Draco (; grc-gre, Δράκων, ''Drakōn''; fl. c. 7th century BC), also called Drako or Drakon, was the first recorded
legislator
A legislator (also known as a deputy or lawmaker) is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people of the state. Legislatures may be supra-national (for ex ...
of
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
in
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of Classical Antiquity, classical antiquity ( AD 600), th ...
. He replaced the prevailing system of
oral law
An oral law is a code of conduct in use in a given culture, religion or community application, by which a body of rules of human behaviour is transmitted by oral tradition and effectively respected, or the single rule that is orally transmitted.
M ...
and
blood feud
A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one pa ...
by the
Draconian constitution
The Draconian constitution, or Draco's code, was a written law code enforced by Draco in Athens near the end of the 7th century BC; its composition started around 621 BC. It was written in response to the unjust interpretation and modificati ...
, a written
code to be enforced only by a
court of law
A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordan ...
. Draco was the first democratic legislator requested by the
Athenian citizen
History of citizenship describes the changing relation between an individual and the state, known as citizenship. Citizenship is generally identified not as an aspect of Eastern civilization but of Western civilization. There is a general view tha ...
s to be a lawgiver for the
city-state
A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...
, but the citizens had not expected that Draco would establish laws characterized by their harshness.
Since the 19th century, the adjective ''draconian'' (
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
: ''δρακόντειος'' ''drakónteios'') refers to similarly unforgiving rules or laws, in
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
,
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
, and other European languages.
Life
During the 39th
Olympiad
An olympiad ( el, Ὀλυμπιάς, ''Olympiás'') is a period of four years, particularly those associated with the ancient and modern Olympic Games.
Although the ancient Olympics were established during Greece's Archaic Era, it was not unti ...
, in 622 or 621 BC, Draco established the legal code with which he is identified.
Little is known about Draco’s life. He may have belonged to the Greek nobility of
Attica
Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean S ...
prior to the period of the
Seven Sages of Greece
The Seven Sages (of Greece) or Seven Wise Men (Greek: ''hoi hepta sophoi'') was the title given by classical Greek tradition to seven philosophers, statesmen, and law-givers of the 7–6th century BC who were renowned for their wisdom.
The ...
, as per the 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia, the
Suda. The Suda chronicles a
folkloric
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging fro ...
story of his death in the
Aeginetan theatre: in a traditional ancient Greek show of approval, his supporters "threw so many hats and shirts and cloaks on his head that he suffocated, and was buried in that same theatre". The truth about his death is still unclear, but it is known that Draco was driven out of Athens by the Athenians to the neighbouring island of
Aegina
Aegina (; el, Αίγινα, ''Aígina'' ; grc, Αἴγῑνα) is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece in the Saronic Gulf, from Athens. Tradition derives the name from Aegina, the mother of the hero Aeacus, who was born on the island and ...
, where he spent the remainder of his life.
Draconian constitution
The
law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
s ( – ) that he laid were the first written
constitution of Athens. So that no one would be unaware of them, they were posted on wooden tablets ( – ), where they were preserved for almost two centuries on
steles of the shape of
four-sided pyramids ( – ). The tablets were called , perhaps because they could be pivoted along the pyramid's axis to read any side.
The constitution featured several major innovations:
*Instead of oral laws known to a special class, arbitrarily applied and interpreted, all laws were written, thus being made known to all literate citizens (who could appeal to the
Areopagus
The Areopagus () is a prominent rock outcropping located northwest of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. Its English name is the Late Latin composite form of the Greek name Areios Pagos, translated "Hill of Ares" ( grc, Ἄρειος Πάγος) ...
for injustices): "the constitution formed under Draco, when the first code of laws was drawn up". (
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...
Athenian ConstitutionPart 5, Section 41
*The laws distinguish between
murder and
involuntary homicide
Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ...
.
The laws were particularly harsh. For example, any
debt
Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The ...
or whose status was lower than that of his
credit
Credit (from Latin verb ''credit'', meaning "one believes") is the trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party wherein the second party does not reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a debt) ...
or was forced into slavery. The punishment was more lenient for those owing a debt to a member of a lower class. The
death penalty was the punishment for even minor
offences, such as stealing a cabbage. Concerning the liberal use of the death penalty in the Draconic code,
Plutarch
Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...
states:
All Draco's laws were repealed by
Solon
Solon ( grc-gre, Σόλων; BC) was an Athenian statesman, constitutional lawmaker and poet. He is remembered particularly for his efforts to legislate against political, economic and moral decline in Archaic Athens.Aristotle ''Politics'' ...
in the early 6th century BC, with the exception of the
homicide law.
