DracoADELE C. SCAFURO

Draco, thought to be the first Athenian to

write down laws ([Arist.] Ath. Pol. 4.1, 41.2),

was renowned in later tradition for severity

(Plut. Sol. 17: “For one penalty was assigned

to almost all transgressions, namely death, so

that even those convicted of idleness were

put to death, and those who stole vegetables

or fruit got the same punishment as temple

robbers and killers”). Aristotle (Ath. Pol. 4.1)

reports that Draco enacted ordinances

(thesmoi) when Aristaichmos was archon

(in 621–620 BCE: Rhodes 1981: 109; Stroud

1968: 66–70). He also (Ath. Pol. 4.2–4) ascribes

a constitution to Draco that is generally dis-

counted as implausible forgery. Draco may

have produced a code of law, but if so, its extent

beyond homicide (e.g., political rights,

land tenure, and debt) remains controversial.

Contemporary sources are absent; later

fifth and fourth century literary tradition reg-

ularly assigns current law on homicide to

Draco and current law as a whole to SOLON

(Rhodes 1981: 110; more optimistically,

Stroud 1968: 75–83).

Before the enactment of Draco’s homicide

law, custom may have prevailed: either the

killer would offer compensation to the dead

man’s kinsmen, or he would be killed by

them unless he fled Athens (Gagarin 1981:

5–18). Scholars (e.g., Wilamowitz-Mollendorff

1893.2: 55; Glotz 1904: 299–324; Stroud 1968:

70–2; Carawan 1998: 4, 43) have frequently

associated the enactment of Draco’s law with

the Cylonian conspirators (see KYLON) ca. 632;

when they failed to seize the Acropolis and

took refuge at the altar of Athena, their

Athenian guards, though promising safety, put

them to death (Thuc. 1.126; Hdt. 5.71). It is

hypothesized that, in the absence of a homicide

law, clan vendettas followed; Draco’s lawwas the

solution for a crisis (different views: Stroud

1968: 72 n. 72; Gagarin 1981: 20–1).

Aristotle reports (Ath. Pol. 7.1) that after

Solon established a constitution and devised

other laws, “the Athenians stopped using

Draco’s ordinances, except those about

homicide.” An inscription (IG I3 104) from

the archon year of Diokles (409/8) begins:

“Let the recorders of laws (anagrapheis) pub-

lish Draco’s law concerning homicide on a

marble pillar.” After the “prescript,” the words

“First Axon” appear, and then the first provi-

sion: “Even if a man unintentionally kills

another, he is exiled” (trans. Gagarin 1986:

87). The inscribing of the law was part of a

larger political agenda to scrutinize the laws of

Athens, winnow discrepancies, and copy the

remainder, after constitutional upheavals in

412/11–411/10 (see FOUR HUNDRED, OLIGARCHS AT

ATHENS; FIVE THOUSAND, AT ATHENS). Scholars

debate whether the law is really Draco’s; while

Stroud (1968: 32–4) has convincingly argued

that the “First Axon” must refer to “the first

monument in a series of Drakontian axons”

and not to the first of Solon’s later code, some

remain skeptical (e.g., Todd 1993: 33 n. 7).

The law provides procedure for prosecuting

unintentional killers (and probably, implicitly,

intentional killers): killers are to be exiled;

the EPHETAI are judges; unintentional killers

are to be pardoned by designated kinsmen of

the dead; in their absence, fifty-one ephetai

and ten PHRATRY members grant pardon.

There is to be a proclamation against the killer.

Protections are offered to exiled killers and

punishments for those returning without

pardon. Instances of justifiable homicide

are cited.

SEE ALSO: Axones; Homicide, Rome.

REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS

Carawan, E. (1998) Rhetoric and the law of

Draco. Oxford.

Gagarin, M. (1981) Drakon and early Athenian law.

New Haven.

Gagarin, M. (1986) Early Greek law.

Berkeley.

The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, First Edition. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine,

and Sabine R. Huebner, print pages 2219–2220.

© 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

DOI: 10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah13089

1

Glotz, G. (1904) La solidarite de la famille dans le

droit criminel en Grece. Paris.

Rhodes, P. J. (1981) A commentary on the

Aristotelian Athenaion Politeia.

Oxford.

Stroud, R. (1968)Drakon’s law on homicide. Berkeley.

Todd, S. C. (1993) The shape of Athenian law.

Oxford.

Wilamowitz-Mollendorff, U. von. (1893)

Aristoteles und Athen 1–2. Berlin.

2