Part I,

nians th^ were laid afide afterwards they ufed Anchors •, thus the greater part of "Writers
f tatian, Clem. Alex. Suid.
Nn Demo ft. T'lmocr. t Pint.
t Pollux,
^ Pollux.
f Pollm:.
^ Pollux. t Pollux.
the milder Laws made by Solon, differing even in name, the firft being called the
latter fo(Mi. t Thole of Draco were made in the ^pth Olympiad, 47 years (as JJlpian accounts ) before thefe of Solon.
t Next, Solon (being defirous that all Offices might continue as they were, in the Hands of the Rich, but that other Priviledges oftheCom- mon-wealth, from which the People were ex¬ cluded, might be promifcuoufly difpofed) took an account and valuation of the People [ + and divided them into four orders'] thole whole Rock of dry and liquid Fruits amounted to 500 mea- liires he ranked in the firft place, and called Lentacofiomedimni., f* thefe paid a Talent to, the pub lick Treafury.] In the lecond Clafs were thole who were able to maintain a Horle, or received 300 Mealures, thefe he called [^\for that reafon] Horfemen they paid half a Talent. The third Clals were Zengitce (ffo calledbecaufe) they had 200 Meafures of both Ibrts, t thefe paid 10 Mince-., the reft were all called Thetes, whom he fuffered not to be capable of any Magiftracy, neither did they pay any thing, but only had fo far Intereft in the Common¬ wealth, as to have a fuffrage in the publick Convocation, and at Judgments, which at firft leemed nothing, but afterwards appeared to be of great Confequence •, for in whatfoever was brought before the Judges, he gave them leave (if they would) to appeal to the common Fo¬ rum -, moreover writing his Laws obfcurely and perplexedly, he increafed the Power of the Forum., for not being able to determine Con- 1
make Solon Inlritutor of the Court ot Arco- pagus., ( of whom alfo is t Cicero ) which leems t oS^c.l. to be conhrmed, in that Draco never mentions the Areopagites'., but in CriminarCaules always names the Epheu -, but the eighth Law of the thirtieth TaWe of Solon hath thele words, Thofe who are branded with Infamy before Solon was Archonjet them be refiored to their fame., except fuch at were condemned by the Areopagites, og by //;d’EphetSE, Lfc. And it is certain. That the Court of Areopagus was long before SolonV time., until then conjifling promifcuoufly of fuch Terfons as were enunent for Nobility, Power, or Riches, but Solon reformed it, ordaining none Jhould be thereof, but fuch as had frji undergone the Of¬ fice of Archon, See Meurfius, Areop. cap. 3.
t Pollux faith, that Solon ordained a thou- f cap 6 fand Men^ to fudge all Accufations ; ^ Demetri- ^SchoLA- * us Phalerius, that he conftituted the Demarc L in Nub firjl called Nauclari,
X,
CHAP. VL His Laws,
HAving thus dilpofed the Common-wealth, and Courts of Judicature, he in the next
place applied himfelf to making Laws, which he performed lb excellently, that he is gene¬ rally remembred under that notion, with Minos of Creet, and Lycurgus of Lacedamon, whole Laws thofe of Solon exceeded, fas t Ta- 4 a'/^arlaith) both in exquifitenefs and number :
^ of how much great erefieem they were than all be- * Palsi-
troverlies by the Law, they were forced to\ fore them, may be computed from this. That they
'were the laft, and continued always in the City
have recourfe to the Judges^ as Mafters of the Law i this equality he himfelf thus expref feth.
t Epift.po. * Lib,
2.
The Commons I fufiicient Power allow Honour from none I took, on none bejiow Thofe who in Po wer or wealth the reji outjhin’d. In bounds of Moderation [confin’d ;
- To either part I was a firm defence.
And neither did allow preeminence.
Hither t Seneca dlluding laith, ^o\on founded\ Athens upon equal right and^ Juftin he carried himfelf with fuch temper between the Commons and the Senate, that he attraUed equal favour f Theophraft.fi'^^ ffibred no Man ( faith t Eneas
GazeusJ to have a peculiar Law, but made all Men fubjebi to the fame.
t He likewile f continues Plutarch') conftitu¬ ted the Court of the Areopagus, confifting of the yearly Archons , whereof himlelf (being the chief) was one j perceiving the People to be much exalted and emboldened by the remif- fion of their Debts, he ordained a febond Court of Judicature, fele8:ing out of each Tribe f which were in all four) a hundred Perfons, who Ihould refolve upon all Decrees before they were reported to the People ^ nor Ihould any thing be brought to them, until it had firft paft . the Senate : the Supreme Senate he ap¬ pointed Judge and prelerver of the Laws, con¬ ceiving the City would be lels apt to float up and down, and the People become more fec-
t Plut.
They, for whom they were made, thought them more illuflriotts than their publick Ornaments, which tranfeended thofe of all other Cities, more impregnable than their Tower,which they account¬ ed the JirpngeJl of all upon Earth, and far better than thofe things wherein they gloried mofi ; t nor f Uv, i\h. 3 were they of lels efteem among Foreign Na- * tions, inlbmuch that the Romans agreeing con¬ cerning Laws in general, but differing about the Lawgiver, font Ambajfadors to Athens, Sp. Poft- hurnius Albus , A. Manlius, P. Sulpitius Ca- merinus, commanding them to tranferibe the re¬ nowned Laws of Solon : t which transferred , , , _ out of the Books of Solon, the Decemviri, ex- pounded in the twelve Tables. Hence ^ Ammia- nus Marcellinus faith, that Solon affifled by the* Sentences of the Egyptian Priefis, having with jufi moderation framed Laws, added alfo to the Roman State the great efi Foundation.
Of his Laws, thele have been preferv^ed by Plutarch,zrA others.
t If any Man were beaten, hurt, or violently f ?lut. ■ treated, whofoever had the means and' will, might fue the Offender films (lakh Plutarch ) he wilely brought the Citizens to a mutual fenle of one anothers hurts, as if done to a Limb of their own Body.
t Of infamoitsPcrfonsfet all fuch as xoere inf a- f Flut. mous before the Government ff So\on,be refiored to their fame, excepting whofoever voere condem¬ ned by the Ephetac, or in the Prytanaeum by the Alagiflrates, banifhed for Alurder, Theft, or afpi-
led, relying upon thefe two Courts, as on two ^ ring to Tyranny. This was the eighth Law of the
thirteenth
ai
t