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103-403: The history of foreign migration to Athens dates back to the archaic period. Solon was said to have offered Athenian citizenship to foreigners who would relocate to his city to practice a craft. However, metic status did not exist during the time of Solon. Scholars have tended to date the development of metic status to the reforms of Cleisthenes in 508 BC. However, the rate of the increase in

206-422: A phyle or tribe and one of its subdivisions, the phratry or brotherhood, but also to an extended family, clan or genos . It has been argued that these interconnecting units of kinship reinforced a hierarchic structure with aristocratic clans at the top. Thus rivalries between aristocratic clans could engage all levels of society irrespective of any regional ties. In that case, the struggle between rich and poor

309-517: A citizen, but upon investigation—not by consulting official records but by questions asked at the cheese market—it transpires that he may well be a runaway slave, so the hostile account attests.) Metics whose family had lived in Athens for generations may have been tempted to " pass " as citizens. On a number of occasions there were purges of the citizen lists, effectively changing people who had been living as citizens into metics. In typical Athenian fashion,

412-435: A complete picture of a currency's value. Using a labor-equivalent calculation, a silver drachma (or denarius ), which constituted a day's wage for a manual laborer, would be worth approximately the same in modern currency. The United States federal minimum wage 's maximum purchasing power was in 1968, when it was $ 1.60 ($ 14.00 in 2023), meaning an 8-hour shift paid $ 12.80 ($ 112.00 in 2023) Meanwhile, average yearly wages in

515-538: A convenient basis for an overview of the issues involved. Economic and ideological rivalry is a common theme in ancient sources. This sort of account emerges from Solon's poems, in which he casts himself in the role of a noble mediator between two intemperate and unruly factions. This same account is substantially taken up about three centuries later by the author of the Aristotelian Athenaion Politeia but with an interesting variation: ... there

618-428: A convenient framework within which to consider the laws that have been attributed to Solon. Some short-term consequences of his reforms are considered at the end of the section. Depending on how we interpret the historical facts known to us, Solon's constitutional reforms were either a radical anticipation of democratic government, or they merely provided a plutocratic flavour to a stubbornly aristocratic regime, or else

721-629: A crucial period of economic transition, when a subsistence rural economy increasingly required the support of a nascent commercial sector. The specific economic reforms credited to Solon are these: It is generally assumed, on the authority of ancient commentators, that Solon also reformed the Athenian coinage . However, recent numismatic studies now lead to the conclusion that Athens probably had no coinage until around 560 BC, well after Solon's reforms. Nevertheless, there are now reasons to suggest that monetization had already begun before Solon's reforms. By

824-465: A discussion of equal return and exchange involving coins. In Herodotus 8.93 a prize of ten thousand drachmae is offered in exchange for a prisoner. The valuable silver used in Athenian coins was gathered from Athens's Laurium Mines in Attica, which were subject to large-scale use and exploitation beginning in the 6th century BCE. Mining was strictly overseen by the Athenian state. In Herodotus 7.144 there

927-461: A drachma per day (360 days per year) would provide "a comfortable subsistence" for "the poor citizens" (for the head of a household in 355 BC). Earlier in 422 BC, we also see in Aristophanes ( Wasps , line 300–302) that the daily half-drachma of a juror is just enough for the daily subsistence of a family of three. It is difficult to estimate comparative exchange rates with modern currencies because

1030-474: A family might voluntarily pledge part of its farm income or labour to a powerful clan in return for its protection. Farmers subject to these sorts of arrangements were loosely known as hektemoroi indicating that they either paid or kept a sixth of a farm's annual yield. In the event of 'bankruptcy', or failure to honour the contract stipulated by the horoi , farmers and their families could in fact be sold into slavery. Solon's reform of these injustices

1133-558: A form of civic pride. Thomas R. Martin says that the use of coinage in ancient Greece, could be loosely compared to the use of flags in the modern world. Martin says that coins thus functioned "as symbols of sovereign identity" Coinage was used for rewards at athletic games, which were an integral part of Greek life. Victors of games were often given prizes with monetary value, such as bronze and silver containers, tripods, and coins. In daily life, coins were used for such social transactions as marriage and transfer of land, although far less

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1236-523: A general rule with few exceptions, foreigners were not allowed to stay ( Xenelasia ). There are also reported immigrants to the court of tyrants and kings in Thessaly , Syracuse and Macedon , whose status is decided by the ruler. Due to these complications, the legal term metic is most closely associated with classical Athens. At Athens, the largest city in the Greek world at the time, they amounted to roughly half

1339-524: A golden age. Modern knowledge of Solon is limited by the fact that his works only survive in fragments and appear to feature interpolations by later authors. It is further limited by the general paucity of documentary and archaeological evidence covering Athens in the early 6th century BC. Ancient authors such as Philo of Alexandria , Herodotus , and Plutarch are the main sources, but wrote about Solon long after his death. Fourth-century BC orators, such as Aeschines , tended to attribute to Solon all

