One of the two sons of the Athenian Tyrant Peisistratus, who succeeded him after his death in 528 BC. Hippias shared the government with his brother Hipparchus, and was responsible mainly for state and military issues. He was known for his cruelty, particularly for the old aristocracy, which has intensified after the murder of Hipparchus in 518 BCE. In 517 a group of exiled noblemen headed by Kleisthenes tried to invade Attica in order to overthrow the tyrant but they failed miserably. The aristocarts tried to recruit the help of Sparta, and indeed in 511 Sparta sent a large force to aid the exiled aristocrats overthrow Hippias. Hippias was finally overthrown in 511 and found refuge in Persia. In 506 the Spartan king Kleomenes, having been disappointed by the fact that Athens has not created an oligarchic regime (like the spartan one) but instead created a democracy, tried to aid Hippias return to power in Athens but failed. In 497 Hippias tried for the last time to return to his former position in Athens, this time with the assistance of Detis king of Persia, but failed again.