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The Athenian Constitution

Preprint · April 2020

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.18344.32001

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Shahram Arshadnejad
Claremont Graduate University
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The Athenian Constitution Shahram Arshadnejad© 9/19/2018

The Athenian Constitution

(The work considered outside Corpus Aristotelicum)

The book is in fact, the history of Athens’ political transition from an oligarchy to democracy. It is
exclusively talking about the evolution of laws. There is no talk of the philosophical enquiry of
rights. One should not expect reading Locke or Montesquieu here. The word “constitution” in this
context does not necessarily mean that it is about the governing of laws and their evolution as the
centerpiece of government. Rather, this book is about the structure of power and its evolution. In
fact, it shows that it was tyranny which led the way to democracy itself. This book has documented
the fact that they were some of the tyrants who changed the oligarchic system in favor of the
populace, before considering democracy as an Athenian tradition. It is a history of the practical
development of distributing wealth and power.

The book in the first part talks about the court condemning and putting a curse on Megacles of
Alcmaeonid family when they broke their promise to spare the lives of the agitators who took refuge
in Acropolis (Cylon and his supporters from Megara). The supports of the two families sparked a war
between Athens and Megara. Eventually, the Alcmaeonids were made to stand trial and were
condemned. There was a curse put on them and they were expelled from Attica, including uprooting
the bones’ of their dead in order to cleanse the city of Athens. 1

The power, according to the first structure (constitution), was oligarchical and the populace (the
people with no wealth and status by birth) were subjugated as serfs. They had no legal protection.
The serfs were called Pelatae and also Hetemori because they cultivated the lands of the rich at the
rent.

The whole wealth (land) of the country was in the hands of the few. The rest were just tenants. And
if they failed to pay their rent, they were liable by their persons. It meant that failure to pay normally
led them and their children into slavery. All loans served upon the debtor’s person.

The structure of the Ancient Constitution was:

 The magistrates were elected for the office-based on wealth and birth. First, it was
for life but then modified to 10 years.
 The first magistrates were the kings, the second were Polemarch and the third were
Archons.

The new offices were added to the original office of the King: the office of Polemarch, and the
office of Archon. There were nine Archons as the chiefs of each of the nine tribes, which
constituted the whole populace of Athens.

1
The Athenian Constitution. Aristotle. Trans. P. J. Rhodes. Penguin Books, 1984.

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Then there was the council of Areopagus, which was constitutionally assigned the task of protecting
the laws. It was the council of Archons who had served in the past. Such was the outline of the first
constitution.

Draco2 then enacted his ordinances and made some changes to the aforementioned constitution. The
new constitution considered military service as the measure for enfranchisement, for the first time.
Part 4 of the text explains in detail about what Draco did to the constitution. Areopagus was the
council with a clear mission and to protect the laws by over watching the magistrates. The council
was the guardian of the laws. This was the extent of Draco’s progress. However, the lands still were
in the hands of the few and the populace was renting those lands by their persons and children’s.
This eventually, caused a revolt and uprising by the impoverished and enslaved populace against the
few (the upper class).

Solon3 came into power by consent of the both adversarial camps after a long conflict between the
two. They appointed Solon to be the mediator and Archon. Both adversarial camps commissioned
Solon the task of modification of the constitution. Solon is the first statesman who revolutionized
the structure of power in favor of the poor. He abolished this type of agreement since serfdom was
the main cause of the disturbances for the populace.

Solon’s crucial and unprecedented act was to abolish the security of loans by the debtor’s person. He
also cancelled all private and public debts. The debt cancellation act was called Seisachtheia. Solon
obviously could just make enemies for himself among the wealthy class. He came from a moderate
origin and maintained his position as a moderator. He refused to become a tyrant. Instead, he
managed to incur the hostility of both parties by placing his honor and the public welfare above his
person.

Solon later wrote a new constitution and enacted new laws. He removed Draco’s ordinances from
the constitution with an exception of those relating to murder. Solon divided the population into
four classes: Pentakosiomedimni4, Knights (Hippeis), Zeugitae5 and Thetes6. He assigned the various

2 Draco (/ˈdreɪkoʊ/; Greek: Δράκων, Drakōn; fl. c. 7th century BC) was the first
recorded legislator of Athens in Ancient Greece. He replaced the prevailing system of oral law and blood feud by a
written code to be enforced only by a court of law. Draco was the first democratic legislator, he was requested by
the Athenian citizens to be a lawgiver for the city-state, but the citizens were fully unaware that Draco would establish
harsh laws. Draco's written law was characterized by its harshness. To this day, the adjective draconian refers to similarly
unforgiving rules or laws, in English and other European languages. Wikipedia.

