Cleisthenes
87-397: [REDACTED] Isagoras [REDACTED] Cleomenes [REDACTED] Hippias [REDACTED] Darius I The Athenian Revolution (508–507 BCE) was a revolt by the people of Athens that overthrew the ruling aristocratic oligarchy , establishing the almost century-long self-governance of Athens in the form of a participatory democracy – open to all free male citizens. It was
174-422: A phyle or tribe and one of its subdivisions, the phratry or brotherhood, but also to an extended family, clan or genos . It has been argued that these interconnecting units of kinship reinforced a hierarchic structure with aristocratic clans at the top. Thus rivalries between aristocratic clans could engage all levels of society irrespective of any regional ties. In that case, the struggle between rich and poor
261-435: A citizen for 10 years. The initial trend was to vote for a citizen deemed a threat to the democracy (e.g., by having ambitions to set himself up as tyrant). However, soon after, any citizen judged to have too much power in the city tended to be targeted for exile (e.g., Xanthippus in 485/84 BCE). Under this system, the exiled man's property was maintained, but he was not physically in the city where he could possibly create
348-551: A convenient basis for an overview of the issues involved. Economic and ideological rivalry is a common theme in ancient sources. This sort of account emerges from Solon's poems, in which he casts himself in the role of a noble mediator between two intemperate and unruly factions. This same account is substantially taken up about three centuries later by the author of the Aristotelian Athenaion Politeia but with an interesting variation: ... there
435-428: A convenient framework within which to consider the laws that have been attributed to Solon. Some short-term consequences of his reforms are considered at the end of the section. Depending on how we interpret the historical facts known to us, Solon's constitutional reforms were either a radical anticipation of democratic government, or they merely provided a plutocratic flavour to a stubbornly aristocratic regime, or else
522-634: A crucial period of economic transition, when a subsistence rural economy increasingly required the support of a nascent commercial sector. The specific economic reforms credited to Solon are these: It is generally assumed, on the authority of ancient commentators, that Solon also reformed the Athenian coinage . However, recent numismatic studies now lead to the conclusion that Athens probably had no coinage until around 560 BC, well after Solon's reforms. Nevertheless, there are now reasons to suggest that monetization had already begun before Solon's reforms. By
609-539: A cunning trick or more directly through heroic battle around 595 BC. The Megarians, however, refused to give up their claim. The dispute was referred to the Spartans, who eventually awarded possession of the island to Athens on the strength of the case that Solon put to them. Plutarch professes admiration of Solon's elegy. The same poem was said by Diogenes Laërtius to have stirred Athenians more than any other verses that Solon wrote: Let us go to Salamis to fight for
696-474: A family might voluntarily pledge part of its farm income or labour to a powerful clan in return for its protection. Farmers subject to these sorts of arrangements were loosely known as hektemoroi indicating that they either paid or kept a sixth of a farm's annual yield. In the event of 'bankruptcy', or failure to honour the contract stipulated by the horoi , farmers and their families could in fact be sold into slavery. Solon's reform of these injustices
783-461: A land and agrarian crisis. Many Greek city-states had seen the emergence of tyrants , opportunistic noblemen who had taken power on behalf of sectional interests. In Megara , Theagenes had come to power as an enemy of the local oligarchs . His son-in-law, an Athenian nobleman named Cylon , himself made an unsuccessful attempt to seize power in Athens in 632 BCE. However, the coup was opposed by
870-619: A law relating to homicide, yet there is consensus among scholars that it did not amount to anything like a constitution. During his visit to Athens, Pausanias , the 2nd century AD geographer reported that the inscribed laws of Solon were still displayed by the Prytaneion. Fragments of the axones were still visible in Plutarch 's time but today the only records we have of Solon's laws are fragmentary quotes and comments in literary sources such as those written by Plutarch himself. Moreover,
957-404: A new tyranny. One later ancient author records that Cleisthenes himself was the first person to be ostracized. The Spartans thought that a free and democratic Athens would be dangerous to Spartan power, and attempted to recall Hippias from Persia and re-establish the tyranny. Democratic Athens sent an embassy to Artaphernes , brother of Darius I , looking for Persian assistance in order to resist
