The Pattern of Greek Tyranny

1
The Pattern of Greek Tyranny

• Power-hungry dictators or liberators of the
  people?
• 670-500

2
Review of spartan organization

• Remember that Herodotus said that before 600 the
  Spartans were the worst ruled of nearly all the
  Greeks. Isolation, internal bickering, and
  xenophobia.
• But the Spartans had a profound and unique
  institutional development, and improvement came
  when eunomia, obedience to the law, was
  achieved.
• The Spartan constitution had four parts
• The Kings
• The Gerousia, or council of elders
• The Apella, or assembly of citizens
• The five Ephors

3
Spartas annual proclamation

• Each year the ephors term of office began on the
  day of the first full moon after the autumnal
  equinox.
• Each year the new ephors renewed the same
  proclamation
• All Spartans must shave their upper lips.
• All Spartans must obey the laws.
• War is hereby declared upon the helots
• Well return to the Spartans later, and discuss
  (among other things) their social lives.

4
The Coming of Greek Tyranny

• Calling a ruler a tyrant means that he attained
  power in a way that was not according to the
  understood rules of accession. It originally did
  not refer to the idea that their rule was
  abusive.
• Later Greeks considered the seventh and sixth
  centuries to be the age of the tyrants. There
  were many tyrants during this period, though
  firsthand documents are scarce.
• Aristocracies that dominated after the collapse
  of monarchies fueled rather than relieved
  economic disparity, exploitation of farm workers
  and debtors, and grievances of the
  non-aristocratic wealthy.
• Imagine a time before absolute rulers and
  dictatorsbad associations with the term tyrant
  would be an historical afterthought, perhaps even
  provided by descendents of the snubbed
  aristocrats.

5
Characteristics of Tyrannies

• Many consider the age of tyrants to be a
  progressive one
• They seemed to be effective at increasing trade
  and industry.
• They promoted cultural and infrastructure
  development.
• They had popular appeal, perhaps actually
  bringing more voices to participation in the
  polis.
• Most tyrants arose from aristocratic families.
• They either showed savvy in cultivating the
  interests of common people or held a grudge
  against rival aristocrats and enlisted the help
  of the less privileged.
• Most tyrannies attempted to perpetuate
  themselves, but petered out within two or three
  generations.
• Tyrannies were either strong-arm coups or
  introduced by invitation to quell civil
  disturbance and stasis.

6
A paradigmatic tyrant

• Periander of Corinth ruled for forty years,
  627-585.
• He was a patron of the arts, even supporting
  Aesop.
• He built the Dioclos, a tremendous feat of
  engineering that rolled ships overland across the
  isthmus of Corinth. He had originally planned a
  canal, but supposedly was warned against it by
  the Oracle of Delphi.
• He constructed new public buildings and is said
  to have tried to limit slavery to reduce the free
  time of the aristocratic citizens, thus
  preventing a plot against his rule.
• His rule was eventually destroyed by intrigue
  surrounding his family, and barely survived his
  death.
• He was a tyrant, but he was also considered one
  of the fabled Seven Sages of Greece, a Delphic
  tradition honoring men who gave practical wisdom.

7
Wisdom of periander from delphi

• Live according to your income.
• Nothing is impossible to industry.
• However exalted our position, we should still not
  despise the powers of the humble.
• Your knowing a thing is nothing, unless another
  knows you know it.
• He who has once made himself notorious as utterly
  unprincipled, is not credited even when he speaks
  the truth.
• He who trusts himself for safety to the care of a
  wicked man, in seeking succor meets with ruin.
• The mind still longs for what it has missed, and
  loses itself in the contemplation of the past.
• It is a pleasant thing to be pointed at with the
  finger, and to hear it said, "That is he."
• His bloated paunch stands forth projecting a good
  eighteen inches.

8
Tyrants couldnt act alone

• Tyrants of other cities helped with money or
  arms.
• Mercenary forces could back a potential tyrant.
• Sometimes, disaffected circles of aristocrats
  were willing to give up the chance for restored
  levels of power to gain revenge on rivals.
• Almost all had support of the free
  non-aristocratic citizens, especially the hoplite
  class.

9
What tyrants accomplished

• Tyrants made their careers by favoring the poor
  over the rich.
• They usually were able to eliminate red tape that
  prevented economic progress.
• They loved to promote the arts, culture, and
  popular religion.
• They often preserved traditional laws and
  expanded rights to break the power of the
  wealthiest families.

10
The Age of Tyrants passes

• Tyranny died out by 500.
• Many of the reasons for stasis in the seventh and
  sixth centuries faded by then.
• Tyranny or the threat of tyranny may have tamed
  the volatile aristocratic rivalries.
• A taste of expanded powers for non-aristocrats
  over several generations may have prevented a
  return to the good old days for the
  aristocrats.
• Lets see how this pattern of Greek tyranny
  affected the development of Athenian democracy.