3 Solon (Greek: Σόλων Sólōn [só.lɔːn]; 638 – 558 BC) was an Athenian statesman, lawmaker and poet. He is remembered
particularly for his efforts to legislate against political, economic and moral decline in archaic Athens. His reforms failed
in the short term, yet he is often credited with having laid the foundations for Athenian democracy. He wrote poetry for
pleasure, as patriotic propaganda and in defense of his constitutional reforms. Wikipedia.

4 The pentacosiomedimni or pentakosiomedimnoi (Greek: πεντακοσιομέδιμνοι) were the top class of citizens: those
whose property or estate could produce 500 medimnoi of wet or dry goods (or their equivalent), per year. They were
eligible for all top positions of government in Athens. These were: 9 archons and treasurers, Council of Areopagus (as
ex-archons), Council of 400, Ecclesia. The pentacosiomedimni could also serve as generals (strategoi) in the Athenian army.
Wikipedia.

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magistracies (Pentacosiomedimni, the Knights, and the Zeugitae) the nine Archons, the Treasurers,
the Commissioners for Public Contracts (Poletae), and Clerks (Colacretae). He assigned them the
offices to each class in proportion to the value of their assessable property. To whom that ranked
among the Thetes he gave nothing, but a place in the Assembly and the Juries.

The elections for the offices that Solon enacted were by lot, candidates were selected by each of the
tribes. Each tribe selected ten candidates for the nine archonships, and among these, the lot was
cast.

There were three points in Solon’s constitution, which appeared to be its most democratic features:
i) the prohibition of loans on the security of the debtor’s person; ii) the right of every person who so
willed to claim compensation on behalf of anyone to whom the wrong was done; iii) the institution
of the appeal to the courts with the jury.

After Solon retired himself to Egypt, Pisistratus came into power among the mountain men. He
manipulated the people and seized the power and became a tyrant. However, his personality and
attitude were far shorter than a despot. He devised a new approach in the political economy to
manage his dominion quite effectively and peacefully by delicately distributing wealth.

“His administration was temperate, as has been said before, and more
like constitutional government than a tyranny. Not only was he in
every respect humane and mild and ready to forgive those who
offended [him], but in addition, he advanced money to the poorer
people to help them in their labours, so that they might make their
living by agriculture. In this he had two objectives, first that they
might not spend their time in the city but might be scattered over all
the face of the country, and secondly that, being moderately well off
and occupied with their own business, they might have neither the
wish nor the time to attend to public affairs. At the same time his
revenues were increased by the thorough cultivation of the country,
since he imposed a tax of one tenth on all the produce” (Part 16).

5 The zeugitae (Greek: ζευγῖται) or zeugitai were those whose property or estate could produce 200 medimnoi of wet
or dry goods (or their equivalent), per year. The term appears to have come from the Greek word for "yoke", which has
led modern scholars to conclude that zeugitae were either men who could afford a yoke of oxen or men who were
"yoked together" in the phalanx—that is, men who could afford their own hoplite armor. The zeugitae could serve as
hoplites in the Athenian army. The idea was that one could serve as a hoplite if he had enough money to equip himself
in that manner, i.e. he could produce 200 medimnoi or more per year. Wikipedia.

6 The thetes (Greek: θῆτες, thêtes, sing. θής, thēs, "serf") were the lowest social class of citizens. The thetes were those who
were workers for wages, or had less than 200 medimnoi (or their equivalent) as yearly income. This distinction spanned
from some time earlier than 594/593 BC until 322 BC. The thetes were defined as citizens who did not qualify as
zeugitae, although the thetes may have predated the Solonian reforms. They could participate in the Ecclesia (the
Athenian assembly), and could be jurors serving in the law court of the Heliaia, but were not allowed to serve in the
Boule or serve as magistrates. Wikipedia.

