Next Solon drew up a constitution and enacted new laws; and the
ordinances of Draco ceased to be used, with the exception of those
relating to murder. The laws were inscribed on the wooden stands, and
set up in the King's Porch, and all swore to obey them; and the nine
Archons made oath upon the stone, declaring that they would dedicate a
golden statue if they should transgress any of them. This is the origin
of the oath to that effect which they take to the present day. Solon
ratified his laws for a hundred years; and the following was the
fashion in which he organized the constitution. He divided the
population according to property into four classes, just as it had been
divided before, namely, Pentacosiomedimni, Knights, Zeugitae, and
Thetes. The various magistracies, namely, the nine Archons, the
Treasurers, the Commissioners for Public Contracts (Poletae), the
Eleven, and Clerks (Colacretae), he assigned to the Pentacosiomedimni,
the Knights, and the Zeugitae, giving offices to each class in
proportion to the value of their rateable property. To who ranked among
the Thetes he gave nothing but a place in the Assembly and in the
juries. A man had to rank as a Pentacosiomedimnus if he made, from his
own land, five hundred measures, whether liquid or solid. Those ranked
as Knights who made three hundred measures, or, as some say, those who
were able to maintain a horse. In support of the latter definition they
adduce the name of the class, which may be supposed to be derived from
this fact, and also some votive offerings of early times; for in the
Acropolis there is a votive offering, a statue of Diphilus, bearing
this inscription:
The son of Diphilus, Athenion hight,
Raised from the Thetes and become a knight,
Did to the gods this sculptured charger bring,
For his promotion a thank-offering.
And a horse stands in evidence beside the man, implying that this was
what was meant by belonging to the rank of Knight. At the same time it
seems reasonable to suppose that this class, like the
Pentacosiomedimni, was defined by the possession of an income of a
certain number of measures. Those ranked as Zeugitae who made two
hundred measures, liquid or solid; and the rest ranked as Thetes, and
were not eligible for any office. Hence it is that even at the present
day, when a candidate for any office is asked to what class he belongs,
no one would think of saying that he belonged to the Thetes.