§4IV ἡ μὲν οὗν πρώτη πολιτεία ταύτην εἷχε τὴν ὑπογραφήν.
IV. Such, then, was the outline of the first constitution.
μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα χρόνου τινὸς οὐ πολλοῦ διελθόντος ἐπ᾿ Ἀρισταίχμου ἄρχοντος Λρά[κ]ων τοὺς θεσμοὺς ἔθηκεν· ἡ δὲ τάξις αὕτη τόνδε τὸν τρόπον εἷχε.
After this, before much time had passed, in the archonship of Aristaichmus, Draco established his laws; and this system was as follows.
ἀπεδέδοτο μὲν ἡ πολιτεία τοῖς ὅπλα παρεχομένοις.
The constitution was entrusted to those who provided themselves with arms.
ᾑροῦντο δὲ τὸυς μεν ἐννέκ ἄρχοντας καὶ τοὺς ταμίας οὐσίαν κεκτημένους οὐκ ἐλάττω δέκα μνῶν ἐλευθέραν, τὰς δ᾿ ἄλλας ἀρχὰς | <τὰς> ἐλάττους ἐκ τῶν ὅπλα παρεχομένων στρατηγοὺς δὲ καὶ ἱππάρχους οὐσίαν ἀποφαίνοντας οὐκ ἔλαττον ἢ έκατὸν μνῶν ἐλευθέραν καὶ παῖδας ἐκ γαμετῆς γυναικὸς γνησίους ὑπὲρ δέκα ἔτη γεγονότας·
And they elected the nine archons and the treasurers from those who possessed unencumbered property of not less than ten minae, and the other lesser offices from those who provided themselves with arms, and the generals and hipparchs from those who declared unencumbered property of not less than a hundred minae and who had legitimate children by a wedded wife over ten years of age.
τούτους δ᾿ ἔδει διε[γγ]υᾶν τοὺς πρυτάνεις καὶ τοῦς στρατηγοὺς καὶ τοὺς ἱππάρχους τοὺς ἕνους μέχρι εὐθυνῶν, ἐγγυητὰς δݲ ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ τέλους δεχομένους οὗπερ οἱ στρατηγοὶ καὶ οἱ ἵππαρχοι.
These had to be guaranteed by the outgoing prytaneis, generals, and hipparchs until their audits, by receiving guarantors from the same property class to which the generals and hipparchs belonged.
βουλεύειν δὲ τερακοσίους καὶ ἕνα τοὺς λαχόντας ἐκ τῆς πολιτείας.
The council was to consist of four hundred and one members chosen by lot from the citizens.
κληροῦσθαι δὲ καὶ ταύτην κὰς ἄλλας ἀπχὰς τοὺς ὑπὲρ τριάκοντ᾿ ἔτη γεγονότας, δὲ δὶς τὸν αὐτ[ον μὴ ἄρχειν πρὸ τοῦ τοῦ πάντα ἐξελθεῖν· τότε δὲ πάλιν ἐξ ὔπαρχῆς κληροῦν.
This and the other offices were to be drawn by lot from those over thirty years of age, and the same person was not to hold office a second time until everyone had had a turn; and then they were to draw lots again from the beginning.
εἰ δέ τις τῶν βουλευτῶν, ὄταν ἕδρα βουλῆς ἤ ἐκκλησίας ᾖ, ἐκλείποι τὴν σύνοδον, ἀπέτινον ὁ μὲν πεντακοσιομέδιμνος τρεῖς δραχμάς, ὁ δὲ ίππεὺς δύο, ζευγίτης δὲ μίαν.
And if any of the councilors, when there was a meeting of the council or the assembly, should fail to attend the session, they paid a fine: the pentacosiomedimnos three drachmae, the knight two, and the zeugites one.
ἡ δὲ βουλὴ ἡ ἐξ ᾿Αρείου πάγου φύλαξ ἧν τῶν νόμων καὶ διετήρει τὰς ἀρχὰς ὅπως κατὰ τοὺς νόμους ἄρχωσιν.
The Council of the Areopagus was the guardian of the laws and watched over the magistrates to see that they ruled according to the laws.
