Athenian Revolution
The uprising in Athens in 508/507 BCE that expelled Isagoras and his Spartan allies, enabling Cleisthenes to establish a new political order.
Isagoras: An Athenian aristocrat who became archon in 508/507 BCE and sought Spartan support against his political rivals. His attempt to dissolve the council and expel Cleisthenes provoked the resistance.
Alcmaeonidae: A prominent aristocratic family of ancient Athens, associated with political leadership and the sanctuary at Delphi. Cleisthenes belonged to this family, whose rivalry with Isagoras framed the crisis.
Ostracism: An Athenian procedure allowing citizens to vote to exile a politically influential person for ten years. Introduced in the reform era, it became a means of limiting the return of factional domination.
Athenian tyranny: The rule of an individual who seized power outside established political norms, as in sixth-century Athens. The revolt followed the end of Hippias’s tyranny and rejected a renewed concentration of power.
Cleisthenes: An Athenian statesman whose reforms reorganized citizenship and political institutions around demes and tribes. His return after Isagoras’s defeat led to the reforms the uprising made possible.
Hippias: Athenian tyrant who ruled from 527 to 510 BCE before being expelled by a Spartan-led force. His expulsion created the political opening in which Isagoras and Cleisthenes competed for power.
Battle of Marathon: A battle in 490 BCE in which Athenians and Plataeans defeated a Persian invasion force. The civic institutions strengthened after the revolt formed the polis that fought at Marathon.
Spartan constitution: The mixed political system of Sparta, combining kingship, a council of elders, ephors, and an assembly. Sparta’s intervention sought to shape Athens through elite rule, unlike the civic reforms that followed.
Council of the Areopagus: An aristocratic Athenian council composed chiefly of former archons. Isagoras tried to dissolve this council, prompting resistance from its members and supporters.
Spartan intervention in Athens: The military and diplomatic involvement by Sparta in Athenian politics after the overthrow of Hippias. Sparta backed Isagoras and sent forces that became trapped during the uprising.