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#17327867366251044-413: A noble or Eupatrid clan. Solon's father was probably Execestides. If so, his lineage could be traced back to Codrus , the last King of Athens . According to Diogenes Laërtius , he had a brother named Dropides, who was an ancestor (six generations removed) of Plato . According to Plutarch, Solon was related to the tyrant Pisistratus , for their mothers were cousins. Solon was eventually drawn into
1131-527: A number of reasons; Attic pleaders did not hesitate to attribute to him (Solon) any law which suited their case, and later writers had no criterion by which to distinguish earlier from later works. Nor can any complete and authentic collection of his statutes have survived for ancient scholars to consult. Besides the alleged legislative aspect of Solon's involvement with pederasty, there were also suggestions of personal involvement. Ancient readers concluded, based on his own erotic poetry, that Solon himself had
1218-409: A preference for boys. According to some ancient authors Solon had taken the future tyrant Pisistratus as his eromenos . Aristotle, writing around 330 BC, attempted to refute that belief, claiming that "those are manifestly talking nonsense who pretend that Solon was the lover of Pisistratus, for their ages do not admit of it", as Solon was about thirty years older than Pisistratus. Nevertheless,
1305-429: A reaction to a broader trend of tyranny that had swept through Athens and the rest of Greece. According to legend, Athens was formerly ruled by kings, a situation which may have continued up until the 9th century BCE. During this period, Athens succeeded in bringing the other towns of Attica under its rule. This process of synoikismos – the bringing together into one home – created the largest and wealthiest state on
1392-549: A regulator of Athenian society, Solon, according to some authors, also formalized its sexual mores. According to a surviving fragment from a work ("Brothers") by the comic playwright Philemon , Solon established publicly funded brothels at Athens in order to "democratize" the availability of sexual pleasure. While the veracity of this comic account is open to doubt, at least one modern author considers it significant that in Classical Athens, three hundred or so years after
1479-545: A set of contradictory stories or a complex story that might be interpreted in a variety of ways. As further evidence accumulates, and as historians continue to debate the issues, Solon's motivations and the intentions behind his reforms will continue to attract speculation. Two contemporary historians have identified three distinct historical accounts of Solon's Athens, emphasizing quite different rivalries: economic and/or ideological rivalry, regional rivalry, and rivalry between aristocratic clans. These different accounts provide
1566-401: A set of laws that were intended to promote and safeguard the institution of pederasty and to control abuses against freeborn boys. In particular, the orator Aeschines cites laws excluding slaves from wrestling halls and forbidding them to enter pederastic relationships with the sons of citizens. Accounts of Solon's laws by 4th century orators like Aeschines, however, are considered unreliable for
1653-521: A similar story about Socrates and the poet Stesichorus , quoting the philosopher's rapture in almost identical terms: ut aliquid sciens amplius e vita discedam , meaning "in order to leave life knowing a little more". The social and political upheavals that characterized Athens in Solon's time have been variously interpreted by historians from ancient times to the present day. The historical account of Solon's Athens has evolved over many centuries into
1740-517: A staunch opponent of Pisistratus. In protest, and as an example to others, Solon stood outside his own home in full armour, urging all who passed to resist the machinations of the would-be tyrant. His efforts were in vain. Solon died shortly after Pisistratus usurped by force the autocratic power that Athens had once freely bestowed upon him. Solon died in Cyprus around the age of 70 and, in accordance with his will, his ashes were scattered around Salamis,
1827-543: The seisachtheia (shaking off of burdens). He is described by Aristotle in the Athenian Constitution as "the first people's champion". Demosthenes credited Solon's reforms with starting a golden age. Modern knowledge of Solon is limited by the fact that his works only survive in fragments and appear to feature interpolations by later authors. It is further limited by the general paucity of documentary and archaeological evidence covering Athens in
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#17327867366251914-422: The hippeis . The top three classes were eligible for a variety of lesser posts and only the thetes were excluded from all public office. The real motives behind Solon's economic reforms are as questionable as his real motives for constitutional reform. Were the poor being forced to serve the needs of a changing economy, was the economy being reformed to serve the needs of the poor, or were Solon's policies
