The End Of Dracos Law Code
Dracos law code was later regarded as intolerably harsh, especially in regards to punishing trivial crimes with death; it was probably unsatisfactory to contemporary rulers too, since Solon, who was the archon in 594 BCE, later repealed Dracos code and published new laws, retaining only Dracos homicide statutes. The cruelty behind the laws may have been the only a way to sustain power within the aristocratic party as well as preventing blood feuds that could last for generations. In addition, the aristocrats found a way to secure land by legitimately taking it from the poor according to written laws besides their real political power. Under Dracos law code the rulers were in power in accordance with the law and, as they saw it, justice.
What Is Solon Known For
630 c. 560 BC) was an Athenian statesman, lawmaker and poet. He is remembered particularly for his efforts to legislate against political, economic and moral decline in archaic Athens. His reforms failed in the short-term, yet he is often credited with having laid the foundations for Athenian democracy.
Miltiades Saved Athens But Got No Love From The Athenians
Ancient Athens Miltiades was a general best known for his victory at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC an upset victory against a numerically superior force, which saved Athens from Persian conquest. He was born into a wealthy aristocratic family, which owned a private kingdom in the Chersonese , and which Miltiades inherited in 516 BC. When Persias king Darius I invaded the Chersonese in 513 BC, Miltiades submitted and became a Persian vassal.
In 499 BC, the Ionian Greeks of Asia Minor revolted against Persian rule. Miltiades marched against the rebels, but secretly supported their cause and helped funnel them aid from Athens. Athens sent an expeditionary force which joined the rebels in marching to the Persian governors seat in Sardis, putting it to the torch. The Persians eventually crushed the revolt in 495 BC, and discovered Miltiades betrayal. He fled to Athens, where he was elected one of its ten generals.
The Persians determined to punish Athens for aiding the Ionians, and sent a punitive expedition that landed on the plain of Marathon north of Athens, in 490 BC. The Athenians marched out with a force of about 10,000 hoplites heavily armored infantry with no cavalry or archers. They faced a Persian force of at least 25,000 infantry, plus thousands of archers and 1000 cavalry.
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What Were Some Of The Laws In Ancient Greece
At 1200-900 BC, the Greeks had no official laws or punishments. If you murdered someone that persons family had the right to kill you back. At around 620 BC, Draco, law giver, gave the first law of ancient Greece; those laws were so harsh that made an English word named draconian meaning unreasonable laws.
Ancient Greeces Greatest Dramatist Tries To Escape His Fate But Fails
Ancient Athens Aeschylus was a farm laborer, until he had a vision in which the god Dionysius ordered him to write plays. He did, and ended up becoming Ancient Greeces greatest playwright, penning over 90 plays during a long and productive career. Most of Aeschylus plays won prizes in Athens great drama festivals, and many of them are still performed around the world to this day. He is credited with founding serious drama, and is frequently referred to as the The Father of Tragedy.
Aeschylus practically invented acting. Until he came along, theater consisted of a narrator telling a story, interrupted at intervals with a chorus performing a song and dance. Not satisfied to simply let a narrator recount his plays, Aeschylus used actors to play out the story with distinct roles and an exchange of dialogue. He also raised production values with extravagant costumes and striking imagery, and came up with innovations such as a wheeled platform to change stage scenery. Aeschylus also used a crane to lift actors in scenes involving flight or descent from the heavens.
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Arrichion Became Olympics Champion Despite Being Dead
The ancient Greek martial art of Pankration is seen as the forerunner of modern Mixed Martial Arts . It combined wrestling and boxing, and allowed almost everything, except biting and gouging, or going after the genitals. Arrichion of Phigalia had won the pankration championships in the 572 BC and 568 BC Olympics, and sought a threepeat in the 564 BC Olympiad.
He advanced through the early rounds, and worked his way until he reached the title fight. There, with age perhaps catching up with him and slowing him down, Arrichion got into trouble. His opponent outmaneuvered him, managed to get behind him, and with legs locked around the reigning champs torso and his heels digging into his groin, applied a chokehold.
Arrichion pretended to black out, tricking his opponent into relaxing a little. The wily title holder then snapped back into action, and snapped his opponents ankle while shaking and throwing him off with a convulsive heave. The sudden and excruciating pain induced Arrichions opponent into the Ancient Greek equivalent of tapping out, and he signaled his submission to the judges.
Unfortunately, by throwing off an opponent who still had him in a powerful chokehold, Arrichion ended up with a broken neck. However, since his opponent had conceded, the dead Arrichion was declared victor perhaps the only time in Olympics history that a corpse was crowned a champion. He went the athletic ideal of victory or death one better, by gaining victory and death.
The American Death Penalty: A Changing Legal Landscape
The death penalty has long been a fixture of the worlds laws. In Dracos Athenian code, ancient Mesopotamias Code of Hammurabi, and Englands Bloody Code, a large number of crimes were punishable by death. Colonial and early American legal codes also made multiple crimes capital offenses.
