Since such, then, was the organization of the constitution, and the
many were in slavery to the few, the people rose against the upper
class. The strife was keen, and for a long time the two parties were
ranged in hostile camps against one another, till at last, by common
consent, they appointed Solon to be mediator and Archon, and committed
the whole constitution to his hands. The immediate occasion of his
appointment was his poem, which begins with the words:
I behold, and within my heart deep sadness has claimed its place,
As I mark the oldest home of the ancient Ionian race
Slain by the sword.
In this poem he fights and disputes on behalf of each party in turn
against the other, and finally he advises them to come to terms and put
an end to the quarrel existing between them. By birth and reputation
Solon was one of the foremost men of the day, but in wealth and
position he was of the middle class, as is generally agreed, and is,
indeed, established by his own evidence in these poems, where he
exhorts the wealthy not to be grasping.
But ye who have store of good, who are sated and overflow,
Restrain your swelling soul, and still it and keep it low:
Let the heart that is great within you be trained a lowlier way;
Ye shall not have all at your will, and we will not for ever obey.
Indeed, he constantly fastens the blame of the conflict on the rich;
and accordingly at the beginning of the poem he says that he fears 'the
love of wealth and an overweening mind', evidently meaning that it was
through these that the quarrel arose.