l alike.

A severe archon called Dra'co was chosen to draw up these new laws (602
B.C.); and he made them so strict and cruel that the least sin was
punished as if it had been a crime, and a man was sentenced to be hanged
for stealing even a cabbage.

When the Athenians heard these new laws, they were frightened. Such
severity had never been known before; and one and all said that the laws
had been written in blood instead of ink. Some of the citizens, hoping
to make Draco change them, asked why he had named such a terrible
punishment for so small a crime as the theft of a cabbage. Draco sternly
replied that a person who stole even the smallest thing was dishonest,
and deserved death; and that, as he knew of no severer punishment, he
could not inflict one for the greater crimes.

The Athenians had all promised to obey Draco's laws, so they were
obliged to submit for a short time. Then, driven wild by their
strictness, rich and poor rose up, drove the unhappy lawmaker out of the
city, and forced him to go to the neighboring Island of AE-gi'na. Here
Draco spent all the rest of his life.

The people were now in a state of great uncertainty. The laws of Draco
were too severe, but they had no others to govern the city. While they
were hesitating, not knowing what to do, Cy'lon, an Athenian citizen,
tried to make himself king.

His first move was to gather together a few of his friends, and go
secretly to the Acropolis, or fortress of Athens, which he took by
surprise. Now that he was master of the fortress, he tried to force the
Athenians to recognize him as their king, but this they stoutly refused
to do.

Instead of yielding, the Athenians armed themselves, met the rebels in a
bloody battle, and killed Cylon himself in the midst of the fight.

As their leader was now dead, and they feared the anger of their
fellow-citizens, Cylon's friends fled in haste to the temple of the
goddess Athene. Once inside the sacred building, they felt quite safe;
for no person could be killed in a temple, or be taken out of it by
force.

Although they had neither food nor drink, the rebels refused to leave
the temple, until the archon Meg'a-cles, fearing that they would die
there, and thus defile the temple, promised to do them no harm if they
would only come out.

The rebels did not quite trust to this promise, so they came out of the
temple holding a small cord, one end of which was fastened to the statue
of the goddess. They we