Athens: Birthplace of Democracy?
The Ancients
00:00
Cleisthenes and the Greeks in Athens
Athens had a tyranny from the middle of the 6th century to around 510 BC. Piusus and his son didn't overthrow Solonian reforms entirely, though they were autocrats. Cleisthenes is an aristocrat, but he has suffered personally from the tyranny. He's been in exile, and he's also come to the view that what Athens needs is much stronger safeguards of ordinary people against possible abuse by elite.
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