f the Athenians went farther than any ever
taken by the nations of America. For the simple federation of autonomous
tribes was now replaced by the conglomeration of all tribes into one
single body. The next result was a common Athenian law, standing above
the legal traditions of the tribes and gentes. It bestowed on the
citizens of Athens certain privileges and legal protection, even in a
territory that did not belong to their tribe. This meant another blow to
the gentile constitution; for it opened the way to the admission of
citizens who were not members of any Attic tribe and stood entirely
outside of the Athenian gentile constitution.

A second institution attributed to Theseus was the division of the
entire nation into three classes regardless of the gentes, phratries and
tribes: eupatrides or nobles, geomoroi or farmers, and demiurgoi or
tradesmen. The exclusive privilege of the nobles to fill the offices
was included in this innovation. Apart from this privilege the new
division remained ineffective, as it did not create any legal
distinctions between the classes. But it is important, because it shows
us the new social elements that had developed in secret. It shows that
the habitual holding of gentile offices by certain families had already
developed into a practically uncontested privilege; that these families,
already powerful through their wealth, began to combine outside of their
gentes into a privileged class; and that the just arising state
sanctioned this assumption. It shows furthermore that the division of
labor between farmers and tradesmen had grown strong enough to contest
the supremacy of the old gentile and tribal division of society. And
finally it proclaims the irreconcilable opposition of gentile society to
the state. The first attempt to form a state broke up the gentes by
dividing their members against one another and opposing a privileged
class to a class of disowned belonging to two different branches of
production.

The ensuing political history of Athens up to the time of Solon is only
incompletely known. The office of basileus became obsolete. Archons
elected from the ranks of the nobility occupied the leading position in
the state. The power of the nobility increased continually, until it
became unbearable about the year 600 before Christ. The principal means
for stifling the liberty of the people were--money and usury. The main
seat of the nobility was in and around Athens. There the s