Pisistratus (Born about 602 BC - died 527 BC) The Athenian tyrant (ruler) in 560-527 BC. e. (intermittently). Carried out reforms (distribution of land to the rural poor, minting of state coins, etc.)
He created a mercenary army, organized social construction (market, water supply, Piraeus harbor, temples, etc.)
After 594 BC. e. In Athens, three political factions competed, the pediai, which expressed the interests of the large landowners, the paralias (the trading part of the aristocracy and the wealthy urban elements) and the diacries (the small peasantry and the urban poor). All the groupings were headed by a noble aristocratic family behind the pediai were the Eteobutads and their leader Lycurgus, the paralias were the Alcmeonides (Megaclus), and, finally, the diacrians some time after Solon's reforms were headed by Pisistratus from an impoverished aristocratic family.
Pisistratus is a brilliant commander who rendered invaluable services to Athens. Returning to Athens from his wanderings, Solon began to vigorously agitate for a campaign on the island of Salamis, which belonged to Megaras. This island in the Aegean Sea was strategically important for the trade of Athens. Pisistratus, who led the detachment, was able not only to recapture Salamis from Megara, but also to seize the harbor of Niseya, which put Megara in economic dependence on Athens.
After a long struggle, both sides turned to the mediation of the then most influential Greek state - Sparta. Five Spartan judges awarded Salamis to Athens, and Nisey, by their decision, should be returned to the Megarians.
The success of Peisistratus undoubtedly greatly strengthened the position of the diacrians. The decree on the Salamis klerukhs (settlers) that has survived to our time already reflects the instructions of this party:) to lease land. If the cleruch does not live there, but leases the land, then both the tenant and the one who leases to the treasury (so many drachmas) of the fine will pay."
We do not know when this decree was adopted. The prohibition of the klerukhs to lease land was intended to prevent a new ruin of the peasants and the transfer of land plots under the guise of leasing into the hands of the rich. At the same time, this ensured the military might of the cleruch.
Of course, the aristocratic party could not calmly look at the growing influence of the party of diacrias. An attempt was organized on Pisistratus: he was wounded, but he was able to escape. His opponents argued that there was no assassination attempt, that Pisistratus inflicted wounds on himself in order to embitter the people against the aristocrats.
Promotional video:
In fact, the people became angry and the party of the diacrias moved on to a more energetic policy. A member of the group of diacrians, Aristion, spoke in the public assembly and proposed to allocate protection to Pisistratus. The proposal was accepted.
The detachment put at the disposal of Peisistratus was armed with spears. With the help of these "spearmen" Pisistratus was able to seize power in Athens in 560, but did not last long in power. Lycurgus and Megacles, uniting their supporters against the tyrant, put an end to it. Apparently, this happened in a relatively mild form, because there was no question of condemnation on the basis of the law of tyranny. Pisistratus, apparently, continued to live in Attica.
Several years later, Megacles, having quarreled with Lycurgus, began to seek a meeting with him. He promised Peisistratus his support in restoring tyranny if he would marry his daughter. Peisistratus agreed. He returned to the city and again seized power in Athens (558–557).
Pisistratus drove into Athens in a chariot: next to him stood a beautiful stately girl, depicting the heavenly patroness of Pisistratus, the goddess Athena. As the patron goddess of the olive, she was the most revered goddess of the peasantry, on the other hand, she bore the nickname "Ergana" ("handicraftsman") and was also considered the patroness of urban artisans. Aristocrats revered the god Poseidon as their heavenly patron. The heralds announced. "Athenians, accept Peisistratus with a good feeling, Athena herself honored him more than all people and now she is returning him to her acropolis."
Peisistratus's marriage to Megakl's daughter, Koisira, was preceded by two of his marriages. Until the mid-60s, he married an Athenian woman who bore him three sons. Hippia, Hipparchus and Thessalus, and at least one daughter. Along with this wife, he had another, bridal wife, Timonassa from Argos, the daughter of Gorgil and the widow of Kipselida Arkhin from Ambrakia. Gave Peisistratus two sons, Egesistratus and Iophon. Because their mother was not an Athenian, according to the law on citizenship rights, they were considered bloodless, and yet at one time they were equated with the sons of Attic wives, even if, for obvious reasons, they could not be considered the heirs of the tyranny in Athens.
