The Dexileos Stele assesses the way that Athenian political thought penetrated all levels of society, showing the conflict that the aristocratic classes were faced with in trying to find their place within the Athenian Democracy. As a visual document it presents an image that would have been seen and understood to those who passed it; despite being a cavalryman, a typically elite element of the military, Dexileos was still firmly a part of the Athenian demos. The stele dates to a turbulent time in Athens' history. Having lost the Peloponnesian War, Athens was ruled by 30 Tyrants, and when Democracy was restored, the Tyrants were then harshly punished, and Athens found herself at war with Corinth (c. 394 BCE). The Dexileos Stele perfectly encapsulates the struggles and changing ideologies that were present in Athens at the time, and as a monument to the young man's death, it shows him as his family wished for him to ever be remembered.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original content at https://www.worldhistory.org/article/631/the-dexileos-stele-a-study-of-aristocracy-and-demo/.