Cylon

Glossary entry for Cylon, part of an extensive Ancient / Classical History glossary.

The Athenian whose laws were written not in ink but blood

Cylon an eupatrid of Athens was killed by the Alcmaeonids.

The eupatrids were the nobles who made up the cavalry and ruled ancient Athens. The rise of democracy in Athens came about when the value of the ordinary citizen as a soldier was finally recognized.

How the murder of Cylon became the curse of the Alcmaeonids, according to Herodotus,

quiz on Solon and the Rise of Democracy.

Law-givers, legal systems, constitutions, readings and documents about the laws of ancient civilizations.

Non-Roman leaders, law makers, law codifiers, and legendary founders,

Resources on the Archaic Age of Greece, the time of the rise of the polis and democracy