the Messenian wars.

_SOLON, THE LAW-GIVER OF ATHENS._

We have told how Sparta came to have an aristocratic government, under
the laws of Lycurgus. We have now to tell how Athens came to have a
democratic government, under the laws of Solon. These formed the types
of government for later Greece, some of whose nations became
aristocracies, following the example of Sparta; others became
democracies, and formed their governments on the model of that of
Athens.

As before Lycurgus the Spartan commonwealth was largely without law, so
was Athens before Solon. In those days the people of Attica--of which
Athens was the capital city--were divided into three factions,--the
rich, the middle class, and the poor. As for the poor, they were in a
condition of misery, being loaded down with debt, and many of them in a
state of slavery to the rich, who owned nearly all the land.

At that period what law existed was very severe against debtors. The
debtor became the slave of his creditor, and was held in this state
until he could pay his debt, either in money or in labor. And not only
he, but his younger sons and his unmarried daughters and sisters, were
reduced to slavery. Through the action of this severe law many of the
poor of Attica were owned as slaves, many had been sold as slaves, some
had kept their freedom only by selling their own children, and some had
fled from the country to escape slavery. And this, too, had arisen in
many cases through injustice in the courts and corruption of the judges.

In the time of Solon the misery and oppression from these laws became so
great that there was a general mutiny of the poor against the rich. They
refused to submit to the unjust enactments of their rulers, and the
state fell into such frightful disorder that the governing class, no
longer able to control the people, were obliged to call Solon to their
aid.

Solon did not belong to the rich men of Athens, though he was of noble
birth, and, like so many of the older Greeks, traced his family line
back to the gods. Neptune, the ocean deity, was fabled to be his far-off
ancestor. He was born about 638 B.C. His father had spent most of his
money, largely in kind deeds to others, and the son found himself
obliged to become a merchant. In this pursuit he travelled in many parts
of Greece and Asia, and in his journeys paid more heed to the gaining of
knowledge than of money, so that when he came back his mind was fuller
than h