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Solon’s laws, constitutional and judicial reforms instituted by the Athenian statesman and poet Solon probably 20 years after he served as archon (annual chief ruler) in 594 bce.
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Solon, Athenian statesman, known as one of the Seven Wise...
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- The Great Divide Between Rich and Poor in Athens
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In the 8th century B.C., rich farmers began exporting their goods: olive oiland wine. Such cash crops required an expensive initial investment. The poorer farmer was more limited in choice of crop, but he still could have continued to eke out a living, if only he had either rotated his crops or let his fields lie fallow.
When land was mortgaged, hektemoroi (stone markers) were placed on the land to show the amount of debt. During the 7th century, these markers proliferated. The poorer wheat farmers lost their land. Laborers were free men who paid out 1/6th of all they produced. In the years of poor harvests, this wasn't enough to survive. To feed themselves and the...
Solon, a lyric poet, and the first Athenian literary figure whose name we know, came from an aristocratic family which traced its ancestry back 10 generations to Hercules, according to Plutarch. Aristocratic beginnings did not prevent him from fearing that someone of his class would try to become tyrant. In his reform measures, he pleased neither t...
Solon's laws do not appear to have been systematic, but provided regulations in the areas of politics, religion, public and private life (including marriage, burial, and the use of springs and wells), civil and criminal life, commerce (including a prohibition on export of all Attic produce except olive oil, although Solonencouraged the export of ar...
J.B. Bury. A History of GreeceRichard Hooker's (wsu.edu/~dee/GREECE/ATHENS.HTM) Ancient Greece: AthensSolon, Athenian statesman, known as one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece. Solon ended exclusive aristocratic control of the government, substituted a system of control by the wealthy, and introduced a new and more humane law code. He was also a noted poet.
Solon's reforms included debt relief later known and celebrated among Athenians as 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.
Solon's reforms were a series of political and economic changes introduced by the Athenian statesman Solon around 594 BCE aimed at alleviating social tensions and creating a more equitable society.
The Solonian Reforms were a series of political, economic, and social changes implemented by the Athenian statesman Solon around 594 BCE. These reforms aimed to alleviate social tensions, reduce the power of aristocrats, and promote economic prosperity by addressing issues like debt slavery and land ownership.
Under Solon's reforms, all debts were abolished and all debt-slaves were freed. The status of the hectemoroi (the "one-sixth workers"), who farmed in an early form of serfdom, was also abolished. These reforms were known as the Seisachtheia.
