In the second book of the Politics, Aristotle distinguishes between those individuals in the past who framed laws (nomoi) and those who both framed laws and created constitutions (politeiai). To the former category belong Zaleucus of Epizephyrian Locri, Charondas of Catana, Philolaos of Corinth who legislated for the Thebans, Dracon of Athens, Pittacus of Mytilene, and Andromadas of Rhegium, who gave laws to the Chalcidian populations of Thrace. Included in the latter category are Solon of Athens and Lycurgus of Sparta (2.9). Aristotle goes on to provide some details concerning some of the laws that were proposed by these individuals. Philolaos, for example, is supposed to have passed legislation limiting the size of families in order to preserve the integrity of estates, while Pittacus decreed that offenses committed while under the influence of alcohol should carry a harsher penalty. As for the code of Charondas, “there is nothing special save for the suits against those who perjure themselves” (2.9.8). For Aristotle, Solon’s most important contribution to the Athenian constitution was the establishment of the jury-courts (2.9.2-3), but for later authors Solon was the architect of a comprehensive law-code. Diogenes Laertius (1.55-57), for example, credits him with enacting legislation concerning maximum rewards for athletes, compensation for the children of those who died in war, the protection of orphans, the duplication of signet rings, and the consequences that are to befall those who assault the partially sighted. The death penalty is prescribed for those who attempt to recoup a deposit they have not made or for magistrates who are caught drunk.
Certainly, the poetry attributed to Solon displays a marked interest in issues of justice (Document 6.1) and many of these concerns can be identified already in the Works and Days (Document 6.2). It is often argued that this notion of an abstract and universal justice, external to the world of mortals, marks a strong contrast with the understanding of judicial process in the Homeric epics. One of the scenes on the ornate shield that the god Hephaestus forges for Achilles depicts an arbitration arising from a homicide, in which the victim’s family refuses the defendant’s request to pay them compensation.
World History
