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Demos: The Men Who Made and Perfected Ancient Athenian Democracy

Khalid Elhassan January 13, 2025 16 min

Democracy - Ancient Athens — Ancient Athens. Imgur

7. The Man Who Transformed Athens Into a Radical Democracy

Ephialtes was a reformer who initiated the final transformation of Athens into a radical democracy. He was strongly opposed by the conservative Athenian upper classes, who under the leadership of Cimon, son of Miltiades, had the upper hand and controlled the Assembly. That changed when, in 464 BC, Sparta appealed to Athens for help to suppress a Helot serf revolt. Over Ephialtes’ strong objections, Cimon carried the day and convinced the Assembly to send an Athenian force to help Sparta. However, when the Athenians arrived, the Spartans changed their minds. Fearing that their democratic notions might infect their remaining Helots and inflame them into joining the revolt, they sent the Athenians back.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.