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( Solon)
Solon (ancient Greek S????, c. 638 BC–558 BC) was an Athenian statesman, lawmaker, and Lyric poet. He is remembered particularly for his efforts to legislate against political, economic and moral decline in archaic Athens. His reforms failed in the short term yet he is often credited with having laid the foundations for Athenian democracy.[1][2][3][4] Our knowledge of Solon is limited by the lack of documentary and archeological evidence covering Athens in the early 6th Century BC.[5][6] He wrote poetry for pleasure, as patriotic propaganda and in defence of his constitutional reforms. His works only survive in fragments. They appear to feature interpolations by later authors, and it is possible that fragments have been wrongly attributed to him (see Solon the reformer and poet). Ancient authors such as Herodotus and Plutarch are our main source of information, yet they wrote about Solon hundreds of years after his death, when history was by no means an academic discipline (see for example Anecdotes). Fourth Century orators, such as Aeschines, tended to attribute to Solon all the laws of their own, much later times.[7] Archeology reveals glimpses of Solon's period in the form of fragmentary inscriptions but little else. For some scholars, our 'knowledge' of Solon and his times is largely a fictive construct based on insufficient evidence[8][9] while others believe a substantial body of real knowledge is still attainable. [10] Solon and his times can appear particularly interesting to students of history as a test of the limits and nature of historical argument.[11] Previous to 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.[46][47] The Areopagus comprised former archons and it therefore had, in addition to the power of appointment, extraordinary influence as a consultative body. The nine archons took the oath of office while ceremonially standing on a stone in the agora, declaring their readiness to dedicate a golden statue if they should ever be found to have violated the laws.[48][49] 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.[50] There therefore seemed to be no means by which an archon could be called to account for breach of oath unless the Areopagus favoured his prosecution.
According to Aristotle, Solon legislated for all citizens to be admitted into the Ekklesia[51] and for a court (the Heliaia) to be formed from all the citizens.[52] The Heliaia appears to have been the Ekklesia, or some representative portion of it, sitting as a jury.[53][54] By giving common people the power not only to elect officials but also to call them to account, Solon appears to have established the foundations of a true democracy. However some scholars have doubted whether Solon actually included the Thetes in the Ekklesia, this being considered too bold a move for any aristocrat in the archaic period.[55] Ancient sources[56][57] credit Solon with the creation of a Council of Four Hundred, drawn from the four Athenian tribes to serve as a steering committee for the enlarged Ekklesia. However, many modern scholars have doubted this also.[58][59]
There is consensus among scholars that Solon broadened the financial and social qualifications required for election to public office. The Solonian constitution divided citizens into four political classes defined according to assessable property[60][61] a classification that might previously have served the state for military or taxation purposes only.[62] The standard unit for this assessment was one medimnos (approximately 12 gallons) of corn and yet the kind of classification set out below might be considered too simplistic to be historically accurate.[63] According to Aristotle, only the Pentacosiomedimnoi were eligible for election to high office as archons and therefore only they gained admission into the Areopagus.[64] A modern view affords the same privilege to the hippeis.[65] The top three classes were eligible for a variety of lesser posts and only the Thetes were excluded from all public office.
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 the truth lies somewhere between these two extremes.
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