It’s All Greek to Me: Draconian

The word ‘draconian’ is used to describe something that is ‘extremely harsh’, especially when it is in reference to laws. The history of the word takes us all the way back to the time of ancient Greece.

In the time of ancient Greece, murder was deemed to be a private matter in which the state had no business and it was left to the victim’s family to, if they desired, to exact justice. In the 7th century B.C however things were to change and not only did the law change, but it left us nowadays with a new word.

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Cylon was a man who had been victorious at the Olympic Games of 640 B.C and subsequently decided that he was the best man to rule the city-state, which at the time was ran by the wealthiest families. Cylon, along with some of his friends, tried to seize the Acropolis but failed. They then took refuge at the altar of Athena. At some point, city magistrates managed to lure Cylon’s people away from the altar (at this point Cylon himself had disappeared) with promises of a safe passage to a different place. The magistrates did not keep their word though and treacherously murdered Cylon’s people.

Cylon himself had fled to the neighbouring Megara and decided to invade Athens when news reached him of the fate of his people. The Megarans launched a campaign on Athens that was to be very devastating, but something was soon to be done about it.

The solution that Athens decided on was to start a public system of justice. Everybody who had been involved in the previous incidents, Cylon, his followers and even the magistrates were publicly tried before a jury. It was a move that would appease the general public and certainly off-set the potential of any similar future events if it was introduced totally. The state of Athens needed a more systematic legal code and they were about to get it.

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In 621 B.C, an Athenian legislator was given the job to officially bring in state law. His name was Draco. His principal aim was to secure the justice from the passions of private men and put it firmly in the hands of the public. Draco was adamant that violations of public law were to be addressed in a public trial. That may seem obvious to us today, but things were very different back then. In fact what Draco was proposing came to be the foundation for all Western judicial systems, albeit not necessarily directly!

For that, Draco did well, but he tends to be more famous for the severity of his criminal penalties than anything else. It seemed that the default punishment was death! By the early 6th century B.C, Athens had had enough and enlisted statesman Solon to revise Draco’s code and to formulate a constitution.

The severity of Draco’s punishments led  to the creation of the word Draconian (as we know it now) and the severity was also touched upon by Plutarch in his ‘Life of Solon’ where he writes: “Draco wrote his laws not with ink, but with blood.’

The word Draconian does not appear in English until the late 19th century, although it should be noted that ‘draconic’ was used in English by the early 18th century, used in reference to harsh laws. Draconian is just another word used nowadays that has its history and origins in the time of Ancient Greece.