2001-547: The horoi clearly provided immediate economic relief for the most oppressed group in Attica, and it also brought an immediate end to the enslavement of Athenians by their countrymen. Some Athenians had already been sold into slavery abroad and some had fled abroad to escape enslavement – Solon proudly records in verse the return of this diaspora. It has been cynically observed, however, that few of these unfortunates were likely to have been recovered. It has been observed also that
2088-430: The seisachtheia not only removed slavery and accumulated debt but may also have removed the ordinary farmer's only means of obtaining further credit. The seisachtheia however was merely one set of reforms within a broader agenda of moral reformation. Other reforms included: Demosthenes claimed that the city's subsequent golden age included "personal modesty and frugality" among the Athenian aristocracy. As
2175-593: The Alcmaeonidae family on pretext of the Alcmaeonidaean stain (see Megacles ). Cleisthenes' supporters and the ordinary Athenian citizens revolted against Isagoras' tyranny, and ended up trapping Isagoras and his Spartan allies on the Acropolis for two days. On the third day they made a truce, allowed Cleomenes and Isagoras to escape, and executed 300 of Isagoras' supporters. Cleisthenes then returned to
2262-553: The Boule and Ecclesia , the ancient Athenian assemblies. The archon eponymous remained the titular head of state even under the democracy, though with much reduced political importance. In 753 BCE the perpetual archonship by the Eupatridae were limited to 10 year terms (the "decennial archons"). After 683 BCE the offices were held for only a single year. By the 7th century BCE, social unrest had become widespread, as Athens suffered
2349-500: The Boule . However, the council resisted, and the Athenian people declared their support for the council and revolted against the oligarchy. Cleomenes, Isagoras and their supporters were forced by regular citizens to flee to the Acropolis , where they were besieged by Athens' populace for two days. On the third day the Athenians made a truce, allowed Cleomenes and Isagoras to escape, and executed 300 of Isagoras' supporters. Cleisthenes
2436-451: The tyranny in the first place, he changed the political organization from the four traditional tribes, which were based on family relations and which formed the basis of the upper class Athenian political power network, into ten tribes according to their area of residence (their deme ,) which would form the basis of a new democratic power structure. Cleisthenes also abolished patronymics in favour of demonymics (a name given according to
2523-537: The Achaemenid Empire following reversals at home, other famous ones being Themistocles , Demaratos , Gongylos or Alcibiades . The Solonian constitution was created by Solon in the early 6th century BC. At the time of Solon the Athenian State was almost falling to pieces in consequence of dissensions between the parties into which the population was divided. Solon wanted to revise or abolish
2610-580: The Aegean between 600 BC and 560 BC, a success story that coincided with a decline in trade in Corinthian pottery. The ban on the export of grain might be understood as a relief measure for the benefit of the poor. However, the encouragement of olive production for export could actually have led to increased hardship for many Athenians to the extent that it led to a reduction in the amount of land dedicated to grain. Moreover, an olive tree produces no fruit for
2697-520: The Areopagus among the democratic council of the Boule , the Ecclesia itself, and the popular courts. Ephialtes took away from the Areopagus their "additional powers, through which it had guardianship of the constitution." The Areopagus merely remained a high court, in control of judging charges of murder and some religious matters. At the same time or soon afterwards, the membership of the Areopagus
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2784-569: The Areopagus favoured his prosecution. According to the Athenian Constitution , Solon legislated for all citizens to be admitted into the Ekklesia and for a court (the Heliaia ) to be formed from all the citizens. The Heliaia appears to have been the Ekklesia, or some representative portion of it, sitting as a jury. By giving common people the power not only to elect officials but also to call them to account, Solon appears to have established
2871-481: The Athenians could not induce him to repeal any of his laws. Within four years of Solon's departure, the old social rifts re-appeared, but with some new complications. There were irregularities in the new governmental procedures, elected officials sometimes refused to stand down from their posts and occasionally important posts were left vacant. It has even been said that some people blamed Solon for their troubles. Eventually one of Solon's relatives, Pisistratus, ended
