It was Peisistratus who made the law that men wounded in battle and the families of those who were killed should be cared for by the state. He built a new Temple to Athena and made her festival more splendid, and he had the ancient poems of Homer collected and written down, so that they might be more carefully preserved. But good ruler as he was, he was still a Tyrant, and during his rule the people were deprived of their right to govern themselves, but so long as he lived, no one opposed him. After his death, his sons Hippias and Hipparchus succeeded him, but they forgot that, after all, they could only remain Tyrants if the people permitted it, and they grew insolent, harsh and overbearing. Two young Athenians formed a plot to assassinate these oppressors at the next festival. The day came, and Hipparchus was slain, though Hippias escaped. The {107} conspirators were instantly seized and put to death, and Hippias continued to rule alone. He became more and more cruel and the Athenians were bowed down under his oppression. At last the Spartans came to their help. They came, because for some time whenever they sent to Delphi to ask any advice of the Oracle, the answer always came, "First set Athens free." With this help, Hippias was driven out and sent into exile. Athens was free. The rule of the Tyrants was over, and Athens was once more able to rule herself, to become that state of which, when it was asked "what shepherd rules and lords it o'er their people?" the answer could be given, "Of no man are they called the slaves or subjects."[9] [1] Plutarch: _Life of Theseus_. [2] Ibid. [3] Poem of Solon, from _Aristotle on the Athenian Constitution_, translated by P. G. Kenyon. (By permission of Messrs. G. Bell and Sons). [4] Except where otherwise noted, the quotations in this section are from Plutarch: _Life of Solon_. [5] Poem of Solon, translated by Leslie White Hopkinson. [6] Poem of Solon, from Aristotle on the Athenian Constitution, translated by P. G. Kenyon. (By permission of Messrs. G. Bell and Sons). [7] Plutarch: _Life of Solon_. [8] Written by Anyte, a poetess, probably in the 4th century B.C., translated by Sir Rennell Rodd in _Love, Worship and Death_. [9] Aeschylus: _The Persians_. {108} CHAPTER VII GREEK COLONIES I. THE FOUNDING OF A COLONY The Greeks were a sea-faring people, and they were an adventurous people. Their own land was small, but the islands of the Aegean formed stepping-stones, as it were, to the coast of Asia Minor, and the Aegean world was very familiar to the Greek sailor. Greek galleys were found in most ports, and the Greek trader became a formidable rival of the Phoenician.