The dragon, or Dragon, is an Athenian legislator whose extremely harsh laws contributed to the emergence of such a popular expression as “draconian measures”, which refers to excessively severe penalties that help to some extent strengthen the state by more clearly formulating its basic legal principles.
Archaic judicial system
As you know, the inhabitants of Attica (the area where Athens was located) in the VII century. BC e. all the same continued to operate according to the most ancient patrimonial laws. Their standards for modern man may seem too cruel. By that time, tsarist power had already disappeared long ago, so the policy was ruled by bosses or archons, elected from among the most notable people.
In fact, Athens then controlled only 9 people. The main one was the archon-eponym - the first person in the polis, the archon-basilei dealt with issues related to religion, the archon-polemarch was in charge of military affairs, and the remaining six architects-fesmofetov supervised the city magistrates and monitored the implementation of the law and the activities of the court.
Kilonovsky Troubles
Already at the end of the VII century. BC e. the population of Athens began to realize that jurisprudence in the form in which it existed, urgently needed to be changed. The first reason that pushed the authorities to such judicial reform was troubled times, which required a more severe punishment for encroachment on private property, and the second was the ever-growing discontent of the people, caused by arbitrariness by aristocratic judges who interpreted the laws as they pleased.
Historians believe that one of the factors that significantly accelerated the writing of new judicial rules was the so-called Kilonovsky turmoil. It is believed that somewhere between 636 and 624 BC. e. a certain aristocrat Colon made an attempt to seize power in the polis by force, but nothing came of it, because he was prevented by people belonging to the aristocratic family of Alkmeonides. Their reprisal was so cruel that the rebels, even hiding at the altars of the gods, were immediately killed. Such arbitrariness of the aristocrats and desecration of the shrines angered the Athenians so much that they cursed all Alkmeonids.
New legislation
After the Kilon conspiracy, which in case of victory could have brought tyrants to power, the Eupatrides were obliged to at least somehow demonstrate their state activities. That is why Athenian law, it was decided to improve. This work was entrusted to one of the six arches-thesmofetov. The choice fell on the Dragon, as he was highly respected in society and was a conscientious and energetic person. He did all the necessary work during 621 BC. e. And as a result, the laws of Dragon were born.
It is still believed that this document was the first written judicial law in force in Athens. Although this statement is very controversial. It would be more correct to say about the first written legislation that has survived to this day, since usually any rules are only a revision of the rules that once existed before. An example in this case is Aristotle’s assertion that back in the 80s of the same century, the Fesmofet archons already engaged in similar work.
General characteristics of the laws of Dragon
The main achievement of the updated norms was more clearly formulated responsibilities of officials, as well as the principles and procedure for their election to posts. Although the code of laws of Dragon contained some articles on the political structure of the state, they were not the main ones in this collection, which is also evidenced by its name - "Customs".
The basis of the new rules was more clearly defined penalties for all kinds of offenses. Some laws of the Dragon, without a doubt, look unnecessarily cruel. Take at least such an innocent misconduct as the theft of fruits or vegetables, but the death penalty relied on him! But the murder of a thief committed with the aim of self-defense or the return of his property was not considered a crime at all. The death penalty relied on the murder, arson and desecration of the shrine. The dragon even envisioned a norm that seems completely pointless — punishment for killing inanimate objects.
Real innovations in criminal law
As you know, the laws of Dragon are a reflection of the progress in development that occurred at that time in Athenian society. For the first time, a clear division of the killings into unintentional, premeditated and committed in the process of defense appeared. Separately considered crimes related to the deprivation of life of seducers of sisters, wives, daughters and mothers. Killings committed during sports competitions, as well as as a result of various accidents, fell into the same category.
The prerogative of the archaeopagus was the consideration of exclusively intentional crimes involving human casualties. The penalty for such murders was the death penalty. Unintentional were engaged in special colleges, consisting of efet, whose age exceeded 50 years. Manslaughter was usually punished by expelling the perpetrator. Various kinds of fines, for example, bulls, were applied to citizens who committed a number of other crimes.
I must say that the laws of Dragon in Athens acted effectively and were largely aimed at overcoming the usual blood feud at that time , since it was strictly forbidden to repair lynching. In this case, the responsibility for the murder rested only with the one who committed it, and not with the whole family, as before. In addition, the person who incited the murder was also punished.
Value
The laws of Dragon, approved by the Athenian society, the characteristics of which were given above, clearly testified to the fact that it sought to get rid of obsolete clan customs and introduce into its life an updated model of state and class relations.
Despite these rather stringent legislative acts, the development of Greek law nevertheless advanced one step further. Since the writing of the new rules, aristocrats sitting in courts have been limited in their actions by clearly defined rules, the implementation of which could be easily verified.
Cancel
Most historians argue that all the laws of the Dragon acted on the territory of the polis until 594 BC. e., until Solon, the Athenian aristocrat and prosperous merchant, began to carry out his reforms. He abolished most of the rules established in 621 BC. e., however, left those that concerned self-defense and manslaughter. It is worth noting that the Dragon itself, despite its strict laws, was highly respected in antiquity, and its name is now on a par with the best world legislators.