Just as Kipsel and Periander, each of whom had at least two wives, arranged for the sons of a marital wife outside their hometown, Pisistratus decided to do the same with Egesistratus. Marrying Megacle's daughter did not affect the position of Timonassa and her sons. But Pisistratus, who married an Argive woman for political reasons, taking into account the interests of his growing sons, avoided entering into a conjugal relationship with Megacle's daughter.
Megacle, who dreamed of participating in the reign, was deeply hurt by the behavior of Peisistratus and presented him with his claims. According to unconfirmed reports, Peisistratus told him that he did not want to have children from a representative of the family, burdened with the sin of murder. Then Megacles turned to Lycurgus for help, and by joint efforts they overthrew the tyrant for the second time (556–555). This time he was persecuted under the tyranny law; Pisistratus was expelled from Attica, his property was confiscated; it was bought at auction by one of the most noble Athenians, Callius, close to the circles of Solon and the Alkmeonids.
The double expulsion of Peisistratus was written by Herodotus and Aristotle. But even M. Gershenzon showed that here we are dealing with a duplication of the same exile; Belokh, Ed, Meyer and a number of other scientists have taken this point of view.
W. Wilcken drew attention to the fact that among the ancient writers Nolien believed that the exile was one-time. So the information on this matter is rather contradictory. Pisistratus with his "spearmen" went to Thrace. A number of Thracian colonies were founded with the aim of exploiting the nearby gold and silver mines.
The tyrant was able to take possession of the Pangaean mines. He minted silver money here and recruited mercenaries; at the same time, they conducted diplomatic negotiations with various states hostile to the aristocratic government in Athens. He was joined by the party of horsemen, which then dominated Eretria, Euboea, one of the parties in Argos and Thebes, the influential Naxos Ligdamid, part of the Thessalians. Pisistratus, together with his sons and allies, drew up a plan of attack.
Having come to power, the tyrant proceeded to the massive expulsion of opponents: according to Herodotus, "some fell in battle, others were expelled from the fatherland along with the Alkmeonids." All of these were the owners of large plots of land that made up a significant part of the territory of Attica. According to the Athenian laws, the lands of the expelled were confiscated; it is possible that Pisistratus divided them as state land among the poorest peasants on the same grounds as the territory of Salamis, that is, with the prohibition to sell, mortgage and lease.
Pisistratus considered himself the conqueror and absolute ruler of Attica. Basically he resorted to two measures, disarming citizens and taxing income from land. This also included the forceful precautions against his enemies: the sons of the aristocrats, in order to keep their families at bay, Pisistratus ordered to be taken hostage and sent to the island of Naxos.
Some of the aristocratic families remained in Attica, obeying and pleasing the tyrant. This was not a trading nobility, not Alkmeonids, but a nobility of the old landowning type - first of all, the Philaid family.
Peisistratus had no difficulty in ruining and weakening the landed aristocracy, but even having expelled the Alcmeonids, he could not deal a sensitive blow to the trading party. The only effective way to deal with them was to open up new, more profitable markets. Over time, Peisistratus was able to capture the key to the bread - Segay on the Hellespont.
As a representative of the party of diacrians, Pisistratus initially took up the reform of the small peasantry. He significantly expanded the peasant land fund, endowing the peasants with plots (clears) from the confiscated lands. These were the lands of the aristocracy in Attica itself, as well as on Salamis, on Lemnos, and possibly in other possessions of Athens (on the Thracian Chersonesos, in Sigea, in Raekel, etc.).
In order for these measures to be effective, he generously gives the newly endowed peasants from the state funds loans and allowances for the purchase of livestock, tools, implements and necessary expenses.
Further, one of the reasons for the rapid ruin of the peasantry in the pre-Solonian era was that the courts were located in the city, in the very nest of the aristocracy, and consisted of aristocrats, while the peasant, who did not understand anything about the laws and courts, was easy to deceive and rob. Pisistratus transferred the courts (which, perhaps, most often dealt with land disputes that arose on the basis of redistribution of recent years) to the village and appoints traveling judges from among the loyal adherents of the peasant party.
He personally travels around peasant farms. Pisistratus turned the peasant holiday of Dionysus into the most important public holiday and officially ordered the peasants to wear their old national costume - "katonaka". At the same time, trying to stop the spontaneous resettlement of ruined peasants to the city, he will order to punish the peasants wandering around the city in search of earnings (it was easy to recognize the peasants in the crowd by their rural clothes).
