Solon

Now it so happened that Aesop, the writer of fables, was in Sardis, having been summoned thither by Croesus, and receiving much honor at his hands. He was distressed that Solon met with no kindly treatment, and said to him by way of advice: O Solon, our converse with kings should be either as rare, or as pleasing as is possible. No, indeed. said Solon, but either as rare or as beneficial as is possible.

At this time, then, Croesus held Solon in a contempt like this; but afterwards he encountered Cyrus, was defeated in battle, lost his city, was taken alive and condemned to be burnt; and then, as he lay bound upon the pyre in the sight of all the Persians and of Cyrus himself, with all the reach and power of which his voice was capable, he called out thrice:(1) O Solon! Cyrus, then, astonished at this, sent men to ask him what man or god this Solon was on whom alone he called in his extremity.

And Croesus, without any concealment, said: This man was one of the sages of Greece, and I sent for him, not with any desire to hear or learn the things of which I stood in need, but in order that he might behold, and, when he left me, bear testimony to the happiness I then enjoyed, the loss of which I now see to be a greater evil than its possession was a good. For when it was mine, the good I derived from it was matter of report and men’s opinion, but its departure from me issues in terrible sufferings and irreparable calamities which are real.

And that man, conjecturing this future from what he then saw, bade me look to the end of my life, and let not insecure conjectures embolden me to be proud and insolent. When this was reported to Cyrus, since he was a wiser man than Croesus, and saw the word of Solon confirmed in the example before him, he not only released Croesus, but actually held him in honor as long as he lived. And thus Solon had the reputation of saving one king and instructing another by means of a single saying.

But the people of Athens were again divided into factions while Solon was away. The Plain-men were headed by Lycurgus; the Shore-men by Megacles the son of Alcmaeon, and the Hill-men by Peisistratus.[*](Cf. Aristot. Const. Ath. 13.4.) Among the last was the multitude of Thetes who were the bitter enemies of the rich. As a consequence, though the city still observed the new laws yet all were already expecting a revolution and desirous of a different form of government, not in hopes of an equality, but each party thinking to be bettered by the change, and to get the entire mastery of its opponents.

Such was the state of affairs when Solon returned to Athens. He was revered and honored by all, but owing to his years he no longer had the strength or the ardor to speak and act in public as before. He did, however, confer privately with the chiefs of the opposing factions, endeavoring to reconcile and harmonize them, and Peisistratus seemed to pay him more heed than the others. For Peisistratus had an insinuating and agreeable quality in his address, he was ready to help the poor and was reasonable and moderate in his enmities.

Even those virtues which nature had denied him were imitated by him so successfully that he won more confidence than those who actually possessed them. He was thought to be a cautious and order-loving man, one that prized equality above all things, and would take it ill if any one disturbed the existing order and attempted a change. On these points, indeed, he completely deceived most people. But Solon quickly detected his real character, and was the first to perceive his secret designs. He did not, however, treat him as an enemy, but tried to soften and mould him by his instructions. He actually said to him and to others that if the desire for pre- eminence could but be banished from his soul, and his eager passion for the tyranny be cured, no other man would be more naturally disposed to virtue, or a better citizen.