Athenian Revolution

In 508 BCE the Athenian people rose against aristocratic faction rule and forced through the reforms of Cleisthenes that created the first citizen democracy.

Overview

After the fall of the tyrant Hippias, rival aristocrat Isagoras allied with the Spartan king Cleomenes and expelled the reformer Cleisthenes along with hundreds of families. Instead of submitting, the Athenian people rose, besieged the Spartans and their allies on the Acropolis, and restored Cleisthenes. His reforms abolished old clan monopolies on power, created ten new tribes that mixed citizens from different regions, and built institutions like the Council of Five Hundred in which ordinary citizens served by lot. The episode, described by Herodotus, established the principle that the demos held final authority. Democracy born of this revolution defined Athenian identity and has inspired political thought for over two and a half millennia.