Solonian constitution
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 whole of public and private life, the salutary effects[a] of which lasted long after the end of his constitution.
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
Classes
Pentacosiomedimnoi
The pentacosiomedimni or pentakosiomedimnoi (
- Nine archonsand treasurers
- Council of Areopagus(as ex-archons)
- Council of 500
- Ecclesia
The pentacosiomedimnoi could also serve as generals (strategoi) in the Athenian army.
Hippeis
The hippeus was the second highest of the four social classes. It was composed of men who had at least 300
Zeugitae
The zeugitae (
The zeugitae could serve as hoplites in the Athenian army. The idea was that one could serve as a hoplite if he had enough money to equip himself in that manner, i.e. he could produce 200
At the time of Solon's reforms, zeugitae were granted the right to hold certain minor political offices.[4] Their status rose through the years; in 457/6 BC, they were granted the right to hold the archonship,[5] and in the late 5th century moderate oligarchs advocated for the creation of an oligarchy in which all men of hoplite status or higher would be enfranchised, and such a regime was indeed established for a time during the Athenian coup of 411 BC.[6]
They were eligible for a few positions of government in Athens such as:
- Council of 400
- Lower offices of state
- Ecclesia
- In 457−456 BC, the archonship was opened to zeugitae
Thetes
The thetes (
In the reforms of Ephialtes and Pericles around 460–450 BC, the thetes were empowered to hold public office.[7][full citation needed]
Twelve thousand thetes were disenfranchised and expelled from the city after the Athenian defeat in the Lamian War. There is debate among scholars whether this represented the entire number of thetes, or simply those who left Athens, the remainder staying behind.
Unlike the popular concept of
Details
Of the population dissatisfied, the inhabitants of the northern mountainous region of
Timocracy
By this measure he pleased neither party, but the rich were dissatisfied at the loss of their securities, and the poor were still more so because the land was not divided afresh, as they hoped it would be, and because he had not, like Lykurgus , established absolute equality.
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... [Solon], wishing to leave all magistracies as he found them, in the hands of the wealthy classes, but to give the people a share in the rest of the constitution, from which they were then excluded, took a census of the wealth of the citizens, and made a first class of those who had an annual income of not less than five hundred medimni of dry or liquid produce; these he called pentakosiomedimni. The next class were the Hippeis, or knights, consisting of those who were able to keep a horse, or who had an income of three hundred medimni. The third class were the Zeugitae, whose property qualification was two hundred medimni of dry or liquid produce; and the last class were the Thetes, whom Solon did not permit to be magistrates, but whose only political privilege was the right of attending the public assemblies and sitting as jurymen in the law courts. This privilege was at first insignificant, but afterwards became of infinite importance, because most disputes were settled before a jury. Even in those cases which he allowed the magistrates to settle, he provided a final appeal to the people. |
| —Plutarch, Life of Solon 16:1[11] | —Plutarch, Life of Solon 18:1[2] |
Solon further instituted a timocracy, (τιμοκρατία) and those who did not belong to the nobility received a share in the rights of citizens,[i] according to a scale determined by their property and their corresponding services to the Athenian State. For this purpose, he divided the population into four classes,[j] founded on the possession of land:
- pentacosiomedimni(or pentacosiomedimnoi) – who had at least 500 medimni of produce as yearly income
- hippeis – knights, with at least 300 medimni
- zeugitae– possessors of a yoke of oxen, with at least 150 medimni
- thetes– workers for wages, with less than 150 medimni of yearly income
Solon's legislation only granted to the first three of these four classes a vote in the election of responsible officers, and only to the first class the power of election to the highest offices; as, for instance, that of archon. The first three classes were bound to serve as
Each division had different rights; for example, the pentacosiomedimnoi could be archons, while thetes could only attend the Athenian assembly. The fourth class was excluded from all official positions, but possessed the right of voting in the general public assemblies (the Heliaia) which chose officials and passed laws. They had also the right of taking part in the trials by jury which Solon had instituted.
Council of the Four Hundred
Solon established a constitutional order with a single chief consultative body, and a single administrative body. Solon established as the chief consultative body the
See also
Explanatory notes
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- ^ Effecting or designed to effect an improvement
- ^ the "shaking-off of burdens".
- Pisistratusavailed of pediani against diacrii. In the time of Solon, when he had choose a form of government, the democratic diacrii they wanted, the pediani asked the aristocracy, and the paralii a mixed government.
