In 594 Peisistratus’ mother’s relative, the reformer Solon, had improved the economic position of the Athenian lower classes, but the Solonian reorganization of the constitution had not eliminated bitter aristocratic contentions for control of the archonship, the chief executive post. As Peisistratus reached manhood, the two major vying factions were called the Plain, led by Lycurgus, and the Coast, led by Megacles.
During a war with the city of Megara about 565, Peisistratus gained military fame by taking the Megarian harbour. He organized his own faction, named the Hillsmen, a group that included noble families from his own district, the eastern part of Attica, and also a very considerable part of the growing population of the city of Athens. At one point Peisistratus slashed himself and the mules of his chariot and made a dramatic entrance into the agora (marketplace) to show how his enemies had wounded him. The people voted him use of a bodyguard of citizens armed with clubs, with the aid of which he seized the Acropolis and held power briefly in 560/559. To increase his support he contracted a short-lived marriage with the daughter of Megacles and again acquired temporary power in Athens (probably 556–555), but Lycurgus and Megacles united to force him out.
For several years Peisistratus was an exile in northern Greece. He laid a solid base for his return, exploiting the silver and gold mines of Mt. Pangaeum and gaining the support of conservatives in Thebes, Argos, Naxos, and elsewhere. In 546 he went to Eretria on the island of Euboea, with the force provided by his own funds and by his friends, and from this base invaded Attica. At Pallene, near Mt. Hymettus, he launched a surprise attack on the Athenian army in the heat of midday, while his enemies were gambling or sleeping. After a complete victory, Peisistratus became master of Athens for the third time and remained in power until his death in 527. His sons Hippias and Hipparchus succeeded him.
The occasional modern efforts to interpret the factions involved in the rise of Peisistratus as representing simply different economic interests or purely geographical blocs seem misconceived, nor can one hope to penetrate the legends about Peisistratus to discern his personality. His career down to 546 shows persistence, dexterity, and diplomatic ability; once master, he followed a program that pleased the city population especially but that also appealed to the rural majority.