File:Draco_engraving_from_1833_(cropped).jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Draco
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Draco was the first legislator of ancient Athens who created written laws around 621 BCE, replacing the previous system of unwritten customs. His code is historically significant because it established the principle that laws should be publicly known and consistently applied, though it was famously harsh and eventually replaced by less severe laws.
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Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- Classical Athens
- Place of birth
- Athens
- Place of death
- Aegina
- Occupation
- legislator
- Position held
- eponymous archon
- Languages spoken
- Ancient Greek
- Field of work
- legislator
- Image
- Draco engraving from 1833 (cropped) 1 1.jpg
- Residence
- Athens
Show 6 more facts
- date of birth
- 0650-01-01
- date of death
- 0600-00-00
- described by source
- Pauly–Wissowa
- name in native language
- Δράκων
- Commons category
- Draco (legislator)
- significant place
- Classical Athens
Sources (3)
via Wikidata · CC0
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Encyclopedic overview
Draco was the first legislator of Athens in Ancient Greece according to Athenian tradition and was active about 625 to 600 BC. He replaced the system of oral law and blood feud by the Draconian constitution, a written code to be enforced only by a court of law. His laws were supposed to have been very harsh, establishing the death penalty for most offenses. Tradition held that all of his laws were repealed by Solon, save for those on homicide. An inscription from 409/8 BC contains part of the current law and refers to it as "the law of Draco about homicide". Nothing is known about the specifics of other laws established by Draco.
According to some scholars, Draco may have been a fictional figure, entirely or in part. Biographical information about him is almost entirely lacking; he was held to have established his legal code in the year 621/620 BC. Since the 18th century, the adjective draconian (δρακόντειος, drakónteios) refers to similarly unforgiving rules or laws.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Draco” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.