Cypselus of Corinth established his tyranny in c 657 B C by overthrowing the oligarchy of the Bacchiads and maintained it for thirty years The Bacchiads were a huge clan with exclusive rule of Corinth In addition to being big landowners, they were also engaged in trade and tolls, thus accumulating enormous wealth Non-Bacchiad aristocrats were extremely discontent with being shut out from political power and made claims to participation Middle and upper class commoners made such claims as well, though with some reserve Moreover, all the Corinthians, and especially lower class commoners, suffered under the economic pressure of the Bacchiads On the other hand, Cypselus served as a polemarch before becoming a tyrant, both showing favours to Corinthians through the moderate exercise of his police authority, and connecting himself with the hoplites (the aristocrats and middle and upper class commoners) through his command of the army Consequently, when he attempted to establish the tyranny, all Corinthians, with the exception of the Bacchiads, supported him Though the support of the middle and upper class commoners was rather half-hearted, the aristocrats and lower class commoners lent their support, with aristocrats even helping him with their force of arms During Cypselus' tyranny, the non-Bacchiad aristocrats formed an antityrannical faction, as their admittance to political power had only been nominal and they had become the main target of a property-tax introduced by Cypselus Middle and upper class commoners continued lending lukewarm support, since minor offices were offered to them and they were equally stable economically, when compared to before Lower class commoners remained strong supporters of the tyrant, as they saw that he made efforts to improve their economic life by distributing plots of land to them and founding colonies I have been somewhat hesitant to accept overall a recently influential theory which regards the hoplites (middle and upper class commoners) as supporters of the earlier tyranny As a case study, the present paper may show that my hesitations are not without grounds