Democratic Reforms of Cleisthenes

Name: Democratic Reforms of Cleisthenes
Start: -508
End: -507

Type Event Region Europe Time -508–-507

In 508 BCE, after overthrowing the tyrant Hippias, the Athenian statesman Cleisthenes carried out constitutional reforms: abolishing the four phylae …

Timeline

-510–-508Athens · AtticaAfter the tyrant Hippias was expelled, the aristocratic factions of Isagoras and Cleisthenes fought fiercely for power; Cleisthenes turned to winning popular support, gaining a political base for constitutional reform.
-508–-507Athens · AtticaThe four traditional kinship tribes were abolished; Attica was divided into more than a hundred demes and grouped by territory into ten new tribes, breaking the aristocratic monopoly on kinship and integrating citizens through territorial identity.
-507Athens · AtticaThe Council of Five Hundred replaced the Council of Four Hundred, with each tribe sending representatives proportionally; a system of ten strategoi was established for military command, the powers of the citizen assembly were further expanded, and the Athenian democratic constitution took shape.

Sources

Herodotus, Histories — Herodotus https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126
Athenaion Politeia (Constitution of the Athenians) — Aristotle (attrib.) https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0046