The Wisdom of Solon
The words of the ancient Athenian lawmaker, on the limits of legislation, sucking up to dictators, and the crime of lounging about.
594-593 BC
The words of the ancient Athenian lawmaker, on the limits of legislation, sucking up to dictators, and the crime of lounging about.
594-593 BC
In about 594-593 BC, Solon was tasked with ending civil strife in Athens. He abolished serfdom, placing the poor on a secure footing against wealthy oppressors. He facilitated inter-city trade and welcomed immigrant craftsmen, revitalising the economy. Finally, he overhauled the constitution, revoking the infamous laws of Draco and establishing a legacy that became the patrimony of classical Athens. Diogenes Laertius, writing in the early AD 200s, looked back on Solon’s career.
Abridged
He seems to have enacted some admirable laws; for instance, if any man neglects to provide for his parents, he shall be disfranchised; moreover there is a similar penalty for the spendthrift who runs through his patrimony. Again, not to have a settled occupation is made a crime for which any one may, if he pleases, impeach the offender.
One of his sayings is: Speech is the mirror of action; and another that the strongest and most capable is king. He compared laws to spiders’ webs, which stand firm when any light and yielding object falls upon them, while a larger thing breaks through them and makes off.* Secrecy he called the seal of speech, and occasion the seal of secrecy. He used to say that those who had influence with tyrants were like the pebbles employed in calculations; for, as each of the pebbles represented now a large and now a small number, so the tyrants would treat each one of those about them at one time as great and famous, at another as of no account.
* A similar metaphor was used by US President John Adams: see A Moral and Religious People.
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
What laws did Solon enact regarding parents?
He required children to provide for them.