Hippias ( grc-gre,
Ἱππίας; c. 570 BC – 490 BC) was the last
tyrant
A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to re ...
of
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
, ruling from 527 to 510 BC. He was one of a group of tyrants known as the Peisistratids, which was a group of three tyrants in Ancient Greece.
Pisistratus first, and then his son, Hippias, followed after him by Hippias' illegitimate son,
Hegesistratos. He was deposed when
Cleomenes I
Cleomenes I (; Greek Κλεομένης; died c. 490 BC) was Agiad King of Sparta from c. 524 to c. 490 BC. One of the most important Spartan kings, Cleomenes was instrumental in organising the Greek resistance against the Persian Empire of Dariu ...
of Sparta successfully invaded Athens and forced him to flee to Persia.
Early life
Hippias was born around 570 BC as the eldest son of Pisistratus, the first tyrant of Athens. When his father was forced to flee to
Eretria
Eretria (; el, Ερέτρια, , grc, Ἐρέτρια, , literally 'city of the rowers') is a town in Euboea, Greece, facing the coast of Attica across the narrow South Euboean Gulf. It was an important Greek polis in the 6th and 5th centur ...
after insulting
Megakles by having intercourse with his daughter in an indecent way, Peisistratos held counsel with his sons. Hippias suggested that they should retake the tyranny, which his father agreed to. Preparations began for which Athens fell to Peisistratos for the third time in 546 BC.
Tyrant of Athens
Hippias succeeded Peisistratos as tyrant of Athens in 528/7 BC when his father died of advanced age. He was a patron of poets and craftsmen and under his rule Athens experienced a time of prosperity.
His brother
Hipparchus, who may have ruled jointly with him, was murdered by
Harmodius and Aristogeiton (the
tyrannicides) in 514 BC during the
Panathenaic festival. Aristogeiton was resentful at the advances made by Hipparchus toward Harmodius and with a small group of accomplices he had planned to kill both Hipparchus and his brother. When the plot failed and only Hipparchus was slain, the group was captured by Hippias' soldiers. The tyrant had Aristogeiton executed after torture while Harmodius was killed on the spot. It was said that Hippias thereafter became a bitter and cruel ruler over the next four years contrary to his father who was seen as moderate in his exercise of power. Hippias began executing a large number of citizens, exiling others, and imposing harsh taxes. His cruelty soon created unrest among his subjects and the
Alkmeonid clan, who had previously ruled in Athens, along with other exiles attempted to free Athens from Hippias by force. As he began losing control, he sought military support from the Persians. He managed to form an alliance by marrying his daughter,
Archedice, to
Aiantides, son of
Hippoklos, the tyrant of
Lampsakos. This relationship with Hippoklos helped facilitate Hippias' access to
Darius' court at
Susa.
The
Alcmaeonidae
The Alcmaeonidae or Alcmaeonids ( grc-gre, Ἀλκμαιωνίδαι ; Attic: ) were a wealthy and powerful noble family of ancient Athens, a branch of the Neleides who claimed descent from the mythological Alcmaeon, the great-grandson of Nes ...
family of
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
, which Peisistratus had exiled in 546 BC, was concerned about Hippias forming alliances with the Persian ruling class, and began planning an invasion to depose him.
Cleisthenes, an Alcmaeonidian who had served as
archon in 525/4 BC before being exiled, bribed the
Pythian priestess of
Delphi to tell the Spartans that they should help liberate the Athenians. After a failed expedition,
Cleomenes I
Cleomenes I (; Greek Κλεομένης; died c. 490 BC) was Agiad King of Sparta from c. 524 to c. 490 BC. One of the most important Spartan kings, Cleomenes was instrumental in organising the Greek resistance against the Persian Empire of Dariu ...
of Sparta successfully invaded Athens in 510 BC and trapped Hippias on the
Acropolis. They also took the Pisistratidae children hostage and forced Hippias to leave Athens in order to have them returned safely. Power of the city was then handed over to the Athenian magistrates thus beginning the
Athenian democracy. The deposed tyrant was granted safe passage to
Sigeum
Sigeion (Ancient Greek: , ''Sigeion''; Latin: ''Sigeum'') was an ancient Greek city in the north-west of the Troad region of Anatolia located at the mouth of the Scamander (the modern Karamenderes River). Sigeion commanded a ridge between the Aeg ...
from which he made the journey to Lampsakos and then to King Darius in
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
where he stayed at court.
Attempts to reclaim the tyranny and death
The Spartans later concluded that a free and
democratic Athens would be dangerous to Spartan power and that it would be weaker and easier to control if under a tyranny. The Spartans then attempted to recall Hippias from Persia and re-establish the tyranny. Hippias arrived, but was soon forced into exile once more when the Corinthians and the other Spartan allies expressed that they did not think a tyranny should be imposed upon any of the Greek cities. As Hippias made his way back, he was offered the cities of
Anthemous and
Iolkos
Iolcus (; also rendered ''Iolkos'' ; grc, Ἰωλκός and Ἰαωλκός; grc-x-doric, Ἰαλκός; ell, Ιωλκός) is an ancient city, a modern village and a former municipality in Magnesia, Thessaly, Greece. Since the 2011 local gove ...
but he refused them and made for
Sigeion instead at the entrance to the
Hellespont.