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He raised taxes to 10% on all products. To collect taxes he instituted local justices. He then
acknowledged adjusting taxes based on the hardship of cultivation. Pisistratus, on some occasions,
exempted some farmers from taxation. His moderation in ruling created peace and calmness in his
country. As a result, his tyranny was called “the age of gold.” However, his type of tyranny remained
unique after his death; and it became much harsher by his two sons.

There was a trend of reforms to make the constitution more democratic in Athens. Cleisthenes was a
new popular leader. He first distributed the whole population into ten tribes. He intended
intermixing them in hope of making the members of each tribe having a share in the franchise. This
act led to the motto “Do not look at the tribes.” This motto was addressing those who were
scrutinizing the lists of the old families. Cleisthenes then made a council of five hundred members
instead of four hundred. Thus each tribe contributed fifty members.

“All who lived in any given deme7 he declared fellow-demesmen, to

the end that the new citizens might not be exposed by the habitual
use of family names, but that men might be officially described by the
names of their demes; and accordingly it is by the names of their
demes that the Athenians speak of one another.” (Part 21).

Consequently, the constitution became more democratic than that of Solon’s.

So far, the city had progressed by this time, growing gradually with the growth of the democracy; but
after the Persian Wars, the Council of Areopagus once more developed strength and assumed the
control of the state. It did not acquire this supremacy by virtue of any formal decree, but because it
had been the cause of the battle of Salamis.

The ten Generals had each their own assignment. They were formerly elected one from each tribe,
but then they were chosen from the whole citizens. Their duties were assigned to them by open
vote; one was appointed to command the heavy infantry, and led them if they went out to war; one
to the defense of the country, who remained on the defensive, and would fight if there were war
within the borders of the country; two to Piraeus, one of whom was assigned to Munichia, and one to
the south shore, and these were on a mission of the defense of the Piraeus; and one to superintend
the symmories who brought up actions to decide on rival claims in connection with them.

Conclusion

There is a chronological order of the constitution’s modifications. There were eleven changes, which
took place in the constitution of Athens. The first modification of the primeval condition of things

7
Deme, Greek Dēmos, is district or village, as distinct from a polis, or city-state. Dēmos also meant the common people
(like the Latin plebs). In Cleisthenes’ democratic reform at Athens (508/507 BC), the demes of Attica (the area around
Athens) were given status in local and state administration. Males 18 years of age were registered in their local demes,
thereby acquiring civic status and rights. Encyclopaedia Britannica.

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The Athenian Constitution Shahram Arshadnejad© 9/19/2018

was when Ion and his companions brought the people together into a community, for then the
people were first divided into the four tribes, and the tribe-kings were created. The next change was
having already some semblance of a constitution. It took place in the reign of Theseus, consisting of a
slight deviation from the absolute monarchy. Then it was the constitution forming under Draco,
when he wrote the first code of laws. The third was that followed the civil war, in the time of Solon,
and from this point, the democracy took its rise. The fourth was the tyranny of Pisistratus; the fifth
the constitution of Cleisthenes, after the overthrow of the tyrants, of a more democratic character
than that of Solon. The sixth was followed on the Persian Wars, when the Council of Areopagus had
the direction of the state. The seventh was the constitution, which Aristides sketched out, and which
Ephialtes brought to completion by overthrowing the Areopagite Council. Under this development,
the nation, misled by the demagogues, made the most serious mistakes in the interest of its maritime
empire. The eighth was the establishment of the Four Hundred, followed by the ninth that restored
democracy. The tenth was the tyranny of the Thirty and then the Ten. The eleventh modification
followed the return from Phyle and Piraeus with continual accretions of power to the masses. The
democracy has made itself master of everything and administers everything by its votes in the
Assembly and by the courts of law with the jury, in which it holds the supreme power. Even the
jurisdiction of the Council has passed into the hands of the people at large; and this appears to be a
judicious change, since small bodies are more open to corruption, whether by actual money or
influence than large ones. The Athenian solution to corruption was to engage as many people in the
decision-making process as possible, so that the danger of monopoly could be eliminated or limited.

Reference:

The Constitution of the Athenians (or Athenaion Politeia, or The Athenian Constitution) Translated by
Frederic G. Kenyon, 1891.

The Athenian Constitution. Aristotle. Trans. P. J. Rhodes. Penguin Books, 1984.