Solon And Lycurgus Essay

The leaders who instigated democracy in Athens, Greece in the 6th and 5th century BCE created a functioning system of government that attempted to benefit its citizens. However, the system of democracy included weaknesses that didn’t support all people to the best of its ability and was overthrown in the end due to war. Several significant leaders were necessary in the commencement of Athenian democracy. These included Solon, Cleisthenes and Pericles. All three had heavy influence in the establishment of democracy, but it was Pericles who truly prospered it. Solon was an aristocratic, not a democratic, but he still believed in supporting the people. Cleisthenes began land reforms which made all of Attica connected as one. Pericles made Athens

In the time before Solon there was a lot of conflict in Athens. Some between the aristocrats and the peasants. The rich had enslaved a lot of the poor people and most of the other poor people had debt with them. This drove the poor to seek a revolution because it was becoming unbearable. Other conflict that existed was  between the different aristocratic families themselves. Megacles and Cylon’s factions had a blood feud going that was quite serious at the time of Solon. Solon made several different laws to fix these problems. He was able the end the blood feuds for the most part and give both the poor and the rich a benefit from the new system of laws. Thus successfully getting them to work together instead of them

Sometime during the period of 594/3 to 570 B.C., the citizens of Athens gave one of their foremost statesmen, Solon, the task of creating new laws for them because of troubles that had been plaguing them. There are several theories as to when Solon's work was completed. The date of Solon's legislation has always been in question and a date that everyone agrees with has never been proposed. There is evidence for several different dates. The first is 594/3, the year in which Solon was the Eponymous archon in Athens. This argument has several claims to its defense but also many arguments against it. Another major date proposed is not so much a specific date as it is a span of time in which he may have started and/or

The Spartans were a military force to be rekon with, in part their entire lives were focused upon developing and training their people into excellent soldiers. In order to have a society that had such a presence, their way of life was drastically different from any other city- state of this time. Politically, there was no hierarchy within Sparta, all men were seen as legally equal. The government leaders were made up of two hereditary kings, who would often be prominent leaders within their military. There was a council that was referred as, the “Gerousia”. The council was only made up of men who had reached a certain age, around sixty years. This was to ensure that only men with experience and knowledge would be able to deliberate the important issues that were being discussed. These men also were retired from the Spartan military, thus having knowledge in military strategy. This group mainly reviews foreign and domestic issues, which ultimately is preparation for the council made up of Spartan citizens(73-74).

At the end of the Peloponnesian War in the late fifth-century B.C.E., the Greek city-state of Sparta reigned supreme. Having defeated their longtime rival Athens, Sparta firmly established a dominant position in the Greek world, one that modern historians refer to as Spartan hegemony. However, Sparta’s position as the foremost power in Greece would be challenged over the next several decades, and ultimately ending with their defeat at the Battle of Leuctra in 371 B.C.E. by the Boeotian League, spearheaded by the city-state of Thebes. Both ancient and modern sources alike have provided assessments about how this shift in power could have occurred in such a short amount of time. Much focus is often placed on the problems facing Spartan society in the late fifth-century to early fourth-century B.C.E., including the influx of wealth after the Peloponnesian War, which led to increased inequality, and to the declining population of full Spartan citizens. However, more attention has often been on the Spartan foreign policy during this period and its role in the failure of Spartan hegemony. During this thirty-year hegemony, Agesilaus, one of the Spartan kings from 400 to 358 BCE, dominated Spartan politics and pursued policies in his own self-interest and against Sparta’s. Furthermore, during his reign, Agesilaus adopted a hostile foreign policy towards the other Greek city-states and become obsessed with wanting to destroy Thebes.

This is due to the beginning of democracy forced by Solon and his followers. This form of government is based on rule by ordinary men, unlike all forms of rule at that time. The way this government is so important is due to the fact that at this time, all western civilizations are under a democracy, something not ever considered possible before the Athenians had it occur. In document three it contains an excerpt of Pericles’ funeral oration where a major topic was democracy. It explained how their form of government was a true rule of the people, a neglect of discrimination, as well as social scale.

