History of
Ancient Greece (2)

The age of the Greek Tyrants was known for the progress made in Hellenic civilization. The tyrant title means that political power had been unfairly taken, rather than that it was abused. Normally, the tyrants such as Periander of Corinth, Gelon of Syracuse, and Polycrates of Samos were wise and popular rulers. Industry and trade increased. The development of cultural quests, common to all the Hellenic cities were one of the items that united ancient Greece, in spite of the political separation of the different states. Another item was the Greek language. Many words, which were easily understood in any part of the country or any colony. The third item was the Greek religion. It kept the Hellenes together. The sanctuary of Delphi with its oracle became the greatest national church. As a judgment to their religion, Greeks had four games of their own. The Olympian, Isthmian, Pythian, and Nemean. The Olympian games were so important that many Greeks dated their historical periods from the first games which were in 776 BC.

Athens and Sparta became the two important cities of Greece between the 8th and 6th century BC. Sparta which was completely militarized proved its leadership mainly by defeat and kept the subject states under a strict law.

The joint of Attica was carried on by common and peaceful agreement BY the leadership of Athens, and the inhabitants of smaller cities were given by citizenship of Athens. The handed down kingship of Athens was canceled in 683 BC by the nobles, or Areopagus, who controlled Athens until the mid-6th century BC. By their superior power to deal fairly, often in an arbitrary fashion, the Areopagus responded in complete authority. A fellow citizen, Draco arranged and published the law of Athens which limited the court power of the nobles in 621 BC.

The second major thing to the handed down power of the Eupatridae, was the code of the Athenian fellow citizen, and leader, Solon in 594 BC, which reformed the Draconian code and gave citizenship to the lower classes. The government began to take on the situation of democracy, during the reasonable and educated rule in 560-527 BC of the tyrant Pisistratus.

Hippias and Hipparchus, the sons of Pisistratus, inherited their father's power, but they were very harsh and unpopular. Hippias, who succeeded Hipparchus, was sent home by a popular revolution in 510 BC. In the following official struggle, the helpers of democracy, under the great fellow citizen Cleisthenes, won a complete victory, and a new government which had more democratic ideals came into place around 502 BC.

The beginning of the popular rule was the start of the greatest period of Athenian history. Agriculture and dealings had succeeded. Also, the center of artistic and intelligent culture, until that time, established in the cities of Asia Minor coast was quickly imported to Athens.