About this time an attempt was made by Cylon, a wealthy and distinguished citizen of Athens, to obtain supreme power, with the help of his father-in-law, the ruler of Megara. He succeeded in taking possession of the Acropolis, but the citizens rose against him and compelled him to flee the country. His followers, who were left in the citadel, took refuge in the temple of Athena, but they were induced to quit the sanctuary by a promise that their lives would be spared. As an additional security, however, they fastened a cord to the image of the goddess and kept hold of it as they withdrew from the Acropolis. Unfortunately the cord broke before they had gained a place of safety; and the citizens, regarding this as a token that Athena had deserted the fugitives, attacked and slew them. The outrage was aggravated by the fact that some of them were put to death in the sanctuary of the Eumenides at the side of the Areopagus. The archon who was chiefly responsible for the perfidious and profane slaughter was Megacles, the head of the Alcmæonid family, which was in consequence regarded as polluted. A pestilence from which the city afterwards suffered was popularly attributed to the displeasure of the gods on this account. In order to remove the curse the members of the family who were still alive were banished, and the bones of those who had since died were dug up and transported beyond the frontier. Epimenides, the diviner, was also sent for from Crete, and under his direction new sanctuaries were erected, and new rites of purification introduced. There was now a general feeling that means should be taken to put the civil and political affairs of the country on a better footing. Fortunately a man appeared who was eminently fitted to do the work of a reformer. Although belonging to an illustrious house, Solon was at the same time possessed of broad sympathies and democratic views, which he is supposed to have derived from his experience as a traveller and his interest in commercial pursuits. His patriotism was equal to his wisdom, and the first thing that won for him the admiration and affection of his fellow-citizens was the fearless enthusiasm with which he appealed to them to make a fresh attempt to regain Salamis from the Megarians. The island had been so completely abandoned by the Athenians that they had decreed the penalty of death against any one who should attempt to rekindle the war, which had proved disastrous. The success which attended Solon in this movement doubtless added to his reputation, and disposed the citizens to give a favourable reception to his legislative [Illustration: THE AREOPAGUS AND THE THESEUM The craggy mass to the left is the Areopagus (Mars Hill), with the cleft of the Eumenides. Behind the Temple of Theseus stretch the famous olive groves of Athens, nourished by the water of the subterranean Kephissus. The mountain range is that of Ægaleos, with the Pass of Daphni.]