1442-608: A law relating to homicide, yet there is consensus among scholars that it did not amount to anything like a constitution. During his visit to Athens, Pausanias , the 2nd century AD geographer reported that the inscribed laws of Solon were still displayed by the Prytaneion. Fragments of the axones were still visible in Plutarch 's time but today the only records we have of Solon's laws are fragmentary quotes and comments in literary sources such as those written by Plutarch himself. Moreover,

1545-499: A non-technical sense, meaning nothing more than "immigrant". Rebecca Futo Kennedy dates the origin of metic status in Athens to the 460s, while Watson argues that the legal status of being a metic did not develop until 451 BC – the same year as Pericles introduced his citizenship law. One estimate of the population of Attica at the start of the Peloponnesian War in 431 BC found the male metic population to be ~25,000, roughly

1648-527: A number of reasons; Attic pleaders did not hesitate to attribute to him (Solon) any law which suited their case, and later writers had no criterion by which to distinguish earlier from later works. Nor can any complete and authentic collection of his statutes have survived for ancient scholars to consult. Besides the alleged legislative aspect of Solon's involvement with pederasty, there were also suggestions of personal involvement. Ancient readers concluded, based on his own erotic poetry, that Solon himself had

1751-413: A person so demoted could mount a challenge in court. If however the court decided the ejected citizen was in fact a metic, he would be sent down one further rung and sold into slavery. In studying the status of the metics, it is easy to gain the impression they were an oppressed minority. But by and large those who were Greek and freeborn had at least chosen to come to Athens, attracted by the prosperity of

1854-409: A preference for boys. According to some ancient authors Solon had taken the future tyrant Pisistratus as his eromenos . Aristotle, writing around 330 BC, attempted to refute that belief, claiming that "those are manifestly talking nonsense who pretend that Solon was the lover of Pisistratus, for their ages do not admit of it", as Solon was about thirty years older than Pisistratus. Nevertheless,

1957-518: A range between $ 385.63 ($ 454.00 in 2023) and $ 13.26 ($ 16.00 in 2023). Food and clothing were expensive from a modern perspective. A gallon of olive oil cost three drachmae, while cloaks could range anywhere between five and twenty drachmae. For the Roman successors of the drachma, see Roman provincial coins . The weight of the silver drachma was approximately 4.3 grams or 0.15 ounces, although weights varied significantly from one city-state to another. It

2060-541: A regulator of Athenian society, Solon, according to some authors, also formalized its sexual mores. According to a surviving fragment from a work ("Brothers") by the comic playwright Philemon , Solon established publicly funded brothels at Athens in order to "democratize" the availability of sexual pleasure. While the veracity of this comic account is open to doubt, at least one modern author considers it significant that in Classical Athens, three hundred or so years after

2163-447: A religious context is significant. Additionally, "penalties, tithes and other dues were inflicted on both priests and worshippers" and were extracted through bullion weight or coinage. Many historians believe that coins were used as a tool for empire building, as a Greek City state could enforce its power and establish political order through managing its coins. There is also historic speculation that coins were manufactured and used as

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2266-545: A set of contradictory stories or a complex story that might be interpreted in a variety of ways. As further evidence accumulates, and as historians continue to debate the issues, Solon's motivations and the intentions behind his reforms will continue to attract speculation. Two contemporary historians have identified three distinct historical accounts of Solon's Athens, emphasizing quite different rivalries: economic and/or ideological rivalry, regional rivalry, and rivalry between aristocratic clans. These different accounts provide

2369-401: A set of laws that were intended to promote and safeguard the institution of pederasty and to control abuses against freeborn boys. In particular, the orator Aeschines cites laws excluding slaves from wrestling halls and forbidding them to enter pederastic relationships with the sons of citizens. Accounts of Solon's laws by 4th century orators like Aeschines, however, are considered unreliable for

2472-466: A severe disincentive if they had been unable to pursue commercial disputes under law. At the same time they did not have exactly the same rights here as citizens. Unlike citizens, metics could be made to undergo judicial torture and the penalties for killing them were not as severe as for killing a citizen. Metics were also subject to enslavement for a variety of offences. These might either be failures to abide by their status obligations, such as not paying

2575-517: A similar story about Socrates and the poet Stesichorus , quoting the philosopher's rapture in almost identical terms: ut aliquid sciens amplius e vita discedam , meaning "in order to leave life knowing a little more". The social and political upheavals that characterized Athens in Solon's time have been variously interpreted by historians from ancient times to the present day. The historical account of Solon's Athens has evolved over many centuries into

2678-422: A special exemption. Neither could they sign contracts with the state to work in the silver mines, since the wealth beneath the earth was felt to belong to the political community. Metics were subject to a tax called the metoikion , assessed at twelve drachmas per year for metic men and their households, and six for independent metic women. In addition to the metoikion , non-Athenians wishing to sell goods in

