The Greek Middle Ages: c. 1125 - c.700 BC
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The downfall of tyrants in archaic Greece
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We may speculate that prosperity was not enough to quiet the Greek desire for full participation in the politics of the state. Rule under a tyrant might bring prosperity, but the administration of justice could be arbitrary and this irked. Tyranny was not a long-term solution to the political problems of the Greek city state. It implied the concentration of political power in one man's hand, or in the faction that he represented. A tyrant would typically rise to power on the back of some wave of discontent, but once the initial source of malcontent was redressed, the imbalance created by the concentration of power would create political tensions of their own. A more permanent solution to the political problem implies a compromise between the claims of the aristocracy and the claims of the people - a mixed constitution with elements of both oligarchy and democracy (though, of course, not in the sense that we understand democracy, since every Greek state had classes of permanently underprivileged peoples - slaves or serfs and women were not represented in government). Thus, the tyrannies were inherently unstable. Nonetheless, in most cases it can be argued that they were beneficial. They provided a temporary solution to the political problem, and most tyrants sought to improve the economic well-being of the cities they served, with ambitious plans for public works. The cases of Corinth and Athens (discussed in another chapter) illustrate these benefits. Once the counter-movement against the tyrant's regime developed, usually under his successor, the tyrant, now threatened, would resort to force to maintain his power. This would increase resentment and tension and be likely to hasten his overthrow. Each city had at least two factions, and the faction dispossessed of power could call in the assistance of a foreign power - for example, at Sicyon where Sparta intervened. The Spartan constitution (see separate chapter) acted as an inspiration to one faction. For example, the C7th poet Terpander of Lesbos praises it. Theagenes the tyrant of Megara is a typical example. His public works programme involved building an aqueduct to bring running water into the city. However, he was himself driven into exile at some later stage. Most dynasties founded by tyrants were short-lived; one exception being the dynasty founded at Sicyon by Orthagoras.
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Contents of
The Greek Middle Ages: c. 1125 - c.700 BC
1 Population growth and land hunger
2 Economic expansion and the rising "middle class"
3 Cultural developments in Greece during the period of tyrannies
4 Hoplite tactics
5 Factional politics
6 Ethnic tensions
7 The downfall of tyrants in archaic Greece
8 The Dorian and Ionic migrations
9 The Dorians
10 Greek Dark age
11 The Greek City States
12 Greek colonization of the C8th BC
13 Greek colonization of the Aegean and East
14 Greek settlers in the Euxine
15 Causes of the Greek colonization
16 Archaeological evidence for Greek population expansion in C8th BC
17 Foundation of Cyrene
18 Corcyra
19 Olbia
20 The Lelantine war
21 Relations with Egypt
22 Greek Culture during the Greek Middle Ages
23 Introduction of phonetic script
24 Homer
25 Hesiod
26 Foundation of the Olympic Games
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