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Hippias (son of Pisistratus)

 

 
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Hippias of Athens (Ancient Greek: ?pp?a? ? ????a???) was one of the sons of Peisistratus
Peisistratos (Athens)

Peisistratus was a tyrant of Athens from 546 to 527/8 BCE. His legacy lies primarily in his institution of the Panathenaic Festival and the consequent first attempt at producing a definitive version for Homeric epics....
, and was tyrant
Tyrant

This article is about the political ruler. For other uses see Tyrant and Tyranny In modern usage, a tyrant is a single ruler holding absolute political power over a state or within an organization....
 of Athens
Athens

Athens , the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the List of cities by time of continuous habitation, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
 in the 6th century BC.

Hippias succeeded Peisistratus in 527 BC, and in 525 BC he introduced a new system of coinage in Athens. His brother Hipparchus, who may have ruled jointly with him, was murdered by Harmodius and Aristogeiton
Harmodius and Aristogeiton

Harmodius and Aristogeiton , both d. 514 BC, were a Pederasty in ancient Greece couple known also as the Tyrannicides . As a result of their attack against the Peisistratid tyrant, they became the iconic personages of the Athenian democracy....
 (the Tyrannicides) in 514 BC. Hippias executed the Tyrannicides and became a bitter and cruel ruler.

The Alcmaeonidae
Alcmaeonidae

The Alcmaeonidae or Alcmaeonids were a powerful noble family of ancient Athens, a branch of the Neleides who claimed descent from the Greek mythology Alcmaeon , the grandson of Nestor....
 family, who Peisistratus had exiled in 546 BC, had built a new temple at Delphi
Delphi

Delphi is an archaeology site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis. Delphi was the site of the Pythia, the most important oracle in the classical Greek world, when it was a major site for the worship of the god Apollo after he slew the Python , a deity who lived there and protecte...
, then bribed the priestess to command the Sparta
Sparta

Sparta was a city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the Eurotas River in the southern part of the Peloponnese. From circa 650 BC it rose to become the dominant military power in the region and as such was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars....
ns to help them overthrow Hippias.






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Hippias of Athens (Ancient Greek: ?pp?a? ? ????a???) was one of the sons of Peisistratus
Peisistratos (Athens)

Peisistratus was a tyrant of Athens from 546 to 527/8 BCE. His legacy lies primarily in his institution of the Panathenaic Festival and the consequent first attempt at producing a definitive version for Homeric epics....
, and was tyrant
Tyrant

This article is about the political ruler. For other uses see Tyrant and Tyranny In modern usage, a tyrant is a single ruler holding absolute political power over a state or within an organization....
 of Athens
Athens

Athens , the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the List of cities by time of continuous habitation, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
 in the 6th century BC.

Hippias succeeded Peisistratus in 527 BC, and in 525 BC he introduced a new system of coinage in Athens. His brother Hipparchus, who may have ruled jointly with him, was murdered by Harmodius and Aristogeiton
Harmodius and Aristogeiton

Harmodius and Aristogeiton , both d. 514 BC, were a Pederasty in ancient Greece couple known also as the Tyrannicides . As a result of their attack against the Peisistratid tyrant, they became the iconic personages of the Athenian democracy....
 (the Tyrannicides) in 514 BC. Hippias executed the Tyrannicides and became a bitter and cruel ruler.

The Alcmaeonidae
Alcmaeonidae

The Alcmaeonidae or Alcmaeonids were a powerful noble family of ancient Athens, a branch of the Neleides who claimed descent from the Greek mythology Alcmaeon , the grandson of Nestor....
 family, who Peisistratus had exiled in 546 BC, had built a new temple at Delphi
Delphi

Delphi is an archaeology site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis. Delphi was the site of the Pythia, the most important oracle in the classical Greek world, when it was a major site for the worship of the god Apollo after he slew the Python , a deity who lived there and protecte...
, then bribed the priestess to command the Sparta
Sparta

Sparta was a city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the Eurotas River in the southern part of the Peloponnese. From circa 650 BC it rose to become the dominant military power in the region and as such was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars....
ns to help them overthrow Hippias. A Spartan force under Anchimolius was sent to help, but Hippias and his family, the Pisistratidae, allied themselves with Cineas of Thessaly
Thessaly

Thessaly is one of the 13 Peripheries of Greece of Greece, and is further sub-divided into 4 Prefectures of Greece. The capital of the periphery and traditional Regions of Greece is Larissa....
, and the Spartans and Alcmaeonidae were at first defeated. A second attempt, led by Cleomenes I
Cleomenes I

Cleomenes , was an Agiad Kings of Sparta in the 6th century BC and 5th century BC. During his reign, which started around 520 BC, he pursued an adventurous and at times unscrupulous foreign policy aimed at crushing Argos and extending Sparta's influence both inside and outside the Peloponnese....
 of Sparta, successfully entered Athens and trapped Hippias on the Acropolis. They also took the Pisistratidae children hostage, and Hippias was forced to leave Athens in order to have them returned safely. He was expelled from Athens in 510. Shortly before the end of his rule, he married his daughter, Archedike, to Aiantides, son of Hippoklos, the tyrant of Lampsakos, to facilitate his access to Darius' court at Susa
Susa

Susa was an ancient city of the Elamite, Persian Empire and Parthian empires of Iran, located about 250 km east of the Tigris River.The modern town of Shush, Iran is located at the site of ancient Susa....
.

The Spartans later thought that a free, democratic
Democracy

Democracy is a form of government in which power is held directly or indirectly by citizens under a free electoral system. It is derived from the Greek language d?????at?a , "popular government" which was coined from d???? , "people" and ???t?? , "rule, strength" in the middle of the 5th-4th century BC to denote the political syst...
 Athens would be dangerous to Spartan power, and attempted to recall Hippias and reestablish the tyranny. Hippias had fled to Persia
Persian Empire

The 'Persian Empire' was a series of successive Iranian or Persianization empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland, and beyond in Southwest Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and the Caucasus....
, and the Persians threatened to attack Athens if they did not accept Hippias; nevertheless the Athenians preferred to remain democratic despite the danger from Persia. Soon after this, the Ionian Revolt
Ionian Revolt

The Ionian Revolts were triggered by the actions of Aristagoras, the tyrant of the Ionian city of Miletus at the end of the 6th century BC and beginning of the 5th century BC....
 began. It was put down in 494 BC, but Darius I of Persia
Darius I of Persia

Darius I or Darius the Great was the son of Hystaspes and Persian Empire from 522 BC to 486 BC. Darius is the dominant Latin language spelling used by the Roman historians....
 was intent on punishing Athens for their role in the revolt. In 490 BC Hippias, still in the service of the Persians, led Darius to Marathon, Greece
Marathon, Greece

Marathon is an ancient Greek city-state, a contemporary town in Greece, the site of the battle of Marathon in 490 BC, in which the heavily outnumbered Athens army defeated the Persian Empirens....
. According to Herodotus
Herodotus

Herodotus of Halicarnassus was a Greeks historian who lived in the 5th century BC and is regarded as the "Father of History" in Western culture....
, Hippias had a dream that the Persians would be defeated, and they in fact were defeated at the Battle of Marathon
Battle of Marathon

The Battle of Marathon, Greece during the Greco-Persian Wars took place in 490 BC and was the culmination of the first attempt by the Achaemenid Empire of Persia, under King Darius I, to subjugate Ancient Greece....
 although many historical texts believe that Hippias saw many omens for victory on both sides.