Athens Under Solon

When the city of Athens stood on the brink of revolution, the citizens of Athens looked upon Solon and gave him the task of creating new laws for them because of troubles that had been plaguing them for a long time. “ They saw that he more than anyone else in city, stood apart from the injustices of the time and was involved neither in the extortions of the rich nor the privations of the poor” (Plutarch 55, Par 1). In this paper I will be writing of changes that took effect under Solon and whether those changes resolved the conflicts that brought Athens on the brink of revolution. First, I will be writing about the conflict over land ownership and slavery between aristocrats and common people, who appointed Solon as reconciler and archon and whether his new laws resolved those conflicts. Secondly, I will be writing of conflict over power between aristocrats and aristocrats, feuds that used to run between families and would not get resolved until there was no one left to take revenge on and how Solon’s new laws changed that. And another laws of Solon’s that he was highly appraised for to make an Athens better place under him such as laws on Dowry, Inheritance, and Wills. Thirdly, I will be writing of political laws that took places under Solon’s era and how he secured those laws against alteration for a hundred years that gave powers to common people in Athens. The Two sources I will be using to write this paper are The Athenian Constitution (The document given in class by Prof. Trumbach) and Plutarch: The Rise and fall of Athens (Textbook assigned for class).
Aristocrats vs. Peasants Before I write about the conflict between the aristocrats and the common people, you must know the geographical system of Athens and the people who worked on those lands and how that contributed to the conflict. “The city of Athens was divided into as many parties as there were geographical features in its territory. First there were aristocrats, people who lived in plain, who