The people of Ancient Athens lived under the rule of an aristocracy where they needed a leader who would look out for them and help them rebuild their society and that’s where Solon came in. Solon was the reformer who took control around the year 549 B.C. that made the most significant changes because unlike the previous leader he changed society and government to make it accessible to all people not just the upper class. The first thing he did was change the class system so that it wasn’t hereditary and anyone could reach the upper class status if they made enough money. Solon also helped prevent a revolt among the lower class by eliminating the harsh laws that the previous ruler had put in place. Solon created a more fair and equal government

Plutarch’s image of the Lawgiver Lycurgus is that of a man who is willing to relinquish absolute power out of appreciation of justice. This image is captured in the book when Lycurgus gives up his kingship after discovering that his brother’s wife was pregnant (Plutarch, 2005, p. 4). Plutarch goes on to describe the travels of Lycurgus after leaving Sparta and then focuses on the reforms or innovations that he put in place in Sparta after his return. The first of the innovations by Lycurgus was the creation of the Elders. Plutarch explains that Lycurgus’s Elders were a stability group to keep balance between the king and people (Plutarch, 2005, p. 8).

Often overlooked, Solon was possibly one of the most influential people from ancient Greece. Solon was most famous for being an Athenian statesman and lawmaker, though in his early years he was only a merchant. He lived from 638 to 558 B.C.E. He was the son of Execestidos, born into a distinguished but not particularly rich family. The three most important things about Solon were his achievements, beliefs, and contributions.

He created the council of 400 and the jury court. Having a democracy allowed all of the citizens to take part in elections. A new archon was elected every year. “Undoubtedly it helped the citizens of Athens to broaden their minds, their cultural

Greeks have always been the source of many impressive ideas, inventions, and creations. Their society was the first to form a fair system and government called “Democracy”. One of the founders of Democracy is Solon, an Athenian statesman, lawmaker, and poet .He’s known for having laid the foundations for Athenian democracy and for his efforts to legislate against the archaic Draco laws. Solon was born in Athens in 638 B.C. He belonged to a Eupatrid family in which his father was Execestides and his lineage, therefore could be traced back to Codrus, the last King of Athens.

Solon is hailed as the person who started the democratization process in Athens though what he created is not what we would call a democracy. Solon was chosen by the people to create the constitution of Athens after the Draconian reforms of 621 B.C which were extremely harsh and drove the lucky people into slavery, for almost all other offences the penalty was death; the rich got richer and the poor got poorer, the overall morale of the people was low. According to Aristotle (the Constitution of Athens) “the strife was keen, and for a long time the two parties were ranged in hostile camps against one another, till at last, by common consent, they appointed Solon to be the mediator and Archon, and committed the whole constitution to his hands.” The civic unrest was so disastrous that Athens needed a radicle change.

One of the most famous contributions from ancient Greece is democracy. We still even use that form of government today. ( outside information). Pericles invented that type of government so that everyone can serve, no matter what social class you are in (document

He tried to urge citizens to voice their opinions and contribute support like we do in today’s form of democracy (page 62 line 8). An alternative way Solon tried to encourage people to partake in the bettering of Athens was by turning Athens into a city of manufacturing. Prior to Solon, the people were poor and unproductive so he passed a law dictating that a son does not have to support his father unless he has been taught a trade (page 64 paragraph 2). This law invigorated fathers to show their sons how to assemble things such as metal, pottery etc. Solon correspondingly allowed/encouraged foreigners who knew trades to come to Athens to try to add to the welfare of the city (page 65 line 4). Solon granted citizenship to foreigners who emigrated

The Athenian law giver, Solon of the 5th century, is admired by Herodotus for his attempts to change Athens from an aristocracy to an oligarchy. Through the story of Solon and lydian tyrant Croesus, Herodotus admires further the character of Solon by illustrating that he was a wise man who understood the importance of an enduring legacy. When Croesus took Solon through his treasury to witness the vast amount of wealth he had obtained, he asks Solon if his prosperity and happiness was the greatest in all of Greece. Solon’s answer suprises and frustrates Croesus because it speaks of men whom had already died, and whom had died most nobaly. Herodotus, as a Greek, praises Solon’s idea to measure the prosperity and happiness of a man only after death because he too believes that the status of someone can only be established once he