It is impossible to revert. Rich people own the world and unless they are willing to sacrifice their wealth/power, there is no other solution other than revolt/war.
It's an important distinction.
As it happened, the next day the assembly changed its mind, and sent off another galley rescinding the order. The second galley was indeed able to overtake the first in time. Thucydides attributed this to deliberate slowness by the captain of the first.
"Democracy" is a family of types of government, of which the absolute democracy many imagine in one form. A representative democracy is another.