2781-513: A staunch opponent of Pisistratus. In protest, and as an example to others, Solon stood outside his own home in full armour, urging all who passed to resist the machinations of the would-be tyrant. His efforts were in vain. Solon died shortly after Pisistratus usurped by force the autocratic power that Athens had once freely bestowed upon him. Solon died in Cyprus around the age of 70 and, in accordance with his will, his ashes were scattered around Salamis,

2884-433: A third of the total. The majority of metics probably came to Athens from nearby cities, seeking economic opportunities or fleeing from persecution, although there are records of immigrants from non-Greek places such as Thrace and Lydia . In other Greek cities ( poleis ), foreign residents were few, with the exception of cosmopolitan Corinth , of which however we do not know their legal status. In Sparta and Crete , as

2987-522: Is believed that the oboloi were used as a form of early currency, beginning around 1100 BC and being a form of " bullion ": bronze, copper, or iron ingots denominated by weight in a developed barter system. The earliest of these obeloi were found in Palaepahos, Cyprus in a Geometric grave. Anthropological evidence suggests that obeloi were used in burials of warrior elite or in the graves of people with high social status. A hoard of over 150 rod-shaped obeloi

3090-502: Is known about these exchanges. Anthropological evidence shows that marriages were events in which coins would be exchanged from one party to another. Other items received in dowry exchanges were appraised by their monetary value, measured in coins. Dowries were usually paid for in cash. For a wealthy Athenian family this could include between "500 dr and 2 talents." Drachmae were minted on different weight standards at different Greek mints. The standard that came to be most commonly used

3193-532: Is modern-day Iran . The Arabic unit of currency known as dirham ( Arabic : درهم ), known from pre- Islamic times and afterwards, inherited its name from the drachma or didrachm ( δίδραχμον , 2 drachmae); the dirham is still the name of the official currencies of Morocco and the United Arab Emirates . The Armenian dram ( Armenian : Դրամ ) also derives its name from the drachma. The 5th century BC Athenian tetradrachm ("four drachmae") coin featured

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3296-412: Is specific discussion of the wealth that Athens gathered from these mines. He states, "The revenues from the mines at Laurium has brought great wealth into the Athenian's treasury." The primary function of the first coinage is highly debated by scholars. Historian Sitta von Reden states that, "The great number of possible explanations, none of which are {sic} wholly satisfactory, has made scholars abandon

3399-422: The hippeis . The top three classes were eligible for a variety of lesser posts and only the thetes were excluded from all public office. The real motives behind Solon's economic reforms are as questionable as his real motives for constitutional reform. Were the poor being forced to serve the needs of a changing economy, was the economy being reformed to serve the needs of the poor, or were Solon's policies

3502-494: The horoi clearly provided immediate economic relief for the most oppressed group in Attica, and it also brought an immediate end to the enslavement of Athenians by their countrymen. Some Athenians had already been sold into slavery abroad and some had fled abroad to escape enslavement – Solon proudly records in verse the return of this diaspora. It has been cynically observed, however, that few of these unfortunates were likely to have been recovered. It has been observed also that

3605-406: The metoikon tax or not nominating a citizen sponsor, or they might be "contaminations" of the citizen body like marrying a citizen or claiming to be citizens themselves. How long a foreigner could remain in Athens without counting as a metic is not known. In some other Greek cities the period was a month, and it may well have been the same at Athens. All metics there were required to register in

3708-430: The seisachtheia not only removed slavery and accumulated debt but may also have removed the ordinary farmer's only means of obtaining further credit. The seisachtheia however was merely one set of reforms within a broader agenda of moral reformation. Other reforms included: Demosthenes claimed that the city's subsequent golden age included "personal modesty and frugality" among the Athenian aristocracy. As

3811-563: The Roman period . The ancient drachma originated in Greece around the 6th century BC. The coin, usually made of silver or sometimes gold had its origins in a bartering system that referred to a drachma as a handful of wooden spits or arrows. The drachma was unique to each city state that minted them, and were sometimes circulated all over the Mediterranean. The coinage of Athens was considered to be

3914-421: The agora , including metics, seem to have been liable to another tax known as the xenika . Although metics were barred from the assembly and exempted from jury service, they did have the same access to the courts as citizens. They could both prosecute others and be prosecuted themselves. A great many migrants came to Athens to do business and were in fact essential to the Athenian economy. It would have been

4017-478: The deme (local community) where they lived. They had to nominate a citizen as their sponsor or guardian ( prostates , literally 'one who stands on behalf of'). The Athenians took this last requirement very seriously. A metic without a sponsor was vulnerable to a special prosecution. If convicted, his property would be confiscated and he himself sold as a slave. For a freed slave the sponsor was automatically his former owner. This arrangement exacted some extra duties on

