A history of the scholarship on the Seisachtheia of Solon

This thesis surveys the scholarship on the seisachtheia of Solon from the nineteenth century to the present. The scholars included in the survey are, in approximate chronological order: George Grote, G.F. Schomann, Ernst Curtius, Friedrich Engels, Fustel de Coulanges, Paul Guiraud, Ulrich von Wilamowitz- Moellendorff, Ludovic Beauchet, Heinrich Swoboda, Charles Gilliard, Georg Busolt, Karl Julius Beloch, William John Woodhouse, Kurt von Fritz, Naphtali Lewis, John V.A. Fine, A. French, Detlef Lotze, N.G.L. Hammond, Edouard Will, Giovanni Ferrara, Filippo Cassola, Agostino Masaracchia, David Asheri, Stefan Link, P.J. Rhodes, and Terry Buckley. It is pointed out that early in the period considered it is common for scholars to argue that land was alienable in the time of Solon, that the horoi were mortgage stones, and that coinage was in use in Attica early in the sixth century B.C. However, with the passage of time, there is a gradual shift away from these views. A dividing line in the scholarship on the seisachtheia is the publication of Aristotle's Athenaion Politeia in 1891. This work contains the statement that " in all cases, loans were on personal security until Solon's time." In the conclusion of the thesis a position is taken with regard to the issues raised by the scholars dealt with in the thesis. The following views are defended in the thesis: The hektemoroi were not indebted small proprietors but hereditary serfs. The rent the hektemoroi paid was one-sixth, not five-sixths. The.horoi were not mortgage stones but boundary stones. Land changed hands with difficulty in Attica early in the sixth century B.C., but some land was alienable. Alienability of land followed upon the seisachtheia. Ilpaoig CTU Avjoex is only conceivable if land is alienable. The seisachtheia was more extensive than a mere cancellation of debts. It changed the status of the hektemoroi and of the land.Arts, Faculty ofClassical, Near Eastern and Religious Studies, Department ofGraduat