that person was an Alcmaeonid.
Clisthenes is credited with only a few actions, but Alkimeonides plays an important role in the history of tyranny in Athens. Clisthenes and Alkimeonides certainly opposed the rule of Pisistratus, but they were also willing to cooperate with the tyrant.
At times Alkimeonides allied with and served the new regime (
Aristotle. Athenian Politics. 14.4). Eventually, any alliance broke down and the Alcmaeonidae found themselves in exile. Being canny politicians, they turned this to their advantage.
The end of tyranny
According to
Herodotus (5.63), the Alcmaeonids spent part of their exile in the sanctuary of
Delphus with its famous oracle. At the time, the temple of
Apollo was in need of reconstruction, and the wealthy Alcmaeonides took on the job. They not only rebuilt the temple, but made it more beautiful than ever.
The shining new temple was actually a bribe. In return, the oracle told all passing Spartans that they needed to drive the Pisistratids out of Athens. Though reluctant, the pious Spartans eventually responded to the call.
Pisistratus himself appears to have been an able ruler of Athens and left his mark on the history of the city. However, his sons, Hippias and Hipparchus, were not so capable. When the latter was assassinated, Hippias' regime became harsher and more unpopular.
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Influenced by the Alcmaeonids and
Delphic Oracle, and seeing signs of weakness in Athens, Spartan king
Kleomenes sprang into action and deposed Hippias in 510 B.C. Despite ambiguous relations with the dynasty, this strengthened the image of the Alcmaeonids and Clysphenes as opponents of tyranny.
The beginning of the revolution
One reason why the Pisistratids were initially relatively popular was that they temporarily put an end to potentially violent competition between aristocrats.
With the end of tyranny, the aristocratic families returned to their former ways, and Athenian politics was dominated by the rivalry between Clysphenes and another aristocrat, Isagoras. Although information is limited, it seems that this rivalry was not ideological, but soon took a dramatic turn.
Prior to this, Clysphenes and Alkimeonides had followed the traditional aristocratic course in politics. They had either cooperated with or opposed the tyranny that arose from a rival aristocratic clan. When forced into exile, they helped overthrow their opponent.
When they returned to Athens, they resumed the usual political game in the form of a struggle between rival aristocrats. However, a new player entered the game - the people of Athens.
Unfortunately, there is no detailed description of the events that took place after the fall of Hippias. It is only known that Clysphenes began to lose in the struggle with Isagoras and turned for support to the people of Athens (Herodotus 5.66 / Aristotle 20.1). In the absence of a detailed chronology of events, it is not known who took the initiative.
Perhaps Clysphenes had already begun the process of reform, and this is what made his appeal to the people possible. It is equally possible that the non-elite Athenians were already capable of acting independently.
The latter assumption is certainly supported by what happened next. Clysphenes' appeal to the people shifted the balance of power in his favor, so Isagoras responded by turning to King Cleomenes and
Sparta, which was the most powerful force in Greece at the time. The Alcmaeonids had used religion against the Pisistratids, and now it was turned against them.
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Remembering the old curse for sacrilege placed on the family a century before, Isagoras and Cleomenes demanded the banishment of the cursed Alcmaeonides. Clysphenes was again forced into exile, soon followed by 700 prominent families. The leadership of the anti-Isagoras faction was eliminated. Isagoras and Cleomenes now tried to settle matters as they saw fit and establish an aristocratic regime.
The first surprise occurred when a council of 700 prominent Athenians refused to obey Cleomenes' order to dissolve. Cleomenes and Isagoras decided to resort to a military solution and occupied the Acropolis of Athens. Although the Spartans and Isagoras held a natural fortress in the center of Athens, they quickly lost control of the surrounding city.
The people of Athens revolted and laid siege to the Acropolis. Surprised by this popular uprising, the most powerful man in Greece and his Athenian aristocratic friends were forced to surrender after only two days. Although there is no information about the composition of the council, which was apparently still in Athens, it seems that the Athenians acted on their own in the absence of Clysphenes and the exiled families.
The decision to seize the Acropolis and their quick surrender suggest that Cleomenes and Isagoras were prepared for such a development. In the absence of Clysphenes, power passed to the Athenian people, the Demos. Their revolt opened the way to a new system - democracy.
Radical reforms
What is surprising about Clysphenes is that his career followed a traditional path and he was absent at the time of the revolution. Nevertheless, when he returned, he led radical changes that radically affected Athenian society.
The basis of Clysphenes' reforms was the complete reorganization of Athens and its territory of Attica. The Athenian population had previously been organized into four tribes, but was actually divided into three groups based on their location in Attica: the city, the coast, or the hills. This formed the basis of aristocratic power, as the Alcmaeonids traditionally led the inhabitants of the coast and the Pisistratids sought power in the hills.