The use of capital punishment, however, came under criticism and scrutiny during the Enlightenment. In 1764, the Italian philosopher Cesare Beccaria, in his book, Dei delitti e delle pene, openly questioned the efficacy of torture and state-sanctioned killing. That book, a runaway bestseller, was quickly translated into French and then into English in 1767 as On Crimes and Punishments.
In the two and a half centuries since the publication of Beccarias book, an anti-death penalty manifesto carefully read by Sir William Blackstone and Jeremy Bentham and by American founders such as Dr. Benjamin Rush, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, the number of countries utilizing death sentences has gradually dwindled. And that process continues apace in the twenty-first century.
In the last few decades, the worlds anti-death penalty movement has only accelerated, transforming the global dialogue about cruelty, human rights, and human dignity. In 2016, Mongolia became the latest country to abandon the punishment of death. The death penalty is becoming a thing of the past across the world, Roseann Rife, Amnesty Internationals East Asia Research Director, noted at the time.
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What Were Solons Laws
Solon promulgated a code of laws embracing the whole of public and private life, the salutary effects of which lasted long after the end of his constitution. Under Solons reforms, all debts were abolished and all debt-slaves were freed. The only parts of Dracos code that Solon kept were the laws regarding homicide.
The Beginning Of A Legal System
As time wore on, groups of citizens came together to consider how to prevent transgressions or punish criminals from other areas and thus avoid protracted wars based on blood feuds. Popular assemblies were called for this purpose in instances where the action affected the community as a whole. Over the years, leaders within the aristocracy of Athens began issuing their rulings. This system was not without its problems, as these chiefs were often the recipients of bribes.
In addition, according to Aristotle, borrowing in ancient Athens was allowed and as a warranty, or as a security deposit, it was allowed that one can borrow from another with a warranty his property and his personal freedom. . So, the basic problem was not only who had the land or the political power but that a lot of small land owners gradually got into debt and started losing their land, ending up servants to the rich. The major problem was that no laws for the above were written down and the poor were not able to stand in a court where only aristocrats were judging and no written law was there to protect them.
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What Is Draco’s Code
Draco’s codecodeDraco
Draco was the first legislator of the city of Athens in Ancient Greece. He wrote laws that were to be enforced only by a court. This constitution replaced the system of oral law and blood feuding that had governed Athens since the city was founded. Draco’s laws were known for being harsh.
Additionally, what are draconian tactics? Draconian is an adjective meaning great severity, that derives from Draco, an Athenian law scribe under whom small offenses had heavy punishments .
In this way, was Draco a tyrant?
Draco Greek Tyrant. Draco was the first individual to write down the laws of Athens. He made them very severe and harsh.
How did Draco’s contribution change government?
Draco’s contribution changed the government in that he was the creator of the first code of law in Athens, Greece. He clearly spelled out the consequences for breaking the laws, so everybody could be aware that the law had to be respected or punishment would follow.
Was Ancient Greece A Democracy
Each ancient Greek city-state had its own government. Common forms of government included tyranny and oligarchy. In 507;BCE, under the leadership of;Cleisthenes, the citizens of;Athens;began to develop a system of popular rule that they called democracy, which would last nearly two centuries. In their governing body, the Assembly , all adult male citizens, perhaps;10 to 15 percent of the total population, were eligible to vote.
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One Of The Hellenistic Eras Greatest Generals Was Killed By An Old Woman Armed With A Roof Tile
Pyrrhus of Epirus was a Hellenistic general and statesman who started off as a tribal king, before becoming king of Epirus in the western Balkans. A distant relative of Alexander the Great, Pyrrhus was a formidable enemy of both the kingdom of Macedon and a rising Rome. His costly victories against both gave rise to the term pyrrhic victory a victory that comes at such a high price that it amounts to a de facto defeat.
Pyrrhus was born to struggle and strife. His father was an Epirote who got dethroned when Pyrrhus was two years old, and the family had to flee and seek refuge with a nearby Illyrian tribe. His tribal hosts put Pyrrhus on his fathers former throne in 306 BC, but he was dethroned four years later, and forced to hit the road and make a living as a mercenary officer. He ended up in Egypt, where he married king Ptolemy Is stepdaughter, and his new in-law gave him financial and military backing that restored him to the Epirote throne in 297 BC.
Council Of Four Hundred
Draco introduced the lot-chosen Council of Four Hundred, distinct from the Areopagus, which evolved in later constitutions to play a large role in Athenian democracy. Aristotle notes that Draco, while having the laws written, merely legislated for an existing unwritten Athenian constitution such as setting exact qualifications for eligibility for office.
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Relationships Among Athenian Officials
A relationship between current officials and the Prytanes, strategoi and hipparkoi of the preceding year concerning financial securities is a controversial texts in the Oxford Classical Text edition of Aristotleâs Constitution of the Athenians, translated by Frederic G. Kenyon:
These officers were required to hold to bail the Prytanes, the Strategi, and the Hipparchi of the preceding year until their accounts had been audited, taking four securities of the same class as that to which the Strategi and the Hipparchi belonged.