Homicide law
After much debate, the Athenians decided to revise the laws, including the homicide law, in 409 BC. The homicide law is a highly fragmented inscription, but states that it is up to the victim's relatives to prosecute a killer. According to the preserved part of the inscription, unintentional homicides received a sentence of
exile.
It is not clear whether Draco's law specified the punishment for intentional homicide. In 409 BC, intentional homicide was punished by death, but Draco's law begins: 'καὶ ἐὰμ μὲ ‘κ
��ονοί
��
��
�νει τίς τινα, φεύγ�
� Although ambiguous and difficult to translate, one suggested translation is: "Even if a man not intentionally kills another, he is exiled."
Council of Four Hundred
Draco introduced the lot-chosen Council of Four Hundred, distinct from the
Areopagus
The Areopagus () is a prominent rock outcropping located northwest of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. Its English name is the Late Latin composite form of the Greek name Areios Pagos, translated "Hill of Ares" ( grc, Ἄρειος Πάγος) ...
, which evolved in later constitutions to play a large role in
Athenian democracy.
Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...
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.
Draco extended the
franchise
Franchise may refer to:
Business and law
* Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees
* Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...
to all free men who could furnish themselves with a set of military equipment. They elected the Council of Four Hundred from among their number; nine
archons and the treasurers were drawn from persons possessing an unencumbered property of not less than ten ''
minas
Minas or MINAS may refer to:
People with the given name Minas
* Menas of Ethiopia (died 1563)
* Saint Menas (Minas, 285–309)
* Minias of Florence (Minas, Miniato, died 250)
* Minas Alozidis (born 1984), Greek hurdler
* Minas Avetisyan (1928� ...
'', the generals (''
strategoi
''Strategos'', plural ''strategoi'', Latinized ''strategus'', ( el, στρατηγός, pl. στρατηγοί; Doric Greek: στραταγός, ''stratagos''; meaning "army leader") is used in Greek to mean military general. In the Hellenist ...
'') and commanders of cavalry (''
hipparchoi'') from those who could show an unencumbered property of not less than a hundred ''minas'' and had children born in lawful wedlock over ten years of age. Thus, in the event of their death, their estate could pass to a competent heir. These officers were required to hold to account the ''
prytanes'' (councillors), ''strategoi'' (generals) and ''hipparchoi'' (cavalry officers) of the preceding year until their accounts had been audited. "The Council of Areopagus was guardian of the laws, and kept watch over the magistrates to see that they executed their offices in accordance with the laws. Any person who felt himself wronged might lay an information before the Council of Areopagus, on declaring what law was broken by the wrong done to him. But, as has been said before, loans were secured upon the persons of the debtors, and the land was in the hands of a few."
[Aristotle, ''Constitution'', §4.]
See also
*
Ancient Greek law
Ancient Greek law consists of the laws and legal institutions of Ancient Greece.
The existence of certain general principles of law is implied by the custom of settling a difference between two Greek states, or between members of a single state, ...
*
Hammurabi
Hammurabi (Akkadian: ; ) was the sixth Amorite king of the Old Babylonian Empire, reigning from to BC. He was preceded by his father, Sin-Muballit, who abdicated due to failing health. During his reign, he conquered Elam and the city-states ...
, a Babylonian who wrote some of the earliest codes of law
*
Cruel and unusual punishment
*
Retributive justice
*
List of Ancient Greeks
*
List of eponymous laws
This list of eponymous laws provides links to articles on laws, principles, adages, and other succinct observations or predictions named after a person. In some cases the person named has coined the law – such as Parkinson's law. In other ...
(those named after their inventor)
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Decree to republish Draco’s law on homicide��Translation of original inscription
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Draco
7th-century BC Athenians
Ancient Greek law
Ancient legislators
Archaic Athens
Government of ancient Athens
Year of birth unknown
Year of death unknown