Solon Reform Athens example essay topic

1. From what kind of crisis was Athens suffering before Solon was given power? Factually, there were two main problems in Athens then. The first problem was the large amount of political parties. The second problem was an ine quali ty of people. The amount of political parties was really big one party for one region.

The party of the Men of the Mountains was democratic. The party of the Men o f the Plains was aristocratic. And the party of the Men of the Coast, being a mix of the first two parties, was just a barrier for both of them, so that next her could gain significant power. Another, more important, problem was the inequality between poor and rich people. Actually, all the population was in debt of the rich.

People were alm ost enslaved. So, the situation was so unstable, that there appeared the need of tyranny the power of one person, who would protect, redistribute, devise and re for m. 2. Why was Solon selected? Solon was not only well-educated and intelligent person with high moral qualities, but he also was in good relations both with poor and rich. Solon was really a smart, clever and spiritually developed person.

He was "a lover of knowledge" and educated himself during entire life. He traveled a lot, acquired friends and gained experience. In addition, Solon alone had no enemies neither from rich people, nor from poor. He had enough money not to borrow and he didn't share injustice of the rich. Moreover, he himself took the position of the poor rather than of the rich because he says that "many evil men are rich and many good men are poor...

". . 3. How did Solon reform Athens? In addition to help in discharging of debts, Solon has provided two very significant, important and appropriate reforms in Athens. Firstly, he abolished all of the laws of Draco because of their harshness and the severity of punishment.

Secondly, he created a very developed system of "Corn-measures", "Cavalries", "Ox-owners" and "Men without property". So, he had given more power "to t he demos". He denied all products, except for oil, to be exported, because of "unhealthy" import / export practice, which existed then. So, Solon had done a good job and had written really "the best laws they (Athenians) could have received". 4. What factors motivated Solon to encourage foreigners to settle in Athens?

Solon gave the right to become the citizen only to people on exile and to merchants, which wanted to settle down in the city permanently with the enter e family for trading. The purpose of such a decision was to attract tradesmen to the city, to support economy and, afterwards, enrich the city.