2958-462: The Boule were also reorganized and expanded. It was now the role of the Boule to propose laws to the assembly of voters, who convened in Athens around forty times a year for this purpose. The bills proposed could be rejected, passed or returned for amendments by the assembly. Cleisthenes also may have introduced ostracism (first used in 487 BCE), whereby a vote by a plurality of citizens would exile
3045-466: The Greek mainland, but it also created a larger class of people excluded from political life by the nobility . From later accounts, it is believed that these kings stood at the head of a land-owning aristocracy known as the Eupatridae (the 'well-born'), whose instrument of government was a Council which met on the hill of Areopagus and appointed the chief city officials known as archons . The archon
3132-460: The Macedonian army of Phillip II conquered Athens in 338 BCE. Isagoras Isagoras ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : Ἰσαγόρας ), son of Tisander, was an Athenian aristocrat in the late 6th century BC. He had remained in Athens during the tyranny of Hippias , but after Hippias was overthrown, he became involved in a struggle for power with Cleisthenes , a fellow aristocrat. In 508 BC he
3219-686: The Persian fleet and suggested Marathon as the place where the Persian invasion of Attica should begin. But never again would the Peisistratids have influence in Athens. In 462 BCE, the pro-democracy Ephialtes and his political allies began attacking the Areopagus , a council composed of former archons which was a traditionally conservative force. According to Aristotle and some modern historians, Athens had, since about 470 BCE, been governed under an informal " Areopagite constitution ", under
3306-671: The city and implemented reforms that created Athenian democracy . Solon Solon ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : Σόλων ; c. 630 – c. 560 BC) was an archaic Athenian statesman, lawmaker , political philosopher, and poet. He is one of the Seven Sages of Greece and credited with laying the foundations for Athenian democracy . Solon's efforts to legislate against political, economic and moral decline resulted in his constitutional reform overturning most of Draco 's laws . Solon's reforms included debt relief later known and celebrated among Athenians as
3393-549: The danger from the Achaemenid Empire, and the ambassadors were disavowed and censured upon their return to Athens. Soon after this, the Ionian Revolt began. It was put down in 494 BCE, but Darius I was intent on punishing Athens for its role in the revolt. In 490 Hippias, still in the service of the Persians, encouraged Darius to invade Greece and attack Athens; when Darius initiated the campaign, Hippias himself accompanied
3480-405: The death of Solon, there existed a discourse that associated his reforms with an increased availability of heterosexual contacts. Ancient authors also say that Solon regulated pederastic relationships in Athens; this has been presented as an adaptation of custom to the new structure of the polis . According to various authors, ancient lawgivers (and therefore Solon by implication) drew up
3567-418: The deme to which one belongs), thus increasing Athenians' sense of belonging to their local community, thus completely undermining the rule of aristocratic families. He also established sortition – the random selection of citizens to fill government positions rather than kinship or heredity. He also introduced the bouletic oath, "To advise according to the laws what was best for the people". The court system and
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3654-451: The early 6th century BC. Ancient authors such as Philo of Alexandria , Herodotus , and Plutarch are the main sources, but wrote about Solon long after his death. Fourth-century BC orators, such as Aeschines , tended to attribute to Solon all the laws of their own, much later times. Solon was born in Athens around 630 BC. His family was distinguished in Attica as they belonged to
3741-439: The early sixth century the Athenians were using silver in the form of a variety of bullion silver pieces for monetary payments. Drachma and obol as a term of bullion value had already been adopted, although the corresponding standard weights were probably unstable. Solon's economic reforms succeeded in stimulating foreign trade. Athenian black-figure pottery was exported in increasing quantities and good quality throughout
3828-582: The establishment of an oligarchy, the Council of 400 , in the Athenian coup of 411 BCE . The oligarchy endured for only four months before it was replaced by an even more democratic government. Democratic regimes governed until Athens surrendered to Sparta in 404 BCE, when the government was placed in the hands of the so-called Thirty Tyrants , who were pro-Spartan oligarchs. After a year pro-democracy elements regained control, and democratic forms persisted until
