Why Did Cleisthenes Reforms

Greek civilization was ruled by a wealthy elite who served as the most powerful members of the ancient civilization. Noblemen got to live lavishly just for being born into the right family while poor farmers had to work hard and long hours for low pay. If they failed to produce these farmers and their family could be sold into slavery. It’s no surprise that the lower classes of classical Greek society wanted to bring about change to their government. This dissatisfaction with the current political system is what eventually encouraged Cleisthenes to implement his reforms and by extension, what caused Democracy to emerge.
While Cleisthenes is credited with creating Democracy, in order to create it there had to be people before him whose political philosophy influenced him and first put Athens on a path towards Democracy. The first significant person to start Greece
In 490 BCE, during the first Persian-Greek war when Persia invaded Greece one of the most important battles to ever take place was fought, called the Battle of Marathon. It was to determine the future of democracy. The ten strategoi, or generals, were voted in by the ten tribes of Athens, from any income group, making this the chance to show how democracy would work to their advantage during war. It also proved Greece was unified and working together because of Cleisthenes reforms, had they still been divided due to tribe alliances Athens wouldn’t have been strong enough to fight and win the battle. It was also a keen battle for Greek society because it highlighted the importance of the Hoplites to Athenian society, considering they were the fighting for the state, without them Athens would have been militarily weak. This led to the hoplites returning home to be thought of as heroes that saved Greece from the Persians. They gained political status while the upper class, or pentacosiomedimni, were losing