4120-570: The Aegean between 600 BC and 560 BC, a success story that coincided with a decline in trade in Corinthian pottery. The ban on the export of grain might be understood as a relief measure for the benefit of the poor. However, the encouragement of olive production for export could actually have led to increased hardship for many Athenians to the extent that it led to a reduction in the amount of land dedicated to grain. Moreover, an olive tree produces no fruit for

4223-673: The Areopagus favoured his prosecution. According to the Athenian Constitution , Solon legislated for all citizens to be admitted into the Ekklesia and for a court (the Heliaia ) to be formed from all the citizens. The Heliaia appears to have been the Ekklesia, or some representative portion of it, sitting as a jury. By giving common people the power not only to elect officials but also to call them to account, Solon appears to have established

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4326-511: The Athenian population in the years following 480 BC is difficult to explain by purely natural growth – suggesting that immigrants to Athens could still become Athenians citizens at this point, and metic status did not yet exist. The first known use of the word metoikos is in Aeschylus ' play Persians , first performed in 472 BC. However, James Watson argues that the word was used in Persians in

4429-533: The Athenians could not induce him to repeal any of his laws. Within four years of Solon's departure, the old social rifts re-appeared, but with some new complications. There were irregularities in the new governmental procedures, elected officials sometimes refused to stand down from their posts and occasionally important posts were left vacant. It has even been said that some people blamed Solon for their troubles. Eventually one of Solon's relatives, Pisistratus, ended

4532-447: The Attic talent with a fluctuating commodity like silver at the present day are, of course, highly unsatisfactory"; using an alternate method accounting for average bullion prices over some decades, he arrived at $ 1,000 for a talent, which means that based solely on bullion value, a drachma would have been worth $ 0.16 in 1885 ($ 5.65 in 2023). But bullion equivalent calculations do not provide

4635-512: The Greco-French singer Georges Moustaki recorded a song, Le Métèque , which has since been covered by several artists of immigrant descent. Solon Solon ( Ancient Greek : Σόλων ; c.  630  – c.  560  BC) was an archaic Athenian statesman, lawmaker , political philosopher, and poet. He is one of the Seven Sages of Greece and credited with laying

4738-516: The United States in 2022 were $ 77,463 ($ 80,652 in 2023), meaning a day's wages would be $ 322.76 ($ 336.00 in 2023). Taking into account economic statistics around the world, a broader range of estimates is possible. According to the UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe), gross average monthly wages in 2020 ranged from $ 7,712.7 USD ( Switzerland ) to $ 265.10 USD ( Uzbekistan ); this yields

4841-642: The court without a prostate (patron) and came to an end in Hellenistic Athens, when the purchase of citizenship became very frequent. The census of Demetrius Phalereus in ca. 317 BC gave 21,000 citizens, 10,000 metics and 400,000 slaves ( Athenaeus , vi. p. 272 B). In the Greco-Roman world, free people (non-citizens) living on the territory of a polis were called paroikoi (see etymology of parish ), and in Asia Minor katoikoi . In French, métèque

4944-405: The death of Solon, there existed a discourse that associated his reforms with an increased availability of heterosexual contacts. Ancient authors also say that Solon regulated pederastic relationships in Athens; this has been presented as an adaptation of custom to the new structure of the polis . According to various authors, ancient lawgivers (and therefore Solon by implication) drew up

5047-439: The early sixth century the Athenians were using silver in the form of a variety of bullion silver pieces for monetary payments. Drachma and obol as a term of bullion value had already been adopted, although the corresponding standard weights were probably unstable. Solon's economic reforms succeeded in stimulating foreign trade. Athenian black-figure pottery was exported in increasing quantities and good quality throughout

5150-642: The factionalism by force, thus instituting an unconstitutionally gained tyranny . In Plutarch's account, Solon accused Athenians of stupidity and cowardice for allowing this to happen. Solon's first stop in his travels was Egypt. There, according to Herodotus, he visited the Pharaoh of Egypt, Amasis II . According to Plutarch, he spent some time and discussed philosophy with two Egyptian priests, Psenophis of Heliopolis and Sonchis of Sais . A character in two of Plato's dialogues, Timaeus and Critias , claims Solon visited Neith 's temple at Sais and received from

5253-530: The first six years (but farmers' difficulty of lasting until payback may also give rise to a mercantilist argument in favour of supporting them through that, since the British case illustrates that "One domestic policy that had a lasting impact was the conversion of 'waste lands' to agricultural use. Mercantilists felt that to maximize a nation's power all land and resources had to be used to their utmost"). In his poems, Solon portrays Athens as being under threat from

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5356-485: The foundations for Athenian democracy . Solon's efforts to legislate against political, economic and moral decline resulted in his constitutional reform overturning most of Draco 's laws . Solon's reforms included debt relief later known and celebrated among Athenians as the seisachtheia (shaking off of burdens). He is described by Aristotle in the Athenian Constitution as "the first people's champion". Demosthenes credited Solon's reforms with starting