3915-647: The factionalism by force, thus instituting an unconstitutionally gained tyranny . In Plutarch's account, Solon accused Athenians of stupidity and cowardice for allowing this to happen. Solon's first stop in his travels was Egypt. There, according to Herodotus, he visited the Pharaoh of Egypt, Amasis II . According to Plutarch, he spent some time and discussed philosophy with two Egyptian priests, Psenophis of Heliopolis and Sonchis of Sais . A character in two of Plato's dialogues, Timaeus and Critias , claims Solon visited Neith 's temple at Sais and received from
4002-535: The first six years (but farmers' difficulty of lasting until payback may also give rise to a mercantilist argument in favour of supporting them through that, since the British case illustrates that "One domestic policy that had a lasting impact was the conversion of 'waste lands' to agricultural use. Mercantilists felt that to maximize a nation's power all land and resources had to be used to their utmost"). In his poems, Solon portrays Athens as being under threat from
4089-419: The formerly aristocratic role to every free citizen of Athens who owned property, Solon reshaped the social framework of the city-state. Under these reforms, a council of 400 members (with 100 citizens from each of Athens's four tribes) called the boule ran daily affairs and set the political agenda. The Areopagus, which formerly took on this role, remained but subsequently carried on the role of "guardianship of
4176-477: The foundations of a true republic. There is consensus among scholars that Solon lowered the requirements – those that existed in terms of financial and social qualifications – which applied to election to public office. The Solonian constitution divided citizens into four political classes defined according to assessable property a classification that might previously have served the state for military or taxation purposes only. The standard unit for this assessment
4263-471: The further development of this new form of government; In 461 BCE, he was assassinated, succeeded to the democratic leadership by Pericles . In the wake of Athens' disastrous defeat in the Sicilian expedition in 413 BCE, a group of aristocrats took steps to limit the radical democracy they thought was leading the city to ruin. Their efforts, initially conducted through constitutional channels, culminated in
4350-426: The island We desire, and drive away from our bitter shame! One fragment describes assorted breads and cakes: They drink and some nibble honey and sesame cakes ( itria ), others their bread, other gouroi mixed with lentils. In that place, not one cake was unavailable of all those that the black earth bears for human beings, and all were present unstintingly. According to Diogenes Laertius, in 594 BC, Solon
4437-630: The island where he was born. Pausanias listed Solon among the Seven Sages , whose aphorisms adorned Apollo's temple in Delphi . Stobaeus in the Florilegium relates a story about a symposium where Solon's young nephew was singing a poem of Sappho 's: Solon, upon hearing the song, asked the boy to teach him to sing it. When someone asked, "Why should you waste your time on it?", Solon replied, " ἵνα μαθὼν αὐτὸ ἀποθάνω ", "So that I may learn it before I die." Ammianus Marcellinus , however, told
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#17327867366254524-471: The language of his laws was archaic even by the standards of the fifth century and this caused interpretation problems for ancient commentators. Modern scholars doubt the reliability of these sources and our knowledge of Solon's legislation is therefore actually very limited in its details. Generally, Solon's reforms appear to have been constitutional, economic, moral, and sexual in their scope. This distinction, though somewhat artificial, does at least provide
4611-523: The latter of which was murdered by the tyrannicides Harmodius and Aristogeiton . Hippias executed the tyrannicides and it was said that he became a bitter and cruel ruler, executing a large number of citizens and imposing harsh taxes on the Athenian populace. Hippias's cruelty soon created unrest among his subjects. As he began losing control, he sought military support from the Persians and formed alliances with other Greek tyrannies. The Alcmaeonidae family of Athens, which Peisistratus had exiled in 546 BCE,
4698-417: The laws". Another major contribution to democracy was Solon's setting up of an ecclesia or Assembly, which was open to all male citizens, regardless of social class . The Alcmaeonids were also allowed back into the city, during the archonship of Solon. Eventually the moderate reforms of Solon, improving the lot of the poor but firmly entrenching the aristocracy in power, gave Athens some stability. For many of
