“Athens, unlike Sparta, was a money-mad commercial city. The constitution framed by Solon mitigated the class struggle between rich and poor, and allowed for the growth of democratic society” (Plutarch)
One of the most positive factors of American democracy is the Twenty–second Amendment to the US Constitution. After the Roosevelt years (1933 to 1945), the American public had the good sense not to leave in the hands of the president the matter of observing the convention of not seeking a third term, but instead to put it into the Constitution itself. This basically limits presidents to two terms of four years. Indeed, many European countries may look with a little envy at the Twenty-second Amendment. Would the division in the British Conservative Party have happened if Mrs. Thatcher had left on time? Politicians, like so many CEOs, often overdo their stay and undo many of the positive contributions of their early years.
So what made such different characters as Solon, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Crosby remarkable is that they knew when to leave. We have other such figures as Margaret Thatcher, Jack Welch, and Arnold Weinstock who didn’t leave at the right moment and consequently lost much of their earlier credibility. Yes, they made the fatal mistake of staying on too long. But why do some people hang on for so long? Is it greed for power or simply that leaders come to believe they can do the job better than anyone else? Would it be correct to say that many leaders are surrounded by flatterers and colleagues who agree with their every turn, and, as a result, they come to believe that their decisions are the correct ones? They feel they are indispensable and those surrounding them often confirm this.
Margaret Thatcher is, perhaps, our best example of overstaying her welcome. Starting out very well during her first term, and building a huge amount of credibility, she came to believe that Britainneeded her. In fact, she came to see Britainand her interests in the same light. This caused her to become somewhat reckless and to act without proper advice. The introduction of such a disastrous measure as the poll tax* is an example of what began to happen. Arnold Weinstock is another example. He was CEO of General Electric in the UKfor 33 years. From 1963 to the late seventies, he was a power that all governments had to reckon with, as he ran the most successful company in the UK. However, from the eighties to his resignation in 1996 the company was unable to keep up with industrial changes and innovations. He didn’t change but his environment did). He stayed far too long. The Daily Telegraph wrote “Arnold Weinstock’s faded reputation in the 1990s was in sharp contrast to his earlier status when he became the embodiment of the meritocratic management revolution about which Harold Wilson liked to preach; …”.
Our principal example concerns Solon, who lived inAthenssome 2,600 years ago, one of the most remarkable figures in history, who assumed total power, introduced his reforms, and then decided it was time for others to implement them. We shall look at the case of Solon with regard to the right time to leave. He introduced his reforms and left.
The case of Solon
Solon, perhaps one of the greatest political figures of antiquity has, in many ways, been overshadowed by such philosophical giants as Isocrates, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle in the popular mind concerning ancientGreece. Perhaps Pericles (461-379 B.C.), a mayor ofAthensduring the Peloponnesian War, is remembered by some because of his association with that shining city on the hill and for his famous Funeral Oration. But it was Solon (640-559 B.C.) who first came into power inAthensin 594 BC as Archon (Consul) who laid the basis of the futureAthensthat we have come to know.
The Greeks had become a major trading power in theMediterraneanin the centuries proceeding Salon’s epoch. The islands dotting the Aegean made trading much easier, as ships were able to skip from island to island until they opened up huge trade routes with modern-dayTurkey,Iraq,Lebanon,IsraelandEgypt. It is not hard to imagine that a fairly numerous middle class developed around this trade. However, no matter how rich these merchants became, the nobles held all the political and legal power.
It wasn’t just the economic benefits of these trade routes that enhancedAthens’ rise to power; it was also their ability to absorb new ideas. For example, two centuries before Solon, the Greek alphabet had no vowels. Then they came across the Phoenician alphabet, and within no time vowels had been incorporated into the Greek alphabet. FromEgyptthey learned a system of measuring. From this beginning, the Greeks developed the study of arithmetic and geometry. Indeed, it was from this intellectual miracle that the method of science as we know it today developed.
Athenshad abolished the monarchy in favour of an oligarchy of large landowners in 632 BC. But with such a structural change came the need to put new laws and structures into place. The oligarchy, which took over from the monarchy and was made up of the landed nobles, found it convenient to make up the laws as it suited them and not to have a written constitution. Chaos and discontent resulted, especially among the merchants, farmers and craftsmen, mainly because of the financial crisis and because nobody knew what was legal and what was illegal. So, ten years after the nobles had taken over and in the midst of this social and financial crisis, they asked one of their own, Dracon, to introduce a written code of laws.
