Synoikism and democracy

The group of Eleian communities which in the period before the synoikism seem to have adopted a popular constitution including a council of 500 and, at least for a time, administered Olympia in place of the traditional Olympic Council may plausibly be associated with the Omphalionids and their supporters, whom we have seen appear to have belonged to a popular movement among the Eleians. The tales of a mythical movement of peoples from the surrounding countryside into the city of Elis, none of which can be demonstrated to originate from a time any earlier than Strabo&s;s, must be clearly distinguished from the evidence for the historical synoikismos of the early fifth century BC, which is likely to have entailed a fundamental political reorganization of the Eleian communities. According to Gehrke, the Eleians in 471 BC simply modified a pre-existing moderate oligarchy and thus established a &s;farmer&s;s democracy&s;.