4785-425: The leadership of the aristocrat Cimon . The Areopagus had already been losing prestige ever since 486 BCE, when archons were selected by lot. Ephialtes accelerated this process by prosecuting certain members for maladministration. Having thus weakened the prestige of the council, Ephialtes proposed and had passed in the popular assembly a sweeping series of reforms which divided up the powers traditionally wielded by
4872-815: The manifestation of a struggle taking place between poorer citizens and the aristocrats? Solon's economic reforms need to be understood in the context of the primitive, subsistence economy that prevailed both before and after his time. Most Athenians were still living in rural settlements right up to the Peloponnesian War . Opportunities for trade even within the Athenian borders were limited. The typical farming family, even in classical times, barely produced enough to satisfy its own needs. Opportunities for international trade were minimal. It has been estimated that, even in Roman times, goods rose 40% in value for every 100 miles they were carried over land, but only 1.3% for
4959-546: The middle and lower classes, who desired a return to democracy. Cleisthenes , of the pro-democracy Alcmaeonidae clan, was expelled from Athens by the Spartan-backed oligarchs, leaving Isagoras unrivalled in power within the city. Isagoras set about dispossessing hundreds of Athenians of their homes and exiling them on the pretext that they too were cursed by the Alcmaeonidae miasma . He also attempted to dissolve
5046-471: The older laws of Draco . He promulgated a code of laws embracing the whole of public and private life, the salutary effects of which lasted long after the end of his constitution. With the tyrant ousted, the Spartan king installed Isagoras at the head of an oligarchy, made up of Athenian aristocrats that were loyal or sympathetic to Sparta. He found himself opposed by the majority of Athens, particularly
5133-456: The other two, formed an obstruction and prevented the other groups from gaining control. Regional rivalry is a theme commonly found among modern scholars. "The new picture which emerged was one of strife between regional groups, united by local loyalties and led by wealthy landowners. Their goal was to take control of the central government at Athens and with it dominate over their rivals from other districts of Attica." Regional factionalism
5220-474: The people of Athens, who forced Cylon and his supporters to take refuge in Athena 's temple on the Acropolis . Cylon and his brother escaped, but his followers were cornered by Athens' nine archons. They were persuaded by the archons to leave the temple and stand trial after being assured that their lives would be spared. In an effort to ensure their safety, the accused tied a rope to the temple's statue and went to
5307-470: The priests there an account of the history of Atlantis . Next, Solon sailed to Cyprus , where he oversaw the construction of a new capital for a local king, in gratitude for which the king named it Soloi . Solon's travels finally brought him to Sardis , capital of Lydia . According to Herodotus and Plutarch, he met with Croesus and gave the Lydian king advice, which Croesus failed to appreciate until it
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#17327867366255394-477: The rest. Attika in Solon's time seemed to be moving towards a similarly ugly solution with many citizens in danger of being reduced to the status of helots . Rivalry between clans is a theme recently developed by some scholars, based on an appreciation of the political significance of kinship groupings. According to this account, bonds of kinship rather than local loyalties were the decisive influence on events in archaic Athens. An Athenian belonged not only to
5481-428: The same distance were they carried by ship and yet there is no evidence that Athens possessed any merchant ships until around 525 BC. Until then, the narrow warship doubled as a cargo vessel. Athens, like other Greek city states in the 7th century BC, was faced with increasing population pressures and by about 525 BC it was able to feed itself only in good years. Solon's reforms can thus be seen to have taken place at
5568-400: The system of oral law with a written legal code enforced by a court of law . However, these "Draconian" reforms ultimately failed to quell the conflict. In 594 BCE, Solon , premier archon at the time, issued reforms that defined citizenship in a way that gave each free resident of Attica a political function: Athenian citizens had the right to participate in assembly meetings. By granting
5655-509: The threats from Sparta . Artaphernes asked the Athenians for "Water and Earth", a symbol of submission, if they wanted help from the Achaemenid king. The Athenians ambassadors apparently complied with this request, but then Artaphernes advised the Athenians that they should receive back Hippias , threatening to attack Athens if they did not accept him as their tyrant once more. Nevertheless, the Athenians preferred to remain democratic despite
