Analysis: The Athenian Constitution, Section 1

Date: 350 BCE

Geographic Region: Athens, Greece

Author: Aristotle

Translator: Frederic G. Kenyon

Summary Overview

Aristotle's writing on the Athenian Constitution provides a historical account of the laws governing Athens during the seventh century BCE and the circumstances that led to the political reforms of Solon the archon in 594 BCE.

Before Solon, Athenian society followed a strict social hierarchy. Only wealthy aristocrats born into certain classes could hold government offices. Citizens who lacked this prerequisite were unable to hold office and had no other representation in the government. Many laws existed to protect the power of the wealthy, and many of Athens's poorer residents ended up tenant farmers or slaves due to debt.

Solon's changes retained class distinctions, but based them upon property ownership and income rather than birth circumstances. Only the top three classes could hold public offices, but all citizens had certain rights to representation within the government. Solon's laws lasted only for several years, but formed the foundation of the democratic government later introduced to Athens by Cleisthenes.

Defining Moment

Historical records regarding the system of government in ancient Greece exist from around the eighth and seventh centuries BCE. At that time, Athens was not ruled by a king who automatically inherited his title from birth. Instead, the king was appointed by his fellow aristocrats from among a small number of wealthy landowners, as was the polemarch (a senior military official) and the archon (a senior judicial official). Sometimes these appointments could be made only by former holders of the positions, which caused power to become concentrated within a few families.

Around 630 BCE, an athlete named Cylon gained considerable fame after winning an Olympic footrace. With his newfound celebrity, he gathered a group of supporters and attempted to seize Athens and make himself the leader. This attempt was thwarted when Cylon and his men were killed by the city's aristocrats. However, his near success made the wealthy class realize that their absolute power over Athens could be threatened at any time.

Athenians appointed Draco to create new laws around 620 BCE. As Aristotle describes them, these new laws gave representational and voting rights to citizens based on their ability to “furnish themselves with a military equipment,” which included bronze armor and expensive weapons. This, once again, excluded the poorer citizens from representation. Draco's laws were also infamous for their harshness (his name is the root of the word “draconian”) and further fueled the crisis emerging in Athens between the wealthy landowners and the poor citizens. Many of the poorer citizens were farmers, and in years when harvests were meager, they had to mortgage their land and borrow money from the wealthy to survive. This often led to further hardship and, sometimes, loss of their land altogether. Many of the poor became tenant farmers, or in some extreme cases, actual slaves owned by their lenders.

In 594 BCE, Solon was selected as archon to undertake another revision to the laws of Athens. He made many significant changes to how the government and administration operated. Solon was from an aristocratic family and was middle class based on his own wealth. Nonetheless, he was described by Aristotle as a “champion of the people” and sought to improve the condition of the common Athenian in relation to the ruling aristocracy.

Aristotle noted that this combination often leads to tyrannical leaders who use their alleged support of social justice as a way to seize power for themselves. However, historians generally agree that Solon showed no such tendency. The changes he made to laws in Athens seemed designed genuinely to help the poor achieve better representation within the government, live free of debt and enslavement, and have an opportunity to improve their social standing.

Author Biography

Aristotle was born in northern Greece in 384 BCE. He initially trained in medicine before moving to Athens in 367 BCE to study philosophy with Plato. He stayed at Plato's Academy until about 347 BCE, when he left Athens to travel and further his scientific studies in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey). Around 343 BCE, Aristotle began tutoring Alexander the Great in Macedonia. When Alexander conquered Athens, Aristotle returned with him to set up his own school, the Lyceum. When Athens rebelled against Macedonian rule after Alexander's death, Aristotle fled to the Greek island of Euboea to avoid being put to death. He died shortly thereafter, in 322 BCE.

Aristotle is believed to have written about 150 philosophical treaties, of which about thirty have survived. His writings cover a wide range of topics, including biology, philosophy, physics, morals, aesthetics, and politics.

Document Analysis

Aristotle's writing on the Athenian Constitution begins with a historical account of early Athenian laws and the disparate impact they had on the different classes that existed within the society. For example, he explains that “all loans [were] secured upon the debtor's person,” so that if a debtor borrowed money and could not repay it, the debtor—and sometimes his children, too—became slaves of the lender.

In its early days, Athens was ruled by three leaders: the king, the polemarch, and the archon. These leaders were primarily appointed by members of the wealthy aristocracy, who inherited their power by virtue of their birth. Members of lower classes were excluded from participating in government.

Hoping to resolve the tension between classes, Athenian aristocrats appointed Solon as archon to establish new laws. According to Aristotle, Solon blamed the wealthy for the constant conflicts between the rich and poor and established new laws to give poor Athenians an opportunity to be represented in government and improve their overall position within society.

Aristotle documents that one of Solon's first acts was to prohibit loans on the security of the debtor's person; i.e., an individual could no longer be enslaved if he could not repay his debt. Perhaps most controversially, Solon also cancelled all debts, public and private, liberating a large number of Athenians from this great burden. He established four classes based on property ownership, the upper three classes of which could hold public office. However, all four classes were allowed to participate in the assemblies that created the laws and the juries that applied them.

Solon's novel approach made him unpopular with both sides. To avoid harassment by those seeking to convince him to change the laws, Aristotle writes, Solon left for Egypt. Unfortunately, his radical changes, combined with his prolonged absence from Athens, did little to ease tension between the classes.

Aristotle goes on to detail how the next several decades were marked by tyrannical leaders seizing power—most notably Pisistratus, who alternately ruled Athens and lived in exile for thirty-three years. Despite being a tyrant, Pisistratus was known for his “popular and kindly disposition.” He won favor with both classes by socializing with the wealthy, while providing farming assistance to the poor. His sons ruled with much more aggression until they were either assassinated or expelled.

Following several more years of rule under a changing lineup of tyrants, Athens embraced Cleisthenes as its leader. Like Solon, Aristotle explains, Cleisthenes sought to ease tensions between the classes, but managed to do so with greater popular support. He organized the population into ten classes, also called tribes, for representation purposes. He intentionally intermixed the members of the four former classes into the ten new tribes, to break up old loyalties and provide more people with an opportunity for government representation.

Bibliography and Additional Reading

“Aristotle (384–322 B.C.E.).” University of California Museum of Paleontology. U of California, n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2015.

Brummett, Palmira J., et al. Civilization Past and Present. 11th ed. Vol. 1. New York: Longman, 2005. Print.

Ehrenberg, Victor. From Solon to Socrates: Greek History and Civilization during the Sixth and Fifth Centuries BC. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 1973. Print.

Fritz, Kurt von. “The Composition of Aristotle's Constitution of Athens and the So-Called Dracontian Constitution.” Classical Philology 49.2 (1954): 73–93. Print.

Martin, Thomas R. Ancient Greece: From Prehistoric to Hellenistic Times. 2nd ed. New Haven: Yale UP, 2013. Print.