[Herodotus 5.94.1] There he placed his illegitimate son, Hegesistratos, as tyrant of Sigeion.
Hippias returned to
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
were he railed against the Athenians to
Artaphrenes
Artaphernes ( el, Ἀρταφέρνης, Old Persian: Artafarna, from Median ''Rtafarnah''), flourished circa 513–492 BC, was a brother of the Achaemenid king of Persia, Darius I, satrap of Lydia from the capital of Sardis, and a Persian genera ...
, the governor of
Sardis
Sardis () or Sardes (; Lydian: 𐤳𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣 ''Sfard''; el, Σάρδεις ''Sardeis''; peo, Sparda; hbo, ספרד ''Sfarad'') was an ancient city at the location of modern ''Sart'' (Sartmahmut before 19 October 2005), near Salihli, ...
. The Athenians discovered Hippias' intentions, however, and sent a letter to Sardis to dissuade the Persians from listening to Athenian exiles but the Persians threatened to attack Athens if they did not accept Hippias' return. Nevertheless, the Athenians preferred to remain democratic despite the danger from Persia and refused to comply.
Soon after this, the
Ionian Revolt
The Ionian Revolt, and associated revolts in Aeolis, Doris, Cyprus and Caria, were military rebellions by several Greek regions of Asia Minor against Persian rule, lasting from 499 BC to 493 BC. At the heart of the rebellion was the dissatisf ...
began. It was put down in 494 BC, but
Darius I of Persia was intent on punishing Athens for its role in the revolt. In 490 BC Hippias, still in the service of the Persians, encouraged Darius to invade Greece and attack Athens; when Darius initiated the campaign, Hippias himself accompanied the Persian fleet and suggested Marathon as the place where the Persian invasion of
Attica
Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean S ...
should begin as it was the most suitable for their cavalry. According to
Herodotus
Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer
A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society ...
, the night before the Persian fleet reached Attica, Hippias dreamt that he had sexual relations with his own mother, a dream which encouraged him greatly, since he took it as an omen that he would regain possession of his native land and die old there. But when he set foot on Greek soil, one of his teeth, which was loose due to his advanced age, fell out on to the beach after Hippias fell into a coughing and sneezing fit when directing the troops. Although he searched frantically for the tooth, he was not able to retrieve it. He believed that this fulfilled the real meaning of his dream: he would only regain this bite of his native country for his lost tooth held his share. Many Athenians were persuaded to join the battle when reminded that defeat under the Persians would lead to the re-installment of Hippias as tyrant.
Hippias is said to have died on the return journey from the
Battle of Marathon
The Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC during the first Persian invasion of Greece. It was fought between the citizens of Athens, aided by Plataea, and a Persian force commanded by Datis and Artaphernes. The battle was the culmination o ...
, at
Lemnos
Lemnos or Limnos ( el, Λήμνος; grc, Λῆμνος) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean region. The p ...
.
Legacy
Hippias had five sons by
Myrrhine, the daughter of Callias son of Hyperechides.
[Thucydides 6.55.1] One of these, Peisistratus, named after his grandfather, was one of the family members who held the
archonship in Athens. All of his sons along with other Peisistratids joined the invading Persian army of
Xerxes in 480 BC. Never again would the Peisistratids have influence in Athens.
Construction of the
temple of Olympian Zeus, which Peisistratus began in the sixth century BC, continued under Hippias' reign. Building was halted, however, amidst the political turmoil that followed Hippias' exile and the temple was not completed until the time of
Hadrian in 125 AD. Along with Zeus's temple, the west side of the
agora was remodeled. Hippias also took some interest in the
Acropolis. The
temple of Athena Polias was also renovated with
propylaea added to the structure. A temple was further dedicated to the god
Dionysus
In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Roma ...
just to the south. There were other building projects known from
Eleusis,
Piraeus
Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saron ...
, and
Thorikos
Thoricus or Thorikos ( grc, Θορικός) was a city, and later a ''deme'' in the southern portion of ancient Attica, one of the twelve original settlements that were united in the ''synoikismos'' attributed to Theseus to form Archaic Athens. I ...
as well.
[“Hippias.” Livius, www.livius.org/articles/person/hippias/.
]
Hippias was one of several Greek aristocrats who took refuge in the
Achaemenid Empire following reversals at home, other famous ones being
Themistocles,
Demaratos,
Gongylos
Gongylos ( grc, Γογγύλος), from Eretria in Euboea, was a 5th-century Greek statesman who served as an intermediary between the Spartans and Xerxes I of the Achaemenid Empire, and was a supporter of the latter.
After the defeat of the ...
, and
Alcibiades.
In general, these Greek aristocrats were generously welcomed by the Achaemenid kings, received land grants to support them, and ruled in various cities of
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
.
References
Further reading
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6th-century BC births
6th-century BC Athenians
5th-century BC deaths
5th-century BC Athenians
Archaic Athens
Archaic tyrants
Athenian tyrants
Ancient Greek emigrants to the Achaemenid Empire
Military personnel of the Achaemenid Empire
People of the Greco-Persian Wars
Iolcus