5742-432: The tradition persisted. Four centuries later Plutarch ignored Aristotle's skepticism and recorded the following anecdote, supplemented with his own conjectures: And they say Solon loved [Pisistratus]; and that is the reason, I suppose, that when afterwards they differed about the government, their enmity never produced any hot and violent passion, they remembered their old kindnesses, and retained "Still in its embers living
5829-412: The trial. On the way, the rope broke of its own accord. The Athenian archons, led by Megacles , took this as the goddess's repudiation of her suppliants and proceeded to stone them to death. Megacles and his genos , the Alcmaeonidae , were exiled from the city for violating the laws against killing suppliants. In order to restore order, the Areopagus appointed Draco to draft strict new laws, replacing
5916-620: The truth lies somewhere between these two extremes. Before Solon's reforms, the Athenian state was administered by nine archons appointed or elected annually by the Areopagus on the basis of noble birth and wealth. There was an assembly of Athenian citizens (the Ekklesia ) but the lowest class (the Thetes ) was not admitted and its deliberative procedures were controlled by the nobles. There therefore seemed to be no means by which an archon could be called to account for breach of oath unless
6003-524: The unaristocratic pursuit of commerce. When Athens and its neighbor and rival in the Saronic Gulf , Megara , were contesting the possession of Salamis , Solon was made leader of the Athenian forces. After repeated disasters, Solon was able to improve the morale of his troops through a nationalist poem he wrote about the island. Supported by Pisistratus, he defeated the Megarians either by means of
6090-424: The unrestrained greed and arrogance of its citizens. Even the earth ( Gaia ), the mighty mother of the gods, had been enslaved. The visible symbol of this perversion of the natural and social order was a boundary marker called a horos , a wooden or stone pillar indicating that a farmer was in debt or under contractual obligation to someone else, either a noble patron or a creditor . Up until Solon's time, land
6177-793: The wisdom to sort out their differences for them in a peaceful and equitable manner. Some modern scholars believe these powers were in fact granted some years after Solon had been archon, when he would have been a member of the Areopagus and probably a more respected statesman by his peers. As archon, Solon discussed his intended reforms with some friends. Knowing that he was about to cancel all debts, these friends took out loans and promptly bought some land. Suspected of complicity, Solon complied with his own law and released his own debtors, amounting to five talents (or 15 according to some sources). His friends never repaid their debts. After completing his work of reform, Solon surrendered his extraordinary authority and traveled abroad for ten years, so that
6264-431: The years to come, the nascent democracy even managed to govern itself without an archon . Democracy however was threatened by tyranny, as several political factions began to vie for control of the Athenian polis. Peisistratos launched a populist coup and seized the reigns of government in Athens, declaring himself Tyrant . Upon his death, Peisistratos was succeeded to the tyranny by his sons Hippias and Hipparchus ,
6351-416: Was chosen archon , or chief magistrate. Solon repealed all of Draco's laws except those relating to homicide. During Solon's time, many Greek city-states had seen the emergence of tyrants , opportunistic noblemen who had taken power on behalf of sectional interests. Solon was described by Plutarch as having been temporarily awarded autocratic powers by Athenian citizens on the grounds that he had
6438-477: Was concerned about Hippias forming alliances with the Persian ruling class, and began planning an invasion to depose him. In 510 BCE Cleomenes I of Sparta successfully invaded Athens and trapped Hippias on the Acropolis . They also took the Pisistratidae children hostage forcing Hippias to leave Athens in order to have them returned safely. Hippias was one of several Greek aristocrats who took refuge in
6525-420: Was conflict between the nobles and the common people for an extended period. For the constitution they were under was oligarchic in every respect and especially in that the poor, along with their wives and children, were in slavery to the rich...All the land was in the hands of a few. And if men did not pay their rents, they themselves and their children were liable to be seized as slaves. The security for all loans
6612-460: Was elected archon eponymous , but Cleisthenes opposed him, with support from the majority of the population. Isagoras requested support from the Spartan king Cleomenes I , an old friend who had earlier been given hospitality by Isagoras. According to Herodotus , Cleomenes had had an affair with Isagoras' wife. In 507 BCE, Isagoras, with Cleomenes' help, expelled Cleisthenes and other members of