Herodotus believed that the main support of his tyranny, in addition to mercenaries, was the income that came partly from Attica, partly from the Pangean mines, Aristotle clearly calls "tithe" from the harvest, that is, a regular direct tax of 10% paid. The annual increase in the land tax in favor of the tyrant affected all landowners, large and small.
Undoubtedly, the ruler raised taxes in his favor, and not in favor of the community of Athens, which neither before nor after tyranny knew such large taxes. Another source of income for the tyrant is the silver mines in the Lavrian Mountains. The precious metal mined there, together with what the Pangaean mines provided, made it possible for him to mint coins and thereby pay for the hired army, as well as the costs of construction, festivities in honor of the gods and the maintenance of his court.
The tyrant sought only to ensure that members of his family or, in extreme cases, accommodating people were at the highest elected positions, because the former archons sat in the Areopagus for life, he was thereby able to exert a decisive influence on its composition. Such tactics could have been carried out by any influential citizen, and some aristocrats before Peisistratus tried to act in this way, but they did not have supporters in the city, constantly ready for action, and there was no military force that made the wishes of the tyrant indisputable.
Pisistratus conquered his hometown by force and imposed his will on it. Even if after that he formally observed the rule of law, in fact it was a monarchical power, relying on mercenary troops and taxing citizens in their favor. Under her, as Aristotle noted, Solon's laws became "invisible", the spirit of his laws was no longer felt. In foreign policy, Pisistratus can be called the predecessor of Themistocles and the leaders of the Athenian Maritime Union. He turned his attention primarily to Delos, the religious center of all Ionians. He wanted in every possible way (like Solon) to emphasize that Athens (whose inhabitants differed somewhat in language from the Ionians, although they were close to them) was not only an Ionian city, but also the capital of all Ionians.
The tyrant landed with an army on Naxos and took possession of the city, appointing Ligdamides as a tyrant here, who helped him in the campaign against Athens. Thus, Naxos fell into de facto dependence on Athens. Thanks to Ligdamidus, Polycrates seized power in Samos, apparently, and Pisistratus maintained friendly relations with him.
But the most important for Peisistratus was the provision of a path to bread coming from the Northern Black Sea region. The Attic peasant quickly moved from grain crops to more profitable olive and grape crops, so he began to need imported grain. The tyrant also needed new colonies, where it was possible to resettle part of the population. In addition, the expansion of trade was beneficial for the people of Athens.
The huge number of Attic vases from the tyranny of Pisistratus, as well as coins and metal objects found in the Northern Black Sea region, especially in Olbia, show how lively the exchange of goods with Attica was at that time. These goods went far up the Dnieper, from where, possibly, amber was received in exchange for them. But Pisistratus' trade ties were not limited to this: artistic dishes of the tyranny of Pisistratus were found in Egypt (in Navcratis) and in Etruria (Italy). It is quite consistent with this that, according to one of the sources, the Egyptian Pharaoh Amasis sent ships with bread to Athens.
The cultural activities of Pisistratus were to a certain extent part of his international politics, since, among other things, it was aimed at attracting the attention of foreigners to Athens. Pisistratus built a number of beautiful temples and statues, for example, the temple of Pallas Athena and Olympian Zeus, built a water supply. Pisistratus invites rhapsodes (performers of Homer) to Athens and makes them recite the Iliad and Odyssey in order, and the scribes write these poems. It may be that small inserts were made in the text in the interests of Athens.
Further, the tyrant and his son Hipparchus invite the most prominent poets of that time to Athens, Anacreon of Theos, Las of Hermione, Simonides of Keos. the tyrant strengthened his power to such an extent that in 527, after his death, power without any upheavals passed to his sons Hippias and Hipparchus, who continued to rule in the same spirit as their father. The actual leader of the state was Hippias; Hipparchus' interests lay mainly in the field of literature and art.
In Athens, tyranny was more stable than in other places, since until 513 it did without terror and turned Athens into the richest and most influential state in Greece. It is not for nothing that tyranny was called "the golden age", "the age of the god Kronos." Obviously, for a strong opposition to arise, there must have been special reasons for discontent.
S. Mussky