Thomas R. Martin, An Overview of Classical Greek History from Mycenae to Alexander

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The Struggle between Isagoras and Cleisthenes

In the ensuing vacuum of power at Athens after the expulsion of the tyrant Hippias, the leading member of the aristocratic Alcmaeonid family, a man named Cleisthenes, sought support among the masses by promising dramatic democratic reforms. The promise of such reforms seems to have been a response to the success of Cleisthenes' bitterest rival, Isagoras, an aristocrat from a different family, in becoming archon in 508 B.C. Cleisthenes had apparently despaired of winning political success other than by appealing to the non-aristocratic masses at Athens. When Isagoras tried to block Cleisthenes' reforms¹ by calling in the Spartans again, the Athenian people united to force Isagoras and his Laconian allies out². The ensuing conflict between Athens and Sparta ended quickly but sowed the seeds of mutual distrust between the two city-states.