The thirty tyrants of ancient Athens were only in power for eight months but still managed to kill five percent of the city’s population after the Peloponnesian war.
The oligarchy that briefly ruled Athens from 405 BC to 404 BC, known as ‘The Thirty Tyrants’, came to power as the result of a deadlocked debate between an Athenian general who wanted democracy, and an Ecclesia (public legislative assembly of the Athenians) that were split between those who sided with the general, wanting democracy, and those who wanted an oligarchy.
Athens was in a position where this choice was having to be made because it had just been forced to surrender to Spartan forces, who had destroyed the Athenian navy in the battle of Aegospotami in 405 BC.
A subsequent siege of the city by Lysander, who stood at the head of the Spartan and Peloponnesian naval forces, left the navy-less Athenians no choice but to surrender in 404 BC. Negotiations of surrender began, but little headway was made.
This is when Athenian general Theramenes asked the Ecclesia for permission to speak with Lysander himself, confident that he could get the Spartans to agree to the best possible conditions for Athens.
On the granting of his request, Theramenes met with Lysander in Samos, before the Spartan sent him to Sparta. There, in front of the Spartan assembly and representatives of the Peloponnesian League, Theramenes negotiated a final surrender of his city, putting an end to the Peloponnesian war.
There were some among the Peloponnesian League members who wanted Athens turned to rubble, but the Spartans didn’t want this, because they understood that Athens was one of the cultural hubs of their time.
The agreed upon terms meant Athens had to destroy the long walls of Piraues, allow exiles back into the city and reduce its navy to just 12 ships, surrendering the rest to the Spartans.
How The Thirty Tyrants Of Athens Came To Power
The Athenians were also ordered to reshape their government as the Spartans wished, and to submit to the conquering power in both peace and war.
To move forward with reforming their government and their laws, the Athenians appointed five ephors who all voted through the phylarchoi, the tribal council representing the 11 tribes of Athens. However, the Ecclesia were split into disagreeing factions over what the new type of government should be. Some wanted an oligarchic model, while Theramenes emerged as the leader of those who wanted a democratic system.
The debate ended in deadlock, and so the Spartans jumped in and ordered the Athenians to appoint thirty men to supervise the drafting of new laws and a new constitution. Theramenes chose 10 of the men, while the five ephors chose 10, and the Ecclesia chose the final 10.
Having gained power, The Thirty Tyrants oversaw the trials against Athenian leaders who had stood against the peace with Sparta and sentenced them to death. They then tried and executed a number of ‘undesirables’ within Athens.
Led by Critias, The Thirty Tyrants presided over a tyrannical reign during which they executed, murdered and exiled hundreds of Athenians, taking their possessions after they were dead. Both Greek philosophers Isocrates and Aristotle have written that the Thirty Tyrants executed 1,500 people without trial.
One of the targets of the regime was the Athenian general Theramenes, whom Xenophon describes as being revolted by Critias’ unnaturally cruel actions and injustice, and trying to oppose him. Critias eventually accused Theramenes of conspiracy and treason, and then forced him to drink hemlock.
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