The Tyrant Who Saved Democracy
by Mark Davis ©10/10/2024
Tyrant was the word used by ancient Greek writers to describe the early founders of democracy. That is why today, no one knows the name of the one man who truly saved democracy; a lot of bad press. One would think battling rich elites to bring the first democracy would be a liberal cause, worthy of endless praise. But the founders of democracy were excoriated, ridiculed and bitterly opposed by historians.
This man embraced the commoner and the poor. Though he was himself a wealthy, educated elite, he took the power of the elites and created the largest middle class in Greek history. Historians did not accept anomia (authoritarianism) if it took away their power. Writers were beneficiaries of aristocrats and wrote what favored them. They approved that a plurality had a say with a vote and access. They also approved of what their peers expected, and believed all factions could be appeased somehow.
This is our painful legacy. The very individuals who have achieved and could inspire great achievement have been denigrated while their detractors enjoy the greatest privilege. The ancient Greek writers who constantly undermined the highest achievers had one loyalty and it was not their love of humanity. It was their sponsors the elites. Philosopher words trickled down to the rhetoritians, lawyers, politicians, entertainers, playrights, teachers, writers and merchants. Media served the aristocrats. These were the brokers of the land, money, war, and peace. Media believed, wrote and taught what served them best.
The founder of democracy took on the role of “General” leading an army to victory and unblocking a crucial port causing desperate food shortages in Greece. He was rewarded with his first presidency in Athens but he approached politics like a good-faith business collaboration. He failed to see politics as war. During his first term as president the elites daily plotted his destruction while calling for unity. They wanted him gone, not just defeated. They won. He was thrown out of Athens after his 1st term.
He returned older and wiser for a 2nd Presidency. They toppled him again. And, then... a 3rd term.
This man was a fearless fighter who shed blood in countless battles. The elites who ruled and especially the press, called him a “Tyrant,” but the people loved him and united under his rule. He became the most legendary leader of Greece, hailed for hundreds of years, despite the onerous label: Tyrant.
His Story
Most of civilization was brought to nothing during the first Dark Age of 1200BC. We know almost nothing about it. It turned wealthy leaders and lowly merchants alike into starving desert nomads hunting for food and killing for shelter. Some say it was caused by climate change, some blame hordes of brutal “sea peoples,” but war, plague or some other phenomena completely destroyed the civilized world. All free enterprise, writing, and history disappeared. Only parts of Assyria and Egypt survived.
That brings us to about 150 years later when some amazing “free enterprisers” changed the world. The Etruscans were a Roman community that prized freedom and talent. They crafted beautiful new things and began businesses, built homes, communities and infrastructure again. Traders swarmed from every city. These new free enterprisers were inspirational. Suddenly everyone wanted to make, buy, or sell again and the entire known world was resurrected. The Etruscans enjoyed great peace and prosperity.
Some became very rich and for hundreds of years these rich elites ruled large areas of land. As cities prospered and grew, more commoners wanted rights and a say in land ownership, punishment, rules of behavior and citizenship. But the laws came only from the wealthy among them. Elites could pay their employees so they had power over everyone needing work, protected by private guards or military.
Some believe the Etruscans became the foundation for the Greek and Roman world. Those empires were beginning as early as 800BC. The Greeks, Romans, Egyptians and populations of most cities throughout the Middle East and Mediterranean were eager traders and most grew and modernized.
Rome and Greece were symbiotic with close proximity and much waterway access. More exchange via numerous land and sea routes led to syncretism. They shared in social and political achievements and language. But the Greeks prized philosophy, art and learning above all else. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and Alexander the Great built the Western World and greatly accelerated the acquisition of knowledge and institutions of learning. One of its greatest contributions to Western Civilization was Democracy.
Both Greece and Rome were ruled internally by local fiefdoms governed by elites. That is when a popular, middle-class Greek in Athens named Solon said 'no more!' Solon wanted to go beyond the punishments handed down by owners under Draco, whose laws were the Hammurabic “eye for an eye” type laws, and give the common people more control of the government. Solon was a soldier who may have come from humble beginnings, but changed the world with elements of the first real democracy.