5459-477: The foundations of a true republic. There is consensus among scholars that Solon lowered the requirements – those that existed in terms of financial and social qualifications – which applied to election to public office. The Solonian constitution divided citizens into four political classes defined according to assessable property a classification that might previously have served the state for military or taxation purposes only. The standard unit for this assessment

5562-552: The free population. The status applied to two main groups of people—immigrants and former slaves . As slaves were almost always of foreign origin they can be thought of as involuntary immigrants, drawn almost exclusively from non-Greek speaking areas, while free metics were usually of Greek origin. Mostly they came from mainland Greece rather than the remote parts of the Greek world. Metics held lower social status primarily due to cultural rather than economic restraints. Some were poor artisans and ex-slaves, while others were some of

5665-417: The helmeted profile bust of Athena on the obverse (front) and an owl on the reverse (back). In daily use they were called γλαῦκες glaukes (owls), hence the proverb Γλαῦκ' Ἀθήναζε , 'an owl to Athens', referring to something that was in plentiful supply, like ' coals to Newcastle '. The reverse is featured on the national side of the modern Greek 1 euro coin . The tetradrachm ("four drachmae") coin

5768-620: The island where he was born. Pausanias listed Solon among the Seven Sages , whose aphorisms adorned Apollo's temple in Delphi . Stobaeus in the Florilegium relates a story about a symposium where Solon's young nephew was singing a poem of Sappho 's: Solon, upon hearing the song, asked the boy to teach him to sing it. When someone asked, "Why should you waste your time on it?", Solon replied, " ἵνα μαθὼν αὐτὸ ἀποθάνω ", "So that I may learn it before I die." Ammianus Marcellinus , however, told

5871-530: The island. Supported by Pisistratus, he defeated the Megarians either by means of a cunning trick or more directly through heroic battle around 595 BC. The Megarians, however, refused to give up their claim. The dispute was referred to the Spartans, who eventually awarded possession of the island to Athens on the strength of the case that Solon put to them. Plutarch professes admiration of Solon's elegy. The same poem

5974-471: The language of his laws was archaic even by the standards of the fifth century and this caused interpretation problems for ancient commentators. Modern scholars doubt the reliability of these sources and our knowledge of Solon's legislation is therefore actually very limited in its details. Generally, Solon's reforms appear to have been constitutional, economic, moral, and sexual in their scope. This distinction, though somewhat artificial, does at least provide

6077-487: The large, dynamic, cosmopolitan city and the opportunities not available to them in their place of origin. Metics remained citizens of their cities of birth, which, like Athens, had the exclusionary ancestral view of citizenship common to ancient Greek cities. The large non-citizen community of Athens allowed ex-slave metics to become assimilated in a way not possible in more conservative and homogenised cities elsewhere. Their participation in military service , taxation (for

6180-500: The laws of their own, much later times. Solon was born in Athens around 630 BC. His family was distinguished in Attica as they belonged to a noble or Eupatrid clan. Solon's father was probably Execestides. If so, his lineage could be traced back to Codrus , the last King of Athens . According to Diogenes Laërtius , he had a brother named Dropides, who was an ancestor (six generations removed) of Plato . According to Plutarch, Solon

6283-696: The manifestation of a struggle taking place between poorer citizens and the aristocrats? Solon's economic reforms need to be understood in the context of the primitive, subsistence economy that prevailed both before and after his time. Most Athenians were still living in rural settlements right up to the Peloponnesian War . Opportunities for trade even within the Athenian borders were limited. The typical farming family, even in classical times, barely produced enough to satisfy its own needs. Opportunities for international trade were minimal. It has been estimated that, even in Roman times, goods rose 40% in value for every 100 miles they were carried over land, but only 1.3% for

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6386-492: The metal, which reflected on the reputation of each mint. Coins were most often made of silver, and very rarely gold. Among the Greek cities that used the drachma were: Abdera , Abydos , Alexandria , Aetna , Antioch , Athens , Chios , Cyzicus , Corinth , Ephesus , Eretria , Gela , Catana , Kos , Maronia , Naxos , Pella , Pergamum , Rhegion , Salamis , Smyrni , Sparta , Syracuse , Tarsus , Thasos , Tenedos , Troy and more. Most coins only circulated within

6489-456: The other two, formed an obstruction and prevented the other groups from gaining control. Regional rivalry is a theme commonly found among modern scholars. "The new picture which emerged was one of strife between regional groups, united by local loyalties and led by wealthy landowners. Their goal was to take control of the central government at Athens and with it dominate over their rivals from other districts of Attica." Regional factionalism

