Solon And Slavery

Soon after Draco appointed many harsh laws, Solon stepped in and expedited almost all of them excluding those concerning homicide. Death was the penalty for almost all crimes, even petty crimes such as stealing vegetables. Solon saw this as brutality and quickly eliminated these laws. Solon also abolished debt slavery, a law that stated that if a destitute person owed debt to an aristocrat, they would be sold into slavery to pay off the debt. He also paid attention to the many demands of the needy, things Draco minded as frivolous. Abolishing laws and starting afresh, Solon created new social classes which were based on income, not on occupation. Starting afresh allowed Solon to give Athens a new reputation, one that people feared. A successful
economy, with even the needy being tended to, meant more sustenance from the people. Athens, a city-state with a successful economy and a tenacious ruler who had full aid of his people equaled a city-state not to be messed with