Demes and Demagogues
Democracy emerges in clear view from the shadows of history but not everybody welcomes it. The various political sides of Athens try to find a governing balance while threats of civil war force reform though rumors, coups, and occasional theatrics worthy of Greek play. This episode covers approximately 594 BC – 500 BC. A lot can happen in 94 years.
Show Notes
The marker below shows the general area that Peisistratus (one of several spellings) went to when he left Athens after being driven out the second time. He used the gold mines here to help him gather enough wealth to raise an army for his third, and final, return.
Below is the great map from Professor John Traill (used with permission). You can get a good idea of the different divisions of Athens. Aristides is from Alopeke (nearly downtown Athens, look at inlay) and I believe Themistocles is part of Phrearrhoi (in the southern section of Attica). As he made this map quite a while ago he did mention that he would make some adjustments to it now but it is still a great visual representation of the divisions of Attica.
Finally, just so you can see the different places in Athens we mention, here is a simple map highlighting a few of the key areas of the the early Athenian government.
