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Seven Sages

Socrates

Solon

Athenian statesman, poet and (probably) merchant. Aristocrat by birth but not independently wealthy. Played an active role in Athens' war with Megara for control of the island of Salamis (c. 600 B.C.E.) Served as chief archon in 594/93, the year that according to tradition he instituted his famous reforms (although internal evidence puts this date into question.) He is claimed to have traveled extensively, visiting Asia Minor and Egypt, in the ten years following his archonship, which contributed to his fame as an honorable man. (He gave the law, then left to let his countryman put the system into effect. Upon his return he found Athens in political turmoil and strife. All this is to be taken with some skepticism, as literary traditions relating to Solon date only from the 4c B.C.E.) He cancelled all debts which used land or personal liberty as collateral and restored lands to those who had lost them. He introduced a coinage and system of weights and measures. He revised the constitution in an attempt to achieve a compromise among the aristocrats, merchants, and peasants. He divided the citizenry into four classes according to income levels, reserving certain offices for the most prosperous (thus attempting to satisfy the aristocrats) while (this for the poorer citizens) codifying probably for the first time the rights and powers of the ekklesia or Assembly and establshing a new Council (the "boule") that limited the ancient powers of the Areopagus and other magistrates. A noble effort at compromise, only partially successful.

Revised September 2, 1996

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