Athens was the main historical center of the region called Attica, located southeast of Continental Greece. It is a rocky, triangular-shaped peninsula that penetrates the Aegean Sea.
Despite being a mountainous region, it has three important plains. Eleusis, Athens and Marathon . The port of Athens was Piraeus .
The Athenians were the product of many peaceful streams of migrants, who settled in that region. The most widespread legend said that the first king had been Aegean , whose successor son Theseus , gave splendor to the city of Athens.
Political Organization:Solon's works
From the second half of the 7th century B.C. A malaise of the social order was accentuated in Attica, due to the work of the aristocratic regime.
The small proprietors were ruined before the competition of the foreign wheat. They had no other way than to borrow money from the rich aristocrats; Faced with the impossibility of payment, they remained as tenants of their own land They even became slaves.
Added to these problems was the disagreement of merchants of plebeian origin and artisans in the face of the political system that monopolized the nobility.
Civil war was imminent in Attica and the nobles had to make concessions .
Among the first reforms, we will remember that of Dracón , that for the first time the written and drastically administered laws were implemented For the state. Sometimes the slightest offenses were punished with death and the law was the same for everyone.
But Solón was the best arbiter of economic, political and social differences .
Solon belonged to the upper class of Athens called eupatridas (well born), and he was highly esteemed for his wisdom and moderation . A native of Salamis, he traveled through many Asian countries making friends with philosophers and artists. Returning to his homeland shaken by the disorders, he faced the problems with practical sense for which he gave interesting laws, in order to restore peace among the Athenians.
Solon's main social and economic reforms
Among the reforms that he proposed, the following should be mentioned:
- His first measure of his was to definitively annul all the debts that harmed the agricultural sector.
- He ordered all debt slaves to be freed .
- he Decreed the annulment of all debts and it prohibited the loans giving as security the own person.
- he oriented the economy towards the cultivation of the olive tree and the vine .
- he favored the industry and trade :
- He reformed the system of weights and measures :
- he endowed his city with a more comfortable currency and light.
- he Removed all class privileges :acquired wealth was the only distinction that served to classify society and establish its rights and duties.
- He restored the small estate.
In this way, Solon laid the foundations for the future democracy and heritage of humanity.
Solon's reforms in the political aspect
In the political aspect, he proposed important reforms in the government of Athens, which gave rise to the three powers of classical democracy: Executive, Legislative and Judicial .
The Legislative Branch
It was integrated by the Senate o Council of Four Hundred and the People's Assembly.
The Senate or Council of Four Hundred
So called because its name came from the number of senators elected for one year. Each senator enjoyed certain prerogatives and earned a small salary, in addition to having a preferential place in the theater and other shows.
Its function was to prepare the laws that should be sanctioned by the Popular Assembly.
The People's Assembly
It was made up of all Athenian citizens, rich or poor, of recognized morals and over 20 years of age. meetings were held three times a month. This organism was in charge of approving or rejecting the laws proposed by the Senate. Voting was done directly by raising your hand.
The Executive Power
It was integrated by the Archonate . This was an organism that was in charge of promulgating the decrees of the Senate.
It was made up of nine archons , elected by the Popular Assembly, among the citizens of the first social class. One of them, named Arcon Rey , was in charge of the festivities of the cult and the judgment of religious crimes. The other Archons They were similar to the ministers of state today, and they were the ones in charge of enforcing the law.
The Judiciary
It was constituted by the Court of Heliasts and the Areopagus .
The court of the Heliasts , was made up of citizens of the fourth social class, over 30 years of age, was made up of 6,000 citizens and was in charge of administering justice .
The Areopagus , was the supreme court of justice of Athens , formed exclusively by former archons. These were for life in their functions. It had as attributions the care of religion, education, and way of life . They also dealt with cases of premeditated murders.
Social Organization of Athens
In Athens there was social inequality as in all ancient societies. The main social classes were:citizens, metecs and slaves .
The Citizens
Also known as true Athenians They were descended from the Ionians. This class evolved in such a way that all citizens were equal before the law . He exercised control of the State . Citizenship was a privilege acquired by birth and passed from father to son.
The Meteors or Foreigners
They lived in Athens dedicated to trade and the industry . They were not considered citizens , they could not elect in the Assembly nor did they have the right to acquire real property. People born in Attica to non-Athenian parents were still outsiders or metics.
The Slaves
They constituted the oppressed class made up of prisoners of war. They lived subjected to forced labor . They could be sold but their lives were respected. It was the largest social class , possibly a third of the total population.
Economic Organization
In Athens they developed agriculture and trade as fundamental activities.
Agriculture
The first inhabitants of Athens took advantage of the valleys to grow some cereals such as barley, life and figs . The great Athenian plain were areas of agricultural production. , which extended beyond the Eleusis; as well as the eastern part of the Marathon plain .
The Trade
The proximity of Athens to the sea made its inhabitants the best sailors and expert merchants from that time. For its port Piraeus , traded with the countries of Asia , Egypt and the prosperous colonies of it.
They stocked up on fruits and wines of the nearby islands; of wood and metals from Thrace; of tapestries, perfumes and crystals from the Orient; above all, cereals from the coasts of the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea .
Other economic activities
The other economic activities carried out in Athens were the breeding of bees in mountainous areas such as in Himeto , which produced excellent honey; the exploitation of marble in the Pentelic; and the silver exploitation in the Laurion .
The Athenian Colonial Empire
During the Persian invasion, Athens was burned and destroyed. However, after the triumph of Salamina, it recovered its splendor until it became a great colonizing power.
This was how many Athenian families, based on the port of Piraeus , they moved in search of a better place, they founded colonies , for commercial purposes, such as the Black Sea coasts; on the island of Sicily , in which the urban centers of Messina and Siracusa stood out. and in the African region, Cyrenaica, west of Egypt. In this way a great colonial empire arose , with more than 200 cities spread across Europe, Asia and Africa .
Education in Athens
Unlike military education in Sparta, education in Athens had as an ideal to train the human being physically and intellectually .
In Ancient Greece, while girls learned to sew, embroider, play an instrument at home (gynaeceum), males had the right to education .
The child from birth to 7 years old remained under the care of her parents . They were then sent to a private school. He was accompanied by a slave called pedagogue (paidagogo or driver of children).
At school he was trained in all the knowledge that could serve him in practical life. They learned to read, write, count and recite fragments of the Iliad and the Odyssey . Together with the teacher, they also commented on the recited scenes, highlighting qualities such as courage, dignity, love of country, loyalty, etc.
They were also taught music and gymnastics . In this regard, Plato said:There are two essential disciplines:music for the education of the soul and gymnastics for the education of the body .
At age 14 they went to the gymnasium (palestra), to receive physical education under the direction of a special teacher, in order to strengthen and harmoniously develop your body. The educational ideal of the Athenians was the balance between the physical and the spiritual. In this regard, a Greek thinker said: we wish for each man a soul of gold in his body of iron .
Between 18 and 20 years old he was doing military service called ephebía . The ephebe prepared himself militarily and guarded the rural districts and stood guard at the fortresses.
20 years old , when completing military service, they took an oath of fidelity , with these words:I will submit to the laws and obey the orders of the magistrates and if someone wants to destroy the laws I will not tolerate it, but will fight to defend them, alone or with everyone . At the age of 20, men entered adulthood and participated fully in the rights and duties of the citizen .