The Reforms of Cleisthenes

Having prevailed against Isagoras and the Spartans, ordinary Athenians turned to Cleisthenes, the man who had unsuccessfully stood up against Isagoras on their behalf. Windows in history rarely open to revolutionary political change. But such a window opened in 507 BC. Cleisthenes was recalled from exile and asked to build the world's first government of the people- the demos- a government that we now call direct democracy. His unprecedented task was to forge a government that …

…ostracized (417 BC). What happened to Cleisthenes after instituting these reforms is a mystery. What is known, however, is that his reforms revolutionized Athenian life. In a mere 50 years, Athens had changed from a narrow democracy dominated by an aristocratic oligarchy, to a tyranny, to the beginning of history's most famous democracy. His reforms nurtured an age of achievement and prosperity, marking the beginning of the Classical Period and what would be called Athen's Golden Age.