de a
public sacrifice in honour of the Seisachtheia, or "Relief from
burdens." Moreover, they constituted Solon supreme reformer and
lawgiver, not over some departments only, but placing everything alike
in his hands; magistracies, public assemblies, senate, and law-courts.
He had full powers to confirm or abolish any of these, and to fix the
proper qualifications for members of them, and their numbers and times
of meeting.

XVII. First of all, then, he repealed all the laws of Drakon, except
those relating to murder, because of their harshness and the excessive
punishments which they awarded. For death was the punishment for almost
every offence, so that even men convicted of idleness were executed, and
those who stole pot-herbs or fruits suffered just like sacrilegious
robbers and murderers. So that Demades afterwards made the joke that
Drakon's laws were not written with ink, but with blood. It is said
that Drakon himself, when asked why he had fixed the punishment of death
for most offences, answered that he considered these lesser crimes to
deserve it, and he had no greater punishment for more important ones.

XVIII. In the next place, Solon, who wished to leave all magistracies as
he found them, in the hands of the wealthy classes, but to give the
people a share in the rest of the constitution, from which they were
then excluded, took a census of the wealth of the citizens, and made a
first class of those who had an annual income of not less than five
hundred medimni of dry or liquid produce; these he called
Pentakosiomedimni. The next class were the Hippeis, or knights,
consisting of those who were able to keep a horse, or who had an income
of three hundred medimni. The third class were the Zeugitae, whose
property qualification was two hundred medimni of dry or liquid produce;
and the last class were the Thetes, whom Solon did not permit to be
magistrates, but whose only political privilege was the right of
attending the public assemblies and sitting as jurymen in the law
courts. This privilege was at first insignificant, but afterwards became
of infinite importance, because most disputes were settled before a
jury. Even in those cases which he allowed the magistrates to settle, he
provided a final appeal to the people.

Solon moreover is said to have purposely worded his laws vaguely and
with several interpretations, in order to increase the powers of these
juries, because persons who could not settle their