Solon's Athenian Reforms and Legal System

Timeline

1. -594Athens · AtticaSolon issued the Seisachtheia, abolishing debt bondage secured on the person, ransoming Athenian citizens sold abroad, and forbidding loans secured on a free person's body, fundamentally easing the social crisis.
2. -594–-550Athens · AtticaCitizens were divided into four classes of 500, 300, 200, and 100 medimnoi based on land and monetary income, with rights to hold office and serve in the military allocated by class, breaking the traditional monopoly of pure-blood aristocrats on politics.
3. -594–-508Athens · AtticaThe Council of Four Hundred was established to prepare proposals for the Assembly, and an appealable popular court (Heliaia) was created, so that judicial decisions were no longer entirely controlled by aristocrats, widening citizens' channels for participating in public affairs.