6699-446: Was extended to the lower level of the propertied citizenship. The success of Ephialtes' reforms was rapidly followed by the ostracism of Cimon, which left Ephialtes and his faction firmly in control of the state, although the fully fledged Athenian democracy of later years was not yet fully established; Ephialtes' reforms appear to have been only the first step in the democratic party's programme. Ephialtes, however, would not live to see
6786-577: Was inevitable in a relatively large territory such as Athens possessed. In most Greek city states, a farmer could conveniently reside in a town and travel to and from his fields every day. According to Thucydides , on the other hand, most Athenians continued to live in rural settlements right up until the Peloponnesian War . The effects of regionalism in a large territory could be seen in Laconia , where Sparta had gained control through intimidation and resettlement of some of its neighbours and enslavement of
6873-500: Was later known and celebrated among Athenians as the seisachtheia (shaking off of burdens). As with all his reforms, there is considerable scholarly debate about its real significance. Many scholars are content to accept the account given by the ancient sources, interpreting it as a cancellation of debts , while others interpret it as the abolition of a type of feudal relationship, and some prefer to explore new possibilities for interpretation. The reforms included: The removal of
6960-480: Was one medimnos (approximately 12 gallons) of cereals and yet the kind of classification set out below might be considered too simplistic to be historically accurate. According to the Athenian Constitution , only the pentakosiomedimnoi were eligible for election to high office as archons and therefore only they gained admission into the Areopagus. A modern view affords the same privilege to
7047-430: Was subsequently recalled, along with hundreds of exiles, and he was elected the first archon of a democratic Athens. Cleisthenes began to institutionalize the democratic revolution. He commissioned a bronze memorial from the sculptor Antenor in honor of the lovers and tyrannicides Harmodius and Aristogeiton , whom Hippias had executed. In order to forestall strife between the traditional clans, which had led to
7134-437: Was the chief magistrate in many Greek cities, but in Athens there was a council of archons which exerted a form of executive government. From the late 8th century BCE there were three archons: the archon eponymos (chief magistrate), the polemarchos ( commander-in-chief ), and the archon basileus (the ceremonial vestige of the Athenian monarchy ). The archon eponymous was the chief archon, and presided over meetings of
7221-402: Was the debtor's prison up to the time of Solon. He was the first people's champion. Here Solon is presented as a partisan in a democratic cause whereas, judged from the viewpoint of his own poems, he was instead a mediator between rival factions. A still more significant variation in the ancient historical account appears in the writing of Plutarch in the late 1st – early 2nd century AD: Athens
7308-472: Was the inalienable property of a family or clan and it could not be sold or mortgaged. This was no disadvantage to a clan with large landholdings since it could always rent out farms in a sharecropping system. A family struggling on a small farm however could not use the farm as security for a loan even if it owned the farm. Instead the farmer would have to offer himself and his family as security, providing some form of slave labour in lieu of repayment. Equally,
7395-509: Was the struggle between powerful aristocrats and the weaker affiliates of their rivals or perhaps even with their own rebellious affiliates. Solon's laws were inscribed on axones , large wooden slabs or cylinders attached to a series of axles that stood upright in the Prytaneion . Originally the axones recorded laws enacted by Draco in the late 7th century (traditionally 621 BC). Nothing of Draco's codification has survived except for
7482-448: Was too late. Croesus had considered himself to be the happiest man alive and Solon had advised him, "Count no man happy until he be dead." The reasoning was that at any minute, fortune might turn on even the happiest man and make his life miserable. It was only after he had lost his kingdom to the Persian king Cyrus , while awaiting execution, that Croesus acknowledged the wisdom of Solon's advice. After his return to Athens, Solon became
7569-400: Was torn by recurrent conflict about the constitution. The city was divided into as many parties as there were geographical divisions in its territory. For the party of the people of the hills was most in favour of democracy, that of the people of the plain was most in favour of oligarchy, while the third group, the people of the coast, which preferred a mixed form of constitution somewhat between
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