Before city-states, clans banded together to form brotherhoods {phratry} for religious rites. Councils formed, including priests and family leaders. Assemblies of all adult males formed.
He published first Greek law code.
Soldiers {hoplite} had armor, helmets, spears, shields, and formations.
He gave more people right to vote, eliminated personal revenge, published a harsh criminal code prescribing death penalty for most crimes, and set property rights that favored upper class.
He lived -638 to -558 and codified laws that protected peasant lands from merchants, opened assembly to all free men, gave power to assembly, and created Council of the Four Hundred as trial jury [-594].
Demiurgoi selected Solon to reform law and to be dictator and forced eupatrids to approve. Solon declared amnesty, abolished all Draco's laws except for murder, and codified Greek law. Athenians had to take oaths not to alter his laws for 100 years, and his laws held for 50 years.
He established plutocracy. He reordered social classes based on property and taxed them accordingly. Social classes, from highest to lowest, were eligible for fewer and fewer offices.
He kept Council of Areopagus but reduced its powers. He gave assembly {ekklesia} power to elect the nine governors {archon}. He created council {boule, council} of 400 people, one hundred from each Attic tribe, to bring legislation before assembly.
He devalued currency and reduced or eliminated all debts. He freed citizens enslaved through debt and bought back citizens sold to foreigners. He ended making debtors slaves. He limited land owned by one person.
He allowed citizens to indict any person. He allowed citizens to be on juries.
He allowed man who had no sons to make will.
He held state responsible to educate sons of men killed in battle.
He legalized prostitution. He closely regulated behavior of women and conduct in society.
First city-state assemblies {Aeropagus} included all adult males. In assemblies, nobles and commoners had one vote each. Assemblies declared war, negotiated peace, banished people, and imposed death sentence.
King was leader, and council was priests and family patriarchs. Social classes were rigid. Aliens could not be citizens.
Families were patriarchal. Families had separate houses to ensure privacy of family gods, associated with hearth. Ancestor burial places were sacred.
Private property arose. It recorded titles and leases. Sons got equal land shares. Neutral strips separated fields of different families. No alien owned land. There were many slaves.
In marriage, bride wore white, veil, crown, and gown. Groom had to carry his bride over threshold, against her mock resistance. They ate cake after the wedding to show union.
The Greek goddess Themis controlled moral law and harmony. Her daughters were Dike, for divine law and morality, and Eunomia, for law and order.
Traders developed banking system, had religious corporations, and had trading syndicates and business groups, an idea borrowed from Babylonians.
citizens {metic}.
Priest sacred rituals, customs, and practices {thesmoi} {thesmothetai} became laws {nomoi}, which local committees often revised.
Criminal punishments were milder than in other countries. The state enforced criminal penalties. Greece did not imprison criminals much. In civil cases, victor had to enforce judgment himself.
Each year, lots selected 6000 citizens. Because there were many cases, jury duty was full-time job. Immediately before trial, to prevent bribery, lot selected 500 jurors to form jury {dicastery}. Litigant presented his case or hired orator. Evidence was also in writing. People {compurgator} swore that person was innocent or that plaintiff was right. Law advisors {exegetai} helped jury. Juries did not debate but only voted.
Constitution changed often, resulting in less authority, less religion, fewer customs, and new laws and principles for society.
Greek city-states established war rules. Rules protected prisoners, established method to formally declare war, described arbitration under treaty, forbid poisoning weapons, prohibited temple and embassy ransacking, established ambassador privileges, and established right of asylum.
League joined city-states.
League joined city-states.
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Date Modified: 2022.0225