HIST 426 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Attica, Medimnos, Peisistratos
25 Sep 2017
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Document Summary
Hektemoroi (6th parters) - debt slaves: not necessarily one of money, any obligation of service, small farmers, required every year to hand over one sixth of their farm"s produce, 2 subcategories. Small farmers who did not own the land that they farmed - tenant farmers - used 1/6 payment of produce as rent payment. Economic decline led to growing number of hektemoroi and civil unrest. Elected an archon not only to serve as archon but also to have unlimited powers for that one year to enact any law he thought necessary to solve the crisis. Chose solon: personal wealth came from shipping business, came from aristocratic family, had extensive knowledge of the world from travel, wrote poetry, strong reputation for being honest, fair, and incorruptible. Euboian standard: invited craftsmen to come settle in athens with the incentive of being granted athenian citizenship, rebuilt class system based on wealth.
