Ancient World404-403 BC

Thirty Tyrants (404-403 BC): Oligarchy and Terror in Athens

The Thirty Tyrants ruled defeated Athens in 404-403 BC with Spartan backing, killing about 1,500 people before democrats under Thrasybulus restored democracy.

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Nineteenth-century illustration imagining Lysander overseeing the demolition of the walls of Athens after its surrender in 404 BC
Nineteenth-century illustration imagining Lysander overseeing the demolition of the walls of Athens after its surrender in 404 BC. Image: Ward & Lock's Illustrated History of the World (Public domain), Wikimedia Commons
Contents

The Thirty Tyrants were a pro-Spartan oligarchy that ruled Athens for about eight months in 404-403 BC, after the city’s defeat in the Peloponnesian War. Appointed to draw up new laws, they instead seized power, disarmed most citizens and killed about 1,500 people. Their brutal regime collapsed when exiled democrats fought their way back, and the restored democracy made a famous amnesty to heal the city.

Background: a defeated city

After the destruction of its fleet at the Battle of Aegospotami, Athens was besieged and starved into surrender in the spring of 404 BC. The peace terms stripped it of its fleet and its walls and placed it under Spartan leadership.

Athens had already experienced a short oligarchic coup in 411 BC, and some wealthy citizens had long resented the democracy. With the Spartan commander Lysander present, the assembly was pressured in the summer of 404 BC to appoint 30 men to draft the “ancestral laws” under which the city would be governed.

The rule of the Thirty

The Thirty quickly took power for themselves. They appointed a new council of their supporters and set up a board of eleven to carry out arrests. At their request Sparta sent a garrison of about 700 men, which was stationed on the Acropolis.

At first the Thirty targeted unpopular informers who made a living from lawsuits, and many citizens approved. Soon they moved against political opponents and wealthy men whose property they wanted. Resident foreigners were particularly exposed: the orator Lysias escaped, but his brother Polemarchus was forced to drink hemlock and the family fortune was seized.

The Thirty drew up a list of 3,000 citizens who kept full rights. Everyone else lost the protection of the law, was disarmed and could be expelled from the city. Thousands fled to Thebes, Megara and other cities.

Critias against Theramenes

The most radical of the Thirty was Critias, an aristocrat, poet and former associate of Socrates, and a relative of Plato. His main rival was Theramenes, a skilled politician who had taken part in the coup of 411 BC and negotiated the surrender to Sparta. Theramenes argued for a broader oligarchy and protested against the killings.

Critias denounced him before the council, struck his name off the list of 3,000 and had him seized and executed. According to Xenophon, Theramenes drank the hemlock and tossed the last drops from the cup in a mock drinking toast to Critias, the man who had condemned him.

Socrates also had a brush with the regime. Plato reports that the Thirty ordered him and four others to arrest Leon of Salamis so that he could be killed. Socrates simply went home, a refusal that could have cost him his life.

The democrats strike back

In the winter of 404/403 BC the exiled general Thrasybulus set out from Thebes with about 70 men and seized Phyle, a mountain fort on the border of Attica. Supporters flocked to him. In the spring of 403 BC, with around a thousand men, he occupied Piraeus, the port of Athens.

The Thirty attacked the democrats on the hill of Munichia in Piraeus and were defeated. Critias was killed in the fighting. The surviving members of the Thirty withdrew to Eleusis, and a new board of Ten took over in Athens.

Sparta steps in and the amnesty

Lysander came to help the oligarchs, but the Spartan king Pausanias, wary of Lysander’s growing power, took control of the situation and arranged a settlement. In the late summer or autumn of 403 BC the democrats marched into the city and the democracy was restored.

The Athenians swore an oath “not to remember past wrongs”. Apart from the Thirty, the Eleven, the Ten and a few officials, who could stay only if they submitted their conduct to review, no one could be prosecuted for acts committed under the oligarchy. Eleusis remained a separate refuge for oligarchs until 401 BC, when it was reunited with Athens.

Legacy

The amnesty of 403 BC is often cited as one of the first recorded examples of a political amnesty, and on the whole the Athenians kept it. The democracy then lasted for more than 80 years. Yet bitterness remained, and the links between Socrates and Critias formed part of the background to the Trial of Socrates in 399 BC. The name “Thirty Tyrants” was given by later writers; Athenians usually called them simply “the Thirty”.

Timeline

  • 404 BC, spring: Athens surrenders to Sparta.
  • 404 BC, summer: The Thirty are appointed under Spartan pressure.
  • 404 BC, autumn: A Spartan garrison arrives; Theramenes is executed.
  • 404/403 BC, winter: Thrasybulus seizes Phyle.
  • 403 BC, spring: The democrats take Piraeus; Critias dies at Munichia.
  • 403 BC, late summer or autumn: Democracy is restored with a general amnesty.
  • 401 BC: Eleusis is reunited with Athens.

Why it matters

The rule of the Thirty showed how quickly a defeated society could slide into terror, and how a restored democracy could choose reconciliation over revenge. The episode deeply marked Athenian political thinking, including the writings of Plato and Xenophon.

Frequently asked questions

Who were the Thirty Tyrants?

They were a board of 30 Athenians appointed in 404 BC, after Athens lost the Peloponnesian War, to rewrite the city's laws. With Spartan support they made themselves rulers and governed by terror until 403 BC. Their leading figures were Critias and, at first, Theramenes.

How many people did the Thirty Tyrants kill?

The Constitution of the Athenians says that the Thirty put at least 1,500 people to death without trial. Many more fled into exile or had their property confiscated.

How long did the Thirty Tyrants rule?

Their rule lasted about eight months, from the summer of 404 BC into the spring of 403 BC. After their defeat they held out at Eleusis, and full reconciliation came only in 401 BC.

How did democracy return to Athens in 403 BC?

Exiled democrats led by Thrasybulus seized the fort of Phyle and then Piraeus, where they defeated the Thirty and killed Critias. The Spartan king Pausanias then helped negotiate a settlement, and the democracy was restored with a general amnesty.

Was Socrates connected to the Thirty Tyrants?

Critias and Charmides, two leaders of the oligarchy, had been associates of Socrates, which damaged his reputation. However, Plato reports that Socrates refused an order from the Thirty to arrest an innocent man, Leon of Salamis.

Sources and further reading

  • Xenophon, Hellenica, Book 2
  • Aristotle (attributed), The Constitution of the Athenians, chapters 34-40
  • Krentz, Peter, The Thirty at Athens (Cornell University Press, 1982)
  • Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Thirty Tyrants"

Cite this article

“Thirty Tyrants (404-403 BC): Oligarchy and Terror in Athens.” Chronicle, https://chronicle.bigworldlist.com/articles/thirty-tyrants-athens-404-bc/.