He introduced the death penalty for infringement of a whole series of new laws. In fact, the death penalty was even the penalty for minor offences; hence this noble leader has given our vocabulary the word “draconian”. The strange thing about Dracon was that when he died in 601 BC he was quite popular as a person. But Dreacon’s code was no solution to the discontent that continued to exist, which was exacerbated by a rising population and an increasing demand for cheap food.
It was also a period of intellectual change. The old explanations for life were no longer acceptable and poets such as Homer and Hesiod had already laid siege to the traditional beliefs in the gods. People were looking for a more rational explanation of the world they lived in.
But the most pressing problems came from the large estates. The nobles owned practically all of the good arable land which they mostly cultivated with olives. As the olive trees took a number of years to cultivate before the benefit of a harvest, the smaller and poorer farmers, who could not afford to wait, grew wheat on much poorer soil. However, in bad years when the harvest either failed or yielded little, the small farmers were unable to feed their families and they usually borrowed from the large owners. If this happened over a few years, then repayment was impossible. Those in debt then became the property of the lender. Unfortunately it was not just the borrower who passed into slavery but also his family and descendants. Many of the families who passed into slavery were broken up and some were sold abroad. This state of affairs led to a lot of unrest. The nobles for their part benefited financially from this state of affairs but suffered from a lack of security. They needed a solution. They saw in Solon a possible solution so they invited him to take over the government.
But who was Solon, and why did the nobles invite him to become the Archon or consul? Solon came from a noble family who were somewhat down at heel. He earned his living not as a landowner but in shipping, which was quite a lucrative business. This line of business brought him not only great wealth but also into contact with many people throughout the Mediterranean world. Like many Greeks at the time he was open to learn from different cultures and bring back new ideas.
But, you may ask, how did he ever get into the position to be invited in the first place to be the Archon? The story is that Solon was a well known and respected poet besides being a wealthy merchant. He was popular at a time when poets sang their poetry in the mainsquareofAthens.Athensat this moment was in conflict with its neighbour,Megara, over theis land of Salamis. Many of the young men ofAthenswere eager to recapture the island, but none of the oligarchy wanted to lead such an expedition. Solon on seeing this decided to support the youth ofAthens.
He pretended, as the story goes, to have gone slightly mad, and used his feigned madness as an excuse to sing a long poem in the main square advocating the retaking of the island. The nobles had a law about reciting political poems in public so the feigned madness was on purpose. As a result of his ‘mad’ performance he aroused the patriotic zeal of the youth ofAthens, and the government on seeing no alternative, asked him to take control of the venture and forgave him.
Instead of fitting-out an expedition, Salon cunningly sent a spy to the island with clear instructions to let it be known that during the festival of Venus, many of the most respected women ofAthenswould be dancing at theTempleofVenusunguarded. The thought of kidnapping these high born women excited the Megarians. On the appointed day they set sail forAthensin high spirits. When Solon saw the sails of their ships approaching, he ordered the women to be replaced by young men dressed in women’s dress. Unfortunately for the Megarians, when they landed, they were quickly met and killed. Solon then ordered his men into the Megarian ships and to return to the island. The islanders, on seeing the ships approach, were in festive mood and organized a great welcome for the returning ships. Under these circumstances, Solon had little difficulty in taking the island. This brought him immediate recognition. As a result, in 594 BC he was elected Archon, which was rather similar to being Roman Consul.
But by 594 B.C. even the rich merchants were practically in revolt. With an increasing number of farm people forced into slavery due to bad debts, the time was ripe for change. Social unrest among the small farmers, craftsmen and rich merchants forced the nobles to invite someone acceptable to both sides to take over the reins of government or risk losing everything in a revolt by the non-nobles.
Time to leave
On the enactment of his constitution, Solon retired from public life. He knew he could do no more. So he set off on a 10 year journey toEgyptwith his family, and left the two factions to sort things out. He left Athenian society with a code of laws. However, he assumed that both sides would settle down and work this agreement. Athenians saw Solon as a great hero of their state. Later commentators pointed to his reforms as the basis of the state. In fact Solon’s new code lasted very briefly. Although he brilliantly reformed the government, he really didn’t solve the economic crisis, and within a few years,Athenswas once again collapsing in anarchy. By attempting to satisfy all, he had, in reality, satisfied none. So why has he a good press? Perhaps, Solon, like George Washington, knew his limits and was not tempted to continue further. He knew when to leave.