Reformers before Cleisthenes

Dracon the law-giver: archon 621 B.C.

Codification of laws to minimise their arbitrary enforcement by the nobles; severe punishments for law-breaking. Dracon attempted some limitation on nobles' power but no attempt at economic reform.

The reforms of Solon: archon 594 B.C.

Monarchy had been succeeded by the rule of the nobles, who oppressed the farmers until they threatened a revolution. In this crisis the Athenians chose an arbitrator named Solon, who worked out a compromise between the conflicting interests. Solon was not only a statesman but also a poet, and in a surviving fragment of his poetry he defends his settlement.

His settlement included important economic reforms, which gave the farmer a new start, and constitutional reforms, which paved the way for later democracy. It was he who divided the citizens into four classes according to property qualifications and gave appropriate rights and functions to each; in this way wealth, not birth, became the criterion for political privilege, and the aristocratic monopoly of power was weakened.

Pisistratus gains control 546 B.C.

Solon's settlement did not please either side, and within half a generation a tyrant, Pisistratus, gained power and ruled, off and on, for 33 years (561-528 B.C.). Under his rule Athens flourished: the economy improved, public buildings were added, and Athens became a greater power in the Greek world. Hippias, his son, succeeded him, but was driven out in 510 B.C.

Old clans and noble families now possessed far less political significance because they were now able to control only one-third of each tribe.

Citizenship was now based on locality, with citizenship being granted to metics (foreign tradesmen) and other aliens resident in and around Athens.

The army

The tribes were roughly equal in number. They contributed soldiers for the army. Usually each tribe contributed a regiment of hoplites and a squadron of cavalry. This action served to reinforce tribal loyalty.

Commanding the army were the 10 strategoi (or generals). These 10 generals were, at first, under the control of the polemarch but later were to become the chief magistrates.

The boule was enlarged to five hundred, 50 from each tribe, divided into 10 committees of 50, called prytanies. Each committee was in charge of administration and government for a month, so that more people were now directly involved in government.

This council was to be the supreme administrative, deliberative and judicial body of Athens. It kept a check on the acts of public officials. It controlled the finances of the state, prepared business for the assembly and was in charge of foreign policy.

The council took an important role in making all laws and could convene as a court to try a case to impeach a public official. 

The areopagus was still to have powers of censorship and deal with homicide cases.

The assembly was constituted to meet regularly, deciding matters that affected the daily lives of citizens. It consisted of all citizens over 20 years of age and was to be the final authority. It passed laws and decrees, and voted on war, peace and taxes.

The people's courts were enlarged, with juries being selected by lot. The courts were used for appeals and for civil cases.

Ostracism was introduced. At a meeting of the assembly once a year, voters named a person to be sent into exile.The names of persons proposed for exile were scratched onto pieces of broken pottery (ostraka). 6,000 votes were needed. The exile was to be for 10 years. There was no loss of citizenship or property and the family of the ostracised person was still permitted to remain in Athens. The process was intended as a safeguard against tyranny.

Positive aspects

• Cleisthenes' reforms were important in breaking down old allegiances and jealousies. Athenians came to see themselves as citizens of Athens first and foremost.

• The number of citizens now involved in government was considerable. Aside from engaging in the local affairs of demes and the so-called tribes, all adult males, possibly about 30 000 at this time, were members of the Athenian assembly, and 500 representatives from the 10 tribes constituted the council, where one-year terms meant an annual turnover of members. Citizens came to see themselves involved at both a local and state level.

• Regardless of birth or wealth, Cleisthenes' reforms guaranteed political rights in the election of public officials.

• Cleisthenes created a number of popular courts that functioned alongside the heliaea.

• The remnants of a large enclosure in the south-west corner of the agora is probably that of the earliest walled but unroofed Athenian courts, possibly the heliaea, the largest, into which 500 jurors crowded regularly and on occasion hundreds more.

• Although there were still large landowners, the country was essentially one of free peasant farmers and, in the city, sturdily independent urban workers.

• Ostracism weakened the areopagus by depriving it of its most powerful political function, the safeguarding of the constitution and protecting Athens against tyranny. Ostracism was also important in keeping internal order by eliminating (by 10-year exile) perceived "troublemakers"

• The word demokratia had not yet been invented, but the foundations had been laid.

Negative aspects

• Archons were still elected from the two top classes.

• The areopagus (composed of ex-archons) still retained considerable power.

• The non-payment of officials still meant that poorer citizens could not take public office.

• Some modern historians have questioned the motives behind Cleisthenes' electoral distributions, as they added to the influence of the Alcmaeonids, his own powerful, land-owning family. Opinions differ as to whether this was deliberate or coincidental.