Democracy has had a long and complicated history. Traditionally, ancient Greece has been seen as the birthplace of the western style democracy that many modern nations are currently modeled after. Study of the historical facts, however, show that the political processes that brought about democracy as it is now known, were not as straightforward as might be assumed. For example, advances and reforms in SolonÆs era were overtaken by the Peisistratid tyrants (Plutarch Sol. 29.1), built upon by Cleisthenes (Freeman 132), diminished for a time afterwards by the aristocracy, and then built upon again by Pericles several years later (Freeman 201). In fact, tyrants, oligarchies, and aristocracies still controlled many facets of the governments in Greece. This paper will examine the reforms made by Cleisthenes of Athens around 507/508 BCE (Freeman 132) and determine whether or not the influence of the aristocracy in Athens truly disappeared as a direct result of these reforms.
With the downfall of the Peisistratids tyrants in 514 BCE, Athens now had a hole in its governing structure and many of the aristocracy vied for control. It was Cleisthenes, however, of the cursed aristocratic Alcmaeonid clan, who was able to return from exile in 510 BCE and gain control of the government through overwhelming public support (Aristotle 20.1-20.5). By 507/508 BCE, Cleisthenes was able to put through a series of reforms that essentially weakened much of the political power of the aristocracy (Freeman 132).
Traditionally, citizens of Athens and the surrounding areas were ôgrouped in four tribal divisions. . .and each of the tribes was divided into three parts, in order that there might be twelve parts in all. . .and the arrangement of clans was in groups of thirtyö (Aristotle, Vol. 20, p. 152). Additionally, those who lived in the countryside of Attica were typically more conservative than those who lived in the city of Athens (Freeman 133)....