First exaltation of Pisistratus, 561, procured by his obtaining a body guard; flight of the Alcmaeonidae under Megacles. Pisistratus expelled, 560. Second exaltation of Pisistratus procured by his matrimonial connection with the family of Megacles, 556-552.--His second expulsion by Megacles, 552-538.--His third exaltation; obtains the power by force of arms, and preserves it to the day of his death, 538-528. Flight of the Alcmaeonidae into Macedonia, where they attach the malcontents to their party. Pisistratus is succeeded by his sons Hipparchus and Hippias, who rule conjointly until 514, when the elder is murdered by Harmodius and Aristogiton. The exiled Alcmaeonidae, having bribed the Delphian oracle, gain over the Spartans to their interest: backed by a Spartan army, they take possession of Athens in 510; Hippias is deposed, and flies over to the Persians. 16. This return of the Alcmaeonidae was followed by a change in the constitution of Solon. Clisthenes, the son of Megacles, with a view of quenching party spirit by a new combination of the citizens, increased the number of wards to ten, and that of the members of the council to five hundred.--But the Athenians had to purchase the continuance of their freedom by a struggle with Sparta, who, united with the Boeotians and Chalcidians, and aided by Aegina, sought to reestablish monarchy in Attica; first in the person of Isagoras, the rival of Clisthenes, and afterwards in that of the exiled Hippias. But the glorious success of the republic in this first struggle in the cause of liberty, gave an additional impulse to the national spirit. Impelled by that spirit, Athens suffered herself to be induced to share in the war of freedom carried on by the Asiatic Greeks under Aristagoras; and the audacity which led to the firing of Sardis, drew upon Attica the vengeance of the Persians, without which, doubtless, neither Athens or Greece would ever have risen to that degree of eminence which they ultimately attained. 17. Of the history of the other states of Greece we have at best but few data, and even these in most instances are very scanty. Towards the end of this period Sparta and Athens had, undoubtedly, exalted themselves above the rest, and were recognized, one as the first among the Dorian, the latter as the first among the Ionian states; yet did Sparta more than once meet with rivals in Messene, Argos, and Tegea: while Athens had to contend with Megara and Aegina. Sparta and Athens had, nevertheless, not only the best constitutions, but possessed also a more extended territory than any other of the great cities. _Principal data for the history of the smaller states._ I. _Within the Peloponnesus._