Athens Under Solon

When the urban center of capital of Greece stood on the brink of revolution, the citizens of capital of Greece looked upon solon and gave him the task of creating parvenu legalitys for them because of troubles that had been plaguing them for a long epoch. They saw that he more than anyone else in city, stood asunder from the in aloneices of the time and was involved neither in the extortions of the rich nor the privations of the measly (Plutarch 55, comparison 1). In this paper I testawork forcet be writing of changes that took force under national leader and whether those changes resolved the conflicts that brought capital of Greece on the brink of revolution.First, I will be writing ab come forth the conflict over acres receiveership and slain truth amid aristocrats and green great deal, who burdened national leader as reconciler and archon and whether his new virtues resolved those conflicts. Secondly, I will be writing of conflict over supply between aristoc rats and aristocrats, feuds that used to run between families and would non get resolved until at that place was no one left wing to slide by in revenge on and how statesmans new constabularys changed that. And otherwise polices of Solons that he was highly appraised for to make an capital of Greece collapse place under him such as integritys on Dowry, Inheritance, and Wills.Thirdly, I will be writing of political laws that took places under Solons epoch and how he secured those laws a readyst alteration for a hundred years that gave powers to common citizenry in capital of Greece. The Two sources I will be using to economise this paper are The Athenian Constitution (The document given in class by Prof. Trumbach) and Plutarch The Rise and f either of Athens (Textbook assigned for class). Aristocrats vs. Peasants out face I write about the conflict between the aristocrats and the common bulk, you must know the geographic system of Athens and the people who worked o n those degrades and how that contri exclusivelyed to the conflict. The city of Athens was divided into as many parties as there were geographical features in its territory. First there were aristocrats, people who lived in plain, who supported an oligarchy political science and had the best and most fertile land (The Athenian Constitution 2). The society of the hill (Peasants with land on the hill) supported an extreme democracy so the new government can redistri furthere the land and they can confirm both(prenominal) of the fertile land which was all owned by aristocrats.Their land was so unfertile that sometimes they had to eat their own seed to conk out due to bad harvest and borrow seeds from aristocrats and pledge their own freedom. When they were uneffective to pay back their debt, they were seized by their creditors and being enslaved at home or were sold to foreigners aboard. Many parents were even forced to sell their own children because there was no law to prevent that from happening (The Athenian Constitution 2). hence there were sharecroppers (Thetes) who supported a mixed form of government. These were the peasants who had no lands of their own and rented a land from aristocrats.As a rent they would pay one ordinal of their crop which left them with just enough crop to depart. Sharecroppers lived on very tight budget. They were always left over with just enough to survive year to year and had no social mobility whatsoever. They were born vile and died poor. The city stood at the brink of revolution and the poor people could not take any more harshness from their creditors (Plutarch 54, Par 2). At this point poor rose against notables, the strife was fierce but they held out against each other for very long time.Eventually tired from fighting both sides agreed to appoint Solon as reconciler and archon and entrusted the Athens to him (The Athenian Constitution 2). aft(prenominal) gaining take for, branch measure Solon put into force, he disaerated all the debts of common people whether it was public or private that they owed to aristocrats which the Athenians called the Shaking-off of Burden. He freed all enslaved and put in a law that in emerging tense nobody could accept the person of a debtor as a security (The Athenian Constitution 3).Hill peasants were now free from slavery and debt but their problems were still not solved. They wanted Solon to redistribute the land which he did not do, but instead he made Olive anele the sole(prenominal) product of Athens allowed to be exported. So if there was anything exceptional leftover from the f arms of aristocrats, they had no choice but to give to starving poor and Hill peasants. If anyone were to export anything but oil be punished by archon or should pay fine to the public treasury (Plutarch 66, Par 3). after(prenominal) making Attica a great and secure place to live, he agnise that the city was filling up with people in a beauty stream from everywhere i n Greek at the same time he realized that most of the country was still poor and unproductive, and people elsewhere are not in the habit of sending their goods to those who accommodate null to offer in exchange.He therefore encouraged the sharecroppers to turn to the arts and crafts of manufacture and made a law that no son was induce to support his father unless(prenominal) the father first taught the son a condescension of some kind (Plutarch 64, Par 2). At first, the changes Solon made did not please either party. The rich were angry because of being deprived of their securities and losing out on their situation and the poor even more so, because Solon did not carry out a redistribution of the land as they had expected him to do (Plutarch 58, Par 2). However, it was not long before they realized that what Solon had through with(p) was great and saw the advantages of his policy. Athenians were so happy that they went on to appoint Solon to reform the constitution and draw u p a code of laws.No influence was set to his powers and every function of the earth was committed to his charge, the magistracies, the public assemblies, the motor inns of law and the Councils. He had self-assurance to decide the property qualifications, the numbers and the times of clash of each of these bodies and likewise to preserve or dissolve all alert institution as he purview fit. Aristocrats vs. Aristocrats After Solon became the authority figure and champion of people, he established a constitution and organize other laws to make Athens better place to live.Athens had long been profligate by the blood-feuds of aristocrats families that had been trying to gain political secure of the city, which in Solon time were the families of Cylon and Megacles. Family of Cylon