6592-441: The part of the metic, yet the child of an ex-slave metic apparently had the same status as a freeborn metic. Citizenship was very rarely granted to metics. More common was the special status of "equal rights" ( isoteleia ) under which they were freed from the usual liabilities. Metics, regardless of status, could participate in most religious rituals; only a few were reserved to citizens. The status divide between metic and citizen

6695-450: The political community but might be completely integrated into the social and economic life of the city. In the urbane scene that opens Plato 's Republic —the dialogue takes place in a metic household—the status of the speakers as citizen or metic is never mentioned. Metics typically shared the burdens of citizenship without any of its privileges. Like citizens, they had to perform military service and, if wealthy enough, were subject to

6798-466: The priests there an account of the history of Atlantis . Next, Solon sailed to Cyprus , where he oversaw the construction of a new capital for a local king, in gratitude for which the king named it Soloi . Solon's travels finally brought him to Sardis , capital of Lydia . According to Herodotus and Plutarch, he met with Croesus and gave the Lydian king advice, which Croesus failed to appreciate until it

6901-521: The question of the primary function of the first coinages." But there is some anthropological evidence for different uses of coins over time in Ancient Greece. Most historians find consensus in the use of coinage to facilitate trade. Such use of coinage is attested to in such primary sources as Herodotus 1.94.; he says that the Lydians were the first to mint coins and use them "for retail." Since trade

7004-451: The range of products produced by economies of centuries gone by were different from today. Purchasing power parity (PPP) calculations are very difficult. An 1885 paper by William Goodwin estimated that, ignoring purchasing power, the weight of silver that had been in a Solonic talent was at that time worth approximately 877 United States dollars, making a drachma worth $ 0.14 in 1885 ($ 4.96 in 2023). However, he said that "these comparisons of

7107-522: The region they were created in, and there was no universal standard. However, more than half the known Greek city-states do not have evidence of minting coins. Fractions and multiples of the drachma were minted by many states, most notably in Ptolemaic Egypt , which minted large coins in gold, silver and bronze. Notable Ptolemaic coins included the gold pentadrachm and octadrachm , and silver tetradrachm , decadrachm and pentakaidecadrachm . This

7210-477: The rest. Attika in Solon's time seemed to be moving towards a similarly ugly solution with many citizens in danger of being reduced to the status of helots . Rivalry between clans is a theme recently developed by some scholars, based on an appreciation of the political significance of kinship groupings. According to this account, bonds of kinship rather than local loyalties were the decisive influence on events in archaic Athens. An Athenian belonged not only to

7313-556: The rich of Athens a matter of public display and pride) and cult must have given them a sense of involvement in the city, and of their value to it. Though notably, while Athenians tended to refer to metics by their name and deme of residence (the same democratic scheme used for citizens), on their tombstones freeborn metics who died in Athens preferred to name the cities from which they had come and of which they were citizens still. The term metic began to lose its distinctive legal status in 4th century BC, when metics were allowed to act in

7416-428: The same distance were they carried by ship and yet there is no evidence that Athens possessed any merchant ships until around 525 BC. Until then, the narrow warship doubled as a cargo vessel. Athens, like other Greek city states in the 7th century BC, was faced with increasing population pressures and by about 525 BC it was able to feed itself only in good years. Solon's reforms can thus be seen to have taken place at

7519-526: The special tax contributions ( eisphora ) and tax services ("liturgies", for example, paying for a warship or funding a tragic chorus) contributed by wealthy Athenians. Citizenship at Athens brought eligibility for numerous state payments such as jury and assembly pay, which could be significant to working people. During emergencies the city could distribute rations to citizens. None of these rights were available to metics. They were not permitted to own real estate in Attica , whether farm or house, unless granted

7622-563: The strong fire" of their love and dear affection. Ancient drachma In ancient Greece , the drachma ( Greek : δραχμή , romanized :  drachmḗ , [drakʰmέː] ; pl . drachmae or drachmas ) was an ancient currency unit issued by many city-states during a period of ten centuries, from the Archaic period throughout the Classical period , the Hellenistic period up to

7725-555: The strongest and became the most popular. The name drachma is derived from the verb δράσσομαι ( drássomai , "(I) grasp"). It is believed that the same word with the meaning of "handful" or "handle" is found in Linear B tablets of the Mycenean Pylos . Initially a drachma was a fistful (a "grasp") of six oboloí or obeloí (metal sticks, literally " spits ") originally used for roasting lamb. With anthropological evidence it

7828-432: The tradition persisted. Four centuries later Plutarch ignored Aristotle's skepticism and recorded the following anecdote, supplemented with his own conjectures: And they say Solon loved [Pisistratus]; and that is the reason, I suppose, that when afterwards they differed about the government, their enmity never produced any hot and violent passion, they remembered their old kindnesses, and retained "Still in its embers living

