Cleisthenes' reform

Historical Context Note

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.1: Greek Writing and Culture: Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic and Imperial, -800--100.
Vol. editors: Jonathan Burgess (University of Toronto), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Vaios Liapis (Open University of Cyprus), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Mali Skotheim (Ashoka University), Laura Swift (The Open University)

Domains

Political Reform

Dates

Date of occurrence -508

Places

Ancient Greece (Location)

Resources

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The main achievement of this reform was to replace with new units the former four Ionian tribes into which Attica had been traditionally divided. Cleisthenes' new organisation included ten tribes, each of these composed of three trittyes picked up in three distinct territorial regions. Since one of the reform's major effects was to undermine the hereditary control of local aristocrats, Cleisthenes was later to be regarded by many as the founder of the Athenian democracy.

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