Hippias

Who is Hippias?

Hippias of Athens was one of the sons of Peisistratus, and was tyrant of Athens in the 6th century BC.

Hippias succeeded Peisistratus in 527 BC. His brother Hipparchus, who may have ruled jointly with him, was murdered by Harmodius and Aristogeiton in 514 BC. Hippias executed the Tyrannicides and became a bitter and cruel ruler.

The Alcmaeonidae family, whom Peisistratus had exiled in 546 BC, had built a new temple at Delphi, then bribed the priestess to command the Spartans to help them overthrow Hippias. A Spartan force under Anchimolius was sent to help, but Hippias and his family, the Pisistratidae, allied themselves with Cineas of Thessaly, and the Spartans and Alcmaeonidae were at first defeated. A second attempt, led by Cleomenes I of Sparta, successfully entered Athens and trapped Hippias on the Acropolis. They also took the Pisistratidae children hostage, and Hippias was forced to leave Athens in order to have them returned safely. He was expelled from Athens in 510. Shortly before the end of his rule, he married his daughter, Archedike, to Aiantides, son of Hippoklos, the tyrant of Lampsakos, to facilitate his access to Darius' court at Susa.