7931-662: The truth lies somewhere between these two extremes. Before Solon's reforms, the Athenian state was administered by nine archons appointed or elected annually by the Areopagus on the basis of noble birth and wealth. There was an assembly of Athenian citizens (the Ekklesia ) but the lowest class (the Thetes ) was not admitted and its deliberative procedures were controlled by the nobles. There therefore seemed to be no means by which an archon could be called to account for breach of oath unless

8034-424: The unrestrained greed and arrogance of its citizens. Even the earth ( Gaia ), the mighty mother of the gods, had been enslaved. The visible symbol of this perversion of the natural and social order was a boundary marker called a horos , a wooden or stone pillar indicating that a farmer was in debt or under contractual obligation to someone else, either a noble patron or a creditor . Up until Solon's time, land

8137-491: The wealthiest inhabitants of the city. As citizenship was a matter of inheritance and not of place of birth , a metic could be either an immigrant or the descendant of one. Regardless of how many generations of the family had lived in the city, metics did not become citizens unless the city chose to bestow citizenship on them as a gift. This was rarely done. From a cultural viewpoint such a resident could be completely "local" and indistinguishable from citizens. They had no role in

8240-526: The word for fistful was recorded by Herakleides of Pontos (387–312 BC) who was informed by the priests of Heraion that Pheidon , king of Argos, dedicated rod-shaped obeloi to Heraion. Similar information about Pheidon's obeloi was also recorded at the Parian Chronicle . Ancient Greek coins normally had distinctive names in daily use. The Athenian tetradrachm was called owl , the Aeginetic stater

8343-407: Was about to cancel all debts, these friends took out loans and promptly bought some land. Suspected of complicity, Solon complied with his own law and released his own debtors, amounting to five talents (or 15 according to some sources). His friends never repaid their debts. After completing his work of reform, Solon surrendered his extraordinary authority and traveled abroad for ten years, so that

8446-418: Was called chelone , the Corinthian stater was called hippos ( horse ) and so on. Each city would mint its own and have them stamped with recognizable symbols of the city , known as badge in numismatics, along with suitable inscriptions, and they would often be referred to either by the name of the city or of the image depicted. The exact exchange value of each was determined by the quantity and quality of

8549-420: Was conflict between the nobles and the common people for an extended period. For the constitution they were under was oligarchic in every respect and especially in that the poor, along with their wives and children, were in slavery to the rich...All the land was in the hands of a few. And if men did not pay their rents, they themselves and their children were liable to be seized as slaves. The security for all loans

8652-514: Was described by Plutarch as having been temporarily awarded autocratic powers by Athenian citizens on the grounds that he had the wisdom to sort out their differences for them in a peaceful and equitable manner. Some modern scholars believe these powers were in fact granted some years after Solon had been archon, when he would have been a member of the Areopagus and probably a more respected statesman by his peers. As archon, Solon discussed his intended reforms with some friends. Knowing that he

8755-676: Was especially noteworthy as it would not be until the introduction of the Guldengroschen in 1486 that coins of substantial size (particularly in silver) would be minted in significant quantities. After Alexander's conquests, the name drachma was used in many of the Hellenistic kingdoms in the Middle East , including the Ptolemaic kingdom in Alexandria and the Parthian Empire based in what

8858-572: Was inevitable in a relatively large territory such as Athens possessed. In most Greek city states, a farmer could conveniently reside in a town and travel to and from his fields every day. According to Thucydides , on the other hand, most Athenians continued to live in rural settlements right up until the Peloponnesian War . The effects of regionalism in a large territory could be seen in Laconia , where Sparta had gained control through intimidation and resettlement of some of its neighbours and enslavement of

8961-500: Was later known and celebrated among Athenians as the seisachtheia (shaking off of burdens). As with all his reforms, there is considerable scholarly debate about its real significance. Many scholars are content to accept the account given by the ancient sources, interpreting it as a cancellation of debts , while others interpret it as the abolition of a type of feudal relationship, and some prefer to explore new possibilities for interpretation. The reforms included: The removal of

9064-406: Was not always clear. In the street no physical signs distinguished citizen from metic or slave. Sometimes the actual status a person had attained became a contested matter. Although local registers of citizens were kept, if one's claim to citizenship was challenged, the testimony of neighbours and the community was decisive. (In Lysias 23, a law court speech, a man presumed to be a metic claims to be

9167-471: Was one medimnos (approximately 12 gallons) of cereals and yet the kind of classification set out below might be considered too simplistic to be historically accurate. According to the Athenian Constitution , only the pentakosiomedimnoi were eligible for election to high office as archons and therefore only they gained admission into the Areopagus. A modern view affords the same privilege to

9270-479: Was one of the few coins accepted internationally. The popularity of Athen's coinage can be contributed to numerous laws restricting local traders to exclusive use of Athenian coinage abroad. The only specific coinage mentioned in Herodotus is the drachma of Athens. Evidence for the usage of silver coinage can be found in multiple sections of Herodotus . In 6.21 the tensions between the Athenians and Miletus result in