wanted to seize the control of Athens and Megacles family wanted to stop them. At the time of Solon this feud was at its height and the city was torn between them. So after Solon came to mediate betwee n them and Megacles family was tack guilty, he enacted a new law to protect common people. He gave every citizen the privilege of going to law on behalf of any one whose proper(ip)s was violated.For instance, if a man was assaulted or suffered force play or injury, anybody who had the ability and the desire to do so was entitled to come a suit and prosecute the offender. In this way every citizens of Athens come close to each other and sympathize with one another(prenominal)s wrong and became loyal to each other and not just to their friends and families (Plutarch 60, Par 2). Seeing that the city was always in a state of strife and some tyrant is always trying to take control of the city and some of the citizens through apathy accepted whatever aptitude happen, Solon made a special law to deal with them.If when the city is torn by a feud and anyone should refuse to place his arms at the disposal of either side should be outlawed and lay down no share in the city (The Athenian Constitution 4). Solon was admired for another law that he made which deals with Will. Before Solon wills were not allowed and if someone who owns the property dies, the estate of the deceased was bound to bide within his family. However, Solon allowed any man who had no children to choose their heir, presentation that he rated friendship in a higher place the ties of blood and free choice above necessity (Plutarch 63, Par 3). In another law, Solon abolished dowries. The bride had to bring nothing but troika changes of clothes and small necessity of small pass judgment to her new home. Solon object was that marriage is pure and it should not be seen as profit- making institution, both people should get married to gain each others love and affection not property (Plutarch 62, Par 2). Solon also forbade slaves to rub themselves with olive oil, to practice in the gym or to have a boy lover.He made this law so the young aristocrats boys hang out with people only in their class, wi th people who can teach them the aristocratic ways and educate them for future (Plutarch 42, Par 2). However, Solons law concerning women seem incongruous to some extent. For example, he made it illegal to kill any adulterer who was caught in the act. The offence of rape against a free woman was punished by a fine of no more than 100 drachmae. He also made it illegal for a man to sell his daughter or sister, unless he discovered that she was no longer a virgin demonstrate he did not care much about womens right (Plutarch 65, Par 3).Political Structure As soon Solon gained all the power in Athens, he abolished all the Draconian laws because of their harshness and the excessively sedate penalties they carried the only exceptions he made were to the laws relating to homicide (Plutarch 59, Par 2). Solon wanted to entrust all the offices of state in the hands of the rich, as he found them but at the same time he wanted to give the common people (Thetes) a share in other domain of gov ernment which they had never before possessed. So he took a nosecount of each citizens property and divided them in 4 divergent Categories.Those who received an annual income of 500 measures were placed in the first class. state who owned horses and paid horse tax or possessed an income of three hundred measures were placed in the sec class. The third class was People whose p.a. income amounted to 200 measures. Rest of the citizen body was known as thetes, common people and peasants. Solon distributed major offices, such as the nine archons, the treasurer, and the sellers among first three classes according to the level of their assessment.People who were considered thetes were not entitled to hold office and their only political function consisted in sitting in the Assembly or on a Jury. First this new changes to the constitution appeared to be cost very little and nobody took much interest in it, but later on became extremely important, because the majority of the disputes were settled in front of a jury and that jury was now consist of 98% common people. Even in those cases which Solon placed under the jurisdiction of the magistrates, he then also allowed the right of appeal to the popular court.And if the popular court were unable to settle the case in accordance to law, cases then were to be handled by jury, so that in sense the jurors became the arbiters of the law. And because most of bodies in Athens that time were common people, they were the one to hold most position in jury (Plutarch 60, Par 2). Solon then established the council of the Areopagus, which was composed of men who had previously held the annual office of archon, as he was once before. He too became a member of Areopagus. He saw people were meet restive and unruly because of their release from their debts.He then formed a second chamber consisting of 400 men, 100 being drawn from each of the four classes. Its functions were to deliberate public business in advance of the general assembly, and not to allow any matter to be brought before the Areopagus without its having been discussed. He charged the upper chamber with the task of exercising a general supervising and acting as guardian of the laws. His object here was that the state with its two councils should ride, as it were, at double anchor and should therefore be less exposed to the buffetings of party politics and better able to secure serenity for the people (Plutarch 61, Par 2). He also made another law that all his laws were to remain in force for a hundred years, and they were compose on a axons, or wooden tablets which was covered with a wooden frame for generations to remember (Plutarch 67, Par 2).In Conclusion, Solon is considered as the first lawgiver that set the ground for the creation of the democracy, the government system that made Athens powerful and granted the city fame for the centuries to come. The most democratic of Solons enactments were these three the first, and greatest, th e inauspicious of loans on the person i. . using oneself as security for a loan, foreclosure resulting in slavery the second, the possibility for anyone who wishes to sue over wrongdoings and third, reform of the political structure of Athens which gave the power to common people to sit in the jury for the first time eve in the history of Greece. In his reform measures, he pleased neither the common people who wanted the land spread nor the landowners who wanted to keep all their property to themselves. Instead, he did what he thought was right for Athens.