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This book is designed to sharpen historical skills by a critical approach to the sources of information on ancient Athenian politics. It presents contemporary sources, later historical and biographical writings, archaeological evidence, inscriptions on stone, and papyri from Egypt. The reader has available in translation virtually all the documents on which scholars of this period base their conclusions.

The period covered embraces the reforms of Solon, the tyranny of Peisistratos and his sons, and the constitutional changes of Kleisthenes. When Athenian politics first become visible, the noble families are firmly in control. At the end of the period democracy is just beginning to emerge. Central to an understanding of the politics of the time are the conflict among aristocratic clans and the vertical ties between noble patrons and their supporters and dependants in the lower social strata. Paradoxically, democracy emerged from the actions of noble leaders who were certainly not of democratic disposition.