Classics - Chapter 5

How was early Athens governed?

Political unification brought Attica under Athens. Nine archons, a council of former archons, and an assembly governed it, with wealthy aristocrats—the Eupatrids—dominating power.

Who was Cylon, and why did his failed coup matter?

An Olympic victor who attempted to become tyrant. His supporters were killed after seeking sanctuary and receiving assurances of safety, creating a charge of sacrilege against Megacles and his Alcmaeonid family.

What was Draco’s main contribution?

Written laws established fixed legal principles, strengthened state authority, and limited officials’ ability to deliver arbitrary judgments.

How did Draco change homicide justice, and why were his reforms insufficient?

Killings became matters for trials before officials rather than simply family vengeance. However, harsh laws did not resolve debt, inequality, or political conflict.

Why was Solon appointed, and what balance did he seek?

Athens faced debt, dependence, and conflict threatening tyranny. Solon sought relief for ordinary people while protecting elite property and preventing either side from dominating unjustly.

What was the seisachtheia, or “shaking off of burdens”?

Solon removed oppressive debt-related obligations, prohibited enslavement secured on a person, freed Athenians enslaved for debt, and recovered some sold abroad.

Did Solon abolish all slavery or redistribute everyone’s land equally?

No. He protected Athenians against debt enslavement but did not abolish the enslavement of outsiders or carry out the sweeping land redistribution demanded by the poor.

How did Solon encourage economic development?

He encouraged olives and trade, restricted grain exports, revised weights and measures, attracted skilled immigrants, and promoted learning a trade.

What were Solon’s four property classes?

Pentakosiomedimnoi: at least 500 measures of agricultural produce; hippeis: 300–499; zeugitai: 200–299; thetes: below 200. Political eligibility depended on wealth rather than noble birth alone.

How did political participation differ between Solon’s classes?

The richest classes could hold the highest offices; zeugitai could hold lower offices; thetes could participate in the assembly. Male citizens across classes could participate in the jury pool described by the reading.

How did Solon broaden access to justice?

Citizens could appeal magistrates’ decisions, and any male citizen—not only the victim’s family—could initiate proceedings concerning wrongdoing.

Was Solon’s constitution a complete democracy?

No. Wealth still restricted officeholding, and women, enslaved people, and resident foreigners were excluded from political participation. His reforms nevertheless helped establish a free citizen body.

How can you recognize Solon’s political poetry?

It presents him as protecting both rich and poor, standing between the sides and refusing unjust domination by either.

What factions competed in sixth-century Attica, and which supported Pisistratus?

The Plain, Coast, and Hill factions. Pisistratus drew support from the Hill faction and some city inhabitants.

How did Pisistratus establish tyranny?

Through repeated attempts involving a bodyguard, elite alliances, exile, and eventually military force supported by mercenaries and outside allies.

How did Pisistratus maintain control while preserving existing institutions?

He retained Solon’s framework but arranged influence over officeholders, relied on armed force, and restrained opponents, including through hostages.

What policies helped Pisistratus gain support?

Land and loans for the needy, olive cultivation, trade, government-backed currency, public fountains and building projects, and religious, theatrical, and athletic festivals.

Why did public fountains and festivals matter politically?

Public provision reduced dependence on private aristocratic patrons, created work, and made Athens a shared civic and cultural centre.

What was the Panathenaia?

A festival honouring Athena, expanded to include athletic and musical competitions, Homeric recitations, and a major procession. Athletic victors received amphorae containing olive oil.

How did the Pisistratid tyranny end?

Harmodius and Aristogeiton killed Hipparchus, after which Hippias became harsher. Hippias was later expelled through opposition involving the Alcmaeonids and Spartan intervention. The assassination alone did not end the tyranny.

What was the purpose of Cleisthenes’ tribal reforms?

To weaken old family and regional loyalties by replacing four traditional tribes with ten new tribes combining communities from different parts of Attica.

How did the new tribal organization work?

Each tribe combined sections from the city, coast, and inland area. Local demes became important units of civic identity, encouraging identification beyond aristocratic ancestry.

What was Cleisthenes’ Council of Five Hundred?

A council of 500 men, fifty from each tribe, selected by lot. It prepared assembly business and helped administer affairs; the assembly made the major political decisions.

How did the ten tribes connect with military leadership?

They formed the basis for ten elected generals, or strategoi. Unlike many officials selected by lot, generals could be repeatedly reelected.

What was ostracism?

A political procedure using names scratched on pottery fragments to send a citizen into exile for ten years. It required no criminal conviction and was intended to counter dangerous concentrations of power, though it also served rivalries.

Did an ostracized person automatically lose property and citizenship?

No. Ostracism imposed temporary absence rather than the normal punishment for a proven crime.

What is the basic sequence of Persian expansion?

Cyrus established Persian dominance and conquered Lydia; Cambyses conquered Egypt; Darius reorganized and expanded imperial administration; Xerxes later led the major invasion of Greece.

Why did Cyrus’ conquest of Lydia matter to Greek history?

It brought the Greek cities of western Asia Minor under Persian imperial control, creating the background for later conflict.

What were satrapies and the “Eyes and Ears of the King”?

Satrapies were imperial provinces governed by royal appointees. The king’s monitoring agents helped supervise officials and discourage rebellion.

How did Darius strengthen the empire?

Through provincial organization, tribute, roads and communications, royal coinage, and monumental centres such as Persepolis.

How did religion support Darius’ kingship?

Royal inscriptions presented his authority as granted by Ahuramazda, associated with truth and order in Zoroastrian tradition.

How can you recognize Darius’ canal inscription excerpt?

Darius credits Ahuramazda, identifies himself as king, and describes ordering a canal linking the Nile with the sea route toward Persia. It presents construction as evidence of royal power.