9373-568: Was perhaps the most widely used coin in the Greek world prior to the time of Alexander the Great (along with the Corinthian stater ). Athenian coinage was especially attractive due to the purity of the silver used to create each coin. At the time, to gain legitimacy over a large geographic spread, city states relied on the intrinsic value of their coins and the promise that "its minting authority would redeem it". Athens demonstrated both. Athenian coinage

9476-486: Was related to the tyrant Pisistratus , for their mothers were cousins. Solon was eventually drawn into the unaristocratic pursuit of commerce. When Athens and its neighbor and rival in the Saronic Gulf , Megara , were contesting the possession of Salamis , Solon was made leader of the Athenian forces. After repeated disasters, Solon was able to improve the morale of his troops through a nationalist poem he wrote about

9579-506: Was revived as a xenophobic term for immigrants to France . This sense was popularized in the late 19th century by the nationalist writer Charles Maurras , who identified metics as one of the four primary constituents of the traitorous "Anti-France", along with Protestants, Jews, and Freemasons. This pejorative sense remains current in the French language, and has to some extent been reappropriated by French people of immigrant background. In 1969

9682-405: Was said by Diogenes Laërtius to have stirred Athenians more than any other verses that Solon wrote: Let us go to Salamis to fight for the island We desire, and drive away from our bitter shame! One fragment describes assorted breads and cakes: They drink and some nibble honey and sesame cakes ( itria ), others their bread, other gouroi mixed with lentils. In that place, not one cake

9785-451: Was state controlled, trade and political factors are highly interlocked. Ancient coinage also had religious use. Obeloi were often used in dedications at shrines and temples. Anthropological evidence of this can be found at the Apollo sanctuary at Delphi, the Apollo temple at Halieis, and the sanctuary of Hera and Zeus at Olympia. Though debated, historians believe that the use of these items in

9888-527: Was the Athenian or Attic standard , which weighed a little over 4.3 grams. In the heyday of ancient Greece (the fifth and fourth centuries) the daily wage for a skilled worker or a hoplite was one drachma, and for a heliast (juror) half a drachma since 425 BC. Before the Peloponnesian War (beginning in 431), which caused significant inflation, a laborer might earn one-third of a drachma per day. Modern commentators derived from Xenophon that half

9991-402: Was the debtor's prison up to the time of Solon. He was the first people's champion. Here Solon is presented as a partisan in a democratic cause whereas, judged from the viewpoint of his own poems, he was instead a mediator between rival factions. A still more significant variation in the ancient historical account appears in the writing of Plutarch in the late 1st – early 2nd century AD: Athens

10094-472: Was the inalienable property of a family or clan and it could not be sold or mortgaged. This was no disadvantage to a clan with large landholdings since it could always rent out farms in a sharecropping system. A family struggling on a small farm however could not use the farm as security for a loan even if it owned the farm. Instead the farmer would have to offer himself and his family as security, providing some form of slave labour in lieu of repayment. Equally,

10197-503: Was the struggle between powerful aristocrats and the weaker affiliates of their rivals or perhaps even with their own rebellious affiliates. Solon's laws were inscribed on axones , large wooden slabs or cylinders attached to a series of axles that stood upright in the Prytaneion . Originally the axones recorded laws enacted by Draco in the late 7th century (traditionally 621 BC). Nothing of Draco's codification has survived except for

10300-498: Was too late. Croesus had considered himself to be the happiest man alive and Solon had advised him, "Count no man happy until he be dead." The reasoning was that at any minute, fortune might turn on even the happiest man and make his life miserable. It was only after he had lost his kingdom to the Persian king Cyrus , while awaiting execution, that Croesus acknowledged the wisdom of Solon's advice. After his return to Athens, Solon became

10403-400: Was torn by recurrent conflict about the constitution. The city was divided into as many parties as there were geographical divisions in its territory. For the party of the people of the hills was most in favour of democracy, that of the people of the plain was most in favour of oligarchy, while the third group, the people of the coast, which preferred a mixed form of constitution somewhat between

10506-447: Was unavailable of all those that the black earth bears for human beings, and all were present unstintingly. According to Diogenes Laertius, in 594 BC, Solon was chosen archon , or chief magistrate. Solon repealed all of Draco's laws except those relating to homicide. During Solon's time, many Greek city-states had seen the emergence of tyrants , opportunistic noblemen who had taken power on behalf of sectional interests. Solon

10609-560: Was uncovered at Heraion of Argos in Peloponnese . Six of them are displayed at the Numismatic Museum of Athens . Despite earlier evidence of poorly preserved specimen, the obeloi discovered at Argos were the first found completely intact. The drachma was the standard unit of silver coinage at most ancient Greek mints, and the name obol was used to describe a coin that was one-sixth of a drachma. The notion that drachma derived from

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