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When Solon released Athenians from debt, he did so because he believed this to be inherently good, despite the consequences being negative for him. In one of his surviving poems, Solon writes about the importance of lawfulness and its ability to straighten out distorted judgements and make all men’s affairs correct and rational.
- Overview
- Solon’s era
- Economic reforms
- Political reforms
Solon, (born c. 630 bce—died c. 560 bce), Athenian statesman, known as one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece (the others were Chilon of Sparta, Thales of Miletus, Bias of Priene, Cleobulus of Lindos, Pittacus of Mytilene, and Periander of Corinth). Solon ended exclusive aristocratic control of the government, substituted a system of control by the we...
In Solon’s lifetime, the Greeks had not yet begun to write history or biography. It was not until the 5th century that accounts of his life and works began to be put together, on the evidence of his poems (of which the 300 or so lines preserved by quotation probably represent only a small proportion), his law code, oral tradition, and inference from existing institutions. Although certain details have a legendary ring, the main features of the story seem to be reliable.
Solon was of noble descent but moderate means. As the tradition states and his travels and economic measures suggest, he may have been a merchant. He first became prominent about 600 bce, when the Athenians were disheartened by ill success in a war with their neighbours of Megara for possession of the island of Salamis. By publicly reciting a poem that made the issue a matter of national honour and that called on the Athenians to “arise and come to Salamis, to win that fair island and undo our shame,” Solon induced them to resume the war, which they eventually won.
Solon had already held office as archon (annual chief ruler) about 594 bce. It was probably about 20 years later that he was given full powers as reformer and legislator. His first concern was to relieve the immediate distress caused by debt. He redeemed all the forfeited land and freed all the enslaved citizens, probably by fiat. This measure, known popularly as the “shaking off of burdens,” was described by Solon in one of his poems:
These things the black earth…could best witness for the judgment of posterity; from whose surface I plucked up the marking-stones [probably signs of the farmers’ indebtedness] planted all about, so that she who was enslaved is now free. And I brought back to Athens…many who had been sold, justly or unjustly, or who had fled under the constraint of debt, wandering far afield and no longer speaking the Attic tongue; and I freed those who suffered shameful slavery here and trembled at their masters’ whims.
He also prohibited for the future all loans secured on the borrower’s person. But he refused to go to the length demanded by the poor, which was to redistribute the land. Instead, he passed measures designed to increase the general prosperity and to provide alternative occupations for those unable to live by farming: e.g., trades and professions were encouraged; the export of produce other than olive oil was forbidden (so much grain had been exported that not enough remained to feed the population of Attica); the circulation of coined money (invented in Solon’s lifetime) was stimulated by the minting of a native Athenian coinage on a more-suitable standard than that of the coins of neighbours, which had been used hitherto; and new weights and measures were introduced. The rapid spread of the new coinage and of Athenian products, particularly olive oil and pottery, throughout the commercial world of the times, attested by archaeology, shows that these measures were effective. Poverty, though not eliminated, was never again in Attica the crying evil that it had been before Solon’s reforms.
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Solon’s new political constitution abolished the monopoly of the eupatridae and substituted for it government by the wealthy citizens. He instituted a census of annual income, reckoned primarily in measures of grain, oil, and wine, the principal products of the soil, and divided the citizens into four income groups, accordingly. (Those whose income...
Mar 10, 2016 · Solon (c. 640 – c. 560 BCE) was an Athenian statesman, lawmaker, and poet, who is credited with restructuring the social and political organisation of Athens and thereby laying the foundations for Athenian democracy. Such were his accomplishments that, in later centuries, he became a sort of semi-mythical founding father figure who had set ...
- Mark Cartwright
The Solonian constitution was created by Solon in the early 6th century BC. [1] 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 the older laws of Draco. He promulgated a code of laws embracing the ...
2 days ago · Ancient Greek civilization - Solon: Whatever the connection between Cylon and Draco—and one must beware the trap of bringing all the meagre facts about the Archaic period into relation with each other—firmer grounds for postulating economic and social unrest in late 7th-century Attica are to be found in the poetry of Solon. Solon is the first European politician who speaks to the 21st ...
- Simon Hornblower
Solon, a prominent Athenian statesman, lawmaker, and poet, played an essential role in the development of democracy in Ancient Greece. Born around 638 BCE, he lived during a time of significant political and social unrest in Athens. Solon's astute political maneuvering and reforms laid the groundwork for the establishment of democracy, and he is remembered as one of the Seven Sages of Greece ...
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Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Solon . Solon , (born c. 630—died c. 560 bc ), Athenian statesman, reformer, and poet, known as one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece. He was of noble descent but of moderate means. Though he held the office of archon c. 594, he did not gain full power as a reformer and legislator until ...