This traditional system was now broken up and replaced by ten new tribes. These tribes, in turn, were divided into smaller units, and Attica was divided into 139 districts called demes.
Previously, Athenians could identify themselves by their family, but now they had to identify themselves by their deme. The deme became the basic political unit, and every Athenian citizen had to be registered in the deme and bear its name. The ten tribes consisted of a mixture of demes from the coast, the city, and the hills.
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The Athenian community was no longer based on family and aristocratic clans; now every Athenian was first and foremost a citizen. Each of the ten tribes sent 50 members to form a council of 500 (Boule), which handled day-to-day administration and set the agenda for the assembly (Ekklesia) of all male citizens over the age of 20, which met on Pnyx Hill to discuss and vote on policy.
The justice system worked on a similar principle: 6,000 jurors were selected each year and served on juries of 201, 401 or 501 members. Such juries meant that cases were heard and decided by the Athenian people. In doing so, the large number of judges helped to prevent bribery.
The city was governed by councils of magistrates, some positions were filled by random selection and others, such as generals, were directly elected.
Clysphenes is also credited with creating the system of ostracism. Each year Athenians had the opportunity to vote to banish one member of the community for ten years. The unfortunate citizen was not subjected to violence, but if he or she was deemed a danger to the community, he or she could be banished.
Elements of the aristocratic regime were retained. Clysphenes did not change the social classes into which Athenians had long been divided, which limited the participation of some of the poorest citizens. The nominal heads of the Athenian state, the archons, and the prestigious council of elders, the Areopagus, remained unchanged. Both were strongholds of aristocratic influence.
What Clysphenes created was not called democracy but isonomy, a system of political equality between the demos and the aristocracy.
It is also possible that Clysphenes was trying to protect the Alcmaeonids. The old areas of Alcmaeonid power appear to have been consolidated into a single tribe, potentially allowing old ties to be preserved. Although the demos gained considerable power and an unprecedented role in self-government, it took another half century for Athenian democracy to fully develop.
Why Clysphenes
Few sources explicitly attribute these radical reforms to Clysphenes, creating a dilemma: an aristocrat who destroyed aristocratic power. One cannot reject the idea that Clysphenes' motives were honorable and that he sincerely saw the need to transform Athenian society. However, events point to the reason why he was subsequently remembered but not glorified.
The decisive step in the revolution was the revolt of the Athenians against Cleomenes and Isagoras, which took place without Cleisthenes and most of the possible leaders. At that point, in 508 - 507 BC, the Athenian demos showed that it was capable and willing to act on its own. The idea of an Athenian community may well have taken shape during the reign of Pisistratides.
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Prolonged tyranny probably weakened attachment to the aloof aristocracy, while Pisistratids sponsored religious festivals and building projects that contributed to Athenian identity.
When Isagoras and Clysphenes tried to continue aristocratic politics as usual, they found that Athenians no longer wished to return to the bad old days. The speed with which a complex reform such as the demos system, which fundamentally changed the way the community was governed, the expectations of the people, and even what they called themselves, shows the general consensus around the idea of destroying aristocratic power.
With the removal of obstacles in the form of Isagoras, his supporters, and Cleomenes, there appears to have been little resistance, and the democratic system began to grow rapidly.
Perhaps Clysphenes did not so much lead the demos as follow it. In this scenario, he can be credited with the insight to realize that Athens had changed and the ability to adapt to stand at the helm of that process. But, understandably, the Athenians never considered him a hero.
A forgotten death and legacy
Perhaps Clysphenes' intentions would have been better understood had he lived longer. In keeping with the general lack of basic biographical information about him, it is not known when he died, but reforms are the last that have been heard of him. By the late 500s BC he may have been 60 or older, so a quiet, natural death would not have been unusual for the time.
Centuries later, the writer Pavsanius (1.29.6) recorded that there was a monument to Clysphenes in the Athenian public cemetery, but there were few literary or artistic reminders of his role.
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The Alkimeonides, however, continued to live. A few decades after the establishment of democracy, when the Athenians were fighting for their lives against the Persians, there were rumors that the family was ready to betray Athens, suggesting that they may not have felt quite comfortable in the first decades of the new system.
Whatever the role and motives of Clysphenes, his reforms lived on. The Athenians consolidated their democratic revolution in 506 BC when they repelled a joint invasion by the vengeful Cleomenes, the Boeotians, and the Chalcidians, prompting Herodotus (5.78) to observe that free peoples always fight better than those under tyranny. The democracy that Clysphenes helped create lasted for centuries.