What caused the Ionian Revolt?

Resentment of Persian taxation and Persian-backed rulers combined with Aristagoras’ political ambitions after a failed expedition.

How did Athens and Sparta respond to requests for help?

Sparta refused the distant expedition. Athens sent twenty ships and Eretria five; Athens also feared Persian support for restoring Hippias.

What were the major consequences of the Ionian Revolt?

Sardis was burned during the uprising; Persia defeated the revolt at Lade and devastated Miletus. Athenian and Eretrian involvement gave Darius a reason for retaliation.

Why did Darius invade Greece?

To punish Athens and Eretria for assisting the revolt and extend Persian authority. Eretria fell before the expedition reached Marathon.

Who fought at Marathon, and why was Sparta absent?

Athens and Plataea fought the Persians. Sparta delayed its departure because of a religious festival and arrived after the battle.

Why did the Greeks win at Marathon?

A determined hoplite attack, associated with Miltiades’ leadership, exploited heavily armed infantry and stronger wings against the Persian force.

Why was Marathon important, and did it end the Persian threat?

It preserved Athens from that expedition and became a powerful symbol of citizen courage. It did not end Persian preparations for another invasion.

How did Themistocles use the discovery of silver at Laurium?

He persuaded Athens to invest in a large fleet of triremes rather than distribute the proceeds, providing the naval strength essential to resisting Xerxes.

What was a trireme?

A fast warship with three levels of rowers and a projecting ram. Coordinated rowing and manoeuvring were crucial in battle.

Did all Greek states unite against Xerxes?

No. A minority formed a resisting alliance; others submitted, remained neutral, or supported Persia. Sparta held overall allied command.

What was the Greek defensive strategy at Thermopylae and Artemisium?

Defend a narrow land pass while a nearby fleet resisted at sea, using geography to reduce Persian numerical advantages.

What happened at Thermopylae?

Leonidas led a force including many non-Spartan Greeks. After the position was outflanked, a remaining force including the 300 Spartans fought and died. It was a Persian victory, later celebrated for Greek sacrifice.

Why is “300 Spartans alone defended Greece” misleading?

Other Greek contingents and helot attendants participated; the wider campaign also depended on allied armies and fleets.

What happened at Salamis, and why did the location matter?

The Greek fleet defeated Persia in narrow waters near Athens, limiting the larger fleet’s ability to manoeuvre. Themistocles helped bring about the engagement.

What happened at Plataea and Mycale?

The following year, allied Greeks defeated the remaining Persian land army at Plataea and Persian forces at Mycale in Asia Minor, securing the failure of the invasion.

What is the essential battle sequence?

Marathon → Thermopylae and Salamis → Plataea and Mycale. Marathon belongs to Darius’ expedition; the later battles to Xerxes’ invasion and its aftermath.

What does Hellenocentrism mean when studying the wars?

Interpreting events mainly through Greek perspectives, potentially exaggerating Greek unity or portraying Persia as a simple opposite of Greek freedom.

Did Greek victory destroy the Persian Empire?

No. Persia remained powerful and influential in Greek affairs until its later conquest by Alexander.

What does the excerpt from Aeschylus’ Persians emphasize?

Persian defeat through a contrast between royal domination and freedom. It is a Greek dramatic interpretation, not an impartial Persian account.

What happened at Himera in Sicily?

Greek forces under Gelon defeated Carthage during the period of Xerxes’ invasion. It secured Sicilian Greek power, but exact claims that it occurred on the same day as Salamis belong to tradition.

What made Athenian democracy direct?

Adult male citizens participated personally in the assembly rather than electing representatives to make all decisions. Women, enslaved people, and resident foreigners were excluded.

How often did the assembly meet, and what did it do?

About forty times annually according to the PPT. It debated and voted on major policy, including war, finances, and public decisions.

Why were many officials selected by lot and organized into boards?

Lot widened participation and reduced electoral competition; shared boards limited individual control. Nine archons and many other officials were chosen this way.

How did the ten generals differ from officials chosen by lot?

They were elected because military competence mattered and could be reelected, allowing sustained influence by leaders such as Pericles.

Why did payment for state service matter?

It helped citizens with limited income participate, especially in jury service, rather than reserving public duties for those able to work without pay.

What were liturgies?

Public services financed by wealthy individuals, such as funding a dramatic chorus or supporting a warship. They combined civic obligation, expenditure, and prestige.

What were dicasteries, and how were juries selected?

Popular courts with large panels of citizen jurors. Selection by lot and assignment procedures aimed to broaden participation and make manipulation harder

How were Athenian trials conducted?

Litigants generally presented their own cases in timed speeches, offering arguments and evidence to citizen jurors. The PPT emphasizes trials completed within one day.

What was a logographer?

A professional speechwriter who composed a litigant’s speech. The litigant normally delivered it rather than employing a modern courtroom advocate.

What kinds of evidence could appear, and how was enslaved testimony treated?

Laws, documents, witnesses, and arguments about probability or character. Enslaved testimony had a distinctive association with interrogation under torture; such evidence must not be treated as automatically reliable.

What was the central role of citizen jurors?

To evaluate competing presentations and decide the case, linking legal judgment with citizen participation rather than a modern professional judge-and-lawyer system.

What punishments could Athenian courts impose?

Depending on the offence, fines, loss of rights, exile, or death. Homicide had specialized courts and religious concerns about pollution.

What is the issue in Lysias’ On the Murder of Eratosthenes?

Euphiletus defends killing a man he says he caught committing adultery with his wife, presenting the killing as legally justified rather than premeditated murder. It is a persuasive defence speech, not an established neutral account.