- ^ The Greek word, pedion (πεδίον) means 'plain', 'flat', 'field'.
- ^ In ancient Greece, the power of creditors over the persons of their debtors was absolute; and, as in all cases where despotic control is tolerated, their rapacity was boundless. They compelled the insolvent debtors to cultivate their lands like entile, to perform the service of beasts of burthen, and to transfer to them their sons and daughters, whom they exported as slaves to foreign countries.
- For more, see 1832 Select Committee report: "Imprisonment for Debt" in Reports of Committees of The House of Representatives.[9]
- ^ Used around the Euboea
- Argos
- ^ Used around the Aegina
- ^ by which the exclusive rights which the nobles had till then possessed were set aside
- ^ Not unlike the four occupations of Ancient China.
- ^ According to Aristotle's Constitution of Athens, 4, a Council of 401 members was part of Dracon's constitution (about 621 B.C.). The members were selected by lot from the whole body of citizens. Solon (who was archon in 594) reduced the Council to 400, one hundred from each of the four tribes; and extended in some particulars the powers already possessed by the Areopagus (ib. 8). See Boule
References and citations
- ^ A Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, Mythology, Religion, Literature and Art, from the German of Dr. Oskar Seyffert. Page 595
- ^ a b Plutarch (1914), Chapter 18, section 1.
- ^ Whitehead (1981), pp. 282–283.
- ^ Fine (1983), p. 209.
- ^ Renshaw (2008), p. 147.
- ^ Kagan (2003), pp. 398−399.
- ^ Raaflaub, 2008, p. 140[full citation needed]
- ^ Sources:
- Sargent, 1927, pp, 266–268[full citation needed];
- Ruschenbusch, 1979, pp. 106 & 110
- ^ R M. Johnson; Select Committee (January 17, 1832), "Imprisonment for Debt", Reports of Committees of The House of Representatives: 1st Session, 22nd Congress, Begun and Held at the City of Washington, December 7, 1831, vol. I (of five), House of Representatives, United States Congress, Report No. 194
- ^ Aristotle (1952), Chapter 10.
- ^ Plutarch (1914a), Chapter 16, section 1.
Sources
- ISBN 0-674-03314-0.
- ISBN 0-670-03211-5.
- Renshaw, James (2008). In search of the Greeks. London: Bristol Classical Press; A & C Black. ISBN 978-1-85399-699-3.
- Ruschenbusch, Eberhard (1979). "Zur Besatzung athenischer Trieren". Historia. 28 (1): 106–110. JSTOR 4435656.
- Whitehead, David (December 1981). "The Archaic Athenian ΖΕΥΓΙΤΑΙ". The Classical Quarterly. 31 (2): 282–286. S2CID 197903099.
Primary
- Aristotle (1952). Constitution of the Athenians. Translated by Horace Rackham. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann Ltd. – via Perseus Digital Library.
- Plutarch's Lives: Solon. (1914 edition, with English translation by Bernadotte Perrin). London: William Heinemann Ltd. – digitised and published online by Perseus Digital Library, Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press.
- "18: section 1". Plutarch's Lives: Solon. Translated by Bernadotte Perrin. London: William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Retrieved 2019-05-06 – via Perseus Digital Library, Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press.
- "16: section 1". Plutarch's Lives: Solon. Translated by Bernadotte Perrin. London: William Heinemann Ltd. 1914a – via Perseus Digital Library, Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press.
Further reading
- Greenidge, Abel Hendy Jones (1896): A Handbook of Greek Constitutional History, Macmillan and Company, "§ 3 Epochs Of Constitutional Reform At Athens".
- Linforth, Ivan Mortimer (1919): Solon the Athenian, vol. 6, University of California Press.
- Schmitz, Winfried (2023). Leges Draconis et Solonis (LegDrSol). Eine neue Edition der Gesetze Drakons und Solons mit Übersetzung und historischer Einordnung. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner. ISBN 978-3-515-13361-6.
- ISBN 1-4326-6588-X.
pentacosiomedimni
External links
- The Athenian Constitution, Aristotle (c. 350 BC). Commentary on the Solonian Constitution.
- The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, Plutarch (c. 75 AD). Article on "Solon".
- The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State, Frederick Engels. Chapter V: "The Rise of the Athenian State", discusses the significance and effects of Solonian Constitution.