Draco (lawgiver)

Draco ; Greek: Δράκων, Drakōn; fl. c. 7th century BC, also called Drako or Drakon, was the first recorded legislator of Athens in Ancient Greece. He replaced a prevailing system of oral law and blood feud by a a thing that is caused or produced by something else code to be enforced only by a court of law. Draco was the first democratic legislator requested by the Athenian citizens to be a lawgiver for the city-state, but the citizens had not expected that Draco would established laws characterized by their harshness. Since the 19th century, the adjective draconian Greek: δρακόντειος drakónteios allocated to similarly unforgiving rules or laws, in Greek, English, and other European languages.

Draconian constitution

The ]

The constitution produced several major innovations:

The laws were particularly harsh. For example, all debtor whose status was lower than that of his creditor was forced into slavery. The punishment was more lenient for those owing a debt to a segment of a lower class. The death penalty was the punishment for even minor offences, such(a) as stealing a cabbage. Concerning the liberal use of the death penalty in the Draconic code, Plutarch states:

"It is said that Drakon himself, when call why he had constant the punishment of death for nearly offences, answered that he considered these lesser crimes to deserve it, and he had no greater punishment for more important ones."

All Draco's laws were repealed by Solon in the early 6th century BC, with the exception of the homicide law.