Pisistratus

Pisistratus, Peisistratus or Peisistratos (Πεισίστρατος ; 600–527 BC) was a politician in ancient Athens, ruling as tyrant in the late 560s, the early 550s and from 546 BC until his death. His unification of Attica, the triangular peninsula of Greece containing Athens, along with economic and cultural improvements laid the groundwork for the later pre-eminence of Athens in ancient Greece. His legacy lies primarily in his institution of the Panathenaic Games, historically assigned the date of 566 BC, and the consequent first attempt at producing a definitive version of the Homeric epics. Pisistratus' championing of the lower class of Athens is an early example of populism. While in power, he did not hesitate to confront the aristocracy and greatly reduce their privileges, confiscating their lands and giving them to the poor. Pisistratus funded many religious and artistic programs, in order to improve the economy and spread the wealth more equally among the Athenian people. Pisistratids is the common family or clan name for the three tyrants, who ruled in Athens from 546 to 510 BC, referring to Pisistratus and his two sons, Hipparchus and Hippias. Ancient Greek governments traditionally were monarchy-based, dating back to the 9th and 10th centuries BC. For the 7th and 6th centuries during the Archaic Period, political power began to be wielded by aristocratic families, who had accumulated wealth, land, and religious or political offices, as the Greek city-states began to develop. The most notable families could trace their lineage back to a legendary or mythological founder/king, such as Herakles (Heracles) or an ancestor who participated in the Trojan War, for example. In the 6th and 5th centuries BC, prominent aristocratic families of Athens were the Pisistratids, Philaids, and the Alcmaeonids. The Pisistratid clan were originally from the Mycenaean Bronze Age city of Pylos, located in the region of Messenia, Greece, and traced their ancestry to the mythological king of Pylos, Neleus, whose son, Nestor, the Homeric hero, fought in the Trojan War.