We know very little about the Roman Etruscans, Draco, Solon and Greek history. During the famous “Dark Ages” that was to come, codexes, scrolls, parchments and libraries were destroyed. The Church did not allow literacy for non-clergy. Only 1% or less of all the writings of antiquity have been found. It was Francesco Petrarch in the 1300's who found a trove of writings from the Roman scholar Cicero (1st C BC) and realized humanity had fallen into a depraved and inhumane Dark Age for more than 1000 years. He was shocked to learn how clean, advanced, prosperous and orderly the world had once been. He wanted Europe to return to the freedom of the “Age of Antiquity” (Greece-Rome 800BC-300AD).
Petrarch's work in Italy sparked the Italian Renaissance 100 years later, which led to Luther's notice to the Catholic Church concerning Papal Rule (95 Thesis 1517AD) and the Reformation. This cultural wave created the new Christian religions such as the Calvanists and Quakers who sailed to America.
So this is what we think we know: In 600BC Solon wrote a Constitution. These laws replaced Draco's maligned Draconian laws. We must rely on Herodotus 200 years later for this history. Historians were politically active, supported by aristocrats, and usually members of the aristocracy. Even Herodotus came from a political family who had been exiled for attacks against the state. He branded Solon a “Tyrant” even though Solon gave us the first Constitution of Western Civilization. Solon instituted voting for 400 representatives of districts who ruled on new law applications, courts, and conflicts. Any of possibly 300,000 inhabitants could attend one of these district council meetings and speak out. The elities selected the 400, but they had to listen. This was called “Democracy:” The first Democracy.
It was actually a more representative type of Republic. Respresentatives of the people responsible for rules and laws heard the speakers and crowds. Athens was never a true democracy as there can only be degrees of democracy to fit the “group” not “individual” needs. Total democracy is known as chaos.
Solon realized more of the common people needed prosperity and rights, but citizenship was highly prized and only given to aristocrats, meaning those with the finest Greek ancestry. Solon angered them by granting immigrants, who were able to contribute a special craft or needed skill; citizenship. This lure of citizenship sparked a great migration to Athens. Some called Solon the “Father of Democracy.”
Our first democracy might have worked but Solon also wanted to be loved and accepted by the elites. Solon was at heart an artist who sang songs and wrote poetry so he was probably poor and didn't like it. He could not force the elites. He believed in his cause, but made no plan for enforcement. Solon's new Constitution was ignored by the elites and aristocrats, and he was maligned and attacked. Democracy fell apart and crime exploded in Athens. The experiment had failed and it became the worst of times.
So, like all good leaders, Solon took a vacation. He enjoyed his luxurious tour for 10 fun-filled days. Oops, that was a typo. Actually, Solon left Athens for 10 years. Athens was now worse off than before as it descended into anarchy. Food shortages, rioting, crime, and war ensued. It was the center of the world, where Socrates would be born. Suddenly it was Gotham. Solon's Constitution was worthless.
What do people do when there is so much crime they can no longer get the money they need to eat and gain shelter? They put up their children as bond and borrow money. The money becomes due, but the economy is still wrecked. No income can be found and your children are taken as slaves. Then you and your wife are taken. Slavery was the last-resort strategy for survival due to instability, war and crime.
As much as Solon was a visionary, he had no ability or plan to punish law breakers. He did not accept this facet of democracy. Free enterprise, rights and security cannot exist without rules and enforcement. Safe and secure neighborhoods come first or prosperity can only benefit the rich and privileged. Solon the “Tyrant,” dreamed of more prosperity and rights for far more people, but failed miserably and fled.
So who saved the world? Who had both the empathy for the people and antipathy for the anarchists? It had to be a courageous and brave fighter. Such a man had to care deeply for his country and its people. Such a man had to be fearless and tough. Such a man did indeed rise up to take the job and return the rule of law. He was a leader similar to George Washington, who was not sympathetic to his enemies.
It came to be called the “Golden Age” of Peisistratus. Peisistratus was the true founder of a working democracy. He was called the cruelest of Tyrants (again, thank you Herodotus). But he was arguably the most beloved President in Greek history. Peisistratus founded democracy because he enforced one, using Solon's laws. Despised by media, aristocrats and elites he was President once, twice and 3 times.
