Fame, Money, and Power: The Rise of Peisistratos and "Democratic" Tyranny at Athens

V. Summary

V Summary .      “”  A. Fame and Popularity Nisaia was the pivotal moment in Peisistratos’ early career; Palle – ne – established the tyranny for several decades.Success in the Megarian war earned Peisistratos popularity first among the fighters in the field and then more generally among the Athenians.A slight index of the potency of the victory and what it produced for Peisistratos is the fact that the memory of it survived even in the antityrannical climate of Athens in the fifth century ... The magnitude of Peisistratos’ war deeds was great indeed. The victory at Nisaia,apparently the final blow to the Megarians,ensured Athens’ ascendance in the Saronic Gulf, its permanent dominion over both Eleusis and Salamis,and its security against the Megarians.Phaleron was safe from Megarian attack by sea and the Kephissian Plain andAthens itself from land attack.Peisistratos thus brought to a close the one hundred years of war with Megara and so demolished the barriers to Athenian expansion .Victory in the war also avenged the outrage of Kylon’s occupation of the akropolis with Megarian troops.The Athenians of the early sixth century were surely enormously grateful to Peisistratos for ending the war in Athens’ favor. Peisistratos’ success indicates in fact that by the end of the war he had become Athens’ most outstanding war leader.The operation leading to Nisaia implies concerted strategy,while the action itself implies developed ` tactics.These, too, are apparently to be credited to Peisistratos. Corroborating evidence of Peisistratos as strategist and tactician is to be found in the record of the Palle – ne – campaign; it is implicit in his command as strate – gos in the war against Megara.Peisistratos seems to have grasped that the desired outcome in the war could only come about gradually,after preliminary steps had been taken and preliminary battles fought and won.The same held true for his return to the tyranny.For that, Peisistratos prepared for almost a decade, mustering the overwhelming force he needed to deliver the final blow to his opponents and to establish the tyranny once for all. He also understood that military force alone would not be sufficient on its own and so accumulated chre – mata to“root”his tyranny.Peisistratos’ sojourn first to Rhaike – los and then to the area of Mount Pangaion,famous for its precious metal mines,were necessary steps to acquiring the resources needed for the successful outcome of the campaign. It was only after Peisistratos had patiently bided at Eretria,collecting more and more chre – mata from his allies and assembling ever increasing numbers of warriors for his army,that he struck atAthens.The result of his measures was the quick and apparently easy victory at Palle – ne – .(As we have seen,there is reason to think that such strategy led up to Nisaia.) Like all strate – goi of the time,Peisistratos will have led from the front.In fact,given his experiences and successes,he must have been rather a skilled warrior.Certainly,theThracian enterprise suggests protracted fighting and hard fighting at that in the Strymon region. Peisistratos was undoubtedly the center of cohesion for his enterprise,the sole purpose of which was to further his ambitions to return to Athens as tyrant.The Thracian sojourn was a long one, and we must imagine years of tough fighting amid the fierceThracians who guarded their interests around Mount Pangaion.It is also reasonable to think that whatever group he had with him there became hardened, even as he did. By the time they arrived at Palle – ne – , Peisistratos and his philoi were probably at a fighting peak. Whatever his military career in the north, it was the Megarian war that earned Peisistratos fame and popularity among the Athenians. He had defeated an inveterate enemy in a great patriotic war, and his successes substantiated his claims of Neleid descent. (These I have urged he put forth himself as part of a campaign first for war leadership and then for the tyranny.)The myths were not only corroborated by victory over the Megarians but implied further success and security under Peisistratos’ leadership. It seems reasonably certain that Peisistratos knew well the value of drawing such links to the heroic age even at the earliest stage of his pub-  , ,   Summary  lic career. Solon observes that the Athenians would listen gaping to seductive speakers and foolishly be won over by them.In introducing the Neleid link,Peisistratos was...