24. A Compromise That Worked, Probably Because it Left Nobody Happy
Outrage over the ancient Athenian aristocrats’ enslavement of poorer citizens mounted steadily. Combined with the resentment of the middle tier of farmers, craftsmen, and the rising merchants at their exclusion from government, it brought the polis to the brink of revolution. So the citizen body met in the Ecclesia, the Athenian Assembly, to try and hammer out a solution that would avert a destructive civil war. They entrusted Solon, a respected aristocrat, to reform their city-state, and bound themselves with solemn oaths to accept his decisions.
Solon came up with a set of structural reforms that solved the immediate problems, even as they upset all sides. The rich were upset by Solon’s new laws because he canceled debts, freed the debt slaves, and prohibited the future enslavement of Athenians. The aristocrats were upset because the new laws granted the vote to all adult male citizens, regardless of class or wealth. The wealthy were subdivided between the aristocrats and the rich non-aristocrats because some government positions were reserved for aristocrats, to the exclusion of the non-noble rich. As seen below, the poor also had reason for discontent.