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What Were Some Of Dracos Laws
The Draconian laws were most noteworthy for their harshness; they were said to be written in blood, rather than ink. Death was prescribed for almost all criminal offenses. Solon, who was the archon in 594 bce, later repealed Dracos code and published new laws, retaining only Dracos homicide statutes.
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The Brutal Draconian Laws Of Ancient Greece
Athens is perhaps most famous for being the birthplace of democracy. One of the cornerstones for the establishment of Athenian democracy was the introduction of a written law code that could only be enforced by a court. The institution of such a law code eliminated the interpretation of oral laws which were once the prerogative of the Athenian aristocrats. The man who was responsible for providing Athens with a written law code was a man known as Draco. As one may already suspect from the common usage of the term draconian, which is synonymous with severity, Dracos laws were brutal.
Draco lived in Athens during the 7 th century B.C. During this period, oral laws were used, and were under the control of the aristocratic class. This meant that the legal system was unfair, and could easily be exploited by the aristocratic class for their own benefit. It is said that Draco established his code of laws in 622/1 B.C. Apart from this, very little is known about Draco himself. According to folklore, Dracos death was caused by his popularity. According to the story, whilst Draco was at the Aeginetan theatre, his supporters decided to show their approval in the traditional Greek manner, i.e. by throwing their hats, shirts and cloaks on his head. Such a great amount of these garments were thrown on him, however, that Draco suffocated and died.
Prior to Draco, laws were given orally
Ancient Greek law code, 5 th century BC, Crete.
Solon, the wise lawgiver of Athens
References
Ancient Greeces Greatest Seer Laughs Too Soon At A Rivals Failure
Calchas, in ancient Greek mythology, was a seer who had been blessed with the gift of foretelling the future from the flights of birds. He could else soothsay by interpreting the entrails of enemies during battle. He accompanied the Greeks when they invaded Troy, and Homer extolled his skills in the Iliad, stating that: as an augur, Calchas had no rival in the camp.
Before the Greeks could get to Troy, their assembled army was stuck on a beach, prevented from sailing by contrary winds. Calchas prophesied that the winds had been sent by the god Artemis, who had been offended by Agamemnon, the Greek high king and army leader. The only way to appease Artemis, Calchas advised, was for Agamemnon to sacrifice his daughter, Iphigenia. It was done, the winds shifted, and the Greeks were finally able to sail.
When the Greek armies were struck with a devastating plague during the Trojan War, they sought Calchas advise. He divined that it had been sent by the god Apollo, who had been angered by Agamemnons enslavement of Chryseis, daughter of a priest of Apollo, and his refusal to allow her father to ransom her. Agamemnon was forced to send Chryseis back to her father, but then compensated himself by seizing from Achilles a princess whom the Greek hero had captured as a war prize. That triggered a feud between king and hero that drove much of the Iliad.
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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources & Further Reading
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Heraclitus Covered Himself In Poop And Was Eaten Alive By Dogs
The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus contended that the essence of the universe is constant change. So he coined the phrase no man ever steps into the same river twice, in recognition of the notion that everything, like droplets of water drifting downstream on a river, is in constant motion and flux, even if the motion is hard to notice. He also propagated the notion of a unity of opposites, whereby the universe is a system of balanced exchanges in which all things are paired in a relationship with things exhibiting contrary properties.
Heraclitus was self taught, and critical of other philosophers. He had a dim view of humanity, and loathed mobs and democracy, preferring instead rule by a few wise men a concept that Plato later distilled into the notion that the ideal ruler would be a philosopher-king. Heraclitus viewed wealth as a form of punishment, and wished upon his fellow Ephesians, whom he hated, that they would be cursed with wealth as punishment for their sins.
In other words, Heraclitus was a misanthrope, and his misanthropy led him to avoid contact with other people for long stretches, during which he wandered alone through mountains and wilderness, surviving on plants and what he could scavenge. As Diogenes summed him up: finally, became a hater of his kind, and roamed the mountains, surviving on grass and herbs.
Philip Ii Led A Glorious Life Only To Die A Sordid Death
Greeks viewed Macedon as a barely civilized kingdom that spoke a barely intelligible Greek dialect. The kingdom had a lot of potential, both in manpower and resources that far exceeded those of any Greek city state, but had yet to realize that potential. It was realized when 23 year old Philip II ascended the throne of Macedon in 359 BC. Within two decades, he would change the face of Greece.
Philip unified Macedons fractious tribes, and transformed them into the worlds most respected and feared military machine. Greek city states relied on citizen armies of de facto reservists, but Philip made soldiering a full time professional occupation. That enabled him to drill his men regularly, ensuring discipline and unit cohesion. He built upon newly emergent deep phalanx innovations, and improved upon them by arming his men with a long spear, the sarissa, whose reach greatly exceeded that of neighboring Greeks. Philip also increased mobility by reducing his mens armor, and furnishing them with smaller and lighter shields. That gave them a marching speed that few other armies could equal.
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