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Who is Draco’s?

Draco, also called Drako or Drakon, 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.
Source by: https://en.wikipedia.org/

About Draco’s life


Draco was an aristocrat who in 7th century BCE Athens was
handed the task of composing a new body of laws. We have no
particular clues concerning his life and general biography and
the only certainty is that, as an aristocrat and an educated man,
he was in the right place at the right time in order to take his
opportunity and legislate. During the infancy of the Athenian
legal system Draco composed the cities first written law code
with the aim of reducing arbitrary decisions of punishment and
blood feuds between parties. Ultimately, though, the laws aided
and legitimized the political power of the aristocracy and
allowed them to consolidate their control of the land and poor.
Famously harsh, the laws were ultimately replaced by Solon in
594 BCE.
Source by: https://www.worldhistory.org/

Draco’s Attitude towards Crime


Draco is said to have declared that the smallest crime deserved
death, and that he knew of no severer penalty to attach to
greater crimes. Of this grim code of laws men said that they
were "written in blood," and the word "draconian" remains in
use today as mark a rule fearlessly severe.
Source by: https://www.publicbookshelf.com/

Athenian life Under Draconian Constitution


The most ancient lawmaker in Ancient Greece was Draco,
whose harsh laws have come down to later generations in the
form of the adjective draconian.
Athens from its earliest days was controlled by aristocrats and
the rich. They were not the only ones living there, however, and
even for them the way that laws and punishments were carried
out was inconsistent. Draco, an aristocrat himself, was tasked
with making laws for Athens.
For most of Draco's laws, the punishment for breaking them
was death. Murderers were put to death; so, too, however,
were people who had killed someone else involuntarily, as in
self-defence. (Modern laws make a distinction between
voluntary and involuntary homicide.) Draco is said to have said
that he had envisioned the death penalty for breaking his laws,
even the so-called minor ones, but that he could envision no
greater punishment for the so-called major offenses.
Source by: http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/

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