Draconian Laws

The first written law code of Athens, issued by Draco around 621 BCE and notorious for its severity

Overview

Before Draco, Athenian law was oral and interpreted by aristocratic magistrates, a source of resentment that writing the law down was meant to cure. Ancient writers, especially Plutarch, report that Draco prescribed death for nearly every offense, even petty theft, and the word draconian still means excessively harsh. Around 594 BCE the reformer Solon repealed Draco's laws except those on homicide, which distinguished intentional from unintentional killing and created procedures for exile and reconciliation with the victim's family. A copy of the homicide law was reinscribed in stone at the end of the fifth century BCE, and fragments of it survive.