Before Ancient Athens had a democratic government, it was ruled by aristocrats or tyrants. Peisistratus became the tyrant of Athens in around 546 BCE (Blackwell). He ruled for 19 years until he died of disease (Aristotle). Afterwards, his two sons ruled Athens together for another 17 years. Their names were Hippias and Hipparchus. Hipparchus was assassinated and Hippias was kicked out of Athens by one of the aristocratic families with help from the Spartans. Once he was kicked out, two people competed for power over Athens, Cleisthenes and Isagoras. Cleisthenes, from the aristocratic family, “enlisted the people on his side, offering to hand over the government to the multitude” (Aristotle). He was offering to let the government be ruled by