ἐξῆν δὲ τῷ ἀδικουμένῳ πρὸ[ς τὴν τῶν] Ἀρεοπαγιτῶν βουλὴν εἰσαγγέλλειν ἀποφαίνοντι παρ᾿ ὅν ἀδικεῖται νόμον.
And it was open to anyone who was wronged to bring an impeachment before the Council of the Areopagus, declaring which law was violated to his injury.
ἐπὶ δὲ τοῖς σώ[μ]ασιν ἧσαν οἱ δανεισμοί, καθάπερ εἴρηται, καὶ ἡ χώρα δι᾿ ὀλίγων ἧν.
But loans were made on the security of the person, as has been said, and the land was in the hands of a few.
§5V. τοιαύτης δὲ τῆς τάξεως οὔσης ἐν τῇ πολιτείᾳ, καὶ τῶν πολλῶν δουλευόντων τοῖς ὀλίγοις, ἀντέστη τοῖς γνωρίμοις ὁ δῆμος.
V. Since such was the system in the constitution, and the majority were enslaved to the few, the people rose up against the nobles.
ἰσχυρᾶς δὲ τῆς στάσεως οὔσης καὶ πολὺν χρόνον ἀντικαθημένων ἀλλήλοις εἵλοντο κοινῇ διαλλακτὴν καὶ ἄρχοντα Σόλωνα καὶ τὴν πολιτείαν ἐπέτρεψαν αὐτῷ ποιήσαντι τὴν ἐλεγείαν ἧς ἐστὶν ἀρχὴ
γιγνώσκω, καί μοι φρενὸς ἔνδοθεν ἄλγεα κεῖται,
πρεσβυτάτην ἐσορπων γαῖαν Ἰαονίας καινομένην· ἐν ᾖ πρὸς ἑκατέρους ὑπὲρ ἑκατέρων μάχεται καὶ διαμφισβητεῖ καὶ μετὰ> ταῦτα κοινῇ παραινεῖ καταπαύειν τὴν ἐνεστῶσαν φιλονικίαν.
When the strife was strong and they had faced each other for a long time, they chose Solon by common agreement as mediator and archon, and committed the constitution to him, after he had composed the elegy which begins: "I know, and pain lies deep within my heart, as I behold the oldest land of Ionia being destroyed." In this poem he fights and disputes on behalf of both sides against both, and afterwards exhorts them in common to put an end to the present conflict.
ἧν δ᾿ ὁ Σόλων τῇ μὲν [φύ]σει καὶτῇ δόξῃ τῶν πρώτων, τῇ δ᾿ οὐσίᾳ καὶ τοῖς πράγμασι τῶν μέσων, ὡς ἔκ τε τῶν ἄλλων ὁμολογεῖται καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν τοῖσδε τοῖς ποιήμασιν μαρτυρεῖ, παραινῶν τοῖς πλουσίοις μὴ πλεονεκτεῖν· ὐμεῖς δ᾿ ἡσυχάσαντες ἐνὶ φρεσὶ καρτερὸν ἧτορ, οὕπολλῶν ἀγαθῶν ἐς κόρον [ἠ]λάσατε,
ἐν μετρίοισι τίθεσ[θ]ε μέγαν νόον· οὔτε γὰρ ἠμεῖς εισόμεθ᾿ οὔθ᾿ ὑμῖν ἄρτια τα[ῦτ᾿] ἔσεται. καὶ ὅλως αἰεὶ τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς στάσεως ἀνάπτει τοῖς πλουσίοις· διὸ καὶ ἐν ἀρχῇ τῆς ἐλεγείας δεδοικέναι φησὶ ῾τήν τε φι[λαργυρ]ίαν τήν τε ὑπερηφανίαν᾿ ὡς διὰ ταπῦτα τῆς ἔχθρας ἐνεστώσης.
Solon was by birth and reputation among the first, but by wealth and circumstances among the middle class, as is agreed on all sides and as he himself testifies in these poems, exhorting the rich not to be greedy: "But do you, quieting the strong heart in your breasts, who have driven to satiety with many goods, keep your great mind within moderate bounds; for we shall not comply, nor will these things be suitable for you." And in general he always attributes the cause of the strife to the rich; wherefore also in the beginning of the elegy he says that he fears "both love of money and arrogance," implying that the hostility arose because of these.