The first factor is the non-destructive behavior of the tyrants who ruled from 561 B.C. to 510. Despite the cruel reign of Hippias (514 B.C.-510), the tyrants did not slow down democratization. They did not make significant changes to the governmental structure and ruled in a way that was satisfying to the Athenian people. Herodotus remarked,
“Not having disturbed the existing magistrates nor changed the ancient laws… they administered the State under that constitution of things which was already established, ordering it fairly and well”
Aristotle wrote, of Peisistratus, that “his administration was temperate…and more like constitutional government than a tyranny.”
The Athenian Polis did not go backward under the tyrants, so it did not have to regain ground before it could advance.