Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Solon, who was elected archon or chief magistrate of Athens in 594 BC: some see him as the father of Athenian democracy.
In the first years of the 6th century BC, the city state of Athens was in crisis. The lower orders of society were ravaged by debt, to the point where some were being forced into slavery. An oppressive law code mandated the death penalty for everything from murder to petty theft. There was a real danger that the city could fall into either tyranny or civil war.
Solon instituted a programme of reforms that transformed Athens’ political and legal systems, its society and economy, so that later generations referred to him as Solon the Lawgiver.
With
Melissa Lane Class of 1943 Professor of Politics at Princeton University
Hans van Wees Grote Professor of Ancient History at University College London
and William Allan Professor of Greek and McConnell Laing Tutorial Fellow in Greek and Latin Languages and Literature at University College, University of Oxford
Producer Luke Mulhall
Julian the Apostate
The Mokrani Revolt
The Sack of Rome 1527
The Hanseatic League
Nefertiti
Tiberius
Marguerite de Navarre
The Theory of the Leisure Class
The Barbary Corsairs
The Federalist Papers
The Economic Consequences of the Peace
Louis XIV: The Sun King
The Shimabara Rebellion
The Battle of Crécy
Cnut
Mercantilism
Megaliths
Chartism
Tycho Brahe
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Global News Podcast
The Infinite Monkey Cage
Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4
You’re Dead to Me
Elis James and John Robins