5 – The Thirty Tyrants: Athens (404 – 403 BC)
Although their reign was brief (13 months), the Thirty Tyrants gained infamy by murdering up to 5% percent of the Athenian population. In the spring of 404 BC, Athens surrendered to Sparta thus ending the Peloponnesian War. An oligarchic conspiracy took shape in Athens towards the end of the war so when the conflict had finally concluded, the oligarchs called for a meeting with Lysander, the Spartan general. Lysander forced the Athenian assembly to pass the Dracontides Decree (named after one of the conspirators). It gave power to a board of 30 men who were in charge of revising and codifying Athenian law.
The Thirty consolidated power by appointing trustworthy individuals as magistrates and swore in a Council of 500 filled with their supporters. This council functioned as a court of law, and the Thirty also chose the Eleven who was in charge of the prison and also supervised executions. There were probably up to 3,000 men selected to participate in the new government.
Critias, Theramenes, and Charicles were the main leaders of the Thirty Tyrants, and they began executing and exiling opponents of the regime. Critias was probably the cruelest member of the group, and he was determined to remake the city as per his vision regardless of the cost. At one stage, he believed that Theramenes was a threat to the new government, so he accused him of treason and forced him to commit suicide by drinking hemlock.
Overall, the Thirty killed thousands of Athenians in a short space of time, including approximately 1,500 of the city’s most important democrats. Wealthy Athenians were executed; their assets were shared amongst the Thirty’s supporters. The tyrants even created a group of 300 whip bearers who were charged with frightening the city’s residents. Although the majority of Athenians hated the Thirty Tyrants, there was little in the way of organized opposition at first. Most people had the choice of accepting the regime or fighting and risking execution.
After the death of Theramenes, the Thirty began taking steps to exile anyone, not in the group of 3,000 trusted members. One of these exiles, Thrasybulus, took just 70 men with him as he marched across the border from Boeotia and stormed the fortress of Phyle. The Thirty failed to defeat the rebels and were forced back to Athens. The Thirty then captured the towns of Eleusis and Salamis and, at a meeting of the Three Thousand; they decided to execute the male inhabitants of both towns.
Meanwhile, Thrasybulus’s resistance was gathering steam, and his army had now grown to 1,000 men. They seized the hill of Munychia and fought a battle with the Thirty there. Critias was killed in combat and the following day, the Three Thousand held another meeting; this time to agree to remove the Thirty from the government. A new group of Ten replaced the Thirty, but they continued to fight the rebels.
Eventually, the Spartans brokered an agreement between the oligarchs and the democrats which is known as the Amnesty of 403. Athenians were to swear an oath of reconciliation which meant they would not hold members of the Thirty to account for past misdeeds. Athens reverted to a democratic constitution which remained in place for the entire Classical period.