Solon was an ancient Athenian statesman and lawmaker. He was the son of Cleisthenes, the victor of the Salamis, and was born about 624 B.C. He studied political science under Thales at the Academy. At the age of forty-five he became archon (ruler) of Athens, under which office he made several reforms, including the division of Attica, which had previously been administered by a single body of magistrates
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His reputation as a statesman rests on his having introduced two reforms characterized by great liberality: he created ten Attic tribes, each consisting of five hundred families, and established them with separate courts which had to be kept up for three years, or else pay a fine; at the end of that time they were disbanded. A third reform was his establishment of two new courts called Eumolpidae (Lamp-Bearers), one to try Ionic tribesmen for high treason and another to try those who had placed themselves under federal jurisdiction. These tribunals gave great satisfaction to the Athenians, but they were not always successful in their decisions, since they were led by magistrates who judged differently from the way in which they would have done had they been acting independently.
Solon died about 560 B.C.