The brutal Draconian laws of ancient Greece

Athens is perhaps most famous for being the birthplace of democracy. One of the cornerstones for the establishment of Athenian democracy was the introduction of a written law code that could only be enforced by a court. The institution of such a law code eliminated the (often unjust) interpretation of oral laws which were once the prerogative of the Athenian aristocrats. The man who was responsible for providing Athens with a written law code was a man known as Draco. As one may already suspect from the common usage of the term ‘draconian’, which is synonymous with severity, Draco’s laws were brutal.  Read more