Isagoras was appointed as 'archon', chief civil official, in 508 BC. Supported by a faction of Athen's most conservative aristocrats, his new regime appeared to be a return to tyranny. In reality Isagoras ruled as the head of an oligarchy of three hundred noblemen, who in turn relied upon the military backing of Sparta.

Under instructions from the Spartan king, Cleomenes, the first task of the new government was to banish Cleisthenes' most powerful allies. Altogether over 700 households were brutally cast out of the city, including the whole of Cleisthenes' clan, the Alcmaeonids. Calling them 'The Accursed', the justification used by Isagoras and his allies was based on an ancient misdeed the clan had been responsible for.

To the ordinary people of Athens, Isagoras was clearly putting an end to all opposition so that he and his allies could rule unhindered, even if that meant relying on Spartan help. Isagoras' next target was one of the last vestiges of Solon's rule, the Council of Four Hundred; a sort of consultative assembly with little real power.

But though the Council was largely symbolic, disbanding it was the beginning of the end of Isagoras' rule…