Pisistratus
A celebrated Athenian who distinguished himself by valor in the field and by eloquence at home. He obtained a bodyguard of fifty men to defend his person, and having thus got a number of armed men on whom he could rely, he seized the citadel of Athens, and soon made himself absolute.
After this a conspiracy was formed against him, and he was banished from the city. He soon, however, re-established himself in power, and married the daughter of Megacles, one of his greatest enemies, and whom he afterward repudiated. On this his popularity waned and he fled from Athens, but after an absence of eleven years he returned, and was received by the people with acclamation. He died about 527 years before the Christian era.