Aristotle opens with the early history of Athens, describing a society where the poorer classes, known as hectemori, existed in a state of virtual serfdom to a wealthy oligarchy. Loans were secured against the debtor's person, resulting in widespread enslavement. The social tension culminated until Solon was appointed as mediator and archon to reform the constitution. Solon instituted the seisachtheia, which prohibited loans secured on personal liberty, cancelled existing debts, and liberated enslaved citizens. He established a property-based classification system dividing citizens into four groups, granting political participation to all classes while reserving high magistracies for the wealthier tiers.
Following Solon's departure, internal factionalism persisted among the parties of the shore, the plain, and the highlands. Pisistratus exploited these divisions to establish a tyranny, which he administered with moderation while encouraging agriculture and peace. After the overthrow of the Pisistratid dynasty, Cleisthenes introduced sweeping democratic reforms. He reorganized the citizen body into ten new tribes based on locality rather than birth, expanded the council to five hundred members, and instituted the practice of ostracism to prevent the rise of future tyrants.
The narrative traces the growing power of the democratic state, fueled by naval supremacy and the leadership established during the Persian wars. The Council of Areopagus briefly regained political dominance before Ephialtes stripped it of its traditional guardianship of the constitution, transferring judicial and political powers to the popular assembly and law-courts. This shift marked the consolidation of radical democracy, characterized by public pay for civic duties and extensive participation by ordinary citizens in governance.
The text details the temporary oligarchic overthrows, including the regime of the Four Hundred and the tyranny of the Thirty established at the close of the Peloponnesian war. Despite these violent interruptions, the democracy was repeatedly restored through the resilience of the popular forces. The narrative culminates in a comprehensive structural breakdown of contemporary Athenian institutions, detailing the precise mechanisms of the popular assembly, the election of magistrates by lot, the operation of the law-courts, and the rigorous auditing of public officials.
