The Complete Aristotle (eng.)

the
spot afterwards known as ‘Tax-free Farm’. He saw a man digging and
working at a very stony piece of ground, and being surprised he
sent his attendant to ask what he got out of this plot of land.
‘Aches and pains’, said the man; ‘and that’s what Pisistratus ought
to have his tenth of’. The man spoke without knowing who his
questioner was; but Pisistratus was so leased with his frank speech
and his industry that he granted him exemption from all taxes. And
so in matters in general he burdened the people as little as
possible with his government, but always cultivated peace and kept
them in all quietness. Hence the tyranny of Pisistratus was often
spoken of proverbially as ‘the age of gold’; for when his sons
succeeded him the government became much harsher. But most
important of all in this respect was his popular and kindly
disposition. In all things he was accustomed to observe the laws,
without giving himself any exceptional privileges. Once he was
summoned on a charge of homicide before the Areopagus, and he
appeared in person to make his defence; but the prosecutor was
afraid to present himself and abandoned the case. For these reasons
he held power long, and whenever he was expelled he regained his
position easily. The majority alike of the upper class and of the
people were in his favour; the former he won by his social
intercourse with them, the latter by the assistance which he gave
to their private purses, and his nature fitted him to win the
hearts of both. Moreover, the laws in reference to tyrants at that
time in force at Athens were very mild, especially the one which
applies more particularly to the establishment of a tyranny. The
law ran as follows: ‘These are the ancestral statutes of the
ATHENIANs; if any persons shall make an attempt to establish a
tyranny, or if any person shall join in setting up a tyranny, he
shall lose his civic rights, both himself and his whole house.’
17
    Thus did Pisistratus grow old in the possession of power, and he
died a natural death in the archonship of Philoneos, three and
thirty years from the time at which he first established himself as
tyrant, during nineteen of which he was in possession of power; the
rest he spent in exile. It is evident from this that the story is
mere gossip which states that Pisistratus was the youthful
favourite of Solon and commanded in the war against Megara for the
recovery of Salamis. It will not harmonize with their respective
ages, as any one may see who will reckon up the years of the life
of each of them, and the dates at which they died. After the death
of Pisistratus his sons took up the government, and conducted it on
the same system. He had two sons by his first and legitimate wife,
Hippias and Hipparchus, and two by his Argive consort, Iophon and
Hegesistratus, who was surnamed Thessalus. For Pisistratus took a
wife from Argos, Timonassa, the daughter of a man of Argos, named
Gorgilus; she had previously been the wife of Archinus of Ambracia,
one of the descendants of Cypselus. This was the origin of his
friendship with the Argives, on account of which a thousand of them
were brought over by Hegesistratus and fought on his side in the
battle at Pallene. Some authorities say that this marriage took
place after his first expulsion from Athens, others while he was in
possession of the government.
18
    Hippias and Hipparchus assumed the control of affairs on grounds
alike of standing and of age; but Hippias, as being also naturally
of a statesmanlike and shrewd disposition, was really the head of
the government. Hipparchus was youthful in disposition, amorous,
and fond of literature (it was he who invited to Athens Anacreon,
Simonides, and the other poets), while Thessalus was much junior in
age, and was violent and headstrong in his behaviour. It was from
his character that all the evils arose which befell the house. He
became enamoured of Harmodius, and, since he failed to win his
affection, he lost all restraint upon his passion, and in addition
to other exhibitions of rage he finally prevented the sister of
Harmodius from taking the part of a basket-bearer in the
Panathenaic procession, alleging as his reason that Harmodius was a
person of loose life. Thereupon, in a frenzy of wrath, Harmodius
and Aristogeiton did their celebrated deed, in conjunction with a
number of confederates. But while they were lying in wait for
Hippias in the Acropolis at the time of the Panathenaea (Hippias,
at this moment, was