Draco's Laws and Solon's Reforms

First Draco writes down the Athenian ordinances — so harsh that the word draconian will outlive both him and the city; but their point is not severity so much as the passage from the memory of noble families to a text open to all. A generation later Athens is on the edge of upheaval: the poor mortgage their land, then themselves, and end up enslaved to fellow citizens. Solon, chosen as arbiter, cancels the debts, forbids securing a loan with one's own freedom, ranks citizens by property rather than birth, and opens the courts to all. It reconciles no one at once, but the rule is set: a man's standing is fixed by law, not by lineage.