Alexander the Great

A detailed Summary of Alexander the Great

Following the period of time in Athens during the 5th Century B.C when it was ruled by a radical, extreme democracy, the Athenian people voted to choose thirty men to rule as an oligarchy. The Athenians wanted to be governed by the ancient laws enacted by Solon and Cleisthenes, so these men were chosen by the people to frame the ancient laws into a constitution under which to conduct the government. However, the Thirty had their own agendas, ones that earned them the nickname 'The Thirty Tyrants of Athens.'

What did these so called 'Thirty Tyrants' hope to achieve in Athens? Well, mainly they wanted total control over the Athenian people and its government, and to use this to their own advantages. After they were chosen, the Thirty delayed framing and publishing this constitution, the very thing that they were put in place to do. This was done for their own benefit, as since there was no constitution as yet, they could still make the rules up as they went along. However, they still appointed a Senate and Magistrates as they saw fit. This enabled them to appoint people they know would be loyal to them, and support anything they tried to do.

The first step the Thirty took when voted to power in 404 B.C was to arrest all the peopl

By saying this, Theramenes means that 'Hey, Critias, you and I have done a lot of stuff to please the people and gain their support, right? So now that you're in power, why are you killing all the people that did the exact same thing you did? How would you like it?'

Lysias, a resident of Athens during those times, owned a house and was entertaining guests when the Thirty decided to pay him a visit, with their fellow guardsmen. Two of the Thirty, Thegonis and Peison, arrived, drove Lysias' guests out, and planned on killing him. Lysias pleaded with Peison to spare him, and Peison said he would do so, for a heavy price. When Lysias went to get the silver to pay him off, Peison followed him, took all the silver for himself, leaving nothing for Lysias' journey afterwards. Lysias was forced to flee to Megara with nothing more than the clothes on his back.

~ Theramenes, 'Xenophon's Hellenica'. Book 2.

The Thirty were eventually defeated by Thrasybulus, and thus ended an oligarchy that made the radical and extreme democracy previous to it seem like a 'Golden Age.' The terrifying reign of the Thirty had lasted less than a year, but the extent of their tyranny is made evident by this quote.

to Eleusis, with very few followers left.

Theramenes would not take part in things such as this, and the Thirty saw that Theramenes was an obstacle in the way of their being able to do whatever they please. To get rid of this thorn in their side, they plotted against him, and called a meeting of the Senate, (which was, of course, loyal to the Thirty). Assassins with daggers were present at the meeting, at the behest of Critias.

Critias responded by saying that just because there are thirty of us ruling now as an oligarchy, instead of one as a monarchy, does not mean we mustn't keep watch over the government. So Critias went on killing people in large numbers until Theramenes, the voice of reason, spoke out again. He stated that unless we get some of the common people in the government to help us rule, they will get sick and tired of us bossing them around and killing them and the oligarchy will not endure, and that means we won't endure either! The Thirty did not listen to him, but were scared that the common people would flock to support him. So, they enrolled three thousand people, who they said were to share in the government.

So, the intentions of the Athenian people to restore the noble codes and laws of Solon and Cleisthenes before them went awry as the very men they voted to enact these changes, restore the government and write a constitution, betrayed their trust and used their positions of power to suit their own wishes. The pursuits of justice and hones

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Approximate Word count = 1807
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History