In this paper, I would like to discuss the conflicts between Athenians in Solon?fs time. In order to do so, I divided the paper into three sections. In thefirst section, I will discuss the conflicts between peasants and aristocrats. After that, I will talk about the conflicts between aristocrats themselves. Finally, I will discuss how the political laws at that time show these situations. For the source, I would use ?gThe Rise and Fall of Athens: Nine Greek Lives?h, written by Plutarch, and ?gThe Constitution of Athens?h, written by Aristotle (in J.M. Moore, Ed.).
This is thefirst section of the paper. In this section, I will talk about the conflicts between aristocrats and peasants and the solutions Solon tried to give. I will divide the section into five parts.
1. Two classes: aristocrats and peasants
In Solon?fs Athens, people were divided into two classes: one rich and one poor. The rich class is called aristocrats, and the poor class is called peasants. Aristocrats only covered two percents of the population. Most of them were big landowners and had inherited wealth. Unlike nowadays, aristocrats acted as more than one groups; they also were politicians, warriors and priests. Peasants are farmers who grow things themselves and sell goods for their families and subsistence, which means not market oriented. Some peasants had land and others had not, but both of them are free citizens. There was no middle class, which means there was no social mobility; that is, a peasant is a peasant for his whole life and could not become an aristocrat no meter how much he can earn (Tr).
In fact, for more accurate speaking, there were totally four income groups in Solon?fs Athens: ?gThose who received an annual income of 500 measures or more of wet and dry produce, he placed in thefirst class and called Pentacosiomedimni. The second class consisted of men who could afford a horse, or possessed an income of 300 measures, and …