Peisistratus was a brilliant businessman, but he won many bloody battles for Athens as a ferocious warrior. He accepted any fight in defense of Athens. Peisistratus was defeated by coastal elites who refused to accept any loss of power. The aristocrats of the plains owned the largest farms and best technology. With their great wealth they too fought Peisistratus with brutal cunning. Despite being defeated and losing his presidency, Peisistratus fought for a 2nd and 3rd term. He brought law and order back to Greece and made sure criminals were imprisoned and punished according to the law.
Peisistratus then exiled aristocrats who refused to accept the new Constitution. Families launching campaigns to bring down Democracy, or Peisistratus and his enforcement of laws, were deported.
With Peisistratus' strict law enforcement to effectuate Solon's previously approved Constitution, the earth shook, the sun shone and the whole world changed. Trade flourished, businesses grew and the poor succeeded. Peisistratus gave no welfare, but offered free loans for farms, businesses and ideas. Before Peisistratus, the elites owned the best land. Poor farmers were relegated to the hillsides. But even with the least desireable plots, those loans allowed them to expand, buy modern tools and hire workers. Within 100 years they actually owned more land than the elites, creating the first and largest middle class in history. It actually became larger than the number of rich and poor. Greece had ever more money to fund new infrastructure such as running water, tiled homes, public baths, paved roads, spectacular architecture, art, and libraries. Yet few historians or journalists laud Peisistratus. Why? Because an exiled and biased writer named Herodotus had labeled Peisistratus a Tyrant. This seems to coincide with great disruptions in society as forces align to overthrow a government using writers, teachers, publishers, businesses, and oppositional leaders to eliminate all of the heroes of the past.
Another facet of the Peisistratus Democracy overlooked was a new court system that could settle local disputes. Local aristocrats and elites had made all those decisions because the magistrate was far away in the center of Athens and no subject could spend days and weeks traveling and then wait months for a hearing. Local district courts throughout Athens that could help speed justice made Greece very safe.
The people loved and adored Peisistratus and appreciated how much their everyday lives improved. The elites did not. Plotters were all around Peisistratus. He was attacked daily by media; journalists, academia, and the elitist philosophers. Even Solon despised Peisistratus. He said they had all been 'enslaved' by him and his bodyguard Aristophanes. Aristophanes was an 'aide-de-camp' Peisistratus used to make sure officials were enforcing laws and carrying out duties. Herodotus said this kind of brutal enforcement made Peisistratus a Tyrant of the worst kind. Opponents apparently believed in a system of total freedom for them and their rulings, and an orderly society limiting them was tyranny.
The prosperity Peisistratus brought to more of the population than history had ever conceived, was long-lasting and spread to much of the world outside of Greece. Reportedly, Peisistratus actually did try a type of total democracy where the people voted on all claims, but with so many differing opinions, it was an abysmal failure. Plato, later actually urged voting on individual criminal punishments. But workable democracy is what Peisistratus enforced. Local representation, local courts, and local councils that could be approached by any resident. A democracy must bring growing prosperity, wealth and full security. The absence of these is always the result of corruption, bias in law, and real tyranny.
Voting and receiving positions in government required assets and productivity which were assigned points. If you were an inventor and came up with good inventions last year that was worth points. If you had crops that were profitable and plentiful that was worth a number of points. No one received voting or positions free. One could gain these rights by being productive, earnest and useful. Strict law enforcement backed by a carefully constructed legal Constitution was to become the force majeure of true democracy. Balanced enforcement was a facet previously ignored, yet proven to be crucial.
After his 3rd term lasting 20 years, Peisistratus died peacefully in 527BC at the age of 80. His son Hippias took over and ruled for 17 years. Hippias did not like bad press and relaxed his rules and authority. He thought the stability and growth had enough inertia. The aristocrats that had been exiled (over 700 families) were allowed to return. They moved back in, murdered his brother and attempted to kill Hippias. Hippias was soon removed by a Spartan army and the aristocrats were back. However, the Golden Age of Peisistratus would return, and Western Civilization would carry on to gift us with the world's most brilliant people, inventions, prosperity, comforts, and security for more and more.
End