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... damnationis. Namque Athenienses propter Pisistrati tyrannidem, quae paucis annis...

Pisistratus, dictator or turannos, r. 546-527 BCE. -- Like other Gk tyrants of that era, P. seized supreme power with the common ppl's support. His benevolent reign removed the nobles' grip on Athenian govt and marked a step in the city's difficult progress from aristocracy to democracy in the 500's BCE. (Sacks, A Dict. of the